Michigan Ho!: Otherwise known as the much needed vacation.

Dear Grandparents,

Holy cow, it looks like this part two of the catch-up blogs might get out in a timely fashion! My mommy wanted me to tell you that from now on the quality of the pictures I share with you should be getting better. Daddy got Mommy a new DSLR camera and she is very excited to learn it and start shooting professional quality pictures.

First I want to share a few pictures we have taken since getting back from our Michigan vacation. In this first one I got a hold of the duster. Mommy took it away from me, only to return it seconds later with a clean dust cloth installed...I think she is being rather hopeful, but "A" for effort Mommy :)

These two are from our playdate last week. It was at our friend Molly's house.

Mommy was very jealous of the adorableness of Molly's mommy's house and the park near by.

Mommy was trying to figure out the manual focus on her new camera...

...I was getting tired though and made Molly's mommy stop teaching my mommy so I could go take a nap.

Mommy begrudgingly let me include this picture, Daddy took this one...and encouraged the behavior depicted ;) On the other hand I love my new band toys, but the drum sticks are my favorite (keep your fingers crossed Grandma Karla, I might grow up to be a drummer and you can live vicariously through me, ROCK!). 

From here on out are some of the best pictures from our trip to Michigan. This is Grandpa Marc, me and Daddy going for a walk around Grandpa's neighborhood.

This is my second cousin Brianna...

...and my other second cousin Bradyn, whom I really liked but was chewing in this shot :)

This picture is a five generations picture. From left to right in relation to me: Great Grandma Pond, Great-great Grandma DeRitter, Daddy, Me, Grandpa Konyndyk.

This is my first time meeting my Grandpa Pond, he was trying to show me where to look for the picture, but I was more interested in his beard and glasses!

Mommy was trying to get a nice picture of us but I was too tired and had a frowny face the whole time :(

The whole family got in some disc golfing: Grandpa Pond, Great Aunt Shelly, Grandpa Marc, Me, Daddy (and Mommy taking the picture).

After the visit with the relatives we headed east across the state to visit some of Mommy and Daddy's pre-me friends. Mainly we headed east for our friend's wedding.

This picture is of me in an igloo cooler, made a handy playpen for me while Mommy and Daddy helped set up the tables and chairs :)

Mommy loves this next picture, she says it is her favorite one of me to date!

There was a great playground next to the hall where the wedding was, Mommy and Daddy tried to help me do the obstacles and swing, but all I really cared about was trying to eat the wood chips (I saw Tok chewing on a stick and thought they must be delish, but alas they weren't).

Oh! This one is fun. Mommy spotted a frog and Daddy caught it! I kept trying to touch it, which was making Mommy crazy, and so finally Daddy relocated the little frog to a less populated area (which made Mommy very happy and melted her heart a little).

I love this picture of Mommy and me!

This last picture is of the bride and her baby boy, Mason. We helped with Mason, for the wedding night we watched him at his house (Mommy figured that after nine years of courting they deserved a worry free night for their wedding).

Aaaaahhhhhh! It feels good to catch you all up on what we have been doing :) Tomorrow we have a playdate at my house and on Sunday we are going to Dinosaur Ridge! I can't wait to show you the pictures.

Love you all,
Leif

Hiking and Camping: Mommies Only!

Dear Grandparents,
It has been a few weeks! So much has happened I don't know if I can remember it all, so I will just walk you through the pictures and we can remember together :)

These two pictures are just cute ones of me around the house. I finally braved the tunnel and mastered it! But it made me really tired and Daddy had to help me fall asleep.






This picture is from a barbeque that we had.The little boy is my friend Carter, and the girl is Kylee. I want to like Kylee but she needs some help being nice :/

These three pictures are from a hike that Mommy and I did with Kaitlan and Cale at Red Rocks Amphitheater. It was a mile and a half backcountry...Mommy was tired and kind of sick but trooped right along. I tried to not be too heavy, but you know gravity!












These next few pictures are from a camping trip that Mommy and I took with Kaitlan and Cale...I know brave of them huh?

This picture Kaitlan took of Mommy and me. Mommy was naming things that were up high, like the sky and clouds and trees and birds and...um...that is all I can remember right now.




This picture is at Tiny Town. You can't tell in this one but the whole park was full of tiny houses and buildings that we could crawl into!



Oh good this next picture has one of the tiny buildings in it! Cale was able to walk around inside the church, but seeing as I am not of the walking set yet, I was relegated to things my mommy could do also...which wasn't much because she is an amazon.

Lucky for me my second mommy Kaitlan, who is one of the little people, was able to get me into the tiny jailhouse :)

Whew! What a busy week. We finished it out with some time at home. I finally fit into my Carhart overalls!

My mommy is starting to get worried that I suffer from pica...but she is helping to figure out what doesn't go in my mouth and what does :)

 My puppy dog is starting to pay more attention to me. He is really gentle and patient, which is good because I get so excited that I often hit him in the eyes and pull his hair, I don't mean to but he is just so big and fluffy I can't help it!

Well, that was part one of the catch up blogs. Hopefully my mommy and I can get the next one done very soon!

Love you all!
Leif

Caution: Playdates Might Lead to Developmental Milestones

Dear Grandparents,
Sorry this blog has been so long in coming. We have had a lot going on in the past few weeks. Let's see We got back from Grandpa and Grandma Gundersen's and had a birthday party to go to that Saturday for my friend Kaela. She got some really cool presents, which I enjoyed...



My mommy got camera envy from Kaela's mom, who has a digital SLR camera. It takes pictures that look like this...




Mommy's camera looks like this...





Daddy is going to try and get mommy a better camera with all of the overtime pay he is getting since accepting the new promotion, so when mommy takes pictures of me they will be much better quality :)



Later that same Saturday we all went to the Gates Interactive Fountain at City Park in Denver. Mommy thought the water spouts where very cool and wanted to play in them but I wasn't too sure about all the noise the water jets made and the water hitting me made me cry plus everyone was screaming and running away from it. Very confusing stimulus for this little guy.




Daddy got to come this time too which is always the best time for everyone.




This is after an exhausting day at Ikea and then lunch before heading home. Freakin' sheesh people, that is a lot of stimulation for a baby! Don't get me wrong dear parents, I love my new wooden Ikea toy (I also love my LeapPad that Gpa and Gma Gundersen let me snatch from their house).





Mommy made me this space shuttle which I like to fly around the house and orbit the dog in.

A rare morning with daddy, his schedule is crazy these days.

 

This next picture is from the Butterfly Pavilion. Here I am on a giant caterpillar. 

The next day was a rough one for me and mommy, she was sick and I was grumpy and had a bad case of insomnia.




That night I had a brief moment of clarity and managed to have a good bath and playtime before cashing in that horrible day. 

On my way to bed. (Shortly after this picture was taken my mommy freaked out and vacuumed the stairs on her hands and knees. Silly mommy.)

Yep that is me climbing the stairs all on my own now. I keep over hearing mommy telling daddy that she feels like I am understanding and putting things together in a way that is qualitatively different than how I was previously functioning...I am paraphrasing of course. I think an example of what she means is like when I figured out how the bedroom door worked and tried to show her, but I don't think she was getting it because she just kept clapping and asking me to "do it again" like I am some kind of magician.

Tomorrow we are headed out to camp with Kait and Cale for the night. We will have lots more pictures to post when we get back.

Love you all!
Leif

Pool babes and record highs.

Dear Grandparents,

Well, I am finally not currently ailing from anything. My mommy is relieved and exhausted, she did such a great job taking care of me that I am going to try and be easy on her this coming week (at least, so she hopes).

This weekend Mommy and I went to see Grandpa John and Grandma Nancy in Austin, Texas. But first we had to pack...and I was not being particularly helpful keeping things tidy while she did this. Mommy said that it was alright though because Daddy loves my messes and would be happy to clean it up after we were gone.



I did pretty good on the plane, despite the double ear infection that came on the end of the viral infection I had. The doc gave my mommy some drops that numbed my ears and that helped me a lot. I only fussed a little right before falling asleep...as we were landing.

Grandma and Grandpa's house is so much fun! There are a million carpets for me to push around and explore under :)

We didn't have any plans when we got here, just a relaxing weekend by the pool. My float was waiting for me :) Hello old friend...


Grandpa was the first one to help me explore the waterfall.


Here I am with Grandpa, you can definitely see the family resemblance!


Mommy is helping me figure out the splash ball.


Not sure what I was yelling about..



I couldn't help but crawl up onto the rocks, above the splashes which kept getting me in the face, to play on the waterfall.


Here is one of the new outfits we got. Grandma and Grandpa helped outfit me for the next size clothes that I am swiftly approaching.


On Sunday we were supposed to go get lunch and walk around shops, but the economy, being in the shit hole that it is, caused a lot of the small businesses to close down and there wasn't much to see, so we ended up spending three hours sightseeing from the car. I did not do well with this, though my mommy tried valiantly to keep me occupied.


After that long car ride it was time for some more pool, unfortunately I was pretty tired and cranky so I didn't have smiles unless I was by mommy :( oh well, this is still a lovely picture with my grandparents.


And last, but not least (Mommy had me put that) is a shot of me playing on the shallow step.


Tomorrow we are headed home, back to normal summer temperatures in the 90's and out of this record breaking heat in Austin. They are in an all time record breaking heat wave, day 47 today!

I am looking forward to the airport tomorrow because Mommy has a new hiking backpack for me to ride in :)I will make sure someone takes a picture.

To all of my grandparents,
With love,
Leif

Wet butts and dry rashes...

Dear Grandparents,

Hello :) There has been a request for me to start writing my own stories again by one of my grandmas, I can't promise I will be able to every week but I will do my little baby boy best.

This first video is of this week's walking attempt. It pretty much typifies my abilities to date. I am frustrated at my lack of balance and when I tell my right foot to move and the left one stubs it's toes on the ground instead :( But, fear not! I am facing my fumbles and just keep trying, through all the bumped heads and bruises, I keep getting back up.

Here is a picture of my new friend, Rayne. She is one month younger than me, but could kick my diapered butt! Oh! You can also see my teeth on this one :)



Shortly after that picture went down to the river play area, mom tried to keep me out of the water and just get my feet wet because we had no swimming suit or change of clothes, but...

As you can see I managed to plonk myself right down and play anyway. I spent the rest of the outing naked, I kept hearing mommy tell people not to "judge" her and "of course he has sunscreen on!" so I just kept smiling and giggling to help let people know that I was having a great time.



Thursday was a playgroup at the community water park in Brighton. This is me on the lazy river, it was so soothing...until the wave maker kicked on, and then it was fun until the second lap when I bonked my head on the sidewall...mommy says it will be lucky if I can remember my own name by the time I am five...



That Rayne girl is always all over me! She pulls at my hair, but I get back at her by grabbing at her teeth. It's all flirting though and I might have been caught kissing the top of her head...maybe. I am still denying it though.



Who is that goofball? Nah, just joking, it's me.



That is when the fun ended...I spiked a fever for the next three days. Doc said it was a virus, my fever broke on Sunday, and a rash broke out, the end of the virus. Now I might have an ear infection, but I might just be getting over one, either way it should not interfere with our trip to see Grandpa John and Grandma Nancy, keeping my fingers crossed that the doc visit tomorrow is an all clear instead of antibiotics.

Anyway these pics are from my first diagnosed illness, Hand foot and mouth disease, you were a worthy foe! Here mommy is trying to cool me down during a high fever, with a frozen fruit pop.



"No, seriously, no more milk, dude."



Engrossed in Blues Clues in a rare kid show appearance on the TV, mommy said being sick is the only time she feels really comfortable letting me veg out.



And this one was just for you, mommy asked me to smile for my grandmas and grandpas and this is the best I could muster.



Talk to you all after my trip to my Texas dwelling grandpa and grandma's swimming pool...I, I mean, house, mommy said I mean house. ;)-

To all of my grandparents,
With love,
Leif

PS. I am officially 18 lbs :)