Here’s an assortment of photos from the past month or so…. sorry I’m feeling too lazy to tell the little story that accompanies each photo.  So, you’ll have to use your imagination.  Levi’s having a great spring/ early summer.  We’re enjoying a lot of time outdoors and looking forward to some summer travels coming soon.  Promise to post some photos again before he’s 3.

Yesterday we enjoyed a lovely Madison tradition- the first outdoor farmer’s market of the season.  While were were there, I remembered that we went last year and Levi was wearing the same coat, so I had to take a comparison photo.

April 2008

April 2009

Yes, he’s grown and changed a whole lot in the last year.

It’s also been one year since Levi’s surgery.  I’ve been thinking about last April a lot the last couple of weeks… not just to re-live the emotional trauma of it (okay a little) but mainly to recognize how the experience changed me as a person and a parent; how it made me stronger, more empathic, and helped me learn to trust my gut when it comes to my kid. I have such respect and awe for  the strength of parents and children who live and cope with ongoing health challenges.  I am eternally thankful for Levi’s health, that we found out about his diaphragmatic hernia when we did, for Matt’s ability to be sane and strong when I could not, for the support we received from family and friends, and for the excellent medical care Levi received.

Kathy

Photos from our Easter weekend trip to Indiana.  Levi very much enjoyed seeing all his grandparents and a bunch of aunts, uncles and cousins.  It was his first real easter egg hunt- he loved it!

Not too much to report from us… Levi is officially 2 and 1/2 as of yesterday.  He’s enjoying lots of things, still loves his musical intsruments, reading books, building with Legos, talking on the phone, etc.  Potty training is going slowly… best results seem to come from letting him run around in the buff for a while and reminding him ot take a break to sit on the potty. Last weekend the weather was nice and we decided to check out the ‘open barns’ at a local farm. Levi loved the lambs and various other creatures that we got to see.  Here are a few photos from the visit.

I setup my drums in the basement  (yes, I have a drum set) and every couple of days, Levi and I head downstairs to jam. He gets the snare drum and cymbals. I sit across from him on the tom toms and the bass drum. He’s a little rock star. Check out this video.

It’s been a long, cold January for us… but we’re getting through and enjoying the slight warm up we have this weekend.  Here are a few recent photos of Levi and his good friend (and daily companion) Henry.

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We enjoyed our Christmas holidays in Indiana with our families.  Here are some photos from both families and a couple from our house as well.  Levi had a great time playing with his older cousins.  Even though he doesn’t see his cousins all that often, Levi seems to be developing nice relationships with them, which is really cool to see.

Matt and Levi enjoying a quiet moment by our Christmas tree.

Levi trying out his new workbench (made by Matt!)

Levi uses his Chrismas break to catch up on his reading- currently he’s enjoying

The Omnivore’s Dilemma

A new trike from Grandma Dorothy

playing with the big boys

The Eberly cousins and Grandma

All dressed up for Christmas Eve- an Eberly tradition

A barn made by Grandpa Homer

Bruno’s Pizza- a Nissley tradition (one that Levi has taken to)

Most of Levi’s Nissley cousins

Reading with Grandma Betty

Back home and rockin’ in the new year!!

Warning: what I am about to say may shock you…. Last night, Levi, age 26.5 months, slept 10.5 hours without waking for the first time in his life! In his own bed. He has been sleeping well for quite a while, but we are still accustomed to 1-2 night wakings and sharing a bed with a toddler for at least half the night. We’ve taken a fairly gentle approach to ’sleep training’. You quickly learn what a heated topic this is when you become a parent- people feel very strongly about their sleep philosophies. We sort of tried CIO for a while when he was under a year and it was a disaster. Since then, we’ve just taken the road of least resistance (with a little gentle nudging and lots and lots of singing). I haven’t found reading any of the ’sleep experts’ very helpful, other than helping me feel that we’re doing something wrong. I don’t know if it is just that we’ve been so used to waking and co-sleeping that it just seems normal or if it really was the very best that we could’ve done for our child. Whatever. We’ve all been sleeping relatively well and it does seem that Levi is still capable of gaining sleep independence- we haven’t “ruined” him for life by letting us sleep with us. I’m not kidding myself, I know that tonight he will most likely be with us around 2am… but it does feel good to have gotten 8+ hours of uninterrupted sleep for the first time in over 2 years!!

Levi has been looking forward to building a snowman ever since we told him we had to put away the sandbox and the digger to get ready for the coming snowy winter… Well, last week he got his chance. It wasn’t much snow, but it was sticky so we made a little snowman:

Here are some photos from Levi’s third Halloween.  Levi wasn’t so sure about the spider costume at first, but got comfortable after I forced it over his head.  He sure enjoyed the treats he got from the neighbors. Unfortunately he now knows what candy is…and had been asking for it ever since.