Adventures in La La Land

It's that time of year again! Time for the year in review. 2016 has gotten a bad rap, which makes me sad since it's the year Levi was born. Here are some more of the big events of our year: - Lena turned 3 and we threw away her Binky with much less trauma than anticipated. - I made it through the end of a healthy but hard pregnancy. - Levi William was born 2 weeks early on Leap Day (February 29). I got to experience my water breaking for the first time and it was my fastest/easiest labor yet! - Lucy lost her first tooth, followed by 4 more throughout the year! - After a lot of puking, screaming, and an ultrasound at the Children's Hospital to rule out pyloric stenosis, Levi was diagnosed with GERD (reflux) and took Zantac for 9 months to keep it at bay. - Lucy went from sounding out three letter words to reading entire chapter books leaps and bounds above her grade level. - My 16 year old nephew Tayton got a fluke brain infection which required surgery...

Levi is 10 months old today. I'm having a very hard time with this. The final vestiges of babyhood are slipping away, and I'm mourning the end of an era. Alas, here's what he's been up to this month: The big news is that I'm pretty sure he's saying his first word: uh-oh! (That was Lena's first word too. I must say it a lot. Haha.) For a while, he's been mimicking it when someone else says it, but this week he's started to say it after throwing food on the floor or dropping his binky, so I think he means it! He's also finally started to drink out of a cup a little bit. I got him some straw cups for Christmas and he has figured out that if he sucks on the straw, he gets some delicious juice (much diluted)! He still can't figure out any other kind of cup that he has to tip. I've been working on getting him to eat more table food. He's tried lots of new things lately. He loved cheese roll-ups, blueberries, and chili. He tolera...

Well my favorite week of the year is over. I love the anticipation leading up to Christmas. It's hectic and exhausting, but so much fun. And my kids are at such fun ages to enjoy it this year. We had a great, busy week. 1. Lucy had school Monday through Wednesday (half day). Tuesday was her class party. I brought both of the little Ls along and we all had fun. Lena loves getting to do all the big kid activities with Lucy. And Levi loves that I just keep shoving crackers in his mouth to keep him quiet. They were both smiling at me, but then half of Lena's cupcake fell into her lap. Haha. Lucy's class did a gift exchange. 2. Wednesday night was our annual trip to Justin's grandparents' and the Meijer Gardens. The girls were really excited about the gardens this year. And Levi loved all the lights. Looking for the pickle on the German tree. Posing in "the pink room." 3. You guys. I think we might be making a little progress wit...