Keeping up with the Crawler

It's been a couple of weeks since our last update, and in that time Levi has gone from a novice crawler to an expert. You put him on the floor and he's gone in a flash, often on his way to something that hasn't been "baby-proofed" yet. We're finding that the most effective method of baby-proofing is never having babies to begin with. On to the updates...

Babies change real fast.
Its hard to believe that just a few weeks ago Levi couldn't crawl. I think parents are always excited for their child to get to the next major "milestone", but then when they get there we realize there is no going back. We used to set him on the floor while we both worked out. Now one of us can work out while the other one has to watch him and make sure he doesn't hurt himself....and the downstairs is our most "baby-proof" area! In addition to crawling, Levi also loves going on walks. He sits facing forward now and just loves it, which is great for Mom, Dad, and especially Prince. He is a little daredevil. He tries to pull himself up on everything...his crib, kitchen cabinets & chairs, furniture, the wall...you name it. I don't know if this is the case, but tonight it looked like he was trying to climb the movie shelf (basically a bookshelf with all our movies on it). Courtney wants to buy him a helmet and I'm opposed to the idea, but if he keeps up his Evil Knievel act I might change my mind.

At least we'll be burning calories trying to keep up with him.

Levi showing he's more skilled with a cell phone than my parents.

Getting ready for a walk.

Just chillin' in the stroller.

Rockin' the new dinosaur pj's Mom got him.

Trying to become the first baby to scale Marnie and Ryan's staircase.

On top of all that, Levi has a tooth.
Yep, that's right. Levi is officially teething. We noticed that a little tooth is popping though on the bottom. He's not acting as crazy as I thought, although I guess since he already acts crazy we might not be able to tell the difference. Either way he is really enjoying his teething rings, keys, and homemade "chewies" (frozen washcloths).

There's nothing quite as refreshing as a frozen ring when you're teething.

Happy 3rd Birthday Prince!
Prince officially turned 3 years old last week. According to this graph on wikipedia, Prince is about 25 years old in human years. He'll pass us at some point this year. Its a lot of fun having a dog, but really makes you realize how quickly life can go when you see them aging at an advanced rate compared to us humans. Unfortunately for Prince, he didn't get to go out for ice cream on his birthday. He did get some rawhides and almost empty peanut butter jars. Prince is still pretty apprehensive of Levi. Now that Levi is crawling Prince often stays out of the way. If he decides to join us, he'll hide behind us when Levi starts crawling towards him. We hope that someday they're the best of friends, but they're not quite there yet.

RIP, Detroit Pistons dynasty, 2002-2009.
All good things must come to an end. After an unprecedented run of 6 straight conference finals, the Detroit Pistons finally ran out of gas and were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was not a very pretty season. A rookie coach, their franchise player (and my favorite Piston, Chauncey Billups) getting traded after two games for a well-known selfish player (AI), constantly changing rotations, injuries, and old age contributed to the worst Pistons season in almost 10 years. Even though they have plenty of cap space next year, I don't see things turning around anytime soon. I've been known to complain about the Pistons (or even "accidentally" throw TV remotes against the wall and break them), but let's stop and appreciate this team for what they did. I'll never forget Chauncey sinking that halfcourt 3 pointer in 04 to tie the Nets. Or Tayshaun's block on Reggie Miller in Game 2 of the '04 Eastern Conference finals. Or completely dominating a fractured '04 Lakers team to win the championship. Or Rasheed's bonehead play in Game 5 of the '05 finals, leaving Robert Horry wide open for a 3 pointer which turned the series around. I could go on for a while, so I'll spare you and stop here. Regardless, I am truly thankful for the memories. Now if only we had drafted Carmelo or Wade or Bosh instead of Darko...

Don't worry buddy, the Pistons will be good again someday.

Fun with Baby Maya!
I've only had the pleasure of seeing my niece once since she was born, but Courtney and Levi have been able to make some more trips to visit. She is doing well by all accounts and Marnie and Ryan are adjusting to life as parents (and life without much sleep). Its amazing to think that we were in their shoes just a few months ago. Kids really do grow up fast.

Levi and Baby Maya.

If you've made it through that entire post I applaud you. I'll try not to be so long-winded next time.

So Many Updates, So Little Time...

So, it has been a while since I've made an update. Sorry about that. It's been difficult to find the time with everything going on. I'll try to cover all the major events from the last few weeks.

Baby Maya is here!!!
Courtney's sister Marnie was due on April 18th, but apparently Baby Maya wanted to join us a little early. Baby Maya was born today (Monday the 13th) at 3:06 PM, and weighed in at 7 pounds 2 ounces. Levi is very excited to meet his baby cousin!!

We now have a very mobile infant.
Levi started crawling about a week ago, and our lives as we know it have changed forever. Gone are the days of putting Levi on the floor and knowing he won't move. Now as soon as we put him down, he's on the move, usually on his way to something he shouldn't be getting into. The day after he started crawling he also started pulling himself up on tables, chairs, his crib, etc. Operation Baby Proof the House is in full force, but it certainly feels like we're fighting a losing battle.

Sleepless nights are back.
Apparently learning to crawl is also setting Levi back in his sleeping habits. The fun new adventure is that Levi will wake up, start crawling around his crib (screaming the entire time), and then he'll get a limb stuck in between the crib slats and he'll start screaming even louder. Fun times for Mom and Dad.

Someone get me out of here!!!

You wouldn't think his chunky legs would fit through the sides of the crib.

Levi celebrated his first Easter.
I guess that pretty much sums it up. We went to church in the morning, and then over to Grandpa and Grandma Freed's in the afternoon. Levi impressed everyone with his rockin' outfit and new crawling abilities.

Levi enjoyed his Easter gifts from G&G Freed.

Hanging out with Grandma Carla.

Trying to crawl over to Grandpa Terry.

Levi's last moment of being the only grandkid.

Baseball season is underway.
This is the real reason I haven't written in a while. I love baseball. When I was a kid, I memorized the back of my baseball cards, played baseball by myself and even kept statistics (yeah I know, I was a bit of a loser), and watched almost every Tigers game. I even had a radio in my room that my parents would let me use to listen to Tigers games after I was supposed to go to bed. For whatever reason my interest waned as I entered high school and college (maybe because they were just plain awful for so long), but I'm back on board now. I have a much better feeling about this year's team than I did last year. Its still real early, but I'm very excited for another season of Tigers' baseball.

Levi and Mom are pretty excited about the Tigers too.

Fighting the battle of the rake...and winning.
I don't like raking. It's hard work. And even though we have a big back yard, we only have 2 trees that have leaves. That's it. Unfortunately, we have a grove of rather large trees on the other side of our fence that hang over our property and dump tons of leaves on our yard every fall. I didn't get around to raking last fall, so I started a few weeks ago when the weather started warming up. Well, about 6 weeks and 20+ yard waste bags later, the raking is finally done. I can't wait until Levi is old enough to help.

Miscellaneous fun.
Marnie's baby shower was a few weeks ago, and Levi went and met a lot of family members. All reports indicated that he behaved pretty well and didn't freak out even with all the "strangers". He was also able to spend some quality time with his friend Olivia a few weeks ago, as we were finally able to get together with our friends Chad and Lisa Borodychuk.

Courtney and Marnie with some of their cousins.

Now Aunt Marnie has her own baby to hold!

Levi trying to impress Olivia with all his cool toys.

I get the feeling this kid is going to get into a lot of trouble.

He already likes to make faces at us.

This is a sight we haven't seen enough of lately.
And speaking of sleep, I better head to bed before Levi wakes up again.
Until next time...