Loving Leo

Well, it’s a shameful state of affairs indeed that we haven’t written a blog post in so long. It’s been so long that most of Leo’s fans probably don’t even check this blog anymore! Since we missed writing anything about Leo’s second birthday, we decided that his two-and-a-half year birthday was the next big milestone to celebrate and reflect on.  And there is much to celebrate. Leo’s character and personality has remained remarkably the same, ever since he was a newborn.   He’s still a very sweet boy with a stubborn streak, unwilling to do things until he’s ready to (case in point: will not give up his bottle, and will not drink milk any other way). He’s still fun-loving and smiley. And unfortunately, he’s still an awful sleeper (which our pediatrician told us was genetic, and thus has to come from Adam’s side of the family).  In short, he still lives passionately, and as his language has grown by leaps and bounds, he’s able to express himself, especially his likes and dislikes.

So what is Leo liking these days? The most remarkable development has been his increasing interest in music. It’s perhaps the only thing that holds his interest for long stretches of time. In the car, he now eschews his books in favor of listening to music, the same songs over and over until he can sing them by heart (which doesn’t take long).  We enrolled him in Music Together over the summer and fall, and even though the teacher kind of sucked and Leo was uncharacteristically anti-social in class, he loved the music.  He also listens to other kiddy music both old and new, world music (especially songs in Spanish), and the occasional things that we used to listen to when we still listened to our own music. He constantly orchestrates the selections from the back of the car, saying “I don’t WANT that song!” and “I LIKE that song! Again!”  At home, when he’s not talking (which is nearly non-stop), he runs around singing, making up his own lyrics to things and achieving a remarkably near-perfect pitch. His talents definitely skipped a generation, and must come from either the Levinsons or the Regenbogens.

As we learned from recent trips to Joshua Tree and around here, he loves swimming, camping  and the great outdoors (especially the ocean, which, with the exception of seaweed,  he has no fear of), and has taken to hiking.  He can hike almost a mile now unassisted, and pretty much runs the whole way. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s really improved our quality of life!

His capacity for imaginative play has been developing, too–he loves to play “family” with his stuffed animals, give his baby doll medicine (and throw it in the toilet), and create imaginative worlds with his trucks and trains.

Perhaps the most rewarding thing for us, though, has been experiencing how loving and affectionate he’s become. He always tells us that he loves us, and in the mornings climbs into our bed and asks for hugs, kisses and snuggles.  That affection has also extended to his grandparents, who he runs to with hugs and squeals of delight when they are in town.  As two highly affectionate people ourselves, Adam and I are convinced that we wore down his resolve early on my smothering him with kisses and hugs, so that he had no choice but to capitulate.

With a sibling on the way in a matter of weeks, we’re excited and apprehensive as to how Leo will react. He’s been the king of the roost, the center of our household for so long, that it’s sure to be a huge adjustment. But we’re sure that eventually he’ll settle into his role as big brother.

Below is a video of Leo singing a few songs in Spanis. More photos to come soon!

This year was Leo’s second Passover and Easter, and he had a blast at both holidays.  This year we wisely decided to forgo having a seder at our place in favor of “allowing” (strong-arming) our childless neighbors to host one instead.  Three toddlers were present, so the Haggadah was essentially a series of bullet points, but a good time was had by all, especially when it came to “finding” the afikommen. Leo also got to experience two easter egg hunts.  The one pictured above is at the park near our house. Looking at these photos makes me realize the extent to which Adam and I have embraced parenthood.  We not only go to an “easter egg hunt” in a park attended by hundreds of toddlers where all the easter eggs have been placed in a baseball field, but we post the photos of it.  Is that our child in a bouncy structure? Why yes, it is.  Did I really take a photo of that? It appears so.  And hold on, is that a family photo in front of a fire truck? Seems to be.  It’s funny how excited we get by family friendly events and gestures,  like when a restaurant provides crayons or the free balloons at Trader Joe’s.  Even more surprising is how it seems to suit us just fine.

1. ‘I love you sweetie’ (always to mama ; )

2. ‘Wanna hug a bug!’

3. ‘Kiss a fish!’

4. ‘A bunny in carrot car! Delicious!’

5. ‘Amazing race car!’

6. Turning everything into songs (i.e. “change a diaper”) and also singing his favorite medleys (i.e. “Frere Jacques/Las manitos,”  “A,B,C,D/Twinkle twinkle little star”)

7. “Iiiiiaaaaaaannnnnnn” (wailing for his best buddy)

Our trip to La Jolla featured some great cousin, grandparent, and aunt and uncle bonding for Leo, Legoland and the San Diego, and of course the beach. Here’s proof.

It’s been way, way too long since we posted any pictures on the blog, and we hardly recognize the little baby who appears in the last batch we posted. Leo is now very much a little boy, talking up a storm (and often in full, if rather uniquely constructed, sentences), demanding ice cream for dinner, being scared of fans and lawnmowers. Here is a very small selection of the many photos we’ve taken in the past few months:

Mama in 1977, Leo in 2008

It’s impossible to describe how much Leo has changed in the past month or so, and the photos don’t really capture it. He talks all the time now, mostly to order us around: he wakes up saying “all done” to signal he wants to leave the crib, instructs us to get him “up,” points out the trucks and airplanes on his carpet, says “hug” (our favorite) when we bring him into our bed, and then pretty soon is talking about how he wants some num-num. He even points to our coffee and says “kashi,” as if to rebuke us for drinking caffeinated beverages rather than eating bland but healthy cereal.

The pictures below include Halloween, with Leo dressed up as a little newsboy with a just-a-few-days early sign proclaiming Obama’s victory (hell yeah!), as well as some great outings we’ve had in a very busy few months: Leo’s first trip to Austin (the place where his parents met and where his buddy Elliot lives), a weekend exploring Sonoma and wine country with Grandma Patty, and most recently a Thanksgiving trip with his friends Henry, Jonas and their families up to Tahoe.

He also sings a lot (the title of the post is one of his favorite hybrid songs), in a near-perfect pitch he definitely did not get from his parents.

We’ve been very bad bloggers of late and have allowed the photos to really pile up on us. This batch starts with some photos from Leo’s first haircut, in Boston this August. Angelo, the Newton Highlands barber who gave Adam his first haircut when he was a baby, did the honors with the next generation. He kept Leo happy with a lollipop.

Other photos include bathtime with Ian, a gaggle of kids over at Henry’s house, the debut of Daddy and Leo’s matching old man hats, and more.

Leo is running around, having a blast with pine cones, twigs, and all of nature’s other great toys. His favorite words include: bus, thank you (well, ‘da-doo’), bubble, cat, moon, hat, taxi, apple, outside (’ow-side’), and of course, choo choo, which he’s now extended to “choo choo chain.”

He is so much fun.

This year’s summer trip to Newton and Gloucester (followed by a swing through Denver) was even more fun for Leo than last year, because he’s now old enough to really get down and dirty in the sand, the ocean, and the lake, and also to help his cousins Rosie and Gregory tear the house apart. In fact, it was so much fun for him that he decided to start walking and using a lot more words. Along with the perennial favorite “dat!” we also have “moooooooon” (said with that many o’s), “choo choo,” “uh-oh,” “Ro Ro” (for cousin Rose) and many others.

We didn’t bring our own camera, so we’ll be posting photos as we get them from friends and family. This batch, from Newton and Gloucester, are all taken by Grandpa Mike. Nice work, Grandpa!

Summer has always been a busy time for Leo B (well, at least for his first 2 summers in existence) and this year was no exception.  In between our nearly non-stop series of visitors, our nanny went on vacation. Luckily, it was Grandma Kay to the rescue! She flew in to watch Leo for almost a whole week, and even found his nearly non-stop teething-induced whining endearing (uh, ok!).    She bought Leo his very first pair of “walking” shoes, which he wears every day as he tears up and down the block pushing the “Radio Flyer” wagon that Aunt Fran and Uncle Jeff bought him–he uses it so much he’s kicked the wheels out of alignment!   We also took an epic trip to Mendocino to visit our dear friend Scrawnie K, an amazing artist who is doing a residency and teaching at the Mendocino Arts Center.  Who would have thought that having a baby redefines the experience of time, so that a 4-hour long car trip actually becomes 8 hours??  Still, once we got there we had a great time, and Leo’s new passion–the beach–was ready and waiting for him.