And then there were two..

So I guess you can tell that life has been pretty busy with two little ones. Haven't posted in some time because honestly I can barely keep up with Simon. He has what seems to be the energy of FOUR boys. Four boys hyped up on sugar. Seriously. So it's been a blessing from God that our little girl Avery (born December 11. 2007) is just about as opposite as she can be from Simon. A very sweet, content, mellow, quiet little girl. Did I say "little"??? Oops, that is not quite accurate. She's topping the charts and as you can see her cheeks are the smooshiest. So cute. Five months have flown by and she is rolling over and babbling and eating some food and loves loves loves SImon. He makes her laugh and she can't get enough of him. Simon is starting to feel the same way about her. :) We are blessed and growing together as a family. Thanks for your prayers and love. I will post more pics of Avery soon. --Amy

Reunion Tour

Simon and I took a road trip to my hometown of Visalia to visit my friend Megan. We were treated to some unexpected rainy weather and enjoyed some mellow time with Meg and revisiting downtown. It took all of about 1 day before we ran out of things to do, but as you can see, Simon loved his time at Mooney Grove park. There were sadly no more peacocks, but to a 19-month-old, geese are just as great. And what compares to a big pile of leaves in the autumn? Cheers to you for the upcoming holiday season and the expectation of a new baby! Sorry it has been so long since our last post. I have been exhausted these past few months, but I will be posting some more pics soon. Stay tuned...

Disneyland is awesome

New Little Leonhardt

Little Leonhardt 2.0 is due for release mid December.
Looks like a girl this time.

One Small Step

Actually, he took about 7 very easy, casual steps toward me today like he had been doing it all his life. We have a walker! He has been hesitating to walk because it must be very scary to realize that you are upright and mobile and that much further from the ground (further to fall). He is becoming more like a little adult (yes, I know how ridiculous that sounds). He knows how to climb up on the couch and sit next to me and today he kind of put his hands on his hips and sort of shrugged, like, "Now what?" He was clapping my hand when we were waiting in line and I was struck by how strong, controlled, and deliberate his movement was. He is so strong and will be playing sports someday soon. He loves to crawl up on slides and create new ways of going down them (surfing down..), he likes to go back and forth between his two rocking horses and compare how they move, back and forth, back and forth, switch, back and forth, switch, switch. Very silly. He is picky with food but today ate apple slices and yesterday ate frozen peas (one of my all-time favorite toddler snacks when I was little). He has about a million cute, loving, flirty, mischievous faces and tries them out at random, usually when he is playing hide-and-seek from me. he likes to "freeze" when he thinks I can't see him and then slowwllypeek one eye out to look at me, then that sneaky, slow grin. What a cutie pie. That's the news here. Bill posted a video of our "swim" lessons. He likes to see the other kids around and get out to do something fun. He is good at paddling and learning how to kick. I have lots to clean up, but we will post more later.

Kick Kick Kick

Nope, he hasn't started Kung Fu.
He did however start swim lessons this week. Twice a week. He seems to love it, but I think he mostly just likes watching the other kids. He just stares and stares at them. He does really well in the water though. Amy and I looked at each other very strangely when the instructor said, "Ok, now we're going to submerge our babies." It was a weird moment of trusting a total stranger when he says your baby will be okay. But sure enough Simon was fine. I think the kid next to us drank a bit of water during the submerge. He came up coughing with huge wide eyes staring at his mom. Eyes that said, "Don't trust the stranger next time he tells you to submerge me."

All in all it's been a good time. And one of the joys of my job is the flexibility to take an hour in the middle of the day to be at my sons first swim lessons.

Summer is starting soon. Simon will have several new "firsts" next month. First time on a plane, in New York, in the Carribean, etc. We're pretty excited, and very proud to celebrate Julie's graduation.

His top two teeth came in finally. 4 teeth to date.

Big Boy

Sorry it's been too long since I last posted. Seeing Simon every day, slowly growing and learning and changing takes the shock out of just how much he has changed during this rapidly moving year. I can't believe I had a tiny (OK, maybe not so tiny) baby just a year ago and now I have a boy. A big boy. Who likes to slide over things on his belly (including his toy car and his rocking horse) and is quite the detective, eager to learn how things work and is pretty precise with his hands, opening envelopes, putting peas onto a tiny tuypperware lid and carrying them around, turning knobs, petting the cats. He is so deliberate with such a personality. From bubbling laughter to serious stare in a split second. He is fairly independent, but very loving. And it has been amazing and fun to see him become more independent every day. Looking forward to this coming year. Now why don't you take a quick tour back to the beginning of this blog and see for yourself what I am talking about.

Merry Christmas

I did it and here's proof

Thanks for the cookie cutters, Megan. We have a cat, pumpkin, leaf, and moon here for Halloween.

Didnt I tell you?

Two Front Teeth

Well, he got his two front teeth by Christmas!

We've got news!!

Simon's first little tooth is starting to pop (creep) through slowly. You can see the jagged little top and you can feel it, but it's taking it's sweet time. Picture to come (as soon as we can get a good pic of it! hah). Simon seems to be so much more mature with each day (can you call a baby "mature"?) and he is making a new funny face. Actually more of a grimace. It cracks me up every time. He is in a much better mood now that he is over his first cold (though Bill and I are still trying to shake it) and I think he will have a good time dressing up on Halloween. Oh, I won't give away the surprise, but let's just say you'll want to come back and check this thing out again real soon.
Ok, Ok, I know I spoiled it, but it gets much better..I promise!