Holiday Traditions in the South Bay

 This past weekend we celebrated the Christmas season with good friends. We attended the 1st ANNUAL Christmas party at the Smarts on Saturday night (it's a tradition now, right?!) and got to see Santa drive down their street too. We had yummy goodies, played with the kids and enjoyed the 80 degree December weather.

The creative group shot. 

Dave and Levi sneaking snacks over the kitchen counter.

Moms & Babies
And yes, it's in height order, thanks for pointing that out Becky! Next time I'm wearing my heels!

The Lockridge family with Santa (Take 2)

We're still trying to get that group shot of the three kids...

Festive Levi with his hands in his mouth. (What's new?)

We also went down the Manhattan Beach pier to watch their annual Christmas fireworks show. For the first time in our 5 years of trekking through the madness down to the sand, the weather was actually pleasant and we didn't even need to bundle up. I LOVE December in the Southbay! We had lots of fun celebrating here with friends before we prepare to head up North for holidays with the families. Our first Christmas as a family of 3 is getting closer! Yay!

A Special Visitor

As we were giving Levi a bath last night we heard a major commotion outside. There were sirens and police lights and a person yelling through a police bullhorn. While we do live around a lot of people we're not used to those kinds of noises so I asked Dave to run downstairs and check it out. 

This is what he saw. Police cars, Fire trucks, lights and people galore.

Then he figured out what was really going on. It wasn't our crazy neighbors across the street again, it was SANTA CLAUS!

So Dave ran back upstairs and told us to hurry. We grabbed our naked boy from his tub, threw on his cutest Christmas pajamas (thanks again Rhonda & Rene!) and ran outside so we wouldn't miss seeing Santa drive by. But then the coolest thing happened... Santa stopped right in the middle of the street and waited to take pictures with all the boys and girls in the neighborhood!  Apparently this is something that the city of Redondo Beach does every year through every neighborhood as a fundraiser for the RB police and fire departments. So they had a professional photographer taking pictures and gave us a card that we could go online and purchase the photos, all for a great cause. So here is Levi's first visit with Santa Claus and we didn't even have to go to the mall!

Happy 1st Christmas Levi!!

 

Thanks Redondo Beach Police & Fire departments for giving us a fun surprise for our Saturday night!

4 Months

We had our check up and two more shots on Tuesday of this week and he's doing great. He weighs 16 lbs. 10 oz. and is wearing mostly 9 months clothes. He's about ready to grow out of his infant car seat so it looks like he's getting a big boy car seat for Christmas! He seems like such a big boy that sometimes I feel like he should be up and walking already and we have to remind ourselves that he's still little. Recently he's really enjoyed using the exersaucer and fell in LOVE with his bear (thanks Rhonda & Rene!). He's getting pretty good at sitting with our assistance and can even go a few seconds on his own before he topples over. He loves to stand and if we're holding him he wants to be facing out because he wants to see the action. He's super social and has a smile for anyone who gives him some attention. We're so in love with this little guy and he brings so much joy into our home. Can't believe he's been here for 4 months already! 

Usually he's a pretty happy guy but we've had a couple of rough weeks. He hasn't been eating as well, which means he's eating more often, which means he's not sleeping very well, which means that his mommy is TIRED! :) The doctor seems to think that he might be dealing with some reflux issues and put him on a prescription. It's been a few days now and I haven't really noticed an improvement so we might have to go back in and see if there's something else going on. He's just not acting like himself which leads me to believe that he's not feeling great. We'll figure it out but we're still new at this whole parent thing so it might take us a few tries. 

He constantly has those two fingers in his mouth right now so his new nickname is Levi Two-Fingers. :)

Other than that life is good and we're loving being parents. We had a great week at home getting to spend time with family and letting them love on Levi too and we can't wait for all the fun and firsts this next month as we get to spend Christmas as a family of 3!

Levi's 1st Thanksgiving

It's so nice that both of our families live close together so we don't have to split up our holidays. Instead we're able to spend time with both sides every holiday and we get to have the best of both worlds! We started our Thanksgiving celebrations in Atwater with Dave's family on Wednesday night. We had the usual big turkey dinner and enjoyed warming up by the cozy fire. It was also fun to be there for Charlie & Christina's first Thanksgiving as a married couple. I've said it before but we're so glad that Charlie picked her and we're so glad that they're back in California! 

Trying to get more laughs with Uncle Charlie.

Staring at beautiful Auntie Christina.

Captivated by the fire place with Daddy.

Then we drove up to Modesto early Thursday morning to run (ok, walk) in the annual Modesto Turkey Trot. It's officially a new Harden Family Tradition! :)

Getting ready for the race!
Alison, Bryan, Sarah, Brad, Lindsey, Megan & Dad

Sibling Love

Grandpa taking baby duty. (Levi almost slept through his 1st 5K!)

And a follow up breakfast to celebrate our run. (Do I sense another tradition??)

Thanksgiving was a blast and Levi did great through two major dinners and lots of people all around. He's so social that he really enjoys all the attention and cuddles and it's so fun to get to take him home and share him with all of our favorites. We definitely have a lot to be thankful for!

Levi Laughing

We had a few laughs before this but weren't able to capture any on camera. Uncle Charlie wins as the one to elicit the first laughs while trying to be funny. Way to go Uncle Charlie! :)

Playing Catch Up

We went home for 10 days to see everyone for Thanksgiving and had so much fun! It used to be that we could pack our stuff, load the car and make the drive pretty quickly but now everything seems to take longer. (And gives me a greater respect for my own parents with 3 kids to get places!) But we made it and saw lots of people and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Now we're back home with lots of dirty laundry, a fussy baby and a doctors appointment, a sleep schedule to get back on track, Christmas decorations and shopping that need to get done and I'm playing catch up... I have a ton of great pictures from the week and a video that I'm so excited to share but it might take a couple of posts which just might take a couple of days... :)

Right before we left Dave gave Levi his first little hair cut! He had a little bit of a monk hair-do going on with this dark baby hair fuzz so Dave trimmed that up with his brand new hair cutters. Levi did great in his Bumbo seat and now he's looking good! 

Grandpa strapped him in the front seat after church in Modesto while Dave was buckling in the car seat. He looked so big and ready to go with his regular seat belt on! (I promise we didn't drive any where like this, it was just a joke!)

A big THANK YOU to cousin ("Auntie") Julie for letting us borrow some great baby gear when we go to Modesto. It is so helpful to have the swing and a bumbo and lots of other goodies that we don't have to bring with us. This time Levi was able to use her exersaucer for the first time and LOVED it! 

When Mom and Aunties and Grandma are away this is what the boys do.
Uncle Bryan's quote was "Apparently riding the dog like a horse is frowned upon in this establishment!" just like the eTrade commercial with the talking baby. And no, Levi doesn't have any stock tips for you. 

We also went to Fresno to hang out with Uncle Charlie and Auntie Christina. Uncle Charlie introduced Levi to his enormous fish tank and kept him entertained for the entire time we were at their house. He also did something else that was mighty funny that you'll have to wait to see the video of later...

This was just some of the excitement leading up to our awesome Thanksgiving. More on that later!

Thankful

We had another busy weekend as Grandma and Grandpa Lockridge came to town for a few days, we celebrated another 1st birthday and enjoyed another weekend of warm weather. We didn't get very many pictures so we'll have to raid Grandma and Grandpa's camera when we see them this week. We're really trying to take Levi along with us as we do things and go places and he seems to be pretty flexible as long as he gets a really good nap here and there. I'm not sure if he'll always be this flexible but for now we're really enjoying this stage.

With Grandma and Grandpa enjoying the beautiful weather.

Levi has always been a great sleeper- he goes down easily, he naps really well, he goes right back to sleep in the middle of the night- but his mom is definitely ready for sleeping through the night to be the norm not the exception. I think we're inching towards that goal but it sure seems slow going. We've had about four or five nights of 7+ hour stretches and even two nights of 8 1/2 hours, but then the very next day we're back to a random wake up at 3 or 4 hours. We're definitely down to one feed at night so it could be much worse but, boy oh boy, am I ready.

Napping with Daddy. I love his sleeping face!

We are officially gearing up for the holiday season and we're taking off a whole week to go North for Thanksgiving. I'm so excited to take Levi home and share in our very first Thanksgiving as a family of three. We have so much to be thankful for this year that my heart feels overwhelmed so I thought I would write down a few big ones.

-Family- We have the most amazing families in the world. Two sets of parents (and Grandparents now!) that love us and our son unconditionally. They are awesome examples of the parents we would like to be and we're learning a greater appreciation for them daily. We're also so blessed to have my sister Sarah live so close and be such a great Auntie and come and visit and babysit. She is one of my favorite people in the world and Levi is so lucky to have her around. We have loved having Charlie and Christina finally living on the West coast and have loved getting to see them more often this year already. What a fun holiday this will be with them as a married couple. And my brother Bryan is one awesome Uncle too! He always makes Levi laugh on Skype and he's brought around a pretty awesome girl that we've all fallen in love with too.

-Levi- I am overwhelmed daily by the gift that we've been given. I'm thankful that he's here and healthy and that I'm already getting little glimpses into the boy he's going to be. I know I'm biased, but I think he's just the cutest and smartest little boy ever and I LOVE that I get to stay home and be with him every day.

-Dave- Life isn't always easy and there are bumps along the way, but I'm so glad that I chose a man like Dave to go at it with me. He's such a hard worker and provider that I am able to stay home with our son. He is so fun loving it's contagious and he helps me to get over myself and join in on the fun of life. He makes me laugh. Every day. And now I get to watch him become a Dad. What an incredible experience it is to watch someone transform before your eyes. I love Dave and I love Levi but there is something so special about watching your husband love your child. I'm sure Levi doesn't realize how blessed he is yet, but someday he'll know how awesome his Dad is.

My list of thankfulness could go on forever but that's it for today. What a blessed girl I am!

PV Weekend

This past weekend we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and head out to our favorite spot in Palos Verdes: the Trump Golf Course. We hadn't taken Levi on our little hike down to the ocean yet so we packed him up in the Bjorn and brought Hannity (of course) and headed out to see some great views.

Hiking with Daddy

Our attempt at a family picture. On the far right you can actually see Hannity too!

Then on Sunday we went to the Terranea Resort to explore another side of the little cove and have some lunch. That place is AMAZING! It would make no sense for us to go and stay there (and it's costs an arm and a leg) but, wowzers, it is incredible. We had lunch outside with ocean views and then walked around the paths. We even saw a huge pod of dolphins swimming by. If anyone wants to come and visit us we would love for you to stay there so that we can use their amenities too!

After lunch at Terranea.

Then we had our 3 month appointment with the pediatrician and got a couple more shots. He did great, a little yelp and then lots of smiles for the whole office. We were encouraged to stop swaddling him at night because he's rolling over in his crib now. I'm not quite sure how that is going to go over but it's probably time. And then just to prove how strong he is Levi decided to roll over on the table as the Dr and I were talking about his rolling skills. What a show off! He's definitely growing and pretty far ahead in his developmental milestones and motor skills. The Dr keeps asking us who the athlete in the family is and I just laugh and say "well, it's me, obviously!" Haha, I'll claim those chunky thighs but I think we all know where his strength and athleticism will come from. So the goal is to keep challenging him to move and roll and get stronger and stronger. We're so proud of our little muscle man! The Dr also mentioned that after our next appointment it may be time to start some solid foods so we can keep him growing and satisfied. Looks like by Christmastime we may have another new adventure into the world of rice cereal!

One last picture for the Grandmas! :)

Loving bath time and that "other" baby he sees in the mirror.

3 Months!

Levi turned 3 months on Tuesday! These last 13 weeks have flown by and we are loving this time with our little guy. He's getting so big and changing and learning new things every day! I think because all of these milestones happen so slowly it makes them all seem like such HUGE accomplishments. I know I'm biased, but I am so impressed with him daily and I get so excited every time I think he's figured out something new. Here's a little peek at Levi at 3 months:

Levi Daniel at 3 months

We missed our Tuesday doctor appointment because I had the stomach flu (terrible, terrible, terrible) so I had to reschedule and will know his exact measurements next week but until then our scale at home has him weighing in at a whopping 16 pounds!  He feels huge to us and has already doubled his birth weight. And Dave swears that he's also already half my height... we'll see about that but I do think he's pretty long too!

This is what happens when Daddy is around the help take pictures. :)

Levi is getting stronger by the day. He's loving his tummy time and can almost roll from back to front when he's on his playmat. He rolls around in his crib every night but we're thinking it might be a combination of swaddling and his mattress-- either way it might be time to loose the swaddle. He loves to stand (while we hold him, of course) and always wants to be facing out as we carry him around because he likes to watch people and Hannity. He loves when we sing songs and read books and he babbles right along when we talk to him, but that shouldn't be a surprise with parents like Dave and me! 

I know I've mentioned this before, but Levi loves his Dad! When Dave talks or walks around a room, Levi is fixated on him. We are so blessed that Dave works from home, so whenever he can he takes Levi with him or puts him in his bouncer or his bumbo chair and lets him tag along. Here are a few pictures of our "little Dave":

 Adidas shirt and shorts on. Who knew it would be in the 80's/90's in November??

Levi and Dad just getting some work done.

And getting ready in the morning.

He also loves spending time with Grandpa when he comes to town on business.

Month 3 is going to be a big one for Levi as we get to travel home again to celebrate his 1st Thanksgiving with both of our families. We can't wait!!!

Happy Halloween

Levi's 1st Halloween was a blast! We dressed him up to show him off to some of Dave's coworkers on Friday, then we celebrated Kylie's 1st birthday with a costume party on Saturday and rounded out our Halloween weekend with some trick or treating on Sunday. We had so much fun and Levi did great despite the rather elaborate costume we (ok, Mom) picked out. 

Here is our little Levi the Lion's 1st Halloween weekend:

Our little lion

Dinosaur, Ballerina & Lion at Kylie's birthday party

Pretty content in his overwhelming costume

Hanging with Daddy

Levi the Lion

Levi's 1st art project!
They made this in the church nursery today

Trick or Treating with the Smarts
The Lion and the Lamb-- we were subliminally spreading the gospel tonight! :)

All trick or treated out

Finally resting after an eventful 1st Halloween