Easter Weekend

We had such an awesome Easter weekend filled with family, friends, parties and food! We got to spend two nights at Charlie & Christina's new house in Fresno, we celebrated my Grandma's birthday (a little belatedly) and finished up the weekend with both sides of the family having an Easter lunch together in Fresno. We had so much fun and Levi enjoyed all the love and attention he received from all his favorite people. 

Here's our weekend in pictures:

Playing with cousins Ashley and Jack.
Levi LOVED trying to keep up with these two "big" kids!

My little garbage disposal. He easily ate his weight in chicken this weekend.

Sarah, Megan, Alison

Crawling in the grass

The birthday woman! Happy Birthday Grandma!

Sisters :)

Grammy and Levi

I love the look of adoration on Levi's little face. He sure loves his cousin Ashley!

Attempt at a family picture

We woke up Easter morning at my parent's house in Modesto and the Easter bunny had visited and left some eggs filled with Puffs and Yogurt Melts. Levi was in heaven! We headed to Atwater to go to Dave's parents' church and then packed up again for lunch in Fresno with the bro & sis-in-law and her side of the family. It was so much fun to have the Lockridges, Hardens and Nordmans all in one place for a holiday. We love them all!

Getting some cuddles with Uncle Brandon

Mesmerized by Uncle Charlie's fish tank

Chowing down on some of Dad's food

I forget the actual head count but there were at least 20+ people celebrating Easter from all sides of the family.

Getting loved on by both his Grandmas. What a lucky boy!

Enjoying some of his Easter treasures

And a new book!

Happy Easter!

We drove home late last night and it's back into the groove already because this is Dave's busy season. We had a blast and are so blessed to get to spend time with our family as we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord. We always feel like these weekend trips are too short and we're sad to go, but I'm definitely looking forward to not having to get into the car to drive somewhere for the next few days! Happy Easter!

8 Months

Levi Daniel is 8 Months Old!

According to our home scale, he's weighing in at a whopping 23 lbs. and growing bigger every day. He's so much fun to be around and has really begun to enjoy exploring his surroundings. He is content to play with his toys, crawl under anything he can get to (the coffee table, kitchen table, chairs, the dog crate...) and he is cruising with the use of furniture and legs and walls and stairs. He certainly doesn't sit still for long! The baby gates have been a huge help but the second there is a door open to a place where he's not supposed to be (the front door, garage door, bathroom door) he is in speed racer mode to the nearest exit and I'm in hot pursuit trying to beat him there. His newfound freedom is so exciting for us to watch but our little baby is still there a bit as he always is looking around for our approval and full attention as he attempts each new thing. He often will get to where he wants to be or do something he thinks it pretty cool and then turn and smile at us as though he saying, "Did you see me? Are you watching? I'm pretty good!" It sure makes my heart happy! He is still eating like a champ and some days I think he puts away more food than I do. He loves anything he can feed himself but is especially loving peas & carrots, blueberries, edamame and any kind of cracker I put in his hand. I don't think we're ever going to have to worry about his eating habits, in fact, everyone keeps warning us about our grocery bill when he turns 16! Daddy gave him another haircut last week (Thanks to Mike & Crista's suggestion about using a beard trimmer instead of full sized clippers. That was a HUGE help and a much smoother and less tear-filled experience.) and he's getting pretty good at the baby boy fade. And I thought for sure he we were going to have to get Levi some baby dentures but he finally is breaking in two teeth this past week. It sure seems to be slow going but there are definitely two little white teeth poking in those bottom gums. Our baby boy is certainly a baby no longer and we're loving his sweet and playful personality coming through more and more every day.

Standing up in the chair while still checking to see if Dad is watching.

New Toys

We had been putting off the purchase of a new backpack for awhile but tried out the Baby Bjorn one more time and realized that Levi was truly pushing its limits. So this Saturday we went to REI and used our co-op dividend check and the handy 20% off coupon and walk away with this bad boy. From the second we tried it on in the store and throughout our entire hike, Levi had a huge smile on his face. He "talked" incessantly and loved being able to touch (pull on) Daddy's ears and hair. We managed to go a pretty good distance and we all agreed this was a great purchase! We're looking forward to many more opportunities to use it in the future.

Crawling, Climbing, Cheering

When Levi puts his mind to something he sure does it! Once he decided to crawl it was on. Now there's not an obstacle that can stop him from getting where he wants. He's everywhere and he is fast! We bought some baby gates for the stairs and those have already come in handy. Now we're just wondering what else is a necessity as far as babyproofing goes? Can we just keep doors closed (like to the bathrooms) or do we need to babyproof the toilets too? We will obviously pull up any cords and plug up the extra outlets but then what else? There are so many schools of thought about babyproofing EVERYTHING or NOTHING but what's a realistic in between?

Here's my smarty pants who figured out that he can stand up in his crib. We've had quite a few days of no/terrible naps and he seems to have calmed down with the standing in the crib except when he's up from his nap. Then he's all smiles and so proud of himself. 

Look Mom! Who needs a nap?

My crawler wants to follow Hannity where ever she goes.

 Last night we drove out to Azusa to watch Fresno Pacific play Azusa Pacific in baseball. Dave helped start their baseball program when he was there a few years ago. This was a great excuse to get out of the house, enjoy the nice weather and, of course, see Auntie Sarah!

Taking a little tour of campus we found this gem of a statue. Cornelius & Levi just hanging out on the Cougar Walk.

We spent a couple of innings in the stands and then pulled out our beach blanket and played in the grass. Levi loved every minute of it and kept himself pretty entertained with all the attention from the crowd, the clapping and cheering, the really great (not so great) music and the GAME! 

Every day with our almost 8 month old is exciting and our lives are so much fuller with him in them. Where has the time gone?!

Monday Catch Up

We've had a busy couple of weeks in Lockridge land. Dave's been traveling for work (and fun) so Levi and I have made quite a few trips North to visit with Grammy and Grandpa. He's been eating new foods,  practicing his crawling skills and dealing with a couple of sicknesses along the way. He's such a trouper and enjoys the car as long as there is someone in the back to keep him company. Here's a few of my favorite pictures of some milestones from the last couple of weeks and a video of his climbing skills...

He's finally figured out how to put his pacifier in his own mouth, unfortunately, he got confused when he wanted to eat his puffs at the same time. Silly boy!

Looking good in Dodger blue!
The hat we bought him (and made him wear at his first Dodger's game) finally fits.

Practicing his standing up and walking.

Uncle Bryan had snacks on the table so Levi crawled to investigate.

Levi finally figured out how to crawl this week! He went from inch-worming his way around, to crawling, to speed crawling in a matter of days. I brought him home and he was showing off his skills for Daddy and headed straight for our stairs. They he proceeded to climb up the stairs. Our lives are certainly going to change and I guess we are past due for baby-proofing the house!

Standing Up

Levi has been pulling himself up to a standing position for a few weeks now, so we thought it was time to get him a toy that he could stand and push. We found this awesome train that has a ton of alphabet blocks and songs and has handles to push and even a caboose to ride on. He LOVES it! It's so fun to watch him learn new things and enjoy his newfound freedom.

Go Dodgers!

Dave drove out to sunny Arizona to watch some spring training baseball and Levi and I drove up North to hang out with my family. I sure wish we were all together this weekend but I know both of my boys are rooting for our Dodgers wherever they are! I love those two!!!