More summer updates

Here are some more recent pictures of Erica enjoying her summer.

Erica's first Rockies game was part of her Grandpa I's Father's Day celebration. Her Grandma I bought her a little Dinger.

Erica's mommy bought her a Rockies hat. She wasn't so fond of it, so we had to snap a picture quickly to capture her in the hat.

Erica got hauled around in her wagon for the first time in awhile, and she made a funny new face as mommy and daddy sped her around the backyard.

Here you can see the pure joy of being wagoned around our bumpy back yard.

Erica got to go to the beach (Bow Mar lake beach) for the first time last weekend. She loved it! Here she is playing in the sand.

Here she is sitting and splashing in the water. It was a beautiful day.

Erica found a big stick to play with. She also was almost within touching distance of the resident beach goose. There are no pictures of that because mommy was pretty sure the goose was trying to eat Erica.

Here's our kiddo walking around in the water with her stick. What a cutie!

Here's our little girl walking around the park after lake time was over. Isn't she adorable in her little suit and Crocs? She's also quite the workout, chasing her around outside!

Wow, it's been a month already

Wow! A month between blog posts. Bad parents! Shame on us.

First off, we have some shots of Erica and (G+G)L's house on Father's Day. We had brunch at their house, and then went to their neighborhood pool.

Here's Erica holding daddy's hand on (G+G)L's back porch.

Here is Erica at the pool. The kiddy pool was too deep and she tried to drown, so she spent most of the rest of the day hanging out on the safe dry pavement.

Here is Erica anticipating her first fireworks. She LOVED them, which is proof that she is momma's kid.

Erica, momma, and (G+G)I all went to fireworks together. Here she is with grandma and grandpa anticipating all the fun to come.

Oh, but what we didn't know was that the adorable "oooos and aaaahs" of fireworks were NOTHING compared to the glory of GLOW STICKS.

In the last month Erica gained an aunt when her Uncle M got married! Here Erica is with her daddy at the church. Aren't they cute?

Another shot of Erica with her daddy. It was a beautiful wedding!

Erica has also started to love playing with the water. Guess what happened right before this picture?

Erica knows that water to fill the watering can comes out of this thing, but she's still not sure how to make it work.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

One year olds are a lot of work!

Oh lordy, a one year old is hard to keep up with. Even harder, is keeping up with a blog when you have a one year old, job interviews, funerals, father's day, hand foot and mouth disease, and a wedding to attend! The Levenes have been busy. So here are some updates.

Since last blogging Erica has graduated to the next room at daycare and started walking She's talking and has the huge vocabulary of "mama", "giraffe", "ball", "bubble", "da" (as in "what's dat?"), "da" (as in "dad"), "hi", and "uh-oh". She'll also sign "more", "milk", "cookie", "cheese", "eat", "bird", "all done", and something that means "up". Like I said: crazy month. So here are the pictoral highlights from the past month or so.

Yeah, mom didn't really have any long sleeve shirts that fit me, so I'm wearing a halloween shirt in May while I tip my hat to you.

I love this picture, this shirt, and not the horrible hole in our couch. Dumb cats, but a cute baby!

Peek-a-boo!

Some of mom's friends joined us for a walk at the park, and they brought me presents! Here's mom assembling my very cool car!

The walk was exhausting, and I fell asleep sucking on the cell phone from my new car. It was a fun morning.

Here I am with my friend Elise at a concert at the Botanic Gardens. We loved it!

Now that I can walk, my mom puts me in dresses all the time. They are easier, because she doesn't have to put pants on me. Pants are difficult.

Don't I just look like trouble? Really really cute trouble?

Proof that I am my mommy's child. Look how much I love fabric!

This is one of the reason's I love Grandma Ivy's house. Jim the cat lets me crawl all over him!

Me and Grandpa Ivy on Father's Day. We adore each other!

There are still more pictures, updated weight charts and videos to come. At least it's a start to getting caught up. More soon!

Birthday Party!

Well better late than never! Here are pictures from Erica's first birthday party!

"Isn't anyone coming to my party?" asks the patient, lonely birthday girl.

Well my grandpas came!

Reid and his family came! Reid really liked my slide.

Oh here is a perfect shot of what Erica's life is going to be like as the sole little person in the family: gifts galore, and the center of attention!

Hey, who is this kid in my new wagon with me? Reid was ENAMORED with Erica, but Erica didn't really reciprocate. I don't think she likes having to share the attention.

The family in attendance at the birthday party.

Erica, mommy, Reid's mommy and Reid.

And of course, we had cake again!

Actual Birthday

Here are the promised pictures of Erica's actual birthday. Since tomorrow is her birthday party, I wanted to get these posted before the big day so there is no confusion about what's a birthday picture and what's a birthday party picture.

Erica on the front porch before she heads to day care. Yes, Mommy made her wear a "BIRTHDAY GIRL" shirt all day.

Erica opening up her presents from Mommy and Daddy.

Mommy and Daddy each took the afternoon off from work so we could go to the Denver Botanic Gardens for Erica's birthday. Beware the enormous dinosaur in the background Erica!

Erica and Mommy being silly at the Gardens. We love dinos!

Erica and Daddy in the tulips. "Tiptoe through the tulips with me..."

Erica resting on a bench at the Gardens.

Erica's "birthday cake" with her one year old candle (elephant shaped, Erica picked it out.)

For those of you unfamiliar with infant sign language, this is Erica's sign for "more". "More birthday please!" Okay honey, we'll do it again tomorrow!

Happy Birthday!

More to come, but here's a sample from Erica's first birthday! Gotta love cake!

Longer Video

Okay, here is a longer video of Erica dancing, and then kinda walking. Soon we'll have a video of her walking by herself, since she took her first solo steps yesterday! How exciting!



And another older video that I think shows that Erica is her daddy's child, and has no love for referees. (I'm talking in this one. It's only fair that Nate and are both embarrassed by this post!)



4 days to the big FIRST BIRTHDAY. Wow...

Learning to Walk

Here's a short video of Erica walking with her stroller. She's not doing the solo walk yet, but she's pretty good with the stroller, as long as she doesn't have to turn.

Happy Earth Day!

This post has nothing to do with Earth Day, it just happens that I'm posting on Earth Day. Here are a slew of Erica pictures from the past few weeks. (Oh, let's be honest. Pictures from the last few months.)

Erica at her Great-Grandma Emily's 90th birthday party. After being held too much, Erica and mom spent some time on the floor crawling under tables.

Just a random shot of Erica trying to get the camera. I love this picture!
Umm, honey, you have a little something on your head. Just a little something, right over there.

Erica had a horrible stomach bug one week, and this is from an afternoon when the only way she would eat was if she fed herself with the spoon. Lovely. Apple blueberries everywhere.

Mom took this picture of Erica and herself. That is the face of a mom who loves being hugged by her baby, and isn't so thrilled that she is now covered with apple blueberry glop. (See previous picture.)

Erica at her first Passover. She did love Matzoh, but is eating puffs here. (Puffs are leavened, so this isn't quite kosher...)
Erica's first Easter basket from Mom, Dad and the fuzzy Easter Monster.

Erica systematically digging through her Easter basket. If you look closely, there actually is a bunny in there.

Erica and Grandma Dyanna with silly bunny ears that she got from her friend Reid.

Ah, the latest in Erica hates the holidays series. Mom waited a little to long to feed her, so Erica had a meltdown. Reid is calmly trying to figure out what's wrong with the girl sitting next to him.

Erica on daddy's shoulders.

Erica practicing her standing on the cage that protects the TV.

Erica drinking from a straw at the New York Deli News. She had brunch with Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa. She even got to order off the kids menu!

Erica on Earth Day. There, now the post has something to do with the title (for those of you who made it this far.) Happy Earth Day. We are all caught up on Little Levene's adventures for now. Oh, except I still owe all those graph watchers an update before the big one year mark!