Odin!

This post is all Odin, as he was cooperative with the camera this weekend.  Enjoy!

He is starting to figure out how things work.  For example, he pulls the green chair and red stool with him to help him climb.  Step 1 - place the chair and stool:

Step 2 - climb onto green chair:

Step 3 - climb onto stool:

Step 4 - kneel:

 Step 5 - stand:

Step 6 - so proud:

Sorry for the lack of posts.  The boys are still cute!

Wrestling is huge at our house these days:

Date night!

Our little superhero had kindergarten round-up today.  Wait.  What?  Yes, he is that old already!

Puzzles and Ely

Finn is still a puzzle fiend, and here is his latest triumph. With the help of his parents on the 500-piecers, Finn completed all of these Disney-themed jigsaws. The 100-piecers are no match for him, and he does surprisingly well on the 350's by himself.

A grand accomplishment: all the "little piece" puzzles done!

So proud, he permitted a photo.

Last weekend, we went to Ely for a winter getaway to a cabin on Garden Lake. Despite ridiculously cold temperatures (-30 on Saturday morning), we still managed to play outdoors and explore the lake and woods. Other highlights included visiting the International Wolf Center and the North American Bear Center.

At Ely's International Wolf Center

One of many bear dens the boys built

Odin's new favorite spot in the house

Odin spends most of his day perched on top of the block-case in our house.  He climbs up there himself using the tic tac toe box thing.  If we move the box after he goes to bed, the first thing he does in the morning is move it back so he can climb.  He also enjoys climbing onto the dining room table, kitchen counters, coffee tables, etc.

The weekend

We went to Spirit Mountain today and yesterday.  Finn thinks downhill is great, Leif doesn't like it ("my feet hurt").  Both wear the ski bum look well and we are excited for lots of family skiing days in Duluth.  When we weren't skiing, we played outside since the weather was awesome!  Video of Finn skiing and Leif singing coming soon.

Haircuts + Cousin Nora

Update!

Sorry for the hiatus.  It's been cold and we were hit with the stomach bug going around.  Nobody has been very photogenic.  To make up for it, we're currently up(down?)loading some video of the boys skating.  Stay tuned for that.  We were also told by a loyal reader that we don't include enough text or pictures of the adults in the family.  Can't help you with pics of Mickey and I tonight, but after the photos, if you're interested, you can read about what we've been up to.

Finn playing his new favorite game - Uno.

Blueberries!  Long hair!

What have we been up to?  Odin is growing up fast.  Leif corrects people if they call him a baby ("he's a toddler").  He can make lots of animal noises, uses a few signs and is tons of fun.  He has yet to sleep through the night, but is only waking up to nurse 2 times as of late.

Leif is a very loving little boy.  He likes to give kisses and insists on a parent sleeping with him at night to scratch his back under his shirt.  He's also very funny and gregarious - definitely the life of the party.  He likes to play with anything with wheels and read books about trucks and dinosaurs.

Finn is going to be 5 soon!  He's a little more shy than the other two, but only in new situations.  He loves to skate, swim, read (especially books about fossils and dinosaurs), do puzzles and play games.  He's getting really good at games like Crazy 8s, Uno, Go Fish, Memory.

Mickey's band was voted best new local band by one of the local papers.  Go Mickey!