Little Miss Attitude

Well, it has been a long time since the blog has been updated, and for good reason. If you were the parents of Miss Leah Gwen, you wouldn't have time to update a blog either. As she approaches the 18 month mark, she also approaches a new milestone - getting her own attitude. Yes, it's true, our sweet little girl has a naughty side. She whines, she cries, she throws things, she hits the dogs...she's ready to be a major league baseball player. We're hoping it's just a phase, but if her mother is any indicator - this will be a lifelong trait. Just kidding Dear!

As far as accomplishments go, she's beginning to say thank you and please appropriately (after the tantrum, that is), pray at supper and bed time, and learning new words every day. Some more recent occurrences are being able to put two-word phrases together such as 'one more', 'hi mom', 'come on', and 'where'ditgo'. She has become more daring at the park and is no longer the big pansie we always thought she was. She'll go down the slides and go up the stairs to get to those coveted slides. She has also overcome her fear of the merry-go-round. Swings are still a work in progress.

To keep her entertained at home, Leah got a new Turtle sandbox (thanks Wal-Mart) and a new bike trailer (thanks Target) so mom can tow her around town. She loves going for rides around scenic Le Sueur, Minnesota. It's always a great day in the Valley.

Some fun upcoming events are our trip to Jellystone park in Wisconsin (which is NOT Wisconsin Dells I've been told) on June 6th - 8th. Be prepared water parks!!! Then as soon as we get back from the cheddar state, Leah starts Water Babies three times a week, so dad and her will be in the tank two days out of the week and mommy gets to splish and splash one day of the week. Within a month she'll be doing laps!

That's about it for the world of Leah Gwen. We'll try to keep things a little more up-to-date with pics and happenings in the upcoming weeks and months.

A Baby No More...

Leah is now 16 months old and growing more and more into a little girl and out of the 'baby' stage. She now has more teeth than most elderly people, and is learning almost a new word a day. While she doesn't necessarily have a flowing head of blonde locks, she does have enough so mommy can play around with it either with barettes or pig tails.

I've also noticed it now takes a lot more to keep her entertained. We used to be able to just put her in the middle of the floor and look at her and she'd be happy. Nowadays she wants to go outside and run across the street to the park. Toys get played with half as much as the stuff in cupboards or drawers, and the dogs have no escape from her undying affection for them.

The baby stages will be missed, but there is so much to enjoy right now that we hardly have time to reflect on the way things were a year ago. Someday when we're old and talking about how we survived without a tele-portal, we'll look back at the messes, the stress, the bumps and bruises, and the occassional tantrums and want those times back. Funny how we always want things the way they were but are always looking forward to the next milestone. Sometimes we just need to enjoy the now, and the moments spent with Leah at the top of a slide, building a chair, or having her help me pick up sticks in the yard make me realize how special the time I spend with her really is.


For all the skeptics who thought teaching your kids sign language will slow down their speech development, here's a list of all the words that Leah can say. This puts her in the top 25% for speech at her age. Can someone say Dr. Leah Gwen Robran M.D.?

1. Dada
2. Mama
3. Kace (Kacie)
4. Book
5. Milk
6. Baby
7. Puppy
8. Peek-a-boo
9. Eyes
10. Shoes
11. Pants
12. Socks
13. Cheese
14. Car
15. Cat
16. Hippo
17. More
18. Bear
19. Bumpa (grandpa)
20. Girl
21. Duck
22. Please
23. Bee-bo (belly button)
24. Dance
25. Rock
26. Raffe (Giraffe)
27. Hot
28. Cold
29. Coat

Happy Easter!

Another Easter has come and gone. In looking back at our pictures, it's amazing the difference one year can make. Here's a picture of Leah on Easter 2007 one from Easter 2008:

Today we had a revolution that never would have happened a year ago - we made it through one whole church service without an 'incident'! She was a perfect angel through the entire service, perhaps thanks to the little girl sitting behind us - but we'll take it whenever we can. She loved showing off the dress that Grandma Thoms made for her (the pink dress show above). Thanks Grandma!

After church we went to the big city of Albert Lea to have lunch with Grandpa Loverink, uncles Josh and Brandon, and auntie Chelsea at the Green Mill. Grandma Loverink had to work, sure sucks to be her. We then went back to Grandpa Loverink's house where Grandpa Tom inundated Leah with M&Ms. Great Grandpa and Grandma Peterson also made an appearance, which always spurs a spirited debate between Gaylord "the Crazy Liberal" Peterson, Josh "Everyone's Out to Get Me" Loverink, and Jarrod "Mr. Right" Robran. As always, Mr. Right was the voice of reason. By the time Leah finally warmed up to everyone, it was time to make the trek home.

Hope everyone else had a great Easter. Here are all the pics of Leah's Easter get-togethers.

In Memory of Great-Grandpa Cecil

On March 6th, Great Grandpa Cecil passed away at the age of 83.

You will be missed Great-Grandpa!

She's Growing Fast