Levi Sassafras Hardegree

It's time for another Hardegree update, this time about Levi. You guys are all up to date on his health issues, so this will just be the fun stuff. Just like his momma, Levi is getting pretty sassy, but usually it's so funny that it's nothing to worry about. From what I've gathered, he's a lot more laid back than other 2-year-olds so his terrible twos really just aren't. But let's be real, most of y'all know this already, so let's get to the fun stuff.

Hobbies: collecting rocks (he has several "rock collections" scattered throughout both our front and back yards), singing songs (sometimes changing the words to popular tunes just like his daddy), reading books, helping mommy cook, jumping in place (he can get some air now!), jumping on the bed (ugh...), helping with chores, bonking his head on things, and making sticker pictures.

Interests: Lincoln, cars, construction vehicles, big trucks, bugs, dirt clods, food, animals, selfies, music, the digestive system (he likes me to tell him where food goes...from beginning to end), and why questions (a lot of why questions). 

Levi can now give rockin' high fives, draw a mad circle, make play-doh waffles, and play original songs on the piano. He likes to pick out his own clothes, and I took a picture of a classic Levi outfit for y'all below. He also loves to dance, and to facilitate these dance parties, he makes several song requests (usually for the same song over and over again). Here's are some of the songs Levi has been requesting lately:

• Headstrong - Trapt (I know, I know...)
• Cells - They Might be Giants
• Thank You Very Much - Scrooge Soundtrack
• Inside Out - Eve6
• Y'all Ready for This - Space Jam Soundtrack
• Watching Over Me - On the Rocks (definitely his favorite song!)
• On My Way Home - Pentatonix
• Miss You - Blink 182
• Black Hole Sun - Sound Garden
• Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
• Happy Little Ditty - Shirley Temple
• I Know What You Did Last Summer - Shawn Mendes
• Rockin' Robin - The Jackson 5
• Jump in the Line - Harry Belafonte
• Anything by Pentatonix (He'll just say that he wants to listen to Pentatonix)

As far as developmental stuff goes, he is starting to be able to take his own shorts off, he can use his own napkin to wipe off his hands and face, he can pour cereal into a bowl, he can drink out of normal people cups without too much spilling, and he's really interested in using the big boy potty now. We're planning on doing the 3-day potty training method, so until Justin can have some time off for us to do that, we've started having him go potty in his froggy potty as part of his bedtime routine. 

And now...the pictures:

Check out the outfit...the tank top has a shark on the front. He wouldn't stand up for me to get a picture since we were waiting outside of story time and he was being bashful.

In other news...we have a raised garden in our backyard now!! Justin built it and then we both filled it with soil. Then I transplanted all our plants, added some manure and plant food, and put eggshells around the edges to keep out snails and slugs (because boy do we have a lot of those). Unfortunately, a squirrel dug out one of my rosemary plants, and then when I planted more seeds and refilled the hole, it came back and dug them out again. I don't know what that's about, especially since there's another one on the other end of the bed that he hasn't touched, but it's been a little irritating. Other than that though, we haven't had any pest problems so far, which is awesome. Here are some pics:

I know it's kind of hard to see, but we've got 4 hearty cilantro plants there are the bottom, some basil and thyme in the middle, some parsley running along the top, a sweet pea plant on the far left and a green bean plant on the top right. The rosemary plant is on the far right, but it's tiny still...

I also planted marigolds in the each of the corners to help get rid of bad bugs and attract bug-eating birds, so each corner has a sprinkling of sprouts as well. 

Finally, I've started another batch of seedlings because I'll be thinning out the plants in the garden soon and will have room for more (I mean...I really don't need 4 cilantro plants, so survival of the fittest my friends). The bottom row is Zinnias which I will be planting around the base of our mailbox, and then I have oregano and peppers in the rest. Yay!!

Speaking of mailboxes, Justin put in a new mailbox! Our old one was beige (ewww...) and super tilted. I painted our new one Meringue by Behr. Just picture this with giant Zinnias blooming all around the bottom. Super pretty!

You may be wondering, "But Annelise, why would you paint the mailbox yellow if that's not the color of your house?" Because it will be!! Haha! We've finally got a plan for the exterior of our house and it's gonna be awesome. As we do stuff I'll post it (obviously).