Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

This year has been a lot of first for us with Vaan, including our first Mother's Day and Father's Day.  Vaan and I wanted to do something extra special for Justin because he is such an amazing husband and father.  Justin does an incredible job working hard to provide for our family and taking the time to be a great dad and family man.  Even at this young of an age, Vaan really looks up to his dad.  As Vaan gets older, the more stressful it gets for him to watch Justin leave for work each day.  He knows Justin's uniform and that it means Daddy-Vaan time is over until the next day.  Justin is our hero and we wanted to show him how much we look up to him and love him.  We decided to do it through pictures.  Vaan has always been Justin's little 'mini-me', so we thought we would add to that!  Here's to you Justin, thank you for all that you do.  We love you more than words can say.

Cheers to Dads, Baby Officers, and Little Snipers!

We Have A Runner at 11 Months

Vaan has made leaps and bounds this month, literally and figuratively!  With walking/trying to run, comes many falls but Vaan has really gotten the hang of being on his feet...all the time!  I think I saw him crawl twice in May.  He wants to be standing, walking, or cruising all day.  I have heard "the easy part is over" many times, but I think the fun is just beginning.  Vaan loves to be outside and explore, which he can do much more of now that he is walking on his own.  We walk to the garden and water daily, we "prune" flowers, aka Vaan pulls flowers off the stem, and we explore all nature has to offer in our yard!

Vaan's mind has also been spinning a million times a minute.  He is learning so much and picking up on thimgs so quickly.  He can show you where his tongue is, where is toes are, and where his fingers are.  He will tell you if he wants more or if he is all done.  He has also added quite a bit to his vocabulary.  Not only does he say mama, dada, uh oh, and book, he now says ball, car, cool, cold, whoa, 'Eeee' (Erica), go-ga (grandma?), and much more babble that we haven't quite figured out yet!  He loves to play pee-a-boo with you or in the mirror, he will clap his hands to the song "If you're happy and you know it", and will mimic almost anything you do - including burp (Mom is NOT proud of this).  Vaan has not found a blanket or a lovey that he is attached to yet, but in true boy form, he is attached to his toy mustang and drives it everywhere. 

This month we also took our first road trip.  We went to Green Bay for the race.  We switched to Vaan's big boy, fancy new Recaro car seat so he could be more comfortable for the ride.  Vaan did well for the most part.  He got a little antsy, but who doesn't on a 3 hour car ride?  Now that we have it in, there is no turning back with this new car seat; it's in and out for every stop we make!  Looks like we may be consolidating our errand trips!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, each month I do not believe it is possible for me to love Vaan any more because my heart is so filled right now or for life to get any better than it currently is, but somehow it just keeps happening.  I am so happy and proud of the little guy that Vaan is and am all smiles at 11 month.  I will leave you with pictures of our sweet little guy.

Cheers to running, exploring, and growing!

9 AND 10 Months, Oops

Procrastinator Priscilla, Lacking Energy Lisa, and Don't Want My Baby To Grow Up Donna.  Put them all together and you get: AMY!  Every month I have procrastinated on writing my posts a little longer and now I have even skipped a month all together.  Why?  Well, to be honest, each time another month goes by I am very happy to see how Vaan has grown but on the other hand it makes me very sad.  It seems like just yesterday I had this itty bitty baby in my arms and now I am chasing him around the house.  How it is possible that time moves this fast?  Justin and I joke that if time keeps going by as fast as the last 10-11 months has we will be teaching him to drive next.  While 16 is a little drastic, time is definitely moving quickly.  As for right now, we are trying to soak up every moment and enjoy the good, the bad, and the ugly because after all, these days will be gone before we know it.

It has been nothing but pure joy and excitement to watch Vaan grow and learn.  Well, and maybe a little bit of exhaustion :-)  Here is an update of what has been going on the last two months!

Month 9 (March):
Let the madness begin!  Not only has Vaan mastered crawling at this point, but he feels the need to pull himself up on EVERYTHING!  He can easily dig in his toy chest, get at anything on the coffee table, and of course play around his jumper - because who would want to be in it when you can MOVE around it?!  He is also quite the chatter box now saying mama, dada, ball (ba ba), and all other sorts of baby goo's and gaa's.  This month we participated in Shrimp Dip at the YMCA, a mommy and me swim class.  Vaan loves the water and had a great time splashing around and singing songs.  The water, at this point, is about the only thing that wears him out.  We can not wait for warmer weather so we can swim at Grandpa Jim's.  Vaan had another great check-up with Dr. Z, weighing in at a lean 18 pounds, still wearing all his 6 month clothes. Vaan also got his first tooth this month!  The tooth arrived on St. Patrick's day while we were in Madison doing the Shamrock Shuffle 10k - great timing!  The second one came in 3 days later.  The last 'big' event of this month was Vaan's first hair cut!  Vaan sat on Dad's lap and did great, minus the puking episode after the cut - sorry Katie!

Month 10 (April):
We have a brave one on our hands, moving from one piece of furniture to another, racing around the coffee table, and taking a few steps (without hanging on) here and there.  At the beginning of this month he was taking two steps confidently, but then would drop to his knees where he could get anywhere and everywhere much quicker.  He was much more apt to try and walk when he didn't have an audience, or a camera, around (of course).  Towards the end of this month he gained confidence and started trying a few more steps at a time.  He has walked the farthest at this point to Dad.  He must have known Dad was eager for him to be cruising around!  This month Vaan also learned a lot of fun new games.  He will show you how big he is, and let me tell you, he is SOOOOOO BIG!  He also loves to clap, especially for himself!  Vaan has mastered the kick in the bathtub and plays pee-a-boo with anything (including himself in the mirror).  Lastly, he has gotten very good at waving hi, bye, and 'all done'.  Before having Vaan, I never would have thought I would be so proud of someone putting both hands high in the air when I asked 'how big are you?'!!  It's the small things that make life so great each and every day.

I will leave you with pictures from these two months.  I will return to this blog for an 11 month post, SOON!  For now, cheers to living, loving, and growing.  xoxo