11 months!

Hello everyone! I'm now 11 months old.  I've gotten to be quite the chef in the kitchen.  With all this Christmas cookie baking going on at our house I decided to join in the fun.

 

Oops I got caught licking the beaters......



I got to eat my first Christmas cookie.  It was pretty delicious.  Remember how my sister Megan is usually the "photo bomber"?  Well she's also kind of the "video bomber" too.  I may never need to learn to speak because I have my own spokesperson.

The play room has become my favorite place to play.  There are always so many things to get into, so many bins to empty, so many things to put in my mouth...

I usually flash these eyes at Mommy and I can get away with so much!

 

I have figured out how to make my little Pooh car move.  I really need to work on my steering skills.

I spend most of my day standing on whatever I can find.  I found my soft blankie and played a rousing game of peek-a-boo.  I am walking along furniture and starting to stand on my own for a few brief seconds.  I am getting braver everyday.  I'll be walking in no time.  I seem to be the only one excited about that (well except maybe for Megan!).

It's pretty cold here in Minnesota and it requires lots of bundling up. My bear hat is generally pretty popular with people, although there is one little kid at preschool that always yells, "Oh no a BEAR!" every time he sees me.  It was funny the first time and now is getting a little old. 

I got to go see "The Day in the Life of an Elf" at Macy's for the very first time!  Usually Daddy and Megan get their picture taken in front of this every year but I got to join this year! 

I really enjoyed the Elf exhibit.  It was like walking through one giant baby toy full of lights and music! It was enthralling!

I wasn't, however, that interested in this guy Santa Claus.  Megan says he is nice and brings you presents but I'm not buying it.  He was pretty scary in my book.  Maybe I'll feel differently come Christmas morning.

My Nana and Papa surprised us with a visit for Megan's birthday.  It was lots of fun to have them here.  I thought I'd get on their good side and picked out my Michigan sweatshirt to wear.  Mommy was holding me and looking through my closet for my clothes for the day and I reached over and pulled this off the hanger. 

While Megan is at preschool, I get an all access pass to the play room with no restrictions.  It's awesome! 

We opened our Christmas presents from Nana and Papa.  I am new to this idea of opening presents, but not new to the idea of ripping up paper.

The present was pretty good..but the paper ripping was pretty sweet!

Megan and I after opening our presents. 

Megan had her 5th birthday party on Saturday.  I haven't been involved in too many parties yet so this was pretty fun. 

I even got to enjoy a little birthday cake.  Megan really wanted me to try her cake.  She asked Mommy a couple weeks ago if I could have a "really tiny piece."  I thought she could have just said "a piece".  No need to be tiny!  I thought I could use a little practice before my big 1st birthday next month.

Nana, Papa, and I before they left on Sunday.  They flew out to see the rest of my cousins for Christmas.

 And adding Megan into the mix!  What a nice visit we had. 

 

What else can I do at 11 months?

• I am eating more table foods.  I really really hate 3rd foods.  I don't like chunky things in smooth purees but I have no trouble eating little pieces of cheese, chicken, gyros, rice, pasta, etc.  If I take a taste of 3rd foods I gag and throw up.  Mommy is officially done trying to give me 3rd foods. 
• After my November flu bug I got a December cold.  We are all hoping for no named illnesses in January.
• My sleep has improved greatly in the past week.  Mommy hesitates to write this in fear that I will go back to my shenanigans. 
• I still only have 2 teeth! 
• I can clap and shake my head "yes" or "no" but not always "appropriately"
• The cats are still my BFFs.  They would not categorize me as their BFF but I love them dearly.
• We were in a car accident recently.  Everyone was fine.  I got scared and cried but no one got hurt.  I got a new car seat out of the deal and so far seem to like it much better.  I haven't done my stiffen-my-body-so-you-can't-get-me-buckled-in thing yet with the new car seat.  Time will tell..

I'm excited for my first Christmas!  Merry Christmas to all! 

Ten Months

Hello everyone!  I turned ten months old this past week.  Mommy started piano lessons with me.  I excel at pounding on the keys and grinning! 

Now that I'm getting to be such a big boy I can play with my big sister.  This sometimes goes well.  Megan gets upset with me when I put her toys in my mouth and get my drool all over everything.  She also isn't too keen on sharing although she always tells ME to share.  Thankfully I've still got that "he's just a baby" excuse going on so I get away with a lot more than my sister. At this sweet moment we were playing nicely.  I was the customer at Megan's restaurant.

My favorite things to do these days are stand up and try to play with anything that doesn't resemble a toy.  I like to get into mischief!  Mommy bought these nice bumpers for the fireplace but I just like to take them off.  Mommy is hoping that the one time I take a nose dive into the fireplace that I find the spot where the bumper is still attached. They need to make these more sticky! It's way too easy to remove.  And check out my space monkey jammies. It doesn't get any cuter than that.

Last week we had baby dedication at our church.  There were 21 kids dedicated to the Lord!  Since I'm a "Vance" and it went in alphabetical order, we were unfortunately last.  I got pretty antsy! 

Me listening intently to Pastor Brett.  I wanted to make sure my parents weren't making any promises they couldn't keep!

Grandma and Steve took me home because Mommy and Daddy were in charge of children's church that day and I couldn't go to nursery because I was sick.  <More on that later!>

I have taken a lot of baths in the last few weeks.  I got a nasty tummy bug that would not go away.  That meant lots of trips to the bath to clean me up.  I went to the doctor twice in addition to many phone chats with the doctor and a trip to the Children's hospital lab for some tests. All tests came back negative for all the weird things it could have been (parasites, salmonella, etc).  I've been on a special lactose free diet (as well as some other restrictions) and am finally better.  We are all so thankful. Through it all I stayed pretty happy although not as giddy as I usually am.  This bath day was a few days ago when I was all better and back to my splashy silly self.

I'm always climbing up to standing. I figured out how to stand up in my crib even in my sleep sack.  I'm starting to walk along furniture.  I can climb the stairs with lightning speed..especially if I'm chasing a cat or my sister.

When you are 10 months old and you have a big sister...this was bound to happen.

I must say, I do like this hat! 

What else is new?

• I lost a little over a pound during my sickness. Now that I'm getting my appetite back I should be making up for that in no time. 
• I haven't been trying new foods also due to my illness.  It's been a lot of rice cereal and applesauce.
• My sleep has been pretty bad with being sick.  When I get up, I like to stay up for 1.5-2 hours  This past week while Daddy was in California for work I was nice to Mommy and slept all night one of the nights.  I also slept all night last night .  My parents are hoping to have more of these! 
• I can say kitty! It may not sound exactly like "kitty" but I definitely make the same "kitty" like sound whenever I see the cats.  They are really my favorite.  I just grin and giggle when they are around and I really want to pet/grab them at all times.  The cats so far have been very patient with me and I haven't been bitten or scratched yet. 

Little Man (9 months)

 

 Hey everyone! I'm now 9 months old.  I thought it was high time that I started dressing more like Daddy.  In my plaid long sleeved shirt and dark jeans I'm sure to look like a Boston Scientific employee!  Actually on this day it was school picture day at Megan's school.  It was convenient that it came around the time I turned 9 months so I participated in school picture day too.

 The weather has turned chilly and I've gotten to try out my new cold weather clothes.  This was  cool shirt I got as a baby gift.

 It says Andrew on the front.  And I love my "You are My Sunshine" book.

 This is my warmer jacket. We haven't gotten to ridiculously cold yet so this is my in between jacket. I look so cozy with my furry jacket with ears!

 

Showing off my wild hair.  It hasn't calmed down yet...................................

 

 The big news of the last few weeks was my 2nd airplane trip.  This time we went to visit my Nana and Papa. Here is me looking happy on the plane.   I think this was about 5 minutes into the flight. You will notice there are no other pictures of me on the plane.  There wasn't much in the way of happiness to document. I was not the best flier.  The problem was I needed to take a nap and there was no cozy crib to sleep in.  My mom thought I should just fall asleep in her arms.  Yeah right.  I fought it as much as possible and eventually gave in and slept for about 45 minutes.  The plane ride home was a bit worse in terms of crying but I did eventually sleep then too.

 My time actually in Texas was fantastic.  There were always plenty of people to pay attention to me.  That makes me happy!

 I also got to relax in the pool............

 I even got a little pool play time in.............................

 Daddy and I in the hot tub. No worries, it wasn't heated to hot! Just warm.

 This is me enjoying a graham cracker.  It's one of my favorite snacks.

 It's sort of a Vance right of passage to get one's picture taken with the Michigan bear.  I was a big fan.

 Just Papa and me!

 On our last night we went to a Texas BBQ restaurant.  I didn't have any BBQ but everyone else thought it was good. 

 And back home again... notice we're back in sweatshirts! No more short sleeves. 

 My newest trick...standing.  Once I figured out how to pull myself up to standing, it's ALL I want to do now.  I will climb on anything get up to standing.  I especially like climbing all over my mom.  This gets old for Mom by the end of the day.  By the way, the pack and play becomes my personal jail several times a day when Mommy needs to do something and needs me to be contained.  Thankfully it's on wheels and most of our main floor is wood floors so it travels well. 

 Mommy is hijacking my blog to show off her fancy cheese ball she made.  It has nothing to do with me because no one let me have it.  I heard it tasted good along with being festive to the season.

 This was Megan and I cheering on the Vikings when they played the Packers.  Apparently after we went to bed the Vikings really collapsed. 

Time for cute Halloween pictures! Megan and I went to Toddler Tuesday's Trick or Treat party and met our friends Clara and Isaac.  We all had fun and all of us managed to eat lunch too.  An amazing feat when the kids out numbered the adults!

 

Cinderella and Lion!  We had lots of fun trick or treating.  I only went to a few houses.

 So cute and cuddly...and not that ferocious!

This is me trick or treating.  Megan was my spokesperson since I can't actually say trick or treat.  I only say Maaaa maaaaa and Daaa Daaaa .  Maybe next year I'll be saying twick o tweet!

Mommy loves this outfit.  She says it's so cozy and reminds her of something you'd wear at a cozy lodge.  It's a long sleeved onesie that looks like long johns with bears on them. 

What else is new?

• I had my 9 month well baby visit.  I was 22 pounds 6 ounces and 29 3/4 inches tall.  Head was 18 inches.  My height/weight really jumped! I've always been around the 50th percentile for everything. Now I'm 90 and 95th for height and weight and 75th for head.  In comparison my sister was 30 inches and 23 pounds at 1 year.  I'm a big boy! 
• I'm still doing a very fast army crawl.  I haven't figured out how to crawl on my hands and knees but I have the right back and forth motion.  I just need to pick up my tummy and I'll be off to the races.
• Like I said before, I can stand up now. In the last week I've gotten really good at it and am starting to figure out how to take steps using objects to guide me along. 
• I'm a smiley happy guy most of the time. Whenever someone takes out a camera I immediately give a huge grin.  I'm an easy subject!
• As far as sleeping I still go to bed somewhere around 8.  Some nights I sleep all the way until 7 am and others I wake up usually around 4, talk and talk and talk until someone gets tired of my talking.  Then they change my diaper, give me 4 oz, and put me back to bed. I drink that in about 2 minutes and settle into my crib and go back to sleep. 
• I love to babble.  As I mentioned earlier I can say mama and dada.  Mommy is thrilled that I said mama fist.  All of her hard work of saying "mama" in my face since birth has really paid off.
• My sister has taken a new interest in her old baby toys that were passed on to me.  I've started to fight back when she gets in my space with MY toys.  I'm learning to stand up for myself. 
• I really love the cats.  If I see them, I take off crawling toward them.  If they are sleeping peacefully on the couch, I pull myself up to standing to try and get my hands on some fur.  whenever I feel fur, I just crack up laughing.  The cats, so far, have been very patient with my antics. 
• I am still a great eater. I tried pieces of sweet potato today (vs puree).  I still enjoy picking up pieces of cheese, cheerios, graham crackers, crunchies, etc.  I no longer like Gerber puffs which is disappointing to my mom since she bought a Sam's club pack of them.

That is the update on me!