18 month/Christmas Photos

Here are my 18 month pictures that cousin Kristin took a few weeks ago. I added a blog post today as well with an important update (see below). Happy Holidays!

Santa....BABY!

Merry Christmas! This will be my last post before Christmas, so I might as well start off with a holiday greeting! The above picture was our family Christmas card this year. Mommy and Daddy addressed 75 cards and ran out, so we apologize if you didn't receive one this year! Next year, we will make sure we order 100 (jeez!)
We are finally announcing our BIG news. I am going to have a baby brother or sister in June! I say the word, "Ba-bay" and point to Mommy's growing tummy, although I am not quite sure what this all means. When we have been around "Ba-bays" lately, all they do is cry. I usually laugh at them which worries Mom and Dad. I asked Mommy if she was sure I was going to be a big brother, and she showed me BOTH pregnancy tests to prove it. Don't worry, she removed the potty stick from it before letting me play with them. They make fun drumsticks!

Mommy found out on Friday, October 16th that she was pregnant. She took the test while Daddy was in the shower and when she showed him he said, "I knew it!' The irony in this story is that when Mommy found out that she was expecting me, Daddy was in the shower and he responded the same way. Originality goes far in our family! Mommy had a hard time keeping the news a secret from immediate family for a few days. We only told a few people until we knew that everything was fine.

Mommy met with her new OB doctor and they ordered an early ultrasound. I was not able to go to this appt. but here is a picture of the little peanut at just 6 1/2 weeks. Mommy has been feeling really good and the only complaint she has is how TIRED she is. The good news is that she is in her 2nd trimester now, so that should help her get some energy back. She says it sure makes a difference when she has to entertain me all day instead of taking it easy and napping, like she did when I was in her belly!

This picture was just too classic not to share. For auntie's birthday, we gave her a b-day card signed by me and "baby." Auntie didn't catch it at first, but luckily, Uncle Bruce told her to read it again. Mommy snapped the picture just in time. As you can tell, the family was happily surprised! So when is my brother or sister arriving ??? According to the calendar, baby is due on June 20th. According to the ultrasound, baby will be here on June 26th. Mommy thinks the baby will be here on the 23rd, so we will have to wait and see. We are just hoping for a full term baby this time around and Mommy would like to finish the school year so that Heather doesn't have a nervous breakdown with their very difficult class!

Grandma Carla found this "I'm the Big Brother" shirt for me. Mommy attempted to get a "cute" picture of me in it, but as you can tell, this is no easy feat. I don't sit still long enough for a picture these days.

I finally sit down on my makeshift pillow chair, but you can't see the announcement on my shirt... go figure!

Mommy figured she needed to show the t-shirt since Grandma went well out of her way to get it for me. Here is the shirt that shares our big news!

Christmas update: Two weekends ago, we went to our country club for the children's Christmas party. Papa insisted that I went this year, although I was still a bit young for the activities. Here is my second visit with Santa this year (the first one was at the tree farm). Mommy walked me up there and the big guy had a huge voice and bellowed "Ho, Ho, Ho" at me. I now can tell you what Santa says, although I don't use the big scary voice he used. Surprisingly, I didn't cry, but Mommy almost did.

This photo was taken by one of Santa's elves and it was slightly better than ours. As you can see, I was not crying, but exited Santa's lap within 10 seconds. Mommy quickly told Santa that I wanted fish and a train table for Christmas. I hope he heard the "fish" request for the second time this year.

One of the most exciting activities at the Christmas party was a wagon ride around the golf course. My new favorite animal sound is the horse, thanks to my "EIEIO" book. It was well worth the wait for our little trot. Daddy especially liked seeing the big, strong horses that pulled us.

Mommy was mostly happy when it was over since she did not dress for an outdoor wagon ride.

One of the activities that I wasn't too little for was the cookie decorating station. Daddy mostly helped decorate it, but I pointed to what I wanted on it and then devoured the delicious, messy treat. I am saying, "Mmmmm" as I patiently wait for him to load it up.

Hurry up, already!

This past weekend, was Daddy's extended Christmas (Grandma Lois' family) in the Dells. We stayed at a hotel for one night and there were several Christmas events that took place. The first one was the kids' gift exchange. I received this CAT dump truck that came with big Legos. I mostly just flung the Legos out at first, but later began building with them.

Next came Santa (#3). This guy sure gets around! I am saying, "Santa" in the picture above and was frantically clapping my hands when I saw him. Mommy was quite amused by this since most of the young kids cried and ran away.

I couldn't wait to sit on Santa's lap again and tell him for the third time what I wanted for Christmas. I was one of the last great-grandkids to go up there... out of 30 or so. They need to start with the youngest, most impatient ones!

FINALLY, it was my turn. I really like this Santa Claus. He was more quiet this time around and for some reason, he looked a little bit like cousin Ryan. I find it interesting that Santa changes looks each time I see him. Hmmmmm......

As you can guess, I told him what I wanted (memory check) and then I was ready to be "all done!"

Next came time for the young adults to do their crazy, gift exchange game (they don't practice nice manners because they can steal gifts from each other and there are some naughty words from a few of the cousins... not Mommy or Daddy though). It gets quite rowdy in the circle, so Grandma took care of me. She gave me lots of snacks, hugs, and then was getting silly with Auntie Lynn by putting a Santa hat on me that wiggled and jiggled and sang a little tune. This is my "What the he--?" look. I learned the word he-- from the circle game that the young adults were playing (kidding of course).

After Mommy and Daddy finished the gift exchange, it was time to hit the pool. The water was warm like a bath and they had a toddler pool, which was perfect for me. I was a little "fish" in the water and even dunked myself on purpose a few times. Mommy is hoping that I don't get my first ear infection thanks to the crazy stunts I was pulling in the pool.

Maybe it won't be my fault if I do get an ear infection, because Daddy and I went down the waterslide 20 or so times. At first he held onto me....

but then, he let me sit on the slide and go a bit ahead of him. I laughed my head off, but as you can guess, I beat him to the bottom of the slide a few times and this made Mommy a nervous wreck. Mommy doesn't think I need to go to swim lessons this winter. She hopes to take me to open swim or the new waterpark hotel this winter to let me play in the water. We have had a fun and busy few weeks. We still have our BIG Christmas celebrations later this week and will be "running as usual" to see everyone. We hope you have a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas...round one!

Our busy week started on Sunday when we went on our annual trip to the Pleasant Valley Tree Farm. It was a nice, wet day to go chop down our tree for the house. I was excited to see the Live Nativity (especially the animals), Santa and Mrs. Claus, and the John Deere tractor that brought us to the field of trees. Grandma Lois met us out there so she could cut down her tree too. It was a success as we returned home with our Balsam and a wreath.

I told Santa I wanted real fish and a fishtank for Christmas this year. He thought that would be a good possibility. Santa can do anything, so he better not let me down!

I thought Mrs. Claus looked like a sweet Grandma, so I wanted to sit on her lap too. Santa gave me permission to do so.

I told Mrs. Claus that she was one lucky person to live with a guy that can fly around the world in a sleigh, can make any toy in the world, and bring yummy cookies home! Mommy wished she knew someone like that.

I liked the sheep the most and made "baa" sounds at them. Mommy was a little worried that I was going to get kicked by the goats, so the sheep is mostly where I hung out.

After we cut our tree down, they let me sit in this old sleigh. Anything for a family photo op, right!?!?!?

I was most excited about the tractor that pulled us out to the woods. I sat on the wagon and said, "John" and "tractor" at least 25 times on the ride. I would have loved to sit on the guy's lap that was driving, but my parents said, "No!"

When we finally were dropped off, we headed to the Balsam lot to cut down a 8 foot tree. Mommy and Daddy have a tradition to argue over the best one out there. Daddy likes trees with gaping holes in them, and Mommy usually picks out 10+ feet trees that are super fat. Luckily, after 30 minutes of analyzing each tree on the lot, they found "the one!"

To keep me happy, Daddy played a game where he would run me into tree branches and let the branches tickle my cheeks. I thought this was a hilarious game. Mommy is thankful that I didn't get any major cuts.

By the end of our tree search, I was soaking wet from the many wipeouts that I took (thanks to the uneven ground and my clunky boots). If you noticed in the above pictures with Santa, my pants are dirty and wet=yucky!

We seriously are going to cut a tree down and put it in our house? Sounds fun to me! We headed home and I took a nap while Mommy and Daddy trimmed the tree. When I woke up, the tree was lit and decorated. The new challenge will be to keep me from pulling off all of those fun ornaments!

Since I turned 18 months, it was time for my big check-up and ouchies. I have a new pediatrician because we are on Daddy's insurance plan. My doctor, Dr. Forster, is a nice, young doctor who was highly recommended. He first talked to Mommy and Daddy and they filled out a rating scale. I am considered "very advanced" with my verbal skills and motor skills. The only areas that I didn't get a "yes" in was using a fork and spoon without spilling and making a mess (I am still working on this) and drinking from a cup without spilling (I can drink from a cup, but I still spill). So, I am doing great...not bad for a preemie!

Dr. Forster checked everything out and I look healthy. Mommy and Daddy told him they are afraid I am going to have buck teeth because I still have my pacifier at night. He said I could have it for 6 more months if needed (Mommy and Daddy are hoping I didn't hear that). They are planning on taking it away after Christmas. They also talked about my picky eating habits, but I am doing better and Dr. Forster isn't concerned about this and said it is quite typical.

I really like my new doctor. I didn't like the 5 vaccinations they gave me (in three syringes...ouch!) I do not need any shots until Kindergarten (besides my flu shots each year). After the doctor's appt., I went home and took a nice 3 1/2 hour nap (thanks Ibuprofen!)

Here are my 18 month stats:

Length: 31.8 inches= 35% for my age group (not as short as Mommy thought I would be)

Weight: 22 1/2 pounds=9% for my age group (slim, but healthy)

Head: 18.4 inches= 23% (thanks helmet!)

I don't need another check-up until I turn 2 years old, so let's hope for a healthy winter season!!!

Saturday started our Christmas partying. We went to the cities to Great-Grandpa Jim's house. It is always fun to see the many cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Great-Grandpa has Alzheimer's disease (late stages) but he seems happy and looks good too.

The first round of Chrismas gifts at Great-Grandpa's house included Christmas money for our family (we booked our flight to Captiva this April with it), I received matchbox cars from Rieder, who is Mommy's godson, and Great-Grandpa loves sparkly things, so he gave everyone a Swarovski ornament (Mommy received the dated big star, Daddy received the Christmas tree, and I got the shooting star). For the past 4 years or so, everyone has received these ornaments, so now our tree is quite sparkly and lovely. Great-auntie Lynda renewed our family MN Zoo membership as a gift to us too... I am SUPER excited about this one!

Every year, it is a tradition for someone in the family to make a fool of themselves. This lucky person dresses as a Christmas symbol (reindeer, Santa, elf, angel, etc...) Great-uncle Jerry was the lucky duck who was chosen this year. He was an "interesting elf" and was really good at teasing us little kids. I just couldn't wait for his little "jingle" that he sang to be over so that I could get my hands on the candy canes he was supposed to hand out. Finally, the little treat I was waiting for came my way.

I was loving my Spree flavored candy cane until Mommy became paranoid about choking, so she took the delicious thing away from me and that caused me to have a little tantrum. I didn't win and didn't see the candy cane again... sniff, sniff.

On Sunday, we went to Papa's for our second Christmas party. Papa and Grandma Sharon will be in Indiana (where Grandma Sharon is from) over Christmas, so we decided to celebrate early. Papa is a BIG kid and he LOVES toys. Within 5 minutes, he was too excited to let me just walk around and destroy his townhouse (not a kid-friendly home), so he started to let me open some gifts. He had to convince me that it was OK to pull out tissue paper from the bags (Mommy always says, "No, No" when I do this at home, so now I am seriously confused).

The first few gifts I opened from Papa were fun ones. I opened a Santa Mr. Potato Head (this guy is super hilarious), Farm Legos, a Spider Man Fishing Pole that lights up (Daddy loves this gift), a Thomas the Train set and extra locomotives (Mommy and Daddy said it was to go on something they bought me for Christmas), and a BIG gift...see below!

I am now getting the hang of tearing open paper. It sure is fun to see what is inside of these colorful boxes! I couldn't believe my eyes when Grandma Sharon came riding out with a John Deere tractor! Little did I know, this was my gift from Papa and Grandma Sharon! I was amazed by this tractor and better yet, it is just the right size for me (well, my legs are a bit short yet). The tractor is battery operated, with two speeds and reverse! Cousin Sam couldn't believe the tractor either and he was excited to try it out too!

I know this picture doesn't show my enthusiasm, but I was so shocked, that I was mostly quiet during the entire John Deere introduction! Now that the John Deere is parked safely in the garage, I become so excited to go outside that I practically shake when Mommy gets me dressed for outside time!

This was the end of the night and Papa and Sharon finally opened the gifts from us. Notice the little guy STANDING on the tractor while his Daddy is laughing (and his Mommy was not aware of it because she was taking pictures of the gift opening!) We gave Papa and Sharon a food processor (boring), a webcam so when they are in Florida, we can Skype each other so they can see how big I am, his/her golf balls and tees, a recordable "Twas the Night Before Christmas" that they will read aloud, record and give back to me (Papa always read this book to Mommy, auntie Stefanie, and uncle Jimmy, so she thought Papa should record his voice so that I can hear him read this classic story), and finally, we gave them a digital photo calendar of all three of us grandkids. They were very excited about all of the gifts... but not as excited as I was!

We have more Christmas celebrations to come... here starts the crazy Christmas season!