Back in the Saddle!

What a fun first day back after a long weekend little V had. Fortunately for poor me, Taren took lots of snaps and emailed them to me all day at work- so fun!

Here he is riding......and swinging...

...and swinging. Check out that happy expression.

Overheard...

EBM: "It's fine for him to open and shut the cabinets, but I wonder how long until he takes the glass bowls out of them and smashes them?"

AGM: "Oh, it'll happen soon. I give him two days."

EBM: "Ha. I give him two minutes. Oh good Lord."

AGM: "Hang on, just let me grab the camera. It's for the blog."

Hmm. What's wrong here? The worrywart parent is busy photographing. Signs of the apocalypse, I tell you.

Happy Elevenmonthiversary, Vake!

Happy Eleven Months, Vake!

At eleven months, Vake is:

Crushing the growth curves- I put him on our bathroom scale and it looks like 31 pounds, which is pretty amazing;

wearing a size 6 diaper and 2t or 3t clothes

starting to be able to climb up stairs;

is a great cruiser- he can get all over the room with the greatest of ease;

is getting more and more syllables;

learned how to clap hands, which he will do intermittently

has a more robust appetite again than last month and is eating really well again;

may be going through another growth spurt- he's regularly sleeping 14 hours a night (from 6pm to 8am....taking a page out of his mother's book);

still gets anxious when his favorite people walk away; and

is getting better at standing independently but is less interested in doing it now that he has cruising down!

We love you, Vakey!!! So unbelievable that you will be one next month and I will stop counting monthiversaries!!!

Otters and Turtles, oh my!

Ok, for those of you who know me, the fact that these videos are side by side is a testament to how computer UN-savvy I really am. Good grief!

Anyway, how funny is little Vakey watching the otters and turtles?

New Moccasins and Family Fun Activity

Vake is napping now, but we had such a fun morning.

Last night, a pair of moccasins arrived from Left Bank Granny- we tried them on today!

Once the moccasin experiment was over, we went to Maymont for some quality time at the aquarium. Little V is just mesmerized by fish.

What a sweet picture this one is! Isn't it amazing how fast Vake's getting big?

Christmas Presents from Left Bank Granny

We didn't want to just open Vake's Christmas presents for him- we waited until a night that Vake was awake when Eric was home (sorry to say that's not nearly as often as we'd like...). But tonight our plan came together.

Taren's had just Vake this week and Eric came home by six to let her go and to be with Vake while I went to a public defender happy hour (which sounds oxymoronic but is not). I came home by 6:15 and we had about 15 happy minutes unwrapping gifts.

There were some spectacular coins, but the real hit was the banana slug.

Developmental Milestones Everywhere!

By eleven months, a baby is ahead of the curve if he can clap hands and "cruise"- that is, walk by grabbing onto things.

Look at my little milestone achiever...

Using my walker...

...and so happy to be alive!!!