Halloween 2011

We had a great time with our family circus theme!!! It was quite the ordeal to take pictures beforehand and get everyone ready!! I am glad we did though, the pictures turned out great!!! Tank carved a pumpkin with his name on the back! He played with the guts a little bit, but wasn't that interested in the pumpkin (he tries to say it)!! until the final product! Then he takes the pumpkin top on and off, on and off!! Before we went to the Leesburg Parade we skypped my mom so she saw us all dressed up!! We even brought Alvin to the parade! Tank received a mini pumpkin souvenir from the float that carried a 1600 lb. pumpkin on it! Chip and I dressed up too. Chip really got into it this year so that was fun!! We came back and took Tank to a couple houses for Trick or Treating. He doesn't eat the candy but the small amount he received he loves to carry around and put in and out of the bowl a million times!!! Its hilarious!!! We were all pooped out by 8 pm!!

15 months!

Tank was not very happy at his 15.5 months (24lb.11 oz.) appointment. The pictures are quite amusing! Tank has made hugs strides in the past week-two in communicating. Chip quotes that Tank says things like: "No, papa, I already said that" or He just told me: "I want to drive a race car!!"! Its not really what he is saying but we can understand his gibberish and communicate at a new level. I do ask him questions and he answers back appropriately with "yes!" Its really awesome! He'll sign he wants to eat, walks to the fridge and pulls out bablesauce, cheese, yogurt, etc. When we grocery shop I put items in the cart like strawberries, yogurt, animal crackers, regular crackers, and bananas and he recognizes the packaging!! He recognizes the sound or sight of a dog and says, "woof, woof!" (Oct. 30)

Tank got a train table and tracks and absolutely loves them!!! We read him his train book from BB a million times a day. I'll tell him to get the train book and he know what I am saying and retrieves it!! He also does that with shoes and coat (and socks as of Nov. 2011) knowing he gets to go somewhere!! LOL He is beginning to dance a little more! We watch Two and a half Men at 7 pm and he knows and loves the theme song. He stops what he doing, bends his knees and tries to snap to the music! He climbs into his highchair on his own. Thankfully I caught it on video!! He continues to climb on the kitchen table and grab the chandelier!

We are back into the fall swimming sessions and also taking a Little Gym class. I have met some great mom's and plan to keep in touch. Tank loves the pool! He is doing well at going under and is kicking and splashing up a storm. He just started to blow bubbles this past session (Sept. 2011)!!! He tries to put his face in during regular bath time too! He is quite comfortable at the gym childcare. He even reaches out to the lady to leave me and play!! He loves the slides at the playground. Some slides he goes down frontwards by himself!! We have had many fun park experiences with my neighbor and her son as well as Maggie and Laura Claire who came for the weekend as Mother's Helpers!!

We are down to one nap a day! This has been a bit of an adjustment especially since he gets up at 5:30 am!! I have been tired off and on and try to nap when he naps (12 weeks to go until baby #2)!! We are getting the hang of the new schedule after a couple weeks. I continue to purge, organize, rearrange, etc. getting ready for this new little one! Not quite set yet but making progress! My friend did give us a second crib, so we are thankful for that! We plan to change the guest room into a nursery sometime in February!

Tank LOVES books. He brings us books to read to him and he looks at them constantly!!! Tank loves his Farm book, Alphabet touch and feel, and his potty book. The potty book has a button that sounds like a flush with kids laughing in the back ground. He cracks up every time he presses the button! His most recent favorite is Billy the Blue cab book!! We read to him constantly!

He has become such a cuddle bug in giving hugs and kisses to me, daddy, and Alvin! He wakes up very slowly after his rests and just lays his head on my shoulder, tucks his hands in and I carry him around for a few minutes. I am taking in all the love that I can while he is an only child!!!

He points to eyes, nose, mouth, and belly on command. He'll pull up my shirt and pat my belly too. I say belly but also baby!! Not sure if he's quite caught onto that yet ;)! He has been a great help in learning how to put his toys away and helps me when its time to clean up.

Tank had a blast at Aunt Emilee's baby shower!! It was fun to see Meriwyn and visit with the Baber family. We are very thankful Alison and Jenaire came for a visit as well!!

Tank is eating with a spoon by himself very well:)!!

14 months!

Tank is one active 14 month old!!! He has become more independent in trying to feed himself with utensils as well as climbing on the table to get his drink! He had two molars come through while we were out of town for two weeks. That was an experience! He LOVES Alvin and continues to rub his face in his fur, gives him kisses, as well "try" to pick him up. The funniest thing is when Tank has food in his hand and runs back and forth around the house trying to get Alvin to chase him! Alvin complies very well:)

Tank has increased his vocabulary saying: nigh, nigh, mom, dad, papa, bye-bye,no, yes, cheese, shoes (a tiny bit), and he has repeated the word tractor. He is signing: eat, all done, more, potty.

I really enjoyed the three nights that he slept 12 hours straight!! One night sleeping from 5 pm until 6:15 am!


We had a great trip to see our family and friends in IL! Mom and I went to see a dinner theater and we took Dad to see his first Nascar Race. My parents treated Chip to a Cubs game for his birthday so we froze our hinnies off at Wrigley Field! Tank had a great time playing with his new toys at Nonnie's and GranPa's. Chip and I enjoyed a couple date nights while my mom babysat! While Mom babysat Tank during the Nascar Race (that ended up rained out and postponed until the next day) Tank brought her the wipes 2x. She finally realized he was asking for a diaper change! He hadn't done that before. Then he proceeded to climb up the stairs saying "nigh, nigh." Mom followed him upstairs, he stood at the crib and put his hands up to take a nap!! Funny!!!

While we were at my parents, Tank started walking down the stairs while holding onto the railing (most of the time)! He LOVED the horses and gave them kisses (also his new thing!) It was so great seeing him excited about them. I took him to a petting zoo to get more experience and excitement for the animals. He loved feeding the goat and the sheep! He did have a high fever one day and was out of sorts for Nonnie. I stayed home the next day and took him to the doctor. Thankfully he didn't find any sickness, just teething most likely. He felt better a day or two later for the drive back home.

We had a great visit with Aunt Emilee, Aunt Betsy and my great friend Jan for the weekend!! They loved on him and Tank showed him all his toys!

We continue to take swim classes. This session Tank is one of the older babies as well as more experienced. He bolted toward the pool and became familiar with the layout of the class immediately. He knew after we did our swim practice we played with balls and swam for ducks!

One night Tank did not sleep well. Daddy was so kind as to tuck him in our bed with him!! LOL See pics! Other than that you'll see him "in and out" of things: boxes, stool, basketball fort, even cousin Jackson's swing!

His new face expression is the "Home Alone" face! He dumped a whole bag of animal crackers on the floor and gasped "uh oh" while doing the face! It was hilarious!

We are really enjoying this phase he is in!

Oct. 13th he has started signing "please" appropriately ;)!!!