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Tanner found Ave's tap dance shoes and started dancing away. This is months old, but it still makes me laugh everytime I see it.









If only his father were to find out what we've done to his son!!!

My Little Rascal

I don't know if it's the unfortunate double cowlick that makes hair stand up straight like Alphafa or the fact he's into anything and everything.

Either way - it's undeniable - he's my little rascal.

The scary part - he's only 18 months! what is coming next???

Here's what he's been doing...

• Tries to jump, but only gets as far as his tippy toes.


• Points to eyes, ears, mouth, nose, teeth. But beware, we're still working on the GENTLE part.


• Folds his arms and bows his head when it's time to pray...although he still usually cheats and "peaks" in the middle.


• Likes to "back it up" whether its my lap, a chair, or heck, even a fireplace.


• If you start to laugh out of no where, he'll join in too.


• Constantly unplugging and plugging things in. His fav is the small fan in his bedroom or the Christmas tree. It's good entertainment - now, if it were only safe.


• Loves his belly button and will try to find yours.


• Will holds an entire conversation with you or will try to read you a book to you - except it's all gibberish. (sshhh - he still doesn't know!)


• If you take something away from him, he'll scream and even shed real tears. But instead, if you ask him to return it to the right place, he'll put it back no problem. Phones, pens, it works for anything! It just has to be his idea and not your own.


• Obssessed with Legos. He waves his arms and jumps with excitement when we get them out to play. At first he just enjoyed knocking over his creations, but now enjoys building even more.


• Loves attention. He still makes his super silly face or his squinty smile or his fish face. He's a TOTAL ham. Or more recently, he started blowing kisses. It's adorable!


• And thanks to Grandpop, he's learned a whole new set of sounds to make with his mouth.

Moves to the beat when he hears music. Or sways his hand like a choristor at church when the congregation begins to sign. Or today, he even tried to sing with us.

• Throws everything, especially his little toys. Except he can't aim, sometimes they go backwards or no where at all - or sometimes they hit other people - so we're hoping to curb this bad habit soon.


• When he knows he's not suppose to do something, he'll look at me with the sneaky smile, proceed to laugh, and then keep doing it anyways.


• Gives "bumps" and high 5's


• Unveiled his sweeth tooth & discovered a love of candy While I never freely offer it to him, he still manages to get his paws on some. Mostly, he just pops the whole thing in there - wrappers and all.


• Never leave him alone with a cell phone. We had a contest to see who could unlock a cell phone first between Tanner and my mom...and Tanner won. He might look innocent...

• Prefers markers and pens to crayons, but still likes to scribble.


• Falls asleep with his favorite blanky and pacifier. And lately, I'm trying to figure if/when/how to ever break of this habit.
• Eats like a man. He packs in more pancakes than me. And he even prefers veggies to meat. That's right, he LOVES his veggies.
• Stands in the bathtub and refuses to sit. Thus, we prefer showers.


• Constantly moving, updwards and down. He know likes to climb the couches and ottaman. and even gets adventerous and tries to climb his own toys.


• And he when he tumbles and faceplants, he just keeps on going. He'll be running and whack his face on a chair. Nothing phases him. He rarely cries from physical pain.


• Makes all sorts of aninimal noises. His fav - is the dog!


• He lost some of his baby chub - and is now proportionately taller than wider - but still very very stocky.

the NAKED truth

• He's learning how to talk. We're trying to focus on the positives, like please and thank you, rather than the incessant - No! No! No! that we usually hear. Or the grunting. He's starting saying two syllabul words, like Baby, Trash, Hello, Shoes, Uh-oh, Avery, Juice, Milk, Please, etc, and pretty much repeats any words I ask him too.


• No matter how sad or tired, if you sing, "If you're Happy and You Know It," he'll immediately start clapping his hands. Now that we've spent a few more weeks in nursery, he's knows the motions to the "Wheels on the bus" and my personal fav is when he immitates the baby crying.


• He's finally getting those back molars, which means he's constantly chewing on his fingers.
  


• If you put his finger in his mouth, you may not get it back.

People always told me little boys were always mommy's boys, but I never invisioned it would be quite like this. When I'm in the room, he sees no one else. He loves me to hold and cuddle him. And whether it's morning or at night, he gets a death grip around me when he thinks I'm going to leave. It's his 6th sense - he can always tell when I'm about to leave - and it never ends happy.

But I can't help myself - the feeling is mutual. I LOVE LOVE this little boy and can never get enough...even if he's filled with trouble.

Memorable Christmas Memories

Three times the charm, but this time - with PICTURES!!

Rockin' Christmas Eve
Anthony knew just how to convince me to get another XBOX, luring me in with Rockband. We rocked out on Christmas Eve w/some of Anthony's family.





Home for Christmas
We spent Christmas morning in our own home. Tanner had a blast opening this presents.

And amazingly, we had a white Christmas after all...

We headed to Anthony's family for Christmas day feast, a phone call from Casey on the Mission, and some more presents.

Flight to Seattle.

My master plan of taking a late night fight and having Tanner sleep all the way failed me. He wanted nothing to do with sleeping. He was 100% entertained by the unleashing the tray table, kicking the chair in front of us, and pushing the remote buttons on the chairs. He was thoroughly enjoying himself and was laughing hysterically the entire time - but it was late and everyone else wanted to sleep.

Leaving a bag on the airplane.

We're geniuses - we both assumed the other person had grabbed it. I was carrying a sleeping baby and Anthony had to manage the 6+ carryon items we brought. It only had my work laptop and all the must-have items, like toiletries, cell phone charger, shoes, etc. Finally, 2 days later, it was found, safe and sound. Very lucky.

Seeing half my bros for less than 8 hours.

While I was my FIRST Knickerbocker to book my flight to Seattle, everyone else decided they were leaving the first day after Christmas, like at 5 am. I at least got to talk to Jeremy for a few minutes. But the rest, C0llin and Keith, I only managed to get a glimpse out of the corner of my eye half asleep as they were heading out the door. But Collin, you look amazing in your Navy Uniform. He left a boy and is now a man!

Here's some of what we missed -

Christmas Presents
My mom insisting I have a black pair of boots. She got me some for Christmas, but they were too small, so she instantly was calling the stores and trying to locate a pair. If anyone ever wonders where I get my obsessive-compulsive desires for shopping [especially CHRISTMAS shopping], look no further. She goes ALL out every Christmas, and this was no exception. And with all the rain and cold weather, they definitely came in handy. My little ballerina flats would have done me no good.



Avatar
The movie was SO good. Chelsea was not one bit excited about seeing it, but eventually gave in. Even she thought it was amazing. The only bad thing - we got there late and had to sit on the 3rd row from the front. Everyone in my fam ditched us for better seats. Let's just say the Knickerbocker's monopolized the handicap row.

Skiing with the fam
Anthony can hold his own snowboarding, but he decided to try skiing to mix things up. We kept telling him how easy skiing was, but seriously, he should have stuck with the snowboarding. If I would have had a video cam, we'd all be laughing hysterically right now.At first, I was a little rusty, but as the day went on, I conquered my fears and went down the biggest slope. Really, my bro Brendan talked us into it. And once we got to the top, I was seriously regretting it. A portion of the trail was a black diamond. And to top it off, it was super icy underneath, making it impossible to turn. Chelsea and Brendan zipped on ahead of me, and gradually, very gradually, I made my way down.

A view from the top. The trees were so beautiful they looked fake.

(I borrowed the pic from the website - none of us had cams)

But the entire day, I managed NOT to fall once. I was so proud! Even still, the next day, our bodies ached in agony. But my far, it was totally worth it.

Children's Museum
Tanner could have played here ALL day. He was having a blast. From painting, sliding, shopping, riding, climbing, drumming...this place has it ALL.

The next Picasso!

Beep beep!

Making musica, Africano style!

Leave it to Tanner to find a phone...ANYWHERE!

Up on the mountain top playing w/Nanny

This was part of an obstacle course - each kid was suppose to go through it 1 time.

But, Tanner had other ideas and must have gone down 100 times.

Trying to catch a quick snoozer in the tree house.

He made me go get him before he would come down.

Of course he would try to get himself trenched in the water.

Fire engine, fire engine

He was all over shopping!

Wouldn't this be fun to drive!

No, I'll just sit here and let someone ELSE drive me around.

Pleaes, no more pics!

Pike's Place Market -

A trip to Seattle would not have been complete without a visit. Anthony and my dad woke up early to go - and purchased gigantic fresh crab and salmon. Growing up - my dad lived on the east coast and was a huge fan of the Maryland blue crab, but said he's been converted to the west coast dungeons crab. And I have to agree. The babies were huge making them much easier to eat and enjoy. Even Tanner wanted to take part.

Ice Skating -

The one last thing I wanted to do was ice skating. We almost ran out of time, but we tried to get there with an hour left of open skate time. However, the website was wrong, and there was only 30 minutes. Turns out - that was plenty of enough time.

Avery was so excited with the THOUGHT of ice skating, but as soon as her skates touched the ice, there was nothing but screams. I half carried her and half pushed her in one of the children's walkers around a lap before finally giving up. She wanted NO part!

While I was w/Ave, my mom even laced Tanner up in some skates. He looked SO cute with his little skates, puffer jacket, and hat. But unfortunately, he had the same reaction Ave did and I don't trust myself (nor others for that matter) to hold him.Anthony, Lance, and my Dad enjoyed a few laps around...but we realized fast how MUCH older we felt.

Gaming -

The good, old fashioned kind. Re-living our childhood with games on monopoly, hearts, and then a few new ones, like Citadels. I was even gracious enough to let other people win. I'd hate to spoil their fun.

And a few more RANDOM pictures:

While we thought Tanner was taking a nap...

Hanging out with Uncle "Panther" Lance

Obsessed with Dogs! Now, if only the Dogs would only return the LOVE!

Victoria

During our Christmas break, we escaped for 3 days to Victoria, BC to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. Here's some of the highlights of the trip:

10. A view of the Victoria Provincial Capital Building at lit up with Christmas lights at night

But it looks just as magnificent during the day.

The biggest Christmas tree ever!

9. Odgen Pointe Pier - We started along the halfmile break water pier, but we were caught in a terenchial downpour. We didn't feel like getting drenched in the waves splashing over the walkway and covering us w/water - so we turned around and came back the next day. The view was breathtaking as the sun came up over the water.

I questioned this persons' sanity.

The cheesiest photo ever!

At the end, it's beautiful! On a clear day, you can see across the harbor

and get a climpse of Olympia Mountains in Washington.

8. Castle - Over 100 year ago, the richest man in Victoria constructed a castle. We tried to take a tour the first night, but got there an hour too late and they were closed. Ugh. But alas, we tried again the next day, and as we started taking pics, our camera died. And the worse part - the charger was in Seattle. So sorry folks, all the other photos were "borrowed".

At night...

During the day...




The spiral staircase went up 5 stories

I loved the Christmas decore

Where's Tanner when you need him?

7. After walking 5+ miles the first day, we decided to rent a car the next. Plus, it was raining. We drove around some of the countryside, stopping along the piers and parks along the way.
Anthony ran a red light w/Canadian police officer right behind us. 5 minutes earlier we were wondering how traffice tickets in foreign countries worked, but luckily, we didn't have to find out.

6. Buchart Gardens are quite possibly the most beautiful place I've ever seen. It seemed like you were stepping foot into a whole new world as you entered these world renowned gardens. And for the Christmas season, they decorated it with a million different Christmas lights, had live Carolers signing, and an ice skating rink. We didn't let the rain stop us - and it was well worth the trip. Afterwards, we sipped on hot apple cider and gingerbread cookies.

Sunken Garden - By far, the most breathtaking site!! Really, you just had to be there.

This picture doesn't do justice!

There was a little pond surrounded by these towering pine trees.

It was so serene!

5. Beacon Hill Park is like the Central Park of Victoria. Here we saw peacon roaming around and 100s of mallards swimming in the ponds.

I loved the huge willow trees sweaping over the water!

There's 5 or so little ponds - usually filled with hundreds of mallards and other ducks.

Peacocks rule the park

4. The amazing views of the harbor.

3. FOOD, FOOD, AND MORE FOOD. It was all amazing! The seafood was terrific - and I'm not usually a huge fan. But the fish n chips, salmon, and west coast clam chowder - bring it on and I can't stop.

We also found our favorite bakery shop and every morning enjoyed homemade scones, danishes, cinnamon rolls, etc. I could go on FOREVER!

There were also coffee shops are on every corner, quite literally. We enjoyed time relazing and sitting next to a fire sipping on hot cocoa, cider, steamers.

One of my favorite restuarants. It was an old building that had been restored on the inside. Just look at the chandeleirs.

Chinatown had some little markets we got some goodies and then some killer chinese food.

Seriously, what doesn't this city have to offer? We even found Kinder eggs for Tanner! These stopped selling them in US -something about no warning label for children under 3.

Shopping in downtown Victoria. The architecture throughout the city reminded me of New England States on the East Coast. There were 100s of cool buildings, just like this one.

2. Time away. Tanner stayed behind with Nanny & Greandpop. While it was hard leaving him behind, it was womderful to spend time as a couple together away.

But Tanner didn't miss out on all the fun. My parents took him to Chuck e Cheesies and had lots of playtime together. As a kid, I would have a had to do some serious begging to get that kind of treatment. But my dad sent a pic everyday so we knew he see how much fun he was having w/o us :) Thanks for taking such good care of him!!

1. It's an anniversary trip, I'll leave the rest to your imagination!

A view of our hotel from across the harbor

These two pics reminded me a Minnesota. Moose and Totem Poles were common. Dontcha you think, EH!