Christmas 2009

The VB family had a great Christmas this year! We are thankful to have such a great family and everyone is healthy. Christmas Eve was spent with Rick's family, and Leah REALLY enjoyed playing with her cousins. She hardly sat still the whole night - so much fun!

My parents gave Leah her very own rocking chair for Christmas and she LOVES to sit and rock in it. She even learned a new word "weeeee" and says it while she rocks.

She also discovered a new favorite spot to play - we are in the process of getting a new dishwasher (YAY!) and she found the new cubby such an exciting new place to play! Needless to say, plug covers were put in almost immediately after her discovery. She is growing so fast and seems SO tall lately! She most definitely makes us laugh a lot throughout the day!

Utensils

Leah's getting pretty crafty when it comes to climbing and retrieving toys. She is also climbing on furniture very well. Thankfully, she is a bit of a clumsy child so she has perfected the art of falling without getting hurt (usually). There may be a career in stunts ahead.

Ho ho ho Merry Christmas!

Leah gets a report card on her activities everyday from her teachers at school. It has categories such as nap times, meal times, diaper changes and activities...this week, we got a report card home and a specific box was checked "used utensils without help". While I was crying inside, I decided to test this report out to see if they were pulling my leg...please enjoy the video.

Christmas Program 2009

We had the joy and privilege of attending Leah's 2nd annual school Christmas program last night. She seemed to enjoy her time on stage. As you may recall, last year she was the youngest one in the program and was hypnotized by the stage lights. This year....well...let's just say she enjoyed being on the stage. The theme was "Christmas Around the World" (hence the Dutch costume). Leah started out on her teacher's lap a little unsure of what was happening.

Then, she started to feel a bit more comfortable once the older kids started singing.

She REALLY enjoyed when the audience clapped for the performers - if I could read her mind she would have been thinking "they like me, they really like me"...she would get a joyful look on her face and clap along.

Then, she got MUCH more comfortable - here is a short video of a little bit of her stage performance. I believe she was blowing kisses to her fans. She also did a bit of dancing which I did not capture, but it sure did capture me!! I am looking forward to next year.

VB Dance Party

We were pleasantly suprised that Leah chose to debut her mad dancing skills this weekend for us. They have a "music and movement" segment at school everyday and it looks like she's been learning lots!! Sorry the camera is shaking I was laughing too hard to hold it steady.

Bucket List

Leah is developing such a funny little sense of humor. She continues to enjoy walking around with a bucket on her head. I hope you enjoy!

In other news, she is starting to jibber jabber quite a bit. One of these days it will turn into complete sentences that I can understand!! Also we are noticing a few molars popping through her gums - we believe there are 4 are making their appearance at once. Poor thing!

Halloween 2009

Leah had a great Halloween weekend. Her school hosted a harvest party on Friday morning where the kids dressed up in their costumes and went trick or treating at a business across the parking lot from her school. All the employees were dressed in their costumes and handed out tons of candy! Then we went back and shared some snacks.

Leah wasn't to sure about the whole trick or treating, but when it came time to have a snack, she was all about it! These are the tables and chairs that they have their breakfast, lunch and snacks at during the day in her classroom. It's amazing that they get 11 children under the age of 2 to sit so nicely! I have to give the teachers props for that!!

As for her costume, Leah was a fuzzy green monster. It was a great costume considering it was quite chilly for trick or treating. She learned that monsters say "raaarrr" and actually did it on command a couple times over the weekend.

Too cute!

Head Gear Part # 2

Leah got this adorable little hat that my mom made, and she seems quite proud of it!

Thanks Mom!

Halloween Preview

We had the pleasure of attending a pumkpin carving/costume party for a lot of our friends and their kids Sunday. We are so blessed to have such a great group of friends...as well as all having healthy kids! Leah is the green furry monster to the far right. This costume was originally worn by Snow White (two kids over) when she was that size. They grow so fast! Leah was NOT happy to be in the picture because she wanted to keep eating the yummy donuts! She perked back up after a delicious hot dog roast. Thank you Dykstra's for hosting!!

Head Gear

Now that we have cooler weather, we were excited to break out some new accessories. Leah got this adorable little hat for her birthday. Too bad I was wearing brown - but if you can't see, there are the cutest little ears on the hat.

I found this little gem in Shipshewana this summer. The hood makes her look like a little gnome and it probably just as tall as she is. I can't get enough and giggle every time I put it on. She is thrilled, as you can probably tell.

Leah is officially starting her first full day in the next classroom up at school tomorrow. She has been visiting for a few hours at a time here and there. She is doing quite well and adapting nicely to the new teachers and kids. This is the room they learn to sit in real chairs, eat their meals sitting at a table, and they take naps on little cots. From what I hear, Leah will advance by leaps and bounds during the next year in this new room. We are blessed to be able to send her to such a great place during the day!

Little Helper

Leah has been a bit under the weather and not too smiley in pictures lately....but we're coming out of the worst of it and we're beginning to see the real Leah again...and it's good to have her back! She has recently taken on walking around the house with a bucket on her head. She seems to enjoy running into walls and has the bruises on her forehead to prove it. She giggles from under the bucket after she falls over, so it must be entertaining to her!

She has also started to turn into mommy's little helper and enjoys playing with the dishwasher (or in the dishwasher, rather). She is facinated watching the trays roll in and out. It's amazing how simple things can be mind-blowing to a toddler.

Crane's 09

Saturday afternoon we went with some friends to pick apples at Crane's Orchard. My FAVORITE!

Leah preferred to pick the apples from the ground, she must be an efficiency expert.

Leah was very tired from the family fun and zonked out on the way home.

12 Month Well-baby Checkup

Today, Leah and I got to go to visit her favorite doctor for her 12 month checkup. We are thankful to report Leah is the picture of a healthy little girl and is developing right on track.
The doctor asked if she was gesturing with her hands yet as she asked, Leah blew a kiss to her. Good girl!

The stats are that she is about 30 inches tall, and 21 lbs. She is 75th percentile for her height and 50th for her weight. Very good!

We are still going to stay away from giving her regular cow's milk for now in hopes that she is still outgrowing her dairy sensitivity, but she will be completely done with bottles by the end of this week...(according to my plan). She had 5 shots and 1 finger poke, but she understood that they were for her own good...and even though she screamed and cried, she was able to calm down and was sleeping by the time I dropped her back off at school.

Labor Day Weekend FUN!

What a FUN holiday weekend! Friday, Tracy and I chaperoned an outing for Leah and Deacon for dinner and a romantic sunset stroll on the beach. Leah enjoyed a pickle-on-a-stick for dinner while Deacon preferred a soft pretzel.

Leah had never experienced sand before, so Deacon helped her get a feel for it. It was just too cute!

We also visited Lawrence St. Park on Labor Day. Leah enjoyed the playground equipment, especially the SLIDE!

Peek-a-boo!

Really? A YEAR?

My sister has generously offered to do a photo album of Leah's first year. For those of you who may not know, I am TERRIBLE at stuff like that. I believe that some of my friends had an intervention with me and tried to train me to start taking pictures before Leah was born. I am thankful they did!! I have been going through hundreds of photo's for this album and I seem to be having a hard time believing that a whole year has gone by! I still think of Leah as she is in the first picture, it's unbelievable that she has grown so much and turned into a little person! Thanks Holly for taking on this challenge - I know we will cherish this book FOREVER!!

Random Pics

It was kind of fun earlier this week to break out some of the new fall clothes with the cooler weather. Leah was spoiled for her birthday and got a bunch of REALLY cute new outfits...
Also, one of her favorite toys is her cell phone. She gets pretty excited when she has a call coming in.

Bath time is always lots of fun!

Here is a great example of Leah using BabySigns asking for more. Rick was eating Trix cereal (yes, Trix are for kids) and she was using her signs in the right context while being a bit silly.

Family

It is amazing to think that 1 year ago today, we were holding our new precious baby in our arms and became a new family. Happy Birthday to our precious baby Leah. We love you with all of our hearts.

boo-boo's and shoes

Rick and I enjoyed a night away with friends this past weekend, but we were also excited to get home to our little lady. About 12 minutes after we walked in the door, Leah tripped over her own feet and landed forehead first into a wall.

The poor thing, we went into first parent crisis mode - talking about concussions and head injuries while we tried to hold ice onto the swelling bump. Thankfully, we think she is fine and there was no brain damage. :) She has forgiven us for our panicky parenting!

Also, during this past week, Leah has started to wear real shoes. She was originally going to be moving up to the next age classroom at her school where socks and shoes are a full-time requirement, so we figured it was time to start getting her used to them. The first morning we put them on her, she was quite confused and then was even more confused when she tried to walk. It literally looked like she was walking in moon-boots, she picked her feet up so high. Have you ever put booties on a cat? (me neither) That is the same idea... It was hilarious! She isn't thrilled at all about them and she hasn't kept them on for more than an hour at a time at school. We'll get used to them slowly - and we're allowed to because now she isn't moving up at school until about November.

51 weeks

One week from today, Leah will be a year old! I am having trouble believing that a whole year has gone by! She is learning new things every day - she has officially said her first word " Uh-oh". She points and says "uh-oh" to everything. This is a picture of her reading her favorite book. Over, and over and over ....this is a flip book and some of the flip-out pictures have been ripped out due to over-use. She has a certain picture that she kisses every time she sees it.

Leah's friend Rogue came to play Sunday night - they get along pretty well - if they're not after the same toy. They're both getting so big - it's so much fun to watch them together.

1st Birthday Party

Ok, ok...I am sorry...I've been busy! Better late then never, I say! The weekend of Aug 8/9 - we had LOTS going on. We had my cousin's wedding which my oldest sister and her beau flew in to attend. We get to see them if we're lucky, twice a year, so it's always a treat when they come! (Thanks!) With the wedding, we had a majority of my dad's side of the family home, so we opted for a family picture. We took a few of our own - this is me and my 3 sisters. We don't get many opportunities to take these kinds of photos so we leap at the chance. Don't we So!?


We figured that the wedding was in Leah's birthday month - close enough, so we planned Leah's first birthday party for Sunday so that all of her aunties could attend. We had a GREAT turn out and even though it was a bit hot, it was a great time! We are again, very overwhelmed with the outpouring of love for our little girl. Thanks everyone!

Leah very much enjoyed her first taste of cake. A girl after her mommy's heart! She has been learning baby sign language and had just perfected the sign for "more". Here is a picture of her frantically asking for more cake. What a smartie!!

This is how I look if I get cake in front of me too.

Big Girl

Each day with Leah gets more and more fun! She is learning so many new things so quickly! She has a preference on which book she is reading, and has even on occasion, brought a book to me and crawled into my lap so I can read it to her. It melts my heart each time she does it!

She has also decided that fitness is a wonderful thing. Health needs to be maintained by regular exercise...here is an example of her doing her Downward Facing Dog Yoga pose.....and as of 7 pm this evening, she has added WALKING to her list of exercises!! She all of a sudden walked all the way across the living room (towards her friend Deacon) and shocked us ALL! What a HUGE milestone today!!

And of course, she needs to be a good helper in the kitchen, after all, a healthy diet is important too! She learned that opening the drawer and cubbards make a cool loud noise. Perhaps it's time for some child safety locks!

11 months old

Our little Leah turned 11 months old on Sunday. 11 MONTHS ALREADY! Can you tell I am getting a bit emotional about the next month milestone?

Leah is starting to stand for a few seconds at a time on her own and is VERY quick to cruise around furniture or crawl across the room. She has so many new tricks but she needs to WANT to do them for you otherwise she just makes her parents look a bit foolish attempting to show them off.

Rick and I enjoyed a night off up north with some of our friends. Leah stayed at my parents house over night. She did really well and probably didn't even realize we were gone!

Her 4th tooth showed up Sunday night. She now has the two bottom middle teeth and two top teeth - not the middle, but on each side of the middle - maybe incisors? Rachel? She looks quite hick-ish without the top middle teeth, but we forgive her cuz she's so cute!

Now, I hope you enjoy the video and please excuse the prodding from the peanut gallery :)

'Woah'

The O-face as Leah's teachers are calling it developed about 2 weeks ago out of the blue one morning, much to my delight. She is the cutest thing ever while saying Oh, or Woah as we're calling it...I will try and capture it on a short video but I haven't been able to do it yet without making a complete idiot of myself while trying to encourage this little trick.

just to post

I know I have been a slacker lately....I promise I will put a much better post up soon. This is where you can find Leah 80% of the time when we're home. She just loves this toy as do I. It keeps her well entertained!
Also, I believe that she took her first 2 un-assisted steps on Friday evening. She was turning and walking towards me and I am PRETTY sure she was not hanging on to the item she was standing by...it all happened so fast...but I will keep on watching for the FOR SURE thing! It won't be long, I am sure of it! Look out world!

July 4, 2009

We had a great 4th of July weekend! Our family went to hang out with some friends at the Dykstra house. They had some pretty neat toys that Leah felt she needed to test drive. We found that she seems to be a natural driver - which she MUST get from her daddy!

She is aware of other vehicles around her, and she may have asked for a little Grey Poupon....

(remember that commercial?)

And of course, she is also respectful of the environment and doesn't mind carpooling once in a while. It's so great to have such fun friends!