Monday, June 30, 2008

Day Off!

Vanessa and her mommy spent the day with Leah, Rachel, Joel and Luke at Easton. We went to story time at Barnes & Noble and checked out two animals from the Columbus Zoo. (We were surprised to see only two animals -- legless lizard and tortoise.) Vanessa was interesting to watch! She spent a considerable amount of time crawling around on her hands and feet, and every so often she would lean over to rest on her forehead. Silly girl . . .



(Sorry McGraw-Hill friends -- we couldn't squeeze enough energy out of Vanessa to make a visit . . . but we strongly considered it!)

Monday, June 23, 2008

HIT Center Girls

Check out Grandpa's HIT girls!

Building their calves!

Monday, June 16, 2008

2nd Time

Vanessa got to go swimming with some of her other cousins! She really liked the boat!




Little Pool @ Home

Vanessa got to enjoy her little pool last week!




Thursday, June 12, 2008

Reading a Book

Vanessa and Luke were really cute taking turns feeling the different textures in this book.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

1st Time in Big Pool

Vanessa went swimming in a big pool for her first time on Sunday. (The water was still a little chilly.) It was also her first time to wear a bathing suit!

Friday, June 6, 2008

10 Months


Vanessa waves bye more often and also uses several signs. You have to buckle her in everything, like strollers, shopping carts, swings, etc. If you don’t, she’ll be turned around and standing up before you know it! She’s obsessed with the stairs and is extremely quick when trying to go up them. She’s become very vocal when she wants something or is tired – she grunts and yells loudly. Lately she’s insisting on feeding herself, especially in the evenings. She’ll put the spoon in her mouth and then chew on the spoon before handing it back to you for more. She seems to really like yogurt and cottage cheese. She’ll eat Cheerios anytime, even if she’s not hungry.

Vanessa mimics lots of things we do. Just the other day her mommy went to get her out of her crib, after another unsuccessful nap, and while her mommy explained to her why it’s really good for her to take good naps, using a hand to talk with, Vanessa started using her hand to imitate and started saying “ba da da ba da da.” She’ll often watch others give hugs and kisses and does it too. If you ask her to clap, she claps. She knows the names of many things, like her stuffed kitty. Other than Da Da, which she seems to have down, she’ll sometimes say other things that sound like the correct word but she’s not yet consistent enough for us to know if she’s making a deliberate attempt.

Vanessa shares toys with the baby her mommy watches . . . but she’ll also take toys from the baby. :) She loves her stuffed animals and she’ll sit and talk to them for long periods. She gives them lots of kisses. She’s still cruising a lot using furniture and toys. She loves books and will sit there and turn pages while running her fingers and hands along pictures and textures. Her favorite book is still I Love You Through and Through. She now comments between pauses while reading pages of book. She uses “s” and “k” sounds a lot when she’s just talking.

Vanessa has three teeth – bottom front two and her upper left incisor. She’s been working on her upper front two teeth for what seems to be with equal effort – both look like they’ll break through any day now. We’ve put protectors on the sides and front of her crib since she likes to chew on the wood.

Vanessa sometimes fakes that she’s going to sleep and waits for me to leave the room and then gets up to play before putting herself down -- she balls up, puts her thumb in her mouth and closes her eyes. I leave the room, shut the door and go downstairs . . . next thing I know I hear Vanessa talking and jumping around!
She’s awesome and so full of energy! She keeps us on our toes

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Franklin Park Conservatory

Vanessa and Celia took a trip with their parents to the Franklin Park Conservatory yesterday. Their parents thought it might be fun to capture some photos of them with butterflies. What a difficult task! And what were they thinking?! Anyway, Vanessa’s Uncle Andy captured some wonderful photos. Celia is delivering a big kiss, if you’re wondering. :) I think Vanessa ended up with a few of those, which was too sweet . . .