Is time crawling?

No way! Time is flying! But Zane is beginning to crawl.

Zane is 7 months now. He can move forward on his knees, just not very far yet. He's still mastering the rocking motion and gets up often in the night and stays up most of the day to practice. I took video but unfortunately it ended with Zane doing a face plant onto the hardwood floor and me running to his aid. Makes me too sad to share. :( We might laugh later.

He's doing really well. He's mastering the sippy cup and pulling toys off shelves, when his sister allows him to. He's doing all he should be. With Vanessa I would sit down and just type everything I could think of, but with Zane, my brain doesn't stretch that far when I'm ready to post on the blog. Even so, he keeps us in constant amazement. He likes car rides now (he even falls asleep easily in the car now) and loves to go places to people watch. He gets bored more easily than Vanessa and wants an audience to watch him do tricks. I love the way he flashes his sweetest grin throughout each and every day. My sweet, sweet boy . . .

Additional favorite 7-month mentionables: I love Zane's kisses. Yesterday he leaned over and gave Vanessa a huge open-mouth kiss. So sweet. And I love how when he finds he's making an interesting sound with his mouth, he continues to make it to entertain himself -- from pressing one nostril closed for a whistling sound to blowing raspberries in the air or on the floor. I love the way he caresses my face or lands softly on me to cuddle and sleep. And I love to watch him figure out his role in the house as the other male. :) Daddy, he has nothing on you! ;-)

Some Bunnies

Some "bunnies" love you . . .

And the herd is large . . .

*The knitted bunnies were made by one of the sweetest and dearest set of hands . . . Grandma's. . .

Easter Festivities

I love spring! And I love the Easter holiday -- for celebrating the risen Christ, for the gift of teaching the Passion Story to a child, for the extra fun of bunnies, for dying eggs and hunting for eggs, for time with family and friends, and the newness of life . . .

We've been doing little things for the last couple of weeks to embrace the holiday, both for fun and for the real Reason. We celebrated Good Friday with Daniel and Audrey by going to a Passion prayer station event hosted by a local church. It was a good experience.

Then this morning we joined up with Cousins Audrey and Tucker for the annual Easter egg hunt in Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood. Zane went along to watch and our newest little cousin, William also went along for warm fresh air. (Our first time meeting him! What a doll!)

Let the hunt begin!

Holding loot!

Once it began, it went fast!

And the sun ended up peaking through the clouds to "kiss" our time together. 

Cousins Celia and William met for the first time! Celia smiled and William gave a big hip, hip, hooray!

And Zane just looking cute . . .

Grandma had everything ready for lots of egg dying fun!

Here are all the local Holton cousins. It was a little challenging to get a great shot, as you can see. It was indeed a joy to get them together! :)

Looking forward to tomorrow!!

(*Note: In case you didn't know or have forgotten -- for most original size photos, you can click on the photo to open up larger in a new window. You can then click on the photo again in the new window to enlarge it even more.)

That Face

 

Zane lights up the room with his smiles and laughter. We often hear when we return places, "There's that smiley, happy boy!" His grin engages even the youngest -- they love to announce to their mommies "Look Mommy. He smiled at me!" He's a pretty happy boy, but don't let that face fool you -- he's got quite the hot temper. Even so, those difficult moments are quickly forgotten when he flashes that grin, which he will do immediately following his biggest fits, leaving you wondering who has the upper hand. :) As his mommy, there's no doubt that I'll even kiss that face with food smeared all over it.

Dandy Girl

Vanessa went crazy over the dandelions this last week. When running out the door, she zipped beyond the pretty flowering bulbs, bushes and trees to run in a "field" (our yard) full of them. She carried bouquets of them for hours, popping off every single one she could get her hands on. (For which I don't mind -- she's in a sense weeding for me.) But when she asked to nap with them, I talked her into a necklace. She was impressed . . . :)

Look Here

Like I've mentioned many times before, Zane wants to move!

He's very focused on this right now. He acts like he wants to skip the inbetweens and go straight to walking. He's determined. ;-)

He likes to try and pull up on things but doesn't quite have the strength or height to support his biggest endeavors.

With a little push, he's extra happy and content. Vanessa stepped in to help with his next pursuit -- pulling out huge LEGOs from the storage stool while learning to hold a balanced stance. Right now his dreams and hopes are mightier than his ability and strength. 

Sprung

Because yesterday was so lovely, we took our annual spring pictures. It was a slight battle to get these. Zane wanted to sleep all day yesterday and Vanessa was thinking about a nap. Even so, we have a few good ones to share . . .

We practiced for Zane's first egg hunt. Vanessa army crawled to her first basket. Zane is thinking about crawling and in the last week or so he decided that propelling himself places on his back is just too difficult and there must be an easier way.

Vanessa danced with the bunnies in hope they would pass a good word to the Easter bunny about trying to do her best to make good choices and to listen really well. "I really hope he brings me a new pair of tap shoes and some binoculars so I can see lots of things!"

*Note here because I'm not doing a separate post for this:

Vanessa was just now explaining the difference from how she used to poop. She said as she held her hand out to show a particular height, "When I was this big I used to  poop in a diaper. I used to do it for forty days and forty nights." I'm happy to hear her applications of Bible study . . . :)

Bert

Since we began the week with a TV personality, let's end the week with one too. :) Currently Bert is Zane's best friend. He loves to give Bert kisses.

They wrestle . . .            

And Bert teaches Zane some creative moves . . .

These pictures are from the beginning of March. (Noting mainly for myself. :) Vanessa helped to choose the perfect ones to post. She thought the last one was really funny! And Bert and Zane just happened to put themselves in very similar positions -- these are not set up shots. :)

Punky Brewster

When I watch my daughter dress herself, I often think how her personal taste is similar to Punky Brewster's. her personality reminds me slightly of Punky Brewster too. Below are a few of her Punky looks from the last 6 months. Usually, if something has buttons, all the buttons have to be buttoned. If there's a zipper, the zipper has to be up all the way. :) Just recently, when putting on a sweater, she finally conceded that not all the buttons had to be buttoned. "It's okay, Mommy, we don't have to button the last two. It's okay, right?"

October 2010

January 2011

February 2011

At times when I want Vanessa to look "put together" and "groomed" for pictures or an event, it can be a battle. Before she was a thought, I decided that dressing is a battle NOT worth fighting, and it'll be tons of fun to see my child's self expression. I love to see her creative side. :) There are times she asks for help.

On Sunday Vanessa helped model clothing for Be So Beautiful Children's Gifts. I was a little concerned, wondering if she would be particular about what they put on her and how it was put on her -- after all, it's not her clothing line, and she's helping to serve another's purpose. To our amazement, she loved putting on the outfits and changed from one thing to the next very willingly. She even wore things in her hair, probably because Miss Erin didn't draw any attention to putting it in, and Vanessa understood it was only long enough for pictures. :) And who knows, as all of her layers grow in (the shorter layers catch up with the longer ones) maybe she'll enjoy hair accessories more! Melissa Jones Photography took this adorable photo on Sunday. There should be more to come!