Vanessa loves the loft.

Vanessa loves going to the loft. She can crawl everywhere and there's lots of new things to get into. We have brought her scooter so she could walk around with it freely. What a blast! She's getting more and more confident. I'm no longer concerned that she'll fall and hit her head. She can even get off the scooter without any help. Getting on is a little harder though.

We love going to the loft and Grandma, Grandpa and Mary-Jane love to see us but they don't get any work done so we try not to go too often.

Enjoy the video.

Great Day

Mondays Vanessa and I usually hang out at home. We've had long week-ends and like to recharge our batteries. Here's a recap of this one. Vanessa slept in a little. We had a nurse then Daddy took her downstairs for breakfast while I got a shower. She had cereal with yogurt Mmm. Daddy left and we played a little and Vanessa went down for a nap. As I was leaving, she waved goodbye. She was not prompted. It was really cute. Now I know she knows what it means. She babbled and giggled for an hour and slept for an hour. Ohh it was heaven. She got up and we went downstairs and played some more. We had a nice lunch of Crispy Chicken, Rice and corn. We played again. Vanessa has a toy where you pull the shapes out one end. She mastered that at Christmas. The other end has a shape sorter. She has now started to put the balls back in the other end. Yippy! Next will be cubes and pyramids. She had another nap and babbled for only 15 minutes and slept for 1:45. So exciting. I napped too. When she woke up we played in her room a little. She was standing at her crib and wanted me to pick her up. I was about 2ft away and she took her first step. WOW! No hikes on the mountain just yet but it was great. She wasn't paying attention to what she was doing so she just stepped one step. We walked over to the grocery store for dinner. I picked up a few things and walked back. While I was getting ready for dinner, "Ballroom Blitz" was playing on the radio. I was singing and dancing and she started to giggle at the Ohh Ya!
For dinner I made Salmon with lemon in a bag in the microwave. I also did spaghetti squash in another bag. I made Greek salad skip the olives. Dinner was fantastic. It was really easy and a great hit with everyone and really good for you.
While I was at aquafit, Vanessa and Daddy had fun. Daddy put on a Shania Twain Concert on the tv. Vanessa stood close and boogied. Too bad I missed it. She then crawled back to the couch, hopped on and sat down beside Daddy. Oh ya new skill. She can climb onto all our couches. She bounced to the music. Once the song was done, she clapped along with the audience. Who says babies shouldn't watch TV. Everything in moderation.
I came home and nursed Vanessa. She turned evil on my and I put her too bed. She calmed down quickly and is sleeping peacefully.

That sums up Vanessa's day. It was a great day full of firsts and smiles.

Coolest Tricycle.

I was looking for accessories for my new Chariot trailer and I found a bike shop that carries Kettrikes. They're awesome! The videos on their site show the front wheel is able to lock and unlock depending on whether you want to push from behind or let the child steer on their own. The pedals let the child coast with their feet on them and still brake when going backwards.

WoW. Vanessa on a Tricycle seems like so far away. I think she'll be ready before I will.

Officially 1 year old

Vanessa is officially one year old. She's grown up so much. Each stage of her life is so different. Right now she's crawling at warp speed. She loves books. They way they're constructed and how they flip through her fingers. She love to thumb through paperbacks. The other day she kept crawling over to give me a book. I would read it and she would take my hands to walk over to a new book and crawl back for a new read. Don't get too excited! She's not walking yet but she is definitely showing more interest. She walks behind her skooter especially at the loft since there's lots of room. Hopefully she'll walk before the snow melts so she can play outside better. We've got so much snow that it's going to be a really wet spring.
My tiny little girl eats like a horse. Some meals she eats as much as I do. She's not fussy at all. She lets us know she's done by throwing it on the floor. She's become an expert at the sippy cup. She can even drink it like a growler. Her dad thinks she'll be a beer drinker like him.
Vanessa is going to bed between 8-9:30. She often takes two naps at various times depending what's going on that day. She gets up around 8 and demands a nurse the moment she sees me.
Vanessa waves good-bye when she feels like it. She has no words yet but I've seen her point to her sippy cup when it was out of reach.
She loves to giggle and melt our hearts. She does some strange sound with her toung which I will try and get on video.

I've noted all this to keep everyone up to date and for me to enjoy as she grows.

Vanessa's first Birthday-Part 1

As we all know, Vanessa is one lucky girl. She is loved by so much family that she needed two parties. This Sunday we had my side of the family over for lunch. We had a pot luck lunch that Vanessa loved. She ate as much as I did. No kidding. We had minestrone soup. She ate the chunky bits with her hands. She at 3/4 of an egg salad sandwich and a pear. To top it all off she ate her very own birthday cake. Her aunt Christina made cupcakes. Mmmm... chocolate. Vanessa then washed it all down with some milk. Gloop Gloop Gloop!
She loved her presents but played with the newspaper in Grandpa's present the most. Grandpa shared his birthday with Vanessa. I'm sure he doesn't mind. I let him pick the soup since V will eat everything she can get her hands on.