The First Birthday Party



are all these people really here for me??

"Ggma, thank you for coming to my birthday party!"

The Keane-Miller ladies, an Anderson boy, an honorary keane-miller girl, and of course, a watering can

Arjen, Aunt Casey, and yes, the infamous watering can

not really understanding the "blow out the candle" bit

Every birthday boy must wear the special birthday hat!

What's a birthday without licking the frosting off the candle?

starting to try the cake

getting a little more excited about eating it

definitely getting more excited about wearing the cake

impressing us all by trying to eat up the crumbs with a fork

opening presents..."you climb up on it like this right?"

practice "sister-baby-brother" doll...big kisses!

Arjen's fancy belt

you're not a true Wisconsonian until you have your own cheesehead!

again with practice "sister-baby-brother"...now wowing us with his babysitting skills

Arjen's first really audible word?  "keys."  go figure...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!" 



He really did have a fabulous day.  The parents did too!  Considering he pretty much didn't nap the entire day, he really did his party well.  Thank you to everyone for helping make it such a wonderful memory! 

It's official! I'm one year old today!

It's amazing how fast time flies.   Particularly when watching this amazing little person grow and change right before your eyes.  Andrew and I consider ourselves extremely lucky to have had this little guy pick us for parents. He puts a smile on my face every day...what more could a mom ask for?!?

As a tribute to his first year of life (thanks to Kelley for the idea!) we've been taking monthly pictures of Arjen since the beginning, in a white onesie, in the crib.  Granted, the photographer was not the best about being consistent, and the subject for sure has a mind of his own, but here's a little trip down memory lane to see the changes that bring us to today...Arjen's 1st birthday!

was he really that little?

with the xmas goat

all of a sudden he's looking like a baby boy!



and then he started smiling for real!

learning to sit with a little help from his friends

sitting on his own by 6th months!

starting to lean...getting ready to move at 7 months!

pulling up to stand at 8 months

back with his goat buddy

testing out the wing span at 10 months

had to coerce with a bottle to get any photos taken this night

back to the one month pose but now one YEAR!

couldn't resist including this one  :)

Sah-weet holy moly!

This weekend, while in Davis, Arjen decided to help Grandpa water his roses, and the driveway, and himself...

...and in the process, he wowed us with his fast improving walking skills! He's been practicing watering the garden at home, and he's figured out that you don't pick the leaves, you go for the actual tomato (or in this case flower).  He's still working out that you can't put it back on the plant once you've picked it off though.  Pretty fun stuff! 

11 months ago today...

Wow, in 1 month, he'll be a toddler.  Can it really be true?  By the length of time that keeps passing between my blog posts, I know the time really is flying by.  What fun time it has been, that's for sure!

As promised, some pics from our summer adventures...beginning with father's day in Rio Vista...

so this is our backyard, but Arjen enjoys his swing!

getting the beach picnic ready

water baby buddies!

loving his first dip in the river with Dad!

...moving on to July 4th weekend in Elkhart Lake...

too much partying

learning to drive the pontoon boat with dad

decked out in full captaining gear

learning about motorcycles (grrr says mom)

the Anderson crew watching the 4th of July parade

serenaded by none other than the UW Madison marching band!

which someone magically slept thru

4 generations of Treptows (Pagel's?)

3 little cousins, in control of the gator, look out world!

...between our 2 trips to Wisconsin this summer, we discovered this...

surprise! Arjen is going to be a big brother in March!

...and wrapping up summer with Labor Day weekend in Oakland...

Aww, they're sharing toys

or not...play nice Arjen!

looks like you need a big sister to help regulate

Dad, I'm getting tired holding these ribs up for you!

The Tsao's visit from NY one last time before baby Tsao arrives this xmas! 

...which brings us to today, Arjen's 11 month birthday! 

He loves Mom's old rocking chair...for everything but sitting and rocking!

Tonight at dinner...wiped out from too much 11 month bday fun!

Perhaps we should take the dogs for a walk?

Funny, it was only yesterday that someone (ahem, Aunt Shannon!) showed him how to blow raspberries on the window!

Arjen with 2 of his current faves: the cabinet (now full of his toys), and the rocking chair (which is not for rocking!)



So, yes, we are expecting the deuce in March.  Won't know 'til then whether Arjen gets a baby brother or sister!  In the meantime, Arjen continues to wow us with his fast developing and changing skills:

- crawling like a maniac

- free standing like he was born doing it

- cruising around using whatever he can get a hold on, and convincing us that walking will happen any day now

- dancing, singing, playing piano

- tooth #2 arrived today! (bottom left to match bottom right which has been in for just about a month)

- talking, talking, talking - he waves bye bye and will sometimes even say it! 

- learning sign: he has milk down pat, we're working on please and thank you, he has a variation of more, and did I mention he knows milk?

- and the hair...oh the hair...that is a special thing he has that no one can tame!



Walks like a man!

So the camera, and all of it's lovely pictures, is still in Wisconsin, keeping the dogs company, waiting to come home this weekend.  Which means...I still haven't looked thru most of our pics from the past 2 months to see which may be blog-worthy.  Perhaps by the time Arjen turns a year old, we'll have updated the summer blog. 

I do have a handy phone with video though, and I figure the video is almost more fun anyways!  This one is a little on the longer side, but Arjen shows off his fast improving walking skills with one of his new favorite toys, and busts-a-move at the end (at least to the trained eye).  Worth watching thru, if only for the smile he flashes towards the end.  :)

In other news, Arjen turned 10 months old a week ago Sunday, and the unofficial weigh-in at Gma & Gpa Anderson's house was 19 lbs (well, 18.5 one time, then 19.5 the other, so we averaged), and 28 3/4" tall.  The boy is getting big!  He's been home with Gma Eileen last week and this week while Shana and family are on vacation.  He is having a grand ol' time exploring the house, learning how to open all of the cupboards, take all the cd's/dvd's/books off shelves, and generally just having a good time.   Childproofing has officially begun....

Here come the tooth fairy and some walking shoes!

As a good friend pointed out, I've been slacking this past month.  I'm on vacation!  :)  At some point, I really do intend to get some photos from father's day at Rio Vista, 4th of July in Wisconsin, and some better quality pics from our current trip in Wisconsin up.  Until then, this little video and phone photos below will have to do! 

Arjen discovered grandma's cooler yesterday at the beach, and it has quickly become his favorite thing to play on/with in the living room.  I mean, the lid goes up and down, the handles go up and down, you can bang on it, stand at it, what more could a little guy ask for?!?  As he proudly demonstrated in the video, he has been wowing us for the past few days with his quickly diminishing fear over standing without holding on to anything.  He's even started to look ready to take a step or two, although, he hasn't quite figured out how to move his feet so he just starts into a free fall forward.  Fortunately, he usually only does this with either mom/dad or a piece of furniture just beyond his reach, and catches himself.  He has definitely mastered crawling, and is thoroughly entertained now by scurrying across the room to whatever it is we've said he can't play with, laughing all the while.  Oh boy....

In other news, his first tooth (teeth?) is coming!  It's in the stage of appearing one day, then disappearing the next, but you can definitely feel something sharp, and he has the drool to prove it.  It's the bottom right front tooth, and possibly the left one too. 

Other than that, no real big news.  He's been having fun playing with his cousins, watching their every move to try and learn how to be a big kid.  He loves pianos, and finds his way over to any piano within eyesight - big or small - and bangs on the keys.  Oh! He dances!  Doing my best to get it all on video, but I haven't been quick enough with the camera lately, so you'll just have to wait and see! 

Sorry for the quality (or lack of) with these, but they were quick and easy to load from the phone - clearer, bigger pics to come, maybe next month.  :)

Arjen loves crawling over to the piano and climbing up to reach the keys.  He knows what he's doing!

Enjoying a cool, rainy day at the beach

Playing in the super fun box that arrived from Great Aunt Susie (holding true to what they all say that at this age, kids are more interested in the box/packaging than what is in the box itself!)

Arjen knows what it means when we all sit down for a meal, and can't possibly be left out!  He got to try some mashed potatoes for the first time...if only the phone was fast enough to have caught him trying to stick his whole face in the bowl of potatoes!

Proudly sporting his John Deere onesie while playing with the farm

Enjoying a warm, sunny day at the beach!

Too interested in the shovels to pause for "say cheese!"