The Calm between the storms

We had a good rainstorm a couple of months ago, so figured Arjen would need a pair of rainboots.  For Christmas, he then also got a fancy rain slicker.  Then for the past month, both have been collecting dust.  Now we finally got another rain storm, and Arjen had some fun showing us just how well he could use his rain gear!

Arjen's Baptism

Last weekend we had Arjen baptized at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Livermore, CA.  Pastor Mueller married Andrew and me almost five years ago! And this year he baptized our first born.  Casey honored us by being Arjen's godmother.  Adam honored us by being the godfather, and Cherie stood in for him since Minnesota was a little too far away for him to be there in person.

After church, then of course we had to get home for some football!  If only the game that afternoon was as good as the service that morning...

15 months old and Fun at Tilden Park

So Arjen is 15 months old now, my favorite age so far I think! This little guy is also not so little anymore!  From 12 months to 15, he shot up like a weed, to the point that people will ask me if he's two!  He now weighs just over 25 lbs (50th percentile), and is 33" long (90th+ percentile!).  Just 3 months ago it was the reverse...50th for height and 90th for weight.  Guess that's what you call a growth spurt.

Some of his current faves and proud momma moments:

- the kid definitely loves to be outside.  He likes raking, sweeping, "riding" his bike, chasing the dogs, watering the yard...any excuse to be outside and he'll take it!

- he is using more sign language; the big three are eat, more, and please...go figure

- the pediatrician asked if he has any words.  Ask me and well, yeah, he has an entire vocab!  To the untrained ear though, it still mostly sounds like baby babble, but "ba" can be baby, banana, balloon, pretty much anything that starts with a 'b'.  "Da" can be Dad or dog.  I'm finally getting "mama!"  We're hearing "dis" for "this", and "uh" for up, "wuh" for woof, and of course there's "buh" for "bye" which almost always comes with a 30 sec delay (i.e. you're out the door before he says bye).  He just doesn't cease to amaze us!

- to communicate more complex things, he'll grab you by the finger and take you to where he wants you to be...often times this leads to the back door, then he'll point to the door knob as in "duh, of course I want you to take me outside!"

- he loves climbing on things, particularly into a big chair so he can "lounge" (for all of 15 seconds before he then gets down, just so he can do it all over again)

- he still loves the remote, the iphone, anything tech-y

So in the spirit of our "grown up toddler" we've been trying to get out to take him more places.  The other weekend, we went to check out the Little Farm at Tilden park.  Hidden Gem!  You take lettuce or celery there, and can wander around freely to feed the various animals.  The cows intimidated Arjen a bit, but he definitely seemed to enjoy feeding the goat!

The reaction to the goat taking his food.  All smiles!

On the way home from the Little Farm, we had to stop at the Steam Train, I mean, the kid was dressed appropriately for not just the farm, but conducting a train too!

Walking Gma Cherie down the path

 

Yeah, so hard to say whether he really liked it or not, but there wasn't any crying, however, no super excitement either!  Perhaps next time he'll enjoy it as much as mom and dad!

video fun

A couple recent videos of Arjen for your viewing pleasure:

Having fun playing the organ with GGma Clarice.  Gma Eileen and Gpa Dave were in town watching Arjen while mom and dad went out on a real live date!  Fun was had by all, but perhaps Arjen and GGma had the most fun...



...and we're not sure what possessed him to grab GGma's hand to push the buttons, but ever since this day, Arjen has figured that if he wants something done and either he can't, or shouldn't, do it himself, if he gets an adult to push the button then everyone is happy!

Back at home, a pirate ship found it's way into the dining room...

A Day at the Zoo!

Okay, so the holidays got the best of me, and it's been too long since I last posted any updates.  Looks like Thanksgiving passed us by in less than the wink of an eye:

Arjen enjoyed Thanksgiving with many relatives, and a big Turkey!

Then on to Christmas...he enjoyed all of the musical trinkets around the house, the lights on the tree (and ornaments too!), and plenty of new toys!  (how is it possible that one kid can have so much stuff??) Our little family's xmas celebration started when Arjen woke up on christmas eve... before the crack of dawn.  Arjen headed straight towards the one unwrapped gift that Santa left under the tree for him...

...his first bike!  Santa got Arjen a "strider" this year...a bike without pedals.  We'll see how he does!

Being so close in this pregnancy to the time that Arjen was born prematurely, my doctor advised me against flying to Wisconsin this year for Christmas.  I had already requested the week off from work before finding out we wouldn't be flying, and Andrew is off for the week as well, so we've been enjoying a relaxing week at home as a family.  We figured we'd take advantage of the free time and take our first family outing to the zoo!  A few pics from our day with the wild animals...

Watching the crazy monkey swinging from a tree

The crazy monkey!

Big Cat Aunt Shannon

The look on Arjen's face when we took him to see his Aunts - wasn't quite sure what to think!

Dad was in heaven with the goats at the petting zoo

Watching the crazy elephants eating cardboard!

Can we go see more monkeys mom?

Ring-tailed Lemurs

Careful with the caged animals!

"But the Lemurs get to roam free..."

Spookiest animals at the zoo...baby Lemurs?

Getting up close with the Tortoises 

Wiped out, ready for naptime

The past month or so...

Well, birthdays for our little family are done for the year, and holidays aren't quite here yet, so what better time to update this little blog o' mine! 

A quick update on our little man:

• Arjen turned 12 months and 1 day and decided he was ready to walk and never look back
• His 4 teeth have now become 7 going on who knows how many are hiding back there!
• he loves to climb...Gma Cherie even discovered Arjen standing on two stuffed animals in his crib, trying to figure out how to reach his leg over the top edge...needless to say, the crib is officially empty now
• he still loves his watering can...he is developing quite the little green thumb, as he loves being out in our garden "watering" the plants
• he still loves keys...and we consider "keys" his first true word (even before he got mama and dada straight!)
• he loves his dogs, and knows they say "woof", and fortunately both of them seem to enjoy him, or know how to get out of his way fast enough
• he still loves taking things apart and putting them back together, flipping them over and back, and in general is the epitomy of curious george

A few photos from the past month, or probably two, of our amazing Arjen. 

enjoying the slide at frog park (our backyard park)

enjoying dinner...

...shockingly, this is not how he got the food all over

the remote still tops the list of fave toys

aaahhh!!!  :)

lounging with dad

practicing a few necessary guitar riffs

you always want to blame the crazy on your spouse's family, but i suppose i can't argue this one

baaaah!

we went to Devi's neighborhood for halloween to take our first stab at trick or treating and found a circus show! Arjen really was having fun, i promise!

Devi did a much better job bringing home the loot

Arjen still figured Devi could "share" her goodies

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!