18 Months

We had our 18 month check up today. Vince is still very skinny. Only 21 lbs 15oz! Almost to twenty two, but not quite! The doctor says he is fine, that he is just going to be a skinny child. He is also 33.5 inches tall, so very tall for his age group.

He has been saying sentences lately. "I want it on/off" "I want up/down" "I want this/that"
He even yells for me when he can't see me. It's like "Hey! Blurblur blur!" all while shouting. Really funny and cute. I swear up and down that today he said "Where are you?" He is also repeating words that we say so mommy better watch her mouth! Ha ha!
He pointed to a basketball and said the word, clear as a bell. Okay, enough about how many things he can say. (I know Grandma's like to hear that kind of stuff though!)

Vince decided he likes to vacuum. He pushes his little toy vacuum around the house right behind me as I vacuum. It's our bonding time ;)
We also inherited an unused toilet from Jack and he seems interested in it. He holds himself and says things when he has to go to the bathroom. I am not toilet training him yet, but just want him to get used to the idea. As you can see from the pics, he thought it would be a nice house for his Ernie toy. Hopefully he doesn't drop Ernie in there after he figures out how to use the little thing! Yikes!

Woo Hoo! An Update!

Okay, I have finally found a few minutes in my day to update this blog. I apologize for not doing so sooner. Seems like so many things have been happening lately. Grammy VB came down for a nice visit, cousin Jack had a 3rd Birthday, spent some time with Gram and Gramp P., then went to visit Gramp 'cause he broke some bones up in Springfield, Vince got a black eye while visiting Gramp at the hospital, then we came back down to Texas and had a fun play date! Even more things went on in between the rest of all that!

Vince has grown up so much. He is talking up a storm, mostly babble talk still. But a lot more words have been added to his ever growing vocabulary. I really don't know how he retains so much information! I showed him some flash cards weeks and weeks ago and then got them out recently and asked him to pick up the card when I said the word and he did ALL of them correctly. One was a dolphin, when did I ever teach him what a dolphin was? Maybe once a long time ago. He's either a budding genius or just a lucky guesser! I am going to stick with the baby genius idea ;) Unfortunately, he has added NO to his vocabulary this past week. It was so cute at first. Clear as a bell and used appropriately. Now it's just plain annoying and I wish he'd stop! Everything is No! No! No!

We had a Hip Hop themed play date at our house today as you can see from the pictures. Vince was in true Hip Hop form with his St. Louis Cardinals outfit and Nike shoes. I bought him some "bling" to wear with the outfit. He even had an Elmo fake tattoo on his arm. He points to that tattoo and says "Lolo!" over and over. He can't say Elmo clearly just yet. We now live at 1508 Sesame Street! He knows just about every Sesame Street character these days.

I bought him some more grown up toddler toys such as a Giggle and Go Elmo garage play set. He loves to play with the cars and make them go down the ramps. It was the best 6 bucks I ever spent! It's one of the few times he plays quietly and doesn't say No! I bought the toys at the consignment sale here in Plano over the weekend. I got him some really cute plaid shorts for the summer that I can't wait for him to wear.

Anyway, hopefully I will find some more time sooner than later to keep this thing updated. I keep thinking Vince is working on his 2 year old molars as he has been kind of cranky lately. If that's the case, I am sure not to get anything done :)

Happy New Year!

Vince had a wonderful Christmas and thank you again for all of you who gave him gifts! It was a very merry Elmo Christmas! Vince loves his Elmo restaurant that Mommy and Daddy gave him. It has a cash register with an attached microphone for him to place orders into. He will put his mouth on it and say random things...usually "Ahhh bluh bluh". It's the cutest thing to see since his voice is so cute and tiny. I think he likes playing with it because it is at his level and has lots of things to open and buttons to push. Vince also likes his Elmo Live doll he got from Grammy VB. He was a little afraid of Elmo at first since he is so animated, but now he has warmed up to him and likes to hear what Elmo has to say. One of the messiest, but fun toys he got this year was from his Gram and Gramp P. and that is the Crayola art station. He is learning how to color and gets the markers all over his hands and clothes. Thankfully it's all washable. He has made some very pretty pieces of art already. It may take him a couple more times to fully figure out how to color with the markers. Right now he has a tendency to try and color with the marker tip in his palm and the wrong side of the marker on the page. He loves it anyway. I will add more Christmas pictures to our personal website and let you know when that is completed. Vince now says "D" or sometimes "DVD" when he wants to watch a movie. We got a new car at the end of the year and it has a DVD player and he loves to watch movies in the car. Every time, and I mean EVERY TIME we get into the car, he says "D!D!" with a huge smile on his face. It's a treat though, so he only gets to watch it on weekends or when I have somewhere far away to drive to and he is cranky ;) We had a play date here the other day and it was warm enough to let's the kids ride in the wagon in the cul-de-sac. They were having a great time until I left to go get the camera and since I left Vince he started to cry (as you see in the picture). We celebrated Matt's birthday today and Vince helped him open his gifts. It's amazing how fast he is changing. Just six months ago at my birthday Vince was drinking out of a bottle and still looked like a baby. Now he is a full blown toddler and runs around, eats regular food and talks! We enjoy every minute of being parents to such a sweet little guy. We are so enthralled with him that I don't know what we'll do when he moves out in 18 years!

15 Months and skinny!

We had our 15 month check up on Wednesday. Vince is very healthy and very smart. He is at the level of an 18 month old. Which is great, except that he is not able to express himself fully at this age and whines a lot. The doctor suggested I give him choices for meals (such as "Do you want A or B for lunch today?") I thought no way would he understand me, but I tried it anyway. Turns out, he wants to choose what he'd like to eat and is much less whiny and eats more now! He is very tall and skinny--21 lbs and 32.8 inches tall. Growing like a bean pole I guess.

Despite his tantrums and occasional whines, he is a lot of fun. He is still a busy busy guy. We inherited cousin Jack's old Elmo workbench and Vince loves it! He played with it for most of the day today. Although it hasn't taken place of his favorite thing, a ball. He is doing very well in Kindermusik and dances to the songs and claps his hands. He turns around and moves his arms about while dancing now. He used to just bop up and down. Vince got an early Christmas present from his Gram and Gramp P. A beautiful red wagon that he just loves. We went out in it today since the weather was near 70 degrees. A few days ago there were icicle's on our pool. This Texas weather is crazy--among other things here ;)

We are still very active in our play group. It's nice to have such wonderful moms and kiddos to meet up with each week. I am trying to teach Vince that it is not okay to hit the other children. Some days he doesn't bother them, other days he out to get 'em. We went to a stocking stuffer play date and each mom brought enough goodies for the kids and we filled their stockings. We also went to a ornament making play date.

We are excited to visit our families in Missouri for Christmas and have Santa bring Vince some neat goodies!

Finally! A new post!

Obviously we have been very busy, hence the lack of any new postings! There is so much to say about Vince, I don't know where to begin.

The one thing that a lot of people say when meeting Vince is "Wow! He sure is busy!" Yes, he is a busy little guy. Always moving and playing. He loves to play "peek-a-boo" with us while we eat dinner. See the video for that one, it's really cute! Vince is really into Elmo now. Loves to kiss Elmo whether he is in a book or the stuffed version we have. Vince will shake his head "yes" when he understands things or if he gets a word right and I confirm that it's correct. He calls a belly button "butt" and will poke at it quite often. His walking is getting much better and he is even running now. He loves going to the park now and likes to slide down the slide or swing. He just generally likes being outside. The weather has been nice for him to do that. I keep the pool gate closed and let him play on the patio with his ball. He also loves to run circles in our cul-du-sac. It's really hard to get him to come back inside. He is definitely getting to the age where he needs to go out and play. He gets bored couped up in the house playing with his toys. I try to make sure we get out and about. We recently went to a park in Allen with our Mom's group and fed the ducks. Vince had fun doing that. Although I gave Vince some bread to feed the ducks with, and he ended up eating it!

Vince had fun with Grammy VB while she was here in late October. She went to Kindermusik class with him and all the kids were dressed up in costumes. The teacher said it was interesting how each child was wearing a costume that fit their personality, and Vince was dressed up as a surgeon! Mommy is a little hopeful! Matt also came to that Kindermusik class and got to participate with us. After Grammy VB came to visit, Gram and Gramp P. came down to babysit while Matt and I went to California. They said he had lots of fun with them and I am sure he was spoiled the whole time. I think my Mom said she was pretty tired after they left! 5 days of Vince will do that to you! Vince enjoys "reading" books. Gram P. got him two Sesame St. books that he loves to sit and turn the pages and every so often he will point at things that he knows and say the word. Elmo is "Durh" and he says "Bo" for monkey. I've heard that as long as they are using the same sound over and over for an object, it means they know it, but they just aren't pronouncing it properly. I am afraid Vince is becoming addicted to the TV. He knows where we keep his DVD's and goes over to the cabinet and whines and cries to watch one. He has been sick, teething and VERY fussy this past week so he has been watching some DVD's to keep Mommy sane! Otherwise, I'd pull all my hair out and Matt and I would never be able to eat dinner peacefully!

Just like Daddy!

We have been busy busy busy these past few weeks. A lot to update on! Vince is almost done cutting all of his one year molars! They have caused him a lot of pain and discomfort and we just have one more bottom one to break through. It also looks like he is getting more teeth up top. It's always teething, teething, teething around here. He has added some new words to his vocabulary. He says "pool" when he sees the pool out back. He also knows the shape 'circle' and babbles something that may resemble "circle" when he sees one. His favorite color right now is blue and points to things that are blue when he sees them (such as his bedroom wall color or the blue circles painted on the wall at daycare). He LOVES his ring toys! They go everywhere he goes! He woke up early one morning screaming because he saw one on the floor outside of his crib and he wanted it. At Kindermusik they have a few minutes of free play time and the teacher has a few of those rings for the kids to play with. Well Vince assumes they are his and takes them and it's so hard to get his little grip off of them when it's time to put the toys away. Last Monday he saw where the teacher hid the toys behind a door, and he ran over to that door and pounded on it crying. So, yes, he is obsessed with those rings! Vince loves to dance, but his version of dancing is just bopping up and down. Matt and I recently taught him how to stomp his feet while he bops up and down. It's cute! At daycare on Tuesday he kissed a little girl on the lips! He really likes her. Two weeks ago he fed her cheerios. He must have known that it was our last day there on Tuesday and wanted to give her a proper good-bye. (I will no longer be working there) I thought you'd enjoy the picture of Vince playing with the gameboy in his diaper. Just like Daddy!

Vince and his little boy face!

A lot of people told me I'd hate it when Vince starts to walk. Well, I actually LOVE it. It's so nice that he is more independent and can go where he pleases. He is not the type of child to get into things and tear them up, so I really don't have to worry about him too much. Walking has been a huge blessing and we are enjoying it very much!

As you can see from the pictures, Vince was being quite the little ham on Tuesday evening. Can you believe his face in this picture to the left?!? What a little boy! I can't believe how fast he changes. I've never realized how big his head is. He has such a skinny little body and this cute bobble head! What a doll.

Vince is really into taking his toys and placing them all over the house! I will find little toys everywhere. He is also quite good at receiving directions. For example, he is enthraled with the washer and dryer and if I ask him, he will help me take the wet clothes and put them in the dryer. A dryer sheet fell on the floor and he picked it up and put it in the dryer. Such a good little helper! Like I said, this new phase of walking and helping is GREAT! Now if we could just get him to mow the lawn....