Messes

Here is a video of Van playing with playdough. I attribute this knowledge of flying squirrels to Diego.

http://youtu.be/WxB7kqO_f-k

So I made the video and put it on youtube to share with my parents, (my mom made him the playdough) but in the time it took to send myself the video and upload it onto youtube, this happened.

The white stuff on the floor looks like Elmer's glue, but it's actually some prescription facewash or lotion or something that belonged to Andy. Not sure if that's better or worse.

I think he used the pot to stand on to clean out some of the higher shelves.

This is what the house would look like permanently if I was a single parent. I hope Andy gets back from the field soon.

Girdwood Part 2

Today we made another trip to Girdwood to spend a rainy afternoon.
We chose the shorter Winner Creek trail to the hand tram and got there easily.
However pulling the tram, not easy. We just went out over the river halfway and turned around, my arms were exhausted!
Then we had fun on the walk back, and ate a bowl of soup at The Bake Shop.

 

In the tram, Van was a little scared during it, but later he said it was fun.

 

Alamo was freaking out the entire time we were in the hand tram. He looks calm in this picture. An optical illusion.

 

Hungry hikers stopping for a snack!

The walk back was fun, I found a crooked tree to sit on and was trying to talk Van into sitting on it with me.

"Van, come sit in this tree with me"

"No mama, don't sit in trees, sit in chairs. don't sit in trees."

"Why not sit in trees?"

"it's dangerous"

But it's even better because he says it like 'drange-rous'

A Fantastic Sunday

We had an awesome day today. It started with a play date with Maggie Miller, Lindsey Hunter, Courtney Bond, and all associated children. So fun to see those girls.

Then we went to Becca Wehrmann's 3rd birthday party, dinosaur themed, delicious food, great people, completely fantastic.

Last of all we spent the afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Days at their house really ruin Van for all other days. He got to go with Grandpa to look for berries and watch ducks in the pond. We rode bikes around the neighborhood. Grandma helped him fingerpaint. They fed us delicious food. Van watched grandpa fix a chainsaw, put air in my tire, and do sommersaults. Yep. Grandpa taught Van how to do summersaults. He also read him books and took him on a walk.

It's really no surprise that anywhere Grandpa goes, Van says, 'I come too!'

Here they are moving logs in the excavator.

Another successful no-nap day. Van did great, and by 7:45PM he was fast asleep. I would also like to mention that before he went to sleep he said, 'Mom will you 'nuggle me?'

Yes Van, I will always snuggle with you.

Things Van said today

This is actually from last week, I thought it was deleted but it was it was saved in Drafts. So it is things Van said 8/14/2012

'Oh no, my bucket is broken. I'll never have it back again ever.'

***

'Look mom! I climbed out the window!'
After we disagreed on how he should get to the back yard. I was trying to convince him to use the porch door upstairs and he wanted to go through the downstairs garage. Instead he found the mud room ground level window.

***

'I do it myself!'
I hear this a lot lately. climbing in and out of the car, scanning groceries, putting on pants.

***

'Oh no, my bread got dirty. I need a new one. I throw this one out the window'
He was eating a piece of bread in the car after our shopping trip. I convinced him not to throw it out the window.

***

'What is this dress about?'
Talking about my skirt when I got home from work.

***

'What the heck?'

***

'No, this is boys only here!'
Trying to keep me out of the grocery cart rack as I tried to retrieve him.

Girdwood

Yesterday was my first full day with Van after he dropped his nap. He's still on the border, he could nap if nothing is going on, but sleeps so much better at night without it, so I wanted to try and keep him busy all day.

So we drove down to Girdwood to try the Winner Creek Trail.

I packed us a lot of snacks for the hike, peanut butter and jelly waffles, no bake cookies, bananas, and crackers. But we were both hungry when we arrived in town at 11:30 so we went to Jack Sprat for a quick lunch so we could save our snacks for the hike.

Van ate a fruit plate and we split a bacon blue cheese burger with yam fries. 

Then it was off to the trail. Since I had never been before, we drove around quite a bit before I realized where to park and where the trail was. Getting to the trailhead was such a hassle, I was worried about our trip. But Van does way better when there are less choices of directions to go. So once we were on the trail, things were much better. 

One small problem was that bikes are not aloud on the trail, but since I was on foot and only Van was on a bike I thought it would be ok.

Unfortunately this is the only picture I have of Van biking, although we spent at least 3 hours just biking. He was fast and keeping up with him and keeping him on the boardwalk was a full time task. Especially on the downhills on the way home! He went so fast, we had a blast. He was wearing his hoodie at that point, so I would chase him and pretend I wasn't holding his hood. But luckily I was, I had a couple great saves. 

He giggles when he starts going fast and I'm chasing him which makes me laugh, so it was a great return trip, we laughed a lot.

We were on the trail for about 4.5 hours, but we did a lot of stopping to snack and play.

Not surprisingly, the no bake cookies were his favorite snack.

We played on every tree stump.

(this one was Van's rocketship)

Unfortunately we didn't make it to the hand tram, but the trail we were on, including our hike from the car, would have been about 5.5 miles round trip, which is a long way for little legs. My guess is we made it 3.5 miles.

I guess if you can start at Crow Creek and then it's only 1 mile in, so that's what we'll do next time. 

Still this was a fun hike and a fun day. 

We played for a bit at Girdwood's nice playground, but Van was really tired. He slept for the drive home from 5 - 5:30, but then stayed up until 8:30 and slept really well all night. Up after 7AM! His latest yet. 

Parenting

My experience as a parent so far reminds me of the opening to The Adventures of Milo and Otis.

…But the mood was very different up in the hayloft.  The farm cat had just given birth to her first litter. She was determined to be a good mother.

And never yell at her kittens.

But that approach would not last very long.

Because Milo, one of her kittens, was trouble from the very beginning.

 

As soon as he could walk, he began wandering to the edge of the hayloft.

“Milo Dear,” his mother said,

“That’s not a good idea!”

…

“COME BACK HERE MILO!”

she yelled.

Milo is on my short list for boy names for baby number two.

Van has always been the type of kid who immediately wanders to the edge of the hayloft. Part of me is very proud of his adventurous nature, part of me is worried about keeping him alive for the next 18 years, and part of me is surprised by how much yelling I end up doing at someone I love so much. 

I certainly had an image of the kind of parent I thought I would be; it has been surprising to find out what kind of parent I actually am. Some good, some bad, and some funny. 

I had ideas of being strict but I am surprised by how much I love indulging him. I have to fight the urge to give him everything he wants. I think I feel his emotions stronger than he does. Each smile is multiplied by a thousand in me, along with each tear. 

Hiking up Bear Valley

I took Van hiking today. We went up a mountain, not sure what it is called, but the range across from Flattop, starting at the Honeybear parking lot in Bear Valley. It was amazing. We didn't make it quite as far as I had hoped but we had fun, which means we'll be able to try again. I can't wait until we can go all the time.
Van picked and ate crowberries, soon we can go out and get blueberries!

I think I'm learning what type of big brother Van will be. When dogs came up to sniff Alamo (or Mo Man, as we call him) Van would run down and say in his meanest voice, with his brows furrowed, 'Hey you doggies, you don't bite my friend mo man.'

So I think he will be protective. 

Individuality

in·di·vid·u·al·i·ty

   [in-duh-vij-oo-al-i-tee]  Show IPA

noun, plural in·di·vid·u·al·i·ties.

1.

the particular character, or aggregate of qualities, thatdistinguishes one person or thing from others; sole andpersonal nature: a person of marked individuality.

2.

individualities, individual  characteristics.

3.

a person or thing of individual  or distinctive character.

4.

state or quality of being individual;  existence as a distinctindividual.

5.

the interests of the individual  as distinguished from theinterests of the community.

I really like reading about what makes us individuals. I love personality types; I have Myers-Briggs typed just about everyone I know. But there are differences between people that extend even beyond that. 

I read this article yesterday which reminded me what a different set of cards everyone is given to play. 

http://gawker.com/5933857/the-crossdressing-room

It would be so difficult to be different from everyone else in this way, but the compassion he shows at the end of the article makes me happy. When people are truly forgiving and kind, it means they are comfortable enough in their own skin to let go of anger or grudges.  And he isn't given and easy path in life.  

Anyway, hope you enjoy. 

Bedtime

Bedtime has become a very long and drawn out event with several jammy changes, multiple bottles, bed switches, and lots of playing. At least three times tonight, Van has opened his door and come out completely naked, asking for different jammies, a trip to the toilet, or just to play. It's now 9:38PM, we started around 8:15PM.
Most often the process is frustrating and we work on being as short as possible with our responses; not encouraging any fun and actively trying to discourage his delays. But every once in a while I lay down with him and just enjoying talking to him and hearing about his day. It is a rare time where he will stay in one place and talk to you, since he knows he's supposed to be sleeping.

Van kept telling me,  'Mom you're heap trouble!'. He meant I'm in a heap of trouble, that line from the movie Cars. He has a toy that says that when you press the wheels. 

We sang 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.' 

He also rubs my tummy and asks about the baby, like if he can touch it though my bellybutton and things like that. Then he wraps me around his finger with 'I love you mama'.

ConocoPhillips Picnic

The picnic was a couple weeks ago, but I just found of some new pictures that the company photographer had taken. Highlights included a petting zoo, bouncing house obstacle course, bucking salmon, pony rides, and delicious food. We didn't even get to try the rock climbing wall and the sand castle pit. Renee McCormick always does such a great job. Can't wait until next year!

 I was really excited for Van to ride the pony, such a rare treat. The problem is he hadn't been around many horses before this, so now whenever he sees a horse he says, 'my turn!'.

The Traveling Lunoes

Yesterday was sad because my sister Svea and her family left for Denmark for 2 months. Although I'm excited that she will have fun, I will miss hanging out on the weekends while our kids play together. Here are some highlights of her son Finn and my son Van playing together.

 They are cousins but they seem like brothers. I love the conversations they have with each other (mostly about Bouncing Bears), and how much they look forward to seeing each other at every opportunity.
Also here are Svea's twin girls Solvej and Elin, for a complete family pack. I will miss everyone.

Here's to a safe trip for Svea and her family and a speedy return!

Introductions

Hello,
My name is Vanessa Angel, this is my husband Andy, and our son Van on a recent rainy camping trip.

We're adding one more to the family early next year, this blog will allow me to record our lives as they all move swiftly along.

Van Angel
Van is 2.5 years old. Things he loves most: riding his bike and going to Bouncing Bears. I was really nervous when I found out I was having a boy the first time around, because I felt like I didn't know anything about boys or how to raise them. I have been pleasantly surprised. Van is certainly full of energy, but he is also sweet, kind, and silly. I have more fun playing with him than I imagined I would.

Vanessa Angel
I currently have three full time jobs, a mom, wife, and petroleum engineer. I love all three and wish there was more time in the day to spend on all of them. As it is, I do my best to get by on all three fronts, but I would compare it to a firefighter battling multiple blazes. So far everyone is still alive.

Andy Angel
Andy is a geologist and also an artist. He builds beautiful things for our house and is always working with his hands. I think it would be important to mention that Andy is a devout Steelers fan, a bug that is slowly but surely infiltrating the rest of us.

New Baby Angel
We don't know much about new baby Angel yet, only to expect him or her on March 1st. I'm sure there will be more updates on this front in the future.

Hope you enjoy this blog