11/27/2012

Andy: "Do you like the Christmas tree?"
Van: "Yeah, it's shiny"
Andy: "Do you think Santa will like it?"
Van: "Yeah"
Vanessa: "Do you think Santa will leave presents under it?"
Van: "Yeah!"
Andy: "Have you been a good boy this year?"

Van stops and thinks then says very hesitantly,

Van: "Actually, no"

26 weeks

I really expected more from this comparison! With Van, the difference between 24 and 26 weeks was very noticeable, see below

Vanessa carrying Van

 Vanessa carrying Esther

It is definitely a different baby! My belly just looks like it is a different shape. It's higher now, must be filling out up instead of out. It also looks like my tummy was bigger with Van at 26 weeks.
Anyway, here's the whole Esther comparison so far

So far with Esther, no week to week comparison has been a big one, but each picture shows a change.  Fun to mark my progress!

11/21/2012

Van walked into the room carrying a bowl of soup that I had poured earlier that day and left in the kitchen.
"Mom, I'm bringing this soup in here so I can drink it"
"Ok" I say, "Van did you spill that soup at all?"
"No. I just put it in my rocketship. And then I put it outside so Alamo could lick it."
Well at least you didn't spill it...

***

Van and Finn were running around outside at Svea's house as I got Finn's carseat installed in my car so I could take both boys on an adventure. Svea's house in on her mother-in-law's property; between the two they have a big chicken coop, woods, gardens and lots of other interesting things to explore.
When I was ready I went to round them up, I could hear Odin barking.

"Mom, Mom! There's a pinecone, and that's why Odin is barking. come look!"

"That's good sweetie, let's all get in the car now" I was going to ignore his comment, but then I decided to go look anyway. And it turns out, Odin was barking, not at a pinecone but at a porcupine!

I thought the mix up was cute, but unfortunately we were too late to save Odin from getting quills in his paw and his mouth.

***

Van has just enough knowledge and ability in the kitchen to make a lot of trouble. His favorite thing to eat is peanut butter and jelly tortillias. He gets out all the ingredients and tries to make them himself.

In fact he got everything out at 4AM this morning. Then he came in to tell me he was eating all of them. I made him his tortillas and then put him back to bed. While he was eating he took a break, leaned against me and put his head in my lap, 'oh mom' he says, 'I love you.'

This morning he also started pouring himself a glass of milk and then a glass of orange juice. both very dangerous endeavors, luckily I was able to intervene before too much ended up on the floor.

Also while I was in the shower he got out his Thomas the train bowl and poured chocolate syrup in it and got a spoon. He came down to show me what he had made, he was so proud. And when he was done, he washed the bowl in the bathroom sink. (and luckily jumped in the shower with me, because he was covered in chocolate sauce.)

***

24 weeks

Ok here's the latest. She's definitely getting bigger.

PA part 10 - Halloween

This was Van's first Halloween and he had so much fun. Trick-or-treating in Lisa's neighborhood was a blast. I love the coordinated costumes that she arranged for the kids.

PA part 9 - Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy was not too severe in our part of PA, but it did change our trip in a few minor ways. Halloween was supposed to be on Wednesday but they moved it to Saturday, so instead of spending the week in Pittsburgh, we went back to Clarion. Andy spent most of the daylight hours hunting deer, so here are some pictures of Van and my adventures during the week.

Sometimes it was necessary to get out of the house early, like when Van wanted to pretend to be a firetruck at 7AM. Here we are at the coffee shop having a bagel and cinnamon roll.

Here we are walking downtown in Clarion

This is the parking lot of the Pittsburgh Zoo on Wednesday. We drove down for an adventure and had the whole place to ourselves. It was amazing!

Van and his large leaf

I love the way the exhibits are set up here. This was a pool of water full of sting rays and there was a tunnel in the back corner where you could crawl next to and underneath the water. There was a larger tank of water with sharks and you could walk through a tunnel underneath it, but pictures are limited since my phone battery was low.

Me at the zoo in my rain gear

My rainy days sewing project. A dress and bloomers for baby Esther! This was so fun to make. Ruffles ruffles everywhere. :)