Nighty-Night

I am in Los Angeles for 4 nights -- Carrie Underwood is playing at the Hollywood Bowl and Mark has been very involved in the creative preparations for the show.  So he asked me to come along to... 1) be there if any thing went wrong and help was needed AND 2) to get to see the end result of all the work for the past couple months.  So very kind of him and very exciting to be out here.  It meant leaving Anders, but he is having a wonderful time with my parents.  And I haven't worried ONE moment...UNTIL I was told that earthquakes ranging 6-7 were predicted for today.  Then I had to call Todd to ease my worries.  

Anyways,  I stepped out of the rehearsal this afternoon to call Anders and say goodnight.  Dad took these pictures while I was talking to him on the phone...

Anders at Camp BC - Day 1

So Anders is staying with Grammie & Papa for a WEEK.  Back in July I left Anders & Bella with them for two nights, and while gone I got camp letters from Bella.  This time I am getting camp letters & pictures from Anders...

Letter 1:

As I sit here pondering my first day at camp I can't help but wonder "where's my morning coffee?" Then I heard Sesame Street was on and Grammie had made French Toast for breakfast. Papa said if I ate all my breakfast he'd let me use his nail gun.

Love you,

Anders

 

Letter 2:

I learned today that "shop" doesn't always mean going to the mall with a credit card - it includes TOOLS. I decided on a project, read the manual (unlike Papa), checked out my tools, measured carefully (unlike Papa), and proceeded to build. Will show you what I made when I send tomorrow's note.

Anders

Our little bed-head

Todd took this picture of Anders one afternoon after waking from his morning nap.  I just love it!

 When changing Anders' diapers, he almost ALWAYS tries to escape off the changing pad to the sink...he loves sitting in it and playing with the faucets or anything sitting on the counter top.

Anders mowing the backyard

Haley gave Anders a push lawn mower for his birthday, and he loves it.  So finally I am posting pictures of him out in the backyard mowing away (he also mows inside the house)...

Anders' Gym

About a month ago I needed to do something fun & outside of the house with Anders, so I called Elisa to see if she & Tripp wanted to get together.  They were planning on going to a gym class, and she asked us to come along.  So now Anders has joined "My Gym" and he loves his class & playtime.  I think swinging from the trapeze bar is his favorite, but he loves climbing and crawling around everywhere.  He does really well sitting through the structured part of class, which includes songs with motions, games and a puppet show.  The teachers also set up different stations to learn skills & improve balance -- somersaults, handstands, swinging, crawling thru tunnels, etc.  See some pictures to understand....

 Body rolls with Daddy (I was glad Todd was there that week, so I didn't have figure that out!)...

 Climbing around...

 Tripp crawling thru big, padded tunnel...

 Anders swinging on the trapeze...

 Handstands & somersaults down the ramp...

 Playing in the ball pit...

 And this was just FUN (teachers Hannah & Natalie)...

Anders dancing to Cher...

While doing a little Cher research the other day, Anders jammed out to her music...he is her youngest new fan!

My sweet jabbering boy...

Anders going down the stairs...

This video is from two weeks ago, but FINALLY videos will upload properly...so that means lots of videos to come!

First trip to the ZOO

We are official members of the Nashville Zoo!  We visited for the first time a couple weeks ago while Todd's mom was in town.  Since then Anders & I have gone again with Elisa & Tripp.  And if YOU ever want to go to the zoo, just let me know -- I have a year pass for me and an adult guest (Anders is free)!  He really enjoys watching any of the animals that are moving -- just laying around is boring.  

Riding on Daddy's shoulders and having fun...

 Note the Gibbon (yes, isn't that impressive labeling -- I wouldn't just say "monkey") in the background swinging from the rope...

 Anders & I crawled up into the observation area in the middle of the meerkat habitat...

 Anders with his Grandma & the flamingos...

Our Anniversary -- SIX YEARS!

TODAY is our wedding anniversary, we have been married SIX years!  I am so thankful to have Todd as my husband and I love seeing him as a daddy.  

I LOVE you Toddy-cakes!    

13 months...almost 14 months old

Anders is STILL such a wonderful, sweet boy.  He loves waving at everyone and waving "bye-bye" to about anything.  He enjoys watching airplanes, birds and the moon, and will wave bye-bye to them.  When we go outside, he waves to the neighbors even when they are not out in their backyard...but when they are, they LOVE waving back to him.  He has taken his first steps, but he is not walking around much.  He does walk around by scaling furniture, toys, walls and me.  I feel like he is close and will suddenly one day start walking all over the place.  BIG CHANGE...at 12 & a half weeks Anders was done nursing.  He was ready and didn't pitch a fit at all.  He is still a good eater and loves fruit, veggies, cheese, and yogurt...and has recently started eating more chicken.  He FINALLY has two teeth -- the bottom left tooth has come up further than the bottom right one, but both have popped through.  We were starting to wonder if he would ever get teeth.  And I was having dreams about it all the time -- one night I dreamed that Anders woke up from a nap with a mouth full of teeth.  He poops on the toilet very often and is such a big boy (that might be too much information, but I am so proud of him)!  He loves climbing up the stairs and has learned how to properly go down the stairs.  He plays "peek-a-boo" and loves clapping.  He is ticklish and laughs often.  We are SO BLESSED and love Anders so much! 

Today at Costco

Going to church on Sunday mornings keeps Anders from getting his morning nap, so he usually falls asleep during the car ride home.  But today we had lunch with Jennifer Carrington, and then ran some errands -- one being a Costco trip since I was in the area already.  I figured that when I pulled Anders out of the car seat he would wake up, but he didn't.  So I just laid him down in the extra-wide Costco grocery cart.  He stayed asleep the WHOLE time, but woke up as the man at the exit was checking my receipt.  He opened his eyes, looked at me and smiled, and then immediately waved hello to the man, so funny!

My little Cheerios model

Recently Anders has starting LOVING Cheerios (and Trader Joe's O's).  This is the first time I let him reach into the box and grab his own handful -- such joy and glee! 

Digging deep...

Anders First Boat Ride

While visiting Grammie & Papa in Big Canoe, we had a late afternoon outing on a pontoon boat -- we did a little fishing and ate a picnic dinner.  The lake allows canoes, kayaks, and electric-motor fishing and pontoon boats.  Our pontoon boat moved along at quite a relaxing pace (Mom said that she could side-stroke faster) but was perfect for us.

See below our attempt to have Anders wear his life jacket, so I caved in and decided to not make him wear it.  I know, I know...I am bad.  I think we need to get a bigger life jacket for next time, because this one seemed to squeeze his poor cheeks!

Driving the boat with Aunt Katie...

Taking the steering quite seriously!

Papa caught THREE fish, I think that was a record for fishing at Big Canoe.  Here he is sharing the fish with Anders...

And sharing another fish with Bella...

Pictures with Mommy...

Anders LOVED waving at the other boats passing by (he was so cute)...