Haven at 15 Months

Hi all,

Well it took me 2 days, but I finally am done with this month's post. I seem to have less and less time in one sitting anymore. So this may be the new normal. Sorry to all the family members that get the Update Emails. I know you always get a bunch and now they're spread over multiple days. LOL!

There's a ton of pics below and as always just click on an image to see it larger.

Well let's see. Haven having her check-up appointment yesterday bought me a few days so I'll start with that.

She is 32 inches which puts her at 90% for height, and she weighs 23 lbs 2-1/2 oz which puts her at 55% for weight. So she took a little dip as far as top of the charts for height, but she's still really tall for her age. Also, she dropped 15% in the weight class after gaining less than a pound in the last few months. Walking will do that to you.

Yes, I said Walking. You probably remember that she took her first steps the day before her 14 month landmark and now at 15 months she doesn't crawl at all anymore. She made the big transition about 1 1/2 weeks ago. That Friday the 4th, we went to the Children's Museum(minus Ethan & Mike since it was in the morning), and she had a blast pushing around a shopping cart and walking some. Every time she would fall, she would still "knee walk" (well what else do you call it?) over to something and pull herself back up to walk again. Later that night she started standing up without having to pull herself up on something. So that was it for crawling. Now when she falls she just gets back up. She's getting faster though. This last Friday the 11th, we had a meeting at church, and afterward Haven had a blast cruising through the big open spaces. I remember the boys just had to run in those big open hallways when they were toddlers. It was too hard to resist for them. I know what some of you are thinking, "you let them run in church". No not very often, but our church building is huge (4000 people) so we just don't run in the sanctuary. Hee, hee.

Otherwise she is still jabbering up a storm. She says at least 20 words, lots of animal sounds, does some sign language, mimics us a ton, and now that she can walk is Mommy's little shadow. She loves to "help" which creates tons of lovely messes but I appreciate the spirit behind it.

We went to the Nebraska State Fair again this year...since this is the last year it will be in Lincoln. It was a lot of fun again. There's a ton to do for the kids and most of it is free. Ethan was chosen to be a Frog Trainer at one of the kids shows. 4 frogs competed to get the longest jump (or actually series of 3). Ethan than chose his cousin, Kamber, and the announcer chose another Dad. It was a good thing, since both Ethan and Kamber refused to touch the frog. Ethan has caught frogs and toads in the past, but their frog, named Pee Wee ( and not because he was little) was huge so I don't totally blame them. They both got a "trophy" (there's a picture below, yes it's made out of a plastic cup) and a certificate. Ethan was over the moon. He's been wanting his first trophy for a very long time. Then of course, Eric needed a trophy so Mike played a carnival game (darts and balloons...he's such a good shot) and won Eric a stuffed animal or "trophy".

We also went to something new for us thanks to a friends mentioning it. It was a hot air balloon show and Glow event. There's pics below. It was very cool and something very memorable.

I think this has been one of the busiest summers/falls I can think of, but somehow we've managed to shoe horn in a few of these events to spend time as a family. I'm thankful for that as it's a really busy year for Mike at work. Time sure is precious.

Blessings,
Shae

3-D Glasses, Soup Weather, and Skyfari Pics

8/15/09. The kids model their 3-D glasses. This was their "free gift" from the Day Out with Thomas event for getting 4 location stamps on their event maps. The boys are holding the 3-D poster that went with the glasses.


8/20/09. Kind of a Fall/cooler day memory from my childhood that we've carried over/expanded into our own family. Taking homemade soup to a park usually in thermoses. This time we just grabbed the whole pot of soup. We try and do this at least once a year. Here we're at Zorinsky Lake where we had Haven's 1st birthday party. After dinner, we walked off our soup on the trails.

8/22/09. Mike, Eric, and Haven on the chair behind us. Ethan's been begging since they opened it...so we were finally able to ride the new Skyfari ride at our Zoo. It's basically like a ski lift which I've never been on one due to my fear of heights. I told Ethan that for sure we had to wait for Daddy to be along to help with everybody. Just for the record for those who know me well...I didn't panic (at least outwardly since I was riding with Ethan) although going downhill is a little unnerving. I still say they could install seatbelts. No really, I'm serious. LOL!

Skyfari and State Fair

8/22/09. View from the Skyfari at the Zoo.

The 3 Kiddos at the Zoo.

8/22/09. Haven and her Walk Behind Toy

8/29/09. Ethan & Kamber with their Frog Trainer Trophies and Certificates at the NE State Fair.

NE State Fair, Haven Reading

8/29/09. The boys were able to ride a camel at the State Fair. I still remember riding an elephant with my sister when we were kids at the Lincoln Children's Zoo. We still talk about it.

This pic of an angora goat in the petting zoo at the State Fair is sure to make you smile.

9/3/09. Haven saying "cheese" and "reading" Dora. She's super talented even being able to read upside down. LOL!
Just a great smile!

Children's Museum & Balloon Glow Pics

9/4/09. Haven had a blast pushing a cart around at the Children's Museum. It really helped her walking skills and confidence as well.

She found this perfect perch at the Museum that was just right for her.

09/12/09. We went to a Balloon Launch and Glow Event at Ditmars Orchard in Council Bluffs this last Saturday. They launched about 20 hot air balloons. Then they brought them all back and lit them up after dark. This was a very cool outing and tons of fun.

Pics of Balloon Glow Event

9/12/09. We were able to go on a balloon ride (tethered) for a few dollars each. It was fun. This pic shows how high we went. I wasn't sure I was going to like it since again...I'm a confessed acrophobic (fear of heights). This was way easier than the Skyfari.

Mike and the boys after our ride.

At dark, they light all the balloons up at once. It's called a Balloon Glow.

The crowd was invited to walk amongst the lit balloons.