We're so lucky to live in Holland. =)

Oh, could life be any more fun, Toriana?!!

Another post already? This spring/summer weather's got me all inspired with camera friendly moments every time I turn around! I enjoyed memories of going to see tulips with many of you in years gone by as we trekked north to Mt Vernon yesterday! We had a fun day with Lisa and Braden (although coordinating our two babies' schedules didn't exactly happen - maybe next year!) The daffodils are about done and the tulips are just getting going. Toriana rarely looked at me for the pictures because there were people everywhere and she was checking them all out! A few grandmas came and stood behind me to try to get her to look at the camera at various times. =) You'll be surprised to learn that I took about a zillion photos.

I even have a new video too ... thanks for your comments about the last ones! Some of you "lurkers" should leave a message one of these days - I'm always curious when I look at the map ... who are you!? =) One last note: your next stop should be Sally's blog where you can see her rocking and reading - so cute!

15 Months!!

"Dada, Mom, Thank you (suh-shu), Hello (or sometimes "lo") Cheese, and Toe (for Toriana of course)" are the words of the day around here now. This is encouraging to Mommy as I get sort of disappointed when reading my baby book - I was saying all sorts of things at age one and little missy has taken her sweet time with communication, but she's finally coming around. Maybe rather than being so verbal, she'll grow up to "speak" C++ and with her Daddy?
And/or maybe she'll grow up to scale great heights? Because she sure is a busy little climber - and her preferred place to walk is the couch or bed, nice and uneven! We've been cracking up at her latest trick ... putting it in reverse and taking little methodical steps backwards, sometimes all the way across the room, until she runs into something.
We're taking a great little music class at Green Lake community center, complete with drums, rattles, dancing, and singing and geared perfectly to this age group - she's warming up slowly but surely - I think it's a good way for her to start getting through some of her extreme shyness ... ?!
Today she had her 15 mo. check up - she's 23#4oz (55th percentile) and 31" tall (70th) and I learned last week she has a size 5 1/2 foot (bigger than average although I'd be curious to hear from you other mamas what your similar aged kids are? I don't have much to compare it with but they sure look BIG!) We're up to 12 teeth these days so chewing is no problem. Thanks to some coaching from Kaitlyn, Katrina and Kenny, toothbrushing is happening every day without a fight - woohoo, the power of positive examples!! In the past month we've even crossed another huge milestone - 2 nights of 8+ hrs of sleep (although there are plenty of 3-4 hr increments still, this is encouraging progress!)
I have zillions of pictures and videos so it's hard to know what to post. But you didn't sign on here to read a novel from me, so here are a few pics to satiate your curiosity as to what Miss Toriana Grace is up to these days. If you want more pictures you can check our Shutterfly albums. Until next time ... happy SPRING!

Last spring ... and This spring! What a difference a year makes! Mommy loved this dress, so when it went on clearance at the end of summer she bought an 18 month old one - I've sure grown a lot!!

PEEKABOO I see you!!!!

A day at the zoo ... a nice place for a picnic with Nana and then a nap!

Thanks for my VT dress, Caroline and Lilian (notice my hands - as usual filled with keys, a pen, a cell phone or a camera ... who needs toys?)

Say CHEESE!!!

Ok, here's a new video for Tristan. Also, I have more videos at Shutterfly but in order to see them I need to add you to my You Tube account (I've kept them private - but if you have an account on YouTube you can easily see them - many are shorter than this one which is sort of redundant unless you're either Toriana's parent or grandparent - or a two year old viewer!).

Ok, one more video I just uploaded from my camera!

We saw Evelyn and then stopped in to see Vivian...

So, I'm just chuckling about names these days ... I'm wondering if you read the title and envisioned a nursing home visit? If so, you were off by about 85 years - indeed, Evelyn was on the swings with her little sister Dorothy and Vivian is in Toriana's music class along with Josephine and Ruby.
We enjoyed the Lawrence's visit these past 9 days and will get some new pics posted soon - and maybe even a fresh new video so that poor A&J can oblige Tristan with something besides the 2 currently available!
Happy weekend!