All on her own

I got called over to our exchange student's room and this is what I saw.  She thinks its fun and does it all the time. Enjoy.

More Fun in the Sun

Here are some more of our favorite daylilies in our expanding collection:

Entrapment

Scarlet Apache

John Peat

Always Afternoon

Peach Magnolia

Here is some fun in the backyard.  Peter even got in on the fun :)!!
Dave bought this AWESOME wagon and Victoria never fails to ask for a ride when we are out in the yard.  It even has fold-up seats and cupholders.  It had seat belts but we did away with those right after construction.  Victoria is good about holding on to the sides and likes to switch from one seat to the other while we go in circles around the yard.

I had to document how attached Victoria has gotten to her blankie.  She has always liked having the silky blankies with her during nap times, but she has increasingly become attached to this particular blankie.  Not only that, but she likes to suck on the thing until it turns into a slobbery mess.  She strokes the edge of the blanket while slurping down on a corner and soothes herself to sleep or just comforts herself when she feels like it.  Needless to say, we have to wash them a lot.  It's a good thing we have two, thanks to Meg and Aunt Nicki!!  Unfortunately, Victoria also KNOWS that we have two and often demands to have both of them.  Too smart for her own good.

Last Saturday, we got to visit the nearest American Hemerocallis Society Display Garden.  Just outside of Geneva, Grace Gardens was a fun day trip. They had an Open House and I got to meet the owners.  We ended up bringing home 14 new cultivars for our collection.

Here's an update on our raised bed.  Not only have the plants grown with cucumbers, heads of broccoli, tomatoes, and carrots taking off, but it has become OVER grown.  I got a little ambitious with my plant selections and now the giant zucchini leaves and squash vines are taking over.  I'll have to thin it out.  And, we'll have to be more selective next year....or add another bed.

And, of course, another trip to the zoo.

I got admittedly tired of having to lift Victoria up on the swingset to go down the slide.  It was time she got one her own size that she could climb on her own.  Thanks to craigslist, we have a slide/hangout spot to keep Victoria busy during our gardening time.

Summer Adventures

We've had a great time this summer getting out and about.  During June, we made a few trips to the zoo and Victoria was SOO much more interested in the animals.  We had an annual membership last year but she would pay more attention to the other kids than the animals and we didn't end up going much.  But, as you can see, she is far more observant of the animals this year.

Watching dada's favorite: the penguins

And, when she was done walking,
we watched the tigers while she "roared" at the glass.

She liked them so much she wanted to become one!

We also recently discovered a nice miniature golf course near our house.  It has a beautiful stream running through the middle of it, has well-tended grounds, and give a military discount so we can get a round and an ice cream in.  Victoria likes to interrupt as often as possible so she can climb up the grass and put her ball in the hole.

We've also done a LOT of gardening.  It's a little-known fact that, despite the amazingly cold and snowy winters, Syracuse is a great place to garden during the summer months.  The weather has been mostly temperate and the longer days mean I get more time to be outdoors after I get home from work.  And, now that Victoria is getting older, she is more willing to spend time outside with us, too.  It also helps that she has FINALLY started walking!!  Exactly one week before turning 18 months old, Victoria gave up her scoot for good and walked on her own.  She had taken a few steps and even gone about 8 steps unassisted, but with all her stability and interest in getting up on the furniture, she still struggled to stand up directly from a seated position.  Then, one Thursday, she figured out that piece of the puzzle and off she went!  Now she doesn't get as dirty outside (until she demands to hold the hose) and she is getting more independent.  I didn't think she could get any more independent than she is already is, but she is.  She is also getting into a routine that, as soon as we get her home from our neighbor's house (aka daycare) she wants to get out and look at the flowers.  She also likes to pull the flowers off their stems....She sees mama dead-head the spent daylily blossoms and tries to help out, but ends up pulling off new blossoms instead.

Dave and I have gotten into collecting daylilies and have learned a LOT about them.  There is such an amazing variety and so many that thrive here in our tough climate that they are hard to resist.  It's really nice for me, too, because I grew up watching my mom tend her daylily collection.  I never had any land of my own to even think about planting flowers, but now that we  have our home and the time to work outside, it's become a new obsession.  Dave and I joined the American Hemerocallis Society (check them out at www.daylilies.org) which is dedicated to researching and promoting daylilies.  They also have the official registry of different varieties.  Here are some of our new additions:

Victorian Princess

Jungle Beauty

Siloam Bo Peep

Indian Giver

Last but not least, Dave and I built a raised bed on the East side of the house.  I planted a variety of veggies from carrots and broccoli I'd started from seed to cabbage, tomatoes, and cucumbers we bought starts of at a local nursery.  We had tried a veggie garden last year in the back yard but didn't get nearly enough sunlight to keep them growing.  Fingers crossed for this year's attempt!!


And, just because it's fun, here is my daredevil daughter being spun in our office chair.  Sorry the video is sideways...

Niagra Falls Mini Vacation

With the end of the my spring semester, Kristine and I decided we needed a little vacation before getting back to summer classes and work.  We really wanted to go camping, but the forcast showed three days of rain, so we opted for an overnighter at Niagra Falls instead. Camping would be postponed until later in the week when the weather was better.  Kristine had never been to Niagra Falls, and I hadn't been in probably 20 years so it looked fun. 

We stayed at the Sheraton on the Falls, which is right in the middle of a touristy area with lots to do and places to eat.  Here is Victoria checking out the view from our room.  As soon as we got in, she immediately went to the window.

Kristine and Victoria.

It wasn't very crowded and must not be peak season yet.  Walking along the edge, we could feel the rumble of the water pouring down.  With all the mist generated by the falls, there was constant rainbow. 

Victoria seemed very taken in by the falls and was content to watch what was going on.

Of course she had to pull out her hair tie 10 minutes after Kristine made her look so nice.

Food prices were suprisingly high.  The cheapest meal we had in the entire two days was at Wendys.

Victoria on the other had thought Wendy's was the best.  Especially the yogurt and drinks

Part of the hotel package was two days of access to the indoor water park.  It wasn't the biggest water park, but the slides were fun and Victoria loved it.  She divided her time between fighting the waves in the large pool, and playing around the slide in the little kid area. She is definately a water baby and will love her lake time with her cousins this summer.    

Sooo Helpful....

Evidently Peter was not eating his breakfast fast enough for Victoria, so she decided to help him out.  

Here are a couple random picts.

 Hair.  We started putting her hair up in little whale spouts and pig tails.  This is what happens after Victoria decides to pull them out. Pure awesomeness.

I don't know what it is, but Victoria loves getting into small spaces where only she fits.  This is at church in fancy dress.

We went to the mall and of course we had to ride on the carousel. Victoria loved it so much we had to go twice.   

Kristine and I decided we were tired of moving cars and parking  each other in so we turned our one car driveway into a two car driveway.  Victoria was utterly fascinated by the work going on outside. 

Yesterday she started putting her head on the ground and looking at me through her legs.  I don't know why this is so entertaining for her, but she thought it was really fun.  This is the best I could get before she stopped. 

 We set up her princess activity table.  As soon as she saw it she knew it was for her.  Its still a little big and she hasn't quite figured out coloring yet. but soon it will get a lot of use.    

Dancing Queen

Victoria loves music.  We went to a friend's wedding reception a little while ago and Victoria could not help herself.  She heard the music and started dancing.  Unfortunately I only got the tail end.

The squeals of delight and arm swinging continued for the whole time we were on dance floor. 

UN-Adventure

This year Kristine and I got to chaperone Syracuse's international relations learning community United Nations trip.  Since we left at 6am and didn't get back until after midnight, Victoria got in a good day and a half of grandparent time.  When grandma dropped her off on saturday morning, to our chagrin, Victoria desperatedly did not want Grandma to leave. 

It was special going to New York again.  We were running around with tons of college freshman, but that didn't diminish the feeling.  It felt unexcpectedly familiar.  New York had always been where Kristine and I ran off to when dating.  Returning together after a while felt nice.   

What would NYC be without a long car or bus ride to get there.

Here we are at the UN.

After our UN tour and lunch we had some freetime. We went down to see the 911 memorial. This is the one of the new towers going up.  Like the previous World Trade towers, this new tower is the tallest building in NYC.  Its really amazing to see all the construction and "rebirth".  We have gone to the site several times after 9/11 and it was always just an open hole like a wound. Finally the space seems to be healing and coming back to life. 

This is the view from the North reflecting pool.  The museum is the building in the immidiate background.  Appropriately it looks like a fallen building.  Next two it is one of the new towers going up.

This is a picture of one of the relecting pools at night ( from the 9/11 memorial website.)  The memorial has two pools like this, one for each tower. The names of those who died are on the outside surrounding the pools. 

Victoria's tantrums

yep, tantrums. Our little love bug is turning into a full-blown toddler, tantrums and all. This morning I was trying to get her dressed. I had her standing on the changing table holding on to her crib (because she gets upset when she is forced to lie down and it's easier to change her when she's standing anyway). I leaned over to snap the buttons of her onesie and she CLOBBERED me on the shoulder!! I couldn't believe it! Usually when she's unhappy with something she'll bat your hands away or push away, but she has NEVER hit anyone (that I know of)! I grabbed her hand and gave her a very stern NO. Usually that would result in crying because she doesn't like being told no. Instead, she hit the crib. She furrowed her brow and hit the crib. I was glad she didn't try to hit me again, but it was still extremely surprising.

I have seen the signs before today, but thought our efforts to ignore her tantrums was starting to work...

She has really started to develop a temper. When we walk into another room and "leave" her, or when she can't get her blocks to stack properly, she will throw herself onto her belly and give a very gruff "Phrumph" and throw her arms out in anger. It's days like today that I have to remember the wonderful milestones she is reaching and not just the upcoming terrible 2s.

• she is walking (assisted!) very well. She lets us hold her hands and go walking with her much more often than previously. She still prefer to scoot around and only attempts to try walking when holding on to the couch or the wall. But, I'm really hopeful she'll be going on her own so that she can run around on the beach this summer.
  


• She is also talking a lot more. She started saying "dog" back in November, but has since added "this" and "baby." She waves "hi" and "bye" and will snort through her nose when we say "nose."
  


• She's very interested in opening and closing things (including the dishwasher HAVING to be closed when we are trying to load it) and LOVES chasing Peter around the house.
  


• When she wakes up in the morning, she HAS to see both mom and dad or she will go searching for the missing parent all over the house.
  


• She LOVES bananas and has to have one in the morning. We get her from her crib and if we don't have food in our hands, she points at the stairs to go down and get some.
  


• She is becoming MUCH more cuddly. At dinner, she doesn't want to sit in her high chair but wants to sit in my lap and eat with me. When we are playing a game at the table, she doesn't want to be on the floor, she wants to be up in our laps watching the game we are playing. That makes it much more difficult to play games anymore because she tries to pick up the pieces or the entire board.

Despite the disappointing recent turn events, she is still an amazing happy and kind baby. We love her and hope this phase will pass QUICKLY!!

Victoria's Videos

Victoria, my daughter is hilarious. She loves to laugh and constantly has a smile on her face. We try to catch as many funny momments as possible.  Here are a few...

As often as possible Victoria likes to help her mom play the piano

Every day in our house there is a competition.  Peter tries to eat his food as fast as he can while Victoria tries to spread it around. 

Here she is attacking her cousin conner after a fun day of sledding.

  

Victoria turns one

I still can't believe it's true, but we are officially parents of a one-year-old.  So much has happened in the past year that, on the one hand, it feels like we've had our little bundle of surprises for much much longer.  On the other hand, it feels impossible that time has passed so quickly for our little pumpkin to be jumping into the world of toddlerhood. 

Luckily, we got to celebrate her birthday in good style.  Because Dave had finals all week, we had to host the party a little after her birthday (3 days late but she didn't know the difference).

I made her a cake with bread loaf pans to construct a "V".

 
Victoria's hair is coming in so strong and thick!  Seeing all the curl at the bottom is somewhat of a consolation for having lost all my curls post-pregnancy.

She looked more confused than anything else when we turned the lights out and started singing to her.

Of course, she got spoiled with presents.  She's absolutely obsessed with these blocks from Aunt Nicki.  She's only content when every single one is dumped out across the floor.  And, if anyone tries to build something with them, she comes straight over to take it down.

So much fun opening presents!  Actually Victoria didn't appreciate my attempts to show her each present.  She accepted the routing for the first 2 presents and then took the 3rd one and ran to hide under the table.  She was determined that I wouldn't make her give up her presents.

Lots of family!  Here are the Bennetts.

And the soon-to-be-married Tom and Nicki and boys.

Of course,  grandma and grandpa had to get some snuggle time with the birthday girl.

Here are some of our favorite things about Victoria right now:

*Her half scoot/half crawl.  She puts one leg tucked under her and tilts herself up and pulls herself with her other leg and arm.  She wants to walk, I think, but doesn't like when we prop her up to practice.  She'll stand and walk along furniture and it likely to be running before we know it.

* Victoria is SO social.  She doesn't mind being passed around to anybody who'll take her.  She has some hidden reserve of energy that is activated only when we are around other people.  She'll go for hours past her bedtime because she can't miss any of the action!

*She is also VERY talkative.  We have decided her first actual word is "Daaaw" aka "Dog."  She'll say a variety of consonants but her "mama" and "dada" aren't really attached to us as people.   She waves "hi" and "goodbye", claps when we get happy, does a "pow-wow" putting her open palm to her mouth, and tries to talk in the phone out in front of her mouth like she's on speaker phone.

In general, she's a lively, fun, social, inquisitive, and super enjoyable kid.  We just love her!