Allan is almost 21 months old now, and it hardly seems possible that he’ll be 2 in just three months.  Of course, then we look at him and realize - uh, yep - he’s going to be TWO!  He is still a little shadow to big brother Samuel, but he is also branching out and doing his own thing a lot.  When Samuel is gone, he has to amuse himself, and he does a pretty good job of it - playing with cars, reading books, making BIG messes.  He is really into climbing right now, and we often find him sitting on Samuel’s bed, all proud of himself.  It won’t be long before we need to make the transition from crib to toddler bed!  Thankfully he hasn’t attempted to climb OUT of the crib yet, so we’re still good for few more months.

Lately, his favorite thing to do is to ask to watch “Babies”, which is his way of asking for ”Baby Einstein” or “Praise Babies” DVD’s.  He will come up to us, holding the DVD case and say, “babies?  babies?  please?  babies?” until we say yes or no.  (And heaven help us when we say no!).  He’s got quite a temper when things don’t go his way, but he is easily distracted.  He thinks time-outs are funny, and he’ll sit in the time-out chair and giggle and make faces trying to make US laugh.  So for now, time-outs are a good way to distract him from being frustrated.

Allan is a GO, GO, GO kind of kiddo, and he’d GO anywhere, anytime if we let him.  He is constantly bringing me his shoes or his coat and asking to GO.  When Daddy leaves for work, he walks around the house saying “Go?  Go?” about a million times.  And when it’s time for Daddy to come home (how DO they know?), he does the same thing.  He is most happy when we actually DO put shoes and coat on and GO somewhere.  It doesn’t matter where - it makes him happy to be out!

I’ve got one picture update, in layout form.  This picture was taken by my sister Sarah, when we were in CA for Xmas.  I love it, and couldn’t wait to turn it into a layout.

Hopefully more updates are coming soon, but I make no promises as the end of the pregnancy is nearing!

Um, where have the last 6 months gone exactly?  I really can’t believe I’ve been so bad about updates for both boys sites.  I guess better late than never!  Here are a few pics and scrap layouts from the last few months…

June 2006 - 14 months old:

We went to Nebraska in June, and I have tons of great pictures to scrap from that trip.  Allan got to play with all his cousins on Mama’s side - since the WHOLE family got together for a week and a half.  What an adventure!  There were lots of firsts this month - a trip to the zoo, “swimming” in a pool, eating fries at Runza… FLYING on an airplane! 

July 2006 - 15 months old:

Allan continued his “I’m gonna walk, but it’s not going to be today” attitude the entire month of July.  We had the cameras out numerous times, waiting for the true FIRST STEPS, unaided by furniture or other people.  Alas, he was stubborn, and just simply refused!

August 06 - 16 months old:

In August, Allan, Mama and Samuel went to CA to visit Mema and Papa, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Ron, and Austin and Hailey.  We also got to see Great Grandma Wasser, Aunt Sharon and Uncle Dick, cousin Nancy, Simonne and Ryan.  It was a really busy, fun vacation… again with lots of pictures.  One of these days, Mama will get caught up with scrappin and there’ll be more layouts to see!

September 06 - 17 Months Old: 

Unfortunately, there are no pictures for September.  Mama was in the throes of morning sickness, and we basically “got by” this month.  Of course, it also happens to be the month that Allan went from crawling and faking us out with his “maybe I’ll walk today”…to RUNNING!  The boy is now mobile, and he is FAST!

October 06 - 18 months:

In 10 days, Allan will be 18 months old.  It’s hard to fathom how he can already be such a big boy.  He “baby” days are fading fast, as each day he grows into toddlerhood a little more.  His vocabulary is astounding, and his attitude is challenging AND fun at the same time.  He is his big brother’s shadow, and whatever Samuel does, Allan does.  His favorite things to do are: pick up trash and lint and throw it away, sleep, eat, fuss with Samuel, play with Samuel’s toys, dance to music, and read books.  His sense of humor is still shining through every day, and he works hard to get laughs from the people around him.  In recent days, he’s experienced his first time-outs, and he is really, really good at making Mama (and Granma and everyone else) laugh when he gets “in trouble”.  His dance moves are hysterical, and he shows them off whenever he hears any kind of music (including on commercials).  He is truly a joy beyond measure.

We started a list of all the words he can say right now.  There are definitely some words missing because he’s adding new ones every day, but it’s a good indication of how verbal our boy is:

Mama
Daddy
ganma and gampa (not clearly, but definitely tries to say these!)
ball
ok
eat
drink
cheerio
cracker
cheese
down
doggy
kisses
round and round (with hand motions to simulate the fan movement)
night night
bear
george (for curious george)
choo choo
car
fan
go
one
ruff ruff (when he sees any animal)
more
vroom vroom (when playing with cars)
bye bye
hi
boo
baby
help

And one last picture… Samuel likes to pretend he has a baby in his tummy like Mama does, and of course, whatever Samuel does…Allan does.  Thus the “baby in the shirt” pics.  He just happened to be wearing a Pirates of the Caribbean rag on his head at the time. 

It really doesn’t seem possible… and yet, it totally does.  One year!  In an ironic start to his day, Allan woke up and was hungry for his bottle at just a little after 10:00 a.m. - almost exactly to the minute of when he had his first meal in the NICU a year ago.  He ate quite a bit more this time than he did that first meal… and it wasn’t too long before he wanted a morning snack too!

Daddy was home today, so we did a lot of thinking back and talking about the first hours and days of Allan’s life.  Unfortunately, there is a lot I don’t remember from the first 24 hours or so.  It’s a bit fuzzy, and most of it is in little flashes, like pictures.  Flashes of the OR, the OB talking before the surgery, hearing the doctors shout out numbers for the Apgar score, twice.  (And attempting to count up the numbers in a drugged haze, thinking, “well that’s not too low!”)  Seeing Baby Allan for one brief second before they whisked him away.  Waking up back in the room on the L&D floor.  Looking at pictures of him on the camera.  Again, it’s all fuzzy for me, and I don’t really like that I can’t remember. 

What I DO remember is the doctor releasing me to the regular Maternity floor, and really SEEING Baby Allan for the first time.  He was in the NICU, and still hooked up to machines.  He had an IV in his hand, and he was so incredibly tiny.  I still get teary-eyed thinking about those first few moments I spent with him.  I felt panic, and fear, and wasn’t sure about holding him.  I didn’t hold him for long, because I was still feeling the effects of the medication and I was afraid I would drop him.  They wheeled me away from him, once again, and I waited impatiently in my new room to have him brought to me.  We got through the next couple of sleep-deprived, traumatic days before we brought him home, and our lives have not been the same since!

Today, Allan is a big, beautiful, funny, stubborn, strong-willed, LOUD, adorable, funny, sweet, loving, funny boy.  Yes, he has inherited his funny bone from his father, his eyelashes from his mother, and his strong-willed, stubborn nature from BOTH his parents.  He is a social kiddo, and has the gift for gab (although he’s still not speaking in English yet).  There are moments when we wonder if he’s really only one, because he is capable of throwing “Size 2″ temper tantrums.  Oh yes, I forgot to mention that temper in my description above!  We’re trying to decide who to place the blame onto for THAT one!  One can only hope that he’ll get enough of the tantrums out NOW, and by the time he’s two, that will be SO old news.

The day was a pretty low-key day for us, and the birthday party we planned for him has been post-poned to next weekend, since most of the family is in Colorado.  Samuel did give him one gift (an adorable cordoroy Elmo doll), and we enjoyed donuts for the birthday cake. (Pictures coming soon)!  We sang “happy birthday” about 20 times, usually initiated by Samuel, who LOVES birthdays and parties.  And we just relaxed together, enjoying both boys.

Here is a layout based on pictures taken this morning at around 10:30, as close to his exact birth-time as possible. 

It’s been an awesome year!  And we can’t wait to see what’s coming this next year!

I’m not really sure where the last 11 months have gone, because they have gone so quickly.  But here we are, with an “almost one year old” on our hands!  And he is quite the adorable “almost one year old”, let me tell ya!  Every month brings it’s new and exciting changes, and this last month was no exception.  Allan is babbling more all the time, and getting really close to those dreaded/much anticipated first few steps.  He and Samuel are the best of buds, as always, and it keeps getting better all the time.  They can actually play together now with some sense of equality, although big brother tends to have less of an attention span for their play-time than little brother does!

Allan is eating and eating… and eating some more!  We have been slow to feeding him “table-food”, but now that it’s happening, we can be slow no longer.  The boy wants to eat anything we offer!  Below is a scrapbook layout I did with pictures of snack-time.  He is one happy eating boy!  We are in that “I want to eat lots of food, but I still want just as many bottles” stage.  It will be interesting to see what he weighs next month at his one year check-up.  Odds are he’ll still be up in the high 90’s, percentage-wise, for weight.

Allan has always had his fair-share of “personality”.  He began showing it to us when he was about a month old.  (He might have done it sooner, but he spent those early days being very sleepy all the time, recovering from being born too early.  He was not ready to debut the personality at first, but when he did….oooohhh boy!)  Lately this little person(ality) is growing into a scary monster…er… dramatic, high-energy, strong-willed child.  He is definitely a “I want it, and I want it NOW” kind of kiddo.  (Especially with regards to feeding time!).  Below is another layout, with a little peek into the “personality” behind the cherubic face that we see 95% of the time.

But, I don’t want to give the wrong impression.  Not only is he dramatic when he wants to be, we also have a comedian on our hands.  He already knows a good joke when he sees one, and he has a good grasp of physical comedy as well.  (With his favorite funny being slapping at mommy’s face and laughing hysterically… followed quickly by pulling on her hair and spitting…. while laughing hysterically).  He is a VERY good mimic, and he likes it when others mimic him.  It’s obvious he gets great joy from the laughter of others, and he does what he can to create the laughter. Again, another layout… showing his comedic self, with a little help from Granma.

It’s been an amazing 11 months!  Thank you, Lord, for our precious, precious boy.  We are truly blessed!

First, a fun layout I did with a few 10 Month Pictures:

Credits: Red background from Keep Truckin kit by Amy Bleser; Blue denim back from Howdy kit by Maya of scrapbookgraphics; Tan twill ribbon from Why kit by Amy Bleser; Strip Alpha by Jess Bolton; black stitching by Maya.

What a joy Allan is - every day.  He is becoming quite the character, interacting with us more and more, and making us laugh at his antics.  His new favorite thing to do whenever he sees Mama is to growl and grunt.  He thinks it is SO funny when I growl or grunt back at him. You can see one of his “growl” pictures in the layout above. 

He has been pulling himself up on furniture and in his crib for awhile now, and he is getting very close to letting go and taking off running.  Well, maybe walking first!  But, it won’t be long.  He lets go for seconds at a time, and teeters back and forth before falling with a plop down to sit on his bottom. 

In February, three more teeth showed up.  He now has three teeth on bottom, and two teeth coming in on top.  He makes a lot of silly faces when he’s playing with the new teeth with his tongue, and he likes to give funny grins and show them off.  He is also eating more and more food all the time, and LOVING it!  He has quite an appetite, and heaven help the person who doesn’t get his bottle made fast enough or get more cheerios right away when he wants them!

Oops, someone just woke up from a nap, and is letting me know he is HUNGRY.  (He is SO loud!)  I will have more layouts to post soon.  Stay tuned…

More coming soon, but in the meantime, click the links below to see the large size images. 

Allan is changing SO much these days - it seems every day brings a new skill or milestone.  Last week, on the 18th, he stood up IN the playpen without any help!  He’d been working on that for several days, and was having a difficult time, since the sides of the playpen aren’t great for pulling up against.  He finally figured it out though, and has been making his way around the playpen - walking while holding on to the top edges - ever since!

And today marked the first time he crawled on all fours for any significant time.  He has been “commando crawling” for quite a long while now, but has seemed to have no interest in crawling up on all fours.  He’s done a crawl or two here and there, but not consistently - probably because he was so much faster with his little army crawl.  But tonight he crawled all over the living room, from one interesting item to the next.  Toys… mommy’s feet… mommy’s laptop cords… daddy’s shoes… more toys.  He checked it all out!

He is nearly 10 months old, and if the latest milestones are any indication, it’s a good bet that he’ll be walking by his 1st birthday.  Heaven help Mommy when that happens… keeping up with both boys is about to get MUCH harder!

Yep, it was time for something new… not to mention I needed to make it a little more user friendly on MY end, for updating sake.  So, here it is…I’m still tweaking.. but an update will soon follow!

To see the archived pages from the old site, click HERE.