The big cheese

Yeah, my kid's a major cheese ball... but it's pretty cute! Here are some of his newest personality quirks. He can do "SO BIG" and he throws his hands up every time he is proud of a new accomplishment. His other way of showing how awesome he thinks he is, is to hold his chin as high up in the air as he can while flashing he absolute cheesiest grin! He does this when we are chasing him and playing on the floor together. It's too funny. And he has figured out how to make it perfectly clear when he wants some things... like me! Cooking dinner, going to the bathroom, whatever- there is no good excuse in his mind for to to not hold him when he's ready & he shows me by wrapping me up at the knees so I can't take a single step without picking him up first!

Put a crab in water

I've been a bit nervous to give Van a bath in a real tub. I felt like I had more control with him in the infant tub at chest height, but I knew it couldn't last forever, so I finally stuck him in the tub. It's safe to say that he LOVES it to pieces! When I was still pregnant, someone told me "when you have a crab, put him in water" and I promise it works. It hasn't taken me long to learn that there is no problem in this life that is too big for a warm bath and a nap to fix. (That goes for mom & baby!)

Thanksgiving Trip

Happy Thanksgiving! This is my favorite holiday of the year by far. I love how the focus is almost completely on family and our blessings, and I love the food too! This year we drove out to Nevada to visit my dad's parents who we haven't seen in almost 4 years, and obviously they have never seen Van. I was worried how Bambino would do on the lllllooooooooooonnnggg drive, but I was pleasantly surprised. (That doesn't mean we didn't break every carseat law in all 3 states we drove though, but when you have a baby, you just do what you have to do.) We had a great time with Grandma & Grandpa, and we had a decent "diabetic" Thanksgiving feast. One of my favorite parts was taking Van on a hike in Tahoe that my parents used to take me on when I was his age. And it's a hike I've done many time throughout high school and college . I just love sharing pieces of my past like that with my family!

Can you see how well he travels? I don't think he could be much happier!

The Famous Tupperware Drawer

What kid didn't get their very own Tupperware drawer growing up? As far as I can tell, it is one of the greatest secrets to getting dinner on the table, as long as you don't break an ankle on all the clutter first! Well, who besides my little Vandal would have known that the Tupperware drawer makes the prefect step-stool to get INTO the dishwasher? Yup. All the way in!

Love These Pics

As much time as I spend with Van everyday, I have very few pictures to show for it. We have had so many fun and special moments together, and I have already started to forget some. I don't want to forget. This is what makes being a mom so worthwhile. I wish I had more pictures of our daily interactions to help me remember those cherished times, but I am so thankful someone thought to take these one night while we were goofing around.

Don't Blink!

Don't even look away for one single second! Because as soon as you do, this boy will be elbow deep in some sort of trouble! Today he heard the fridge open, raced across the kitchen and caught the door before it latched shut. So he opened it and climbed onto the first shelf to get the grapes we often share with him. All in just the blink of an eye!

My Alarm Clock

Almost every morning, I wake up to happy babbling from across the hallway. By the time I get up and walk to Van's room, he usually has pulled himself up on the crib and is standing there waiting for me. He is always so happy to see me and gives me the best snuggles in the morning! It's a great way to wake up!

Halloween

It's no secret that I am not a lover of Halloween. I hate dressing up, but feel lame if I don't. I don't like candy, especially not the cheap-o stuff. Don't like spiders, sculls, mummies... none of it. Never really have. So I wasn't going to do anything for Halloween this year, since Van could care less. But who could resist that cute little monster costume, perfect for our BIG monster? (And it was on clearance!) So I got him all dressed up & took him to the annual Halloween party at the Okelberry's house. We chatted with friends, sipped some cider and headed home far earlier than we ever have before- like all good mommies and daddies.

Childhood Memories

Watching my dad play with Van on the living room floor every night after work brings back so many cherished memories for me. I can still remember well the days when I was the little one crawling all over my dad: rough-housing, playing airplane, tickle fights, this little piggy... It warms my heart more than I can even say to see him playing those same games with my little guy. How lucky I am to have such an awesome dad. And how much luckier Van is to have him as his "great" grandpa!

Grandma's punkin

Grandma Julie grew pumpkins for all of her grand kids this year & Van got the teeniest one since he is the baby. Grandma Sue bought him that adorable little punkin onsie. So, yeah, I had to get some cute Halloween pics for the scrapbook. One thing in for sure, this boy is loved by his grandparents!

The Dangerous Life of A Wild Child

He crawls everywhere, climbs on everything and had NO fear! So it's no wonder that by 7 months old he already has his first motorcycle burn on him leg and his first black eye! Both of which I am sure will be the first of many more to come. This kid is ALL BOY!!!

Ready for Winter

It started getting chilly here in Poky, so I found this cute hat & gloves set. I was just waiting for it to snow so that I could try it out. This weekend I got my chance! My goodness, he looked cute! We bundled him up & piled into Ty's Blazer for a ride up into the mountains. Van enjoyed the bouncing and the trees swooshing against the windows, but quickly fell asleep.

His favorite place in the house

Now that Van has figured out to stand up in the living room window, it is his favorite place to hang out. He gets to practice his newest skill, watch me in the kitchen and see the wonderful world outside at the same time. He especially loves when the dog is out back, when daddy is mowing the lawn or when the wind is blowing very hard! At night he can see the reflection of a baby in the window looking back at him- and he loves that too!

This is one happy kid

I left Van with Tyler for a few hours while Ty was washing his motorcycle. He brought out the jumper for Van to play in. Now here's the important part- Van's favorite things are being in his jumper, seeing motorcycles, and being outside. This boy couldn't be happier, he never even realized how tired he was and he fell asleep before he ever thought to cry.

Of all the fancy baby toys...

his favorite thing to play with is the basket we keep his toys in... go figure!

I can't believe how smart Van is & how quickly he can learn new things! I always set him in the living room while I am in the kitchen & he always tries to get to me. Yesterday, the jumper was blocking the way... so he just went under!

He Sits!

This busy guy has a hard time finding a spare minute to sit still. I've been trying to get him to practice, but it's been a fight! This week he's finally got it down... but look how hard he has to try- his toes are all scrunched up to keep him sitting!

Swim Group

This boy loves the water! I knew he'd love this swim group at the hospital- we sing songs, splash, blow bubbles, float & have tons of fun!

Delicious Mess

I can't believe we made it to this point! When I was pregnant, I set a goal to nurse exclusively for 6 months. It seems like Van & I have had to tackle every bump & road block in the book, but we were persistent- we made it (minus a few days)& it has been so worth it! Now we have started feeding him some solid food & it is a whole new adventure! Tyler & I thought it would be fun to make as much of his food as we can, so I have been busy chopping & blending all sorts of delicious fruits & veggies for Van to taste. So far his favorite has been pears, but he spent the rest of the day puking them up! Bananas are his most tolerated food, so I have to mix them with his squash to get him to eat it. I have also learned that the easiest way to get him to eat & to keep his hands off the spoon is to give him a 'biter biscuit' to chew on... Messy, yes- but so much fun!

Boy Scout Camp Out

We've been cabin camping & camper camping, but I have been dying to get out and go tent camping all summer long. When Tyler had to go to a Scout camp out, I asked if we could come & he said yes! Van did a great job in the tent & we had a fun time warming up by the fire in the morning! I love camping & I can't wait to go out as a family again next summer!

Scooter Ride

Another first. He's growing so fast & time is flying by- it won't be long till he's riding by himself!

Cousins

We are so lucky to have Brittani & Jace now living so close to Poky with their two super cute kiddos, Avery & Dawson! They absolutely love Van & he thinks they are pretty great too! We got to visit them for a last minute trip this weekend with the whole Stucki family & we all had so much fun together!

Hunting Season

Ty was heading out to hunt with some buddies from work & Van happened to have his Dinosaur Camo on. Duh! I had to take a pic!

Even Superheros Get Sick

I got Van this super-cute onsie at Target when we were in Utah for Education Week. (Can I just say that I love Traget?!)It looks like a superhero & it says "Captain Adorable" & I love it! I fly him around the house & I call him Captain Adorable in a deep, to-the-rescue voice... yeah, I'm a nerd!
After we got home, he got his first bit of illness. I don't know what it was, but it was so sad to see him so miserable & there was nothing I could do. He wanted his binky all the time, but his nose was so stuffy that he couldn't breath with it in. It would fall out & he would cry till I gave it to him again. A vicious cycle & a long few weeks.

Lessons in Creeping & Crawling

My oh my! Van has been a wiggly & extreamly active baby since birth. I have sometimes joked that I gave birth to a toddler, rather than a sweet, snugly baby! He has been trying to 'walk' by holding onto our hands and walking across the living room since he was about a month old & now he's discovered that he doesn't need our help anymore because he is teaching himself to crawl. As of this post, he can still only scoot around, but I wanted to share a few pictures of him practicing his technique!

How Many of Me?

Jessica
~ There are 747,150 people in the U.S. with the first name Jessica.
~ Statistically the 61st most popular first name.
~ More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Jessica are female.
~ There are 3 people in the U.S. named Jessica Stucki.

Tyler
~ There are 138,756 people in the U.S. with the first name Tyler.
~ Statistically the 427th most popular first name.
~ 97.8 percent of people with the first name Tyler are male.
~ There is 1 person in the U.S. named Tyler Stucki.

Vander
(Vander's name didn't exist, so I searched for Van)
~ There are 33,546 people in the U.S. with the first name Van.
~ Statistically the 1003rd most popular first name.
~ 86.36 percent of people with the first name Van are male.
~ There are 1 or fewer people in the U.S. named Van Stucki.

Stucki
~ There are 1,128 people in the U.S. with the last name Stucki.
~ Statistically the 24960th most popular last name.

information courtesy of http://howmanyofme.com/

Like His Mommy!

Much to my absolute pleasure, Van loves books. Much to my dismay, he mostly just loves to eat them. I have hope that one day, that will change & he will learn to love what books have to offer him!

ABCs of the Stucki 3

Adventure, Baby boy, College, Diapers, Enjoying summer, Friends, Growing so fast, Hike, In love, Jumperoo, Killer spider, Laughing, Movies, Naps, Office (our fave tv show), Peek-a-boo, Quilter, Rolling over, Scout master, Time flies, Up at night, Vander, Water skiing, Xb (our car), Youtube, Zillions of things to be grateful for!

His newest trick

This boy is full of tricks! It is a pretty amazing thing watching such a tiny person learn new skills each day. He is currently working on crawling. Here are a few of him rolling over the other day- he's getting pretty good at it.


Oh, and he loves the camera!

Elk Meadows

Earlier this month we went hiking with the Coffins up Elk Meadows to see all the flowers. It was hot & the kids weren't the most cooperative luggage to haul, but the flowers were beautiful. It was amazing to see the whole hill-side covered with all these bright yellow blossoms!

Baby Food

I was worried Van wasn't getting enough to eat (& later found out I was right) so I tried to feed him some cereal to curb his appetite. It went pretty well, but he is clearly not ready for it yet & that's ok because I love the time we spend together nursing.

Independance Day

Happy 4th! Van had a great time watching the Stucki's annual fireworks show at the elementary school. He was absolutely fascinated by the bright flashing colors- it was pretty funny!
The next day we got together with the Coffins for a little throw back fun with the Slip-N-Silde!