Vanessa...In a NUTshell

WARNING: This is a lengthy(er) post...I always have a hard time choosing which pictures to use!

While we feel that our little girl is very sweet and cute, she also is a little bit of a goofball and quite mischievous. Here are a few photos that exhibit her colorful personality:


She has discovered that she can look at things upside down. Since she is so short, she can't see through her legs very well and has to look around them. Note the pieces of corn stuck to her feet. How did those get there?



Here is her new (bath) 'do. She thought it was pretty cool.



Speaking of cool...Matt and I picked these sunglasses at the dollar store to keep Vanessa entertained on the drive back from California. She stills plays with them, putting them on herself or others (with supervision, of course, since she has a tendency to put them in your eyes instead of over them). Let's hope she doesn't need glasses later (Although we know a great optometrist if she does).



Already trying to be a grown-up! While Matt was feeding Vanessa ice cream (doctor's orders, I swear), she decided she needed to feed him, though from the looks of things, I'd says she's getting the bigger bites.


So, Vanessa loves pears. I mean, loves them (almost as much as ice cream). She stood up on the table while we were trying to feed her (not a regular feeding spot), walked over, and helped herself to a pear. After she took a few bites (which aren't very big when you only have two teeth), I took it away so I could chop it up for her. So she started going for the other pear. That was when we took her off the table.





When I'm getting Vanessa ready for her bath, I let her throw the bath toys from the bucket to the tub while the water fills up. She usually is so excited about the water that she pays little attention to anything else. Yet, aside from food, Vanessa's big obsession is the toilet, which includes the paper. I have been successful the past couple of weeks in keeping her from unrolling all the toilet paper, and I guess I let down my guard. In the few moments while I was getting her nightgown and diaper, she managed to unload a whole new roll onto the floor. When I went in and caught her doing it, she jumped. She knew she was doing something she shouldn't (1st picture). Then in classic Vanessa fashion, she "defied" me by trying to eat the toilet paper still in her hand (2nd picture). I'm not quite sure but I think she was trying to get rid of the evidence.


Well, when all is said and done, this mischievous goofball is my sweet little baby, and every time I look at that precious face, I know I wouldn't trade her for the world (or all the toilet paper in it).

Good Night, Sleep Tight . . . Don't Let the Titanus Giganteous Bite!

So, the other night Lisa and I were putting Vanessa to bed. As Lisa was trying to put Vanessa in her crib, Vanessa kept squirming and trying to back-pedal out of the crib. All the sudden Lisa screamed, "Oh my gosh! There's a huge cockroach in the crib". It turns out it was a Titanus Gigatneous beetle (pretty impressive name). It was about three inches long, with antennae about that long too. I put it in a cup and took it outside. When I went to put it in the grass, it hissed at me. So I showed him who was boss and launched him into the middle of the street. No mercy.

It's a tornado! It's a hurricane! It's a. . .

. . . really crazy, windy thunderstorm. I don't know if we made national news, but we had a crazy thunderstorm yesterday that knocked over airplanes, took down 100 ft trees, and caused some flash flooding. Must be all the "moisture" everyone is always praying for (those of you who have lived in Utah will get that joke). Luckily, no one was injured, but some people will be without power for about a week. It was definitely the coolest thunderstorm I've ever seen.

This One's For You, Megan . . .

. . . "this is the stupidest glow worm ever!"

Pioneer Day

For those of you who haven't lived in Utah, July 24th is Pioneer Day (basically an excuse to not work and light off all the fireworks left over from the 4th). We spent the afternoon at Ian's wife's parent's new home in Elk Ridge. It was a beautiful home set up in the hills. Vanessa had her first experience with a slip-and-slide. She wasn't quite heavy enough to slide down by herself, so we tried a number of different techniques. We had a great dinner and enjoyed getting to know Monica's family better.

Our Little American Idol Star

"Whaaaa." There's something about little kids and singing into the fan that is so fascinating. Vanessa discovered she can make all sorts of fun noises. And it also does cool things with your hair if you shake your head. She hardly wanted to go to sleep last night because she was having so much fun shouting and then peeking through the fan at me. The challenge we find is keeping Vanessa cool without her trying to "touch" the fan. We don't need those cute little fingers any shorter!

It's Just a Phase . . .

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!! That's Vanessa's new favorite noise. It gets expressed every where she goes; at home, at church, at play. Yesterday was the best example. We switched to one cell phone about a month ago with hopes of saving some cash, but are now needing to upgrade to more minutes due to all the emergency calls a Relief Society President is required to make. We went to a Verizon store yesterday to see what we could do. Vanessa decided that if the person holding her even had one foot inside the store, she needed to scream at the top of her lungs. Once the person holding her stepped out of the store, the screaming stopped - kind of like shutting off the most annoying sounding alarm you can imagine. Our conversation with the saleswoman went something like this:

Saleswoman: So, were like having this totally awesome promotion right now . . .

Vanessa: Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Lisa: Sorry

Saleswoman: No, you're totally fine! Anyways, she's so cute . . . this plan is awesome-

Vanessa: Aaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Matt: Sorry

The scary thing is, I'm starting to think she's going to be like me. Any time she is doing something she knows she shouldn't be doing (like reaching into the toilet), she just looks at us, shakes her head no, and proceeds to do the forbidden deed. Thanks everyone for the suggestions for stopping the squeal.