21 Months old

Well...the little man just won't stop growing up. As hard as it is to believe, he is 21 months old and full of energy and spunk. At 21 months old, I am finding that although it is a very fun stage to be in - it is also the most challenging thus far. Everyone tells me that it is a stage and I'm holding onto that hope...we know that sweet boy is in there, we see glimpses of it all the time but we also see the hitting and tackling he does to other kids. We know he doesn't fully understand his actions and he is testing his boundaries but I definitely look forward to the day when testing turns to listening! At 21 months old, Dane's favorite things are:
- milk...child is definitely a milkaholic!
- HUGE stuffed monkey, bigger than himself
- toy frog
- flushing the toilet & saying "potty"
- using phrases..."I get it!" (I'll get it) "Back here!" (Get back here, usually prefaced with Daddy or Mommy) "I did it!" "I stuck, mommy!" "Carry you" and many others that I'm blanking on right now.
- riding anything
- coloring (aka scribbling)
- watching monkeys on tv, video, the computer
- he knows most of his animals and their sounds, although some of his animal sounds are pretty funny
- hasn't climbed out of his crib yet, but I can feel the day getting closer & closer
- has hilarious "conversations" with his toys

Happy Thanksgiving!

Worth Sharing!

How surprised would you be?

Northwestern vs. Illinois

On Saturday we went to the Northwestern vs. Illinois football game at Wrigley Field! It was a first time event and also the first time football has been played at Wrigley since the Bears played there...long, long time ago! It was pretty cool to be there for such an event and although it was very cold outside, we managed to stay pretty warm in our seats! Thank you Brooke & Steve for taking us to the game!

Blackhawks Game

Last Sunday evening we were lucky enough to go to the Blackhawks game with our friends Luke & Nicole. They had awesome seats, about 10 rows up from the ice. The Blackhawks pulled out a win in overtime with 27 seconds left!! It was a pretty exciting game...most of the excitement was happening in our section, there were several security issues with drunk fans. Thank you Luke & Nicole for inviting us to the game!

26 Weeks!

Well, we're just cruising along with this pregnancy...already 26 weeks along! On Saturday we spent the morning in Chicago so that we could make our 4D ultrasound appointment that afternoon. We took Dane to the Shedd Aquarium to kill some time. He seemed to really like it...his favorites being the otters and the sea lion. We tried to walk away from the otter and he kept saying "more otter" so we got stuck there for a bit. The sea lion was just swimming around, blowing water our way from time to time and then he let out his very loud sea lion roar! That freaked Dane out just a bit and Cameron had to hold him the rest of the time by the sea lion cage, but he was still mesmerized by the beast.

That afternoon we headed to our elective 4D ultrasound. We never had 4D with Dane so this was a new experience for us. She confirmed we are definitely having a boy. He was curled up next to the placenta for most of the appointment so we couldn't get a full face shot, but with about 7 minutes left he turned all the way over and she was able to get some great shots.

Disney Pictures

Here are most of the pictures from Disney. I am still waiting on a few more to post, however here is a 4 minute montage of what we saw and did while we were in FL!! We definitely had to scrounge for warm clothes, but I promise we're not wearing the same thing over and over again - we did a load of laundry to make it through the vacation! Enjoy the pictures!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Disney Vacation

Technical difficulties have prevented me from posting the pictures, however we are working on it and hope to have a montage up soon! We had a great time at Disney World and despite a few stressful moments with a 20 month old, a 2 year old and a 4 year old...the kiddos were troopers and seemed mesmerized by almost all of it! The hardest moments seemed to come in the hotel room when they were cooped up, but we didn't have any meltdowns that I can think of at the parks. The weather definitely could have been much warmer...it was in the 80s the week before we were there and it was back in the 80s when we left! We unfortunately had the chilly 60s while we were there, but we managed! The highlight for Andon was definitely breakfast with Handy Manny and Oso! Dane gave Daisy Duck a kiss on the bill and the funniest moment was our first character breakfast when Winnie the Pooh came to the table and Presley blurted out "I don't like Pooh!" and burst into tears (we have a classic Zehring family picture for that). Stay tuned for a picture montage of our time at Disney World...looking very forward to going back!

And we're leaving...

...on a jet plane!! Disney World here we come!! Four adults (2 are questionable), one pre-schooler and two toddlers in tow. Should have lots of pictures to share when we return!