Here's a few new videos of Miranda. The first one is her reading her favorite book about Dora & Boots. The second is showing off her baby-tech-skills with Daddy's I-Pad.
Enjoy!
The audio sync gets way off in the second clip of this, but better later on. We've gotta get a new editing program!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Family Vacation in Denver!
We got home yesterday from a fantastic family vacation in Denver, CO. We took in tons of sights and activities in town. My parents rented a gigantic home for everyone to stay in, it was beautiful and spacious, complete with pool table, theater room, jacuzzi tub, and private bathrooms for each family. Quite impressive.
Fun activities included:
HANGING OUT WITH ALICE!
My brother's daughter is 13 months old now. It was super fun for Miranda to play with her cousin. We liked hanging out at the house for meals, naps, World Cup games, movies, Ring-around-the-Rosie, catch, and books. Alice is such a sweet, sweet baby giving lots of hugs and always waving 'hi' to each member of the family!
DENVER ZOO
Miranda liked the elephants and monkeys the best. Both girls did really well getting in and out of strollers and seeing all the funny animals. Alice was slightly more interested in the other people than the animals. Neither of the girls liked the scary carousal that grandma and grandpa just HAD to take them on!
CHILDREN'S MUSEUM
Miranda went to the museum with Brandon, grandparents and me. There was a couple different rooms to free play with kid-sized houses, animal habitats, painting, building and dancing. Miranda loved the dress-up shoes and dancing in front on the big mirror. There's plenty of footage of that below!
IMAX 3D Toy Story 3
Brandon, my Dad and I went to a big movie theater for the great new Pixar flick! It was as good as the hype!
Rockies v. RED SOCKS GAME
Miranda and Brandon both experienced their first Major League game. The entire family of 9 all went together, which was a pretty impressive feat! The girls didn't watch much of the game, of course. But they did enjoy meeting the Rockies' mascot "Dinger" who is conveniently a big purple dinosaur that Miranda called "BARNEY!" all night. Socks lost that first game, but won later in the week in an awesome game that Scott, Lisa and Eric went to!
SWIMMING and MONKEY BUSINESS
As an unexpected bonus, the house we rented had a membership at the neighborhood 'pool club'. So we got in for free, and took the girls to the nice baby pool. There was also a sweet water slide designed for kids that went wicked fast and twisty for full-grown adults in the big pool. The 'Monkey Business' was an indoor play-land we took the daughters to one day. It was perfect to play at, since it was too hot outside for regular parks. This place had big inflatable bouncers and slides, and lots of things to climb up. The girls loved it (so did the adults!)
Unfortunately, our video footage is mostly of Miranda and not a lot of Alice or other family members. We mostly took pictures on Scott and Lisa's camera, so I'll connect a link to those soon - but we occasionally grabbed the video camera around the house, and took it to the Children's Museum.
Fun activities included:
HANGING OUT WITH ALICE!
My brother's daughter is 13 months old now. It was super fun for Miranda to play with her cousin. We liked hanging out at the house for meals, naps, World Cup games, movies, Ring-around-the-Rosie, catch, and books. Alice is such a sweet, sweet baby giving lots of hugs and always waving 'hi' to each member of the family!
DENVER ZOO
Miranda liked the elephants and monkeys the best. Both girls did really well getting in and out of strollers and seeing all the funny animals. Alice was slightly more interested in the other people than the animals. Neither of the girls liked the scary carousal that grandma and grandpa just HAD to take them on!
CHILDREN'S MUSEUM
Miranda went to the museum with Brandon, grandparents and me. There was a couple different rooms to free play with kid-sized houses, animal habitats, painting, building and dancing. Miranda loved the dress-up shoes and dancing in front on the big mirror. There's plenty of footage of that below!
IMAX 3D Toy Story 3
Brandon, my Dad and I went to a big movie theater for the great new Pixar flick! It was as good as the hype!
Rockies v. RED SOCKS GAME
Miranda and Brandon both experienced their first Major League game. The entire family of 9 all went together, which was a pretty impressive feat! The girls didn't watch much of the game, of course. But they did enjoy meeting the Rockies' mascot "Dinger" who is conveniently a big purple dinosaur that Miranda called "BARNEY!" all night. Socks lost that first game, but won later in the week in an awesome game that Scott, Lisa and Eric went to!
SWIMMING and MONKEY BUSINESS
As an unexpected bonus, the house we rented had a membership at the neighborhood 'pool club'. So we got in for free, and took the girls to the nice baby pool. There was also a sweet water slide designed for kids that went wicked fast and twisty for full-grown adults in the big pool. The 'Monkey Business' was an indoor play-land we took the daughters to one day. It was perfect to play at, since it was too hot outside for regular parks. This place had big inflatable bouncers and slides, and lots of things to climb up. The girls loved it (so did the adults!)
Unfortunately, our video footage is mostly of Miranda and not a lot of Alice or other family members. We mostly took pictures on Scott and Lisa's camera, so I'll connect a link to those soon - but we occasionally grabbed the video camera around the house, and took it to the Children's Museum.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
10 Terrific Things about Toddlers
Miranda has grown and changed so much in the past few months. She's certainly moved from baby stage into a toddler. And while that comes with a whole new set of challenges, it's a whole lot of fun too. Here are ten things I enjoy about this new personality of my baby, I mean 'kid'. (She's 20 months old)
1) MEMORY
Whenever we go to the park Miranda plays with the blue swing and points at the black one calling it 'Caelie!' This is because Caelie played with us at the park 3 months ago, and used that swing! Today I grabbed a pair of brown shoes for her and she said 'Al-la' which means her cousin Alice who has the same pair of shoes!
2) WORD POWER
This kid learns new words EVERY day. It's astonishing. This evening (in the 3 hours between supper and bed) she learned 'bunny', 'wait', 'hiding', and 'Barney' and used them each repeatedly and correctly. We think she's up to over 100 words, and increasing by the hour.
3) AFFECTION
Miranda has been very un-affectionate her whole life. Since she could hold up her head, she hasn't rested it willingly on any shoulder. But recently she started giving more hugs and blowing lots of kisses. I love to see her hugging her dolly and even Jack the dog! Of course Mommy and Daddy hugs are the best :-)
4) INDEPENDENCE
She loves to try to put on her own socks and shoes; has even succeeded with one shoe one time! She's into climbing things now too, since she just got tall enough to get onto the chairs and couch. If something is too tricky to climb up, she'll walk to the bathroom and carry the little stool out for assistance.
5) FAVORITISM
Miranda has firmly established her favorite toy, tv show, snack, book, youtube video, etc. Some things change weekly, but some have lasted a long time - like the Brown Bear book, her purple blankie, and on-line videos of cats. Her memory of these things is impeccable. (She sings {la-la} along to the song in the cat video - which is in Japanese).
6) HELPFUL
Doing laundry, dishes and dusting is much more fun now that I have little hands to help. Miranda is pretty good at putting clothes in the dryer (even straight out of her own drawers) and getting the Tupperware to the cabinet (after banging them on the floor for awhile. I do appreciate her fetching my towel when I get out of the shower!
7) BRAVERY
Within the last month she's started climbing kid-size stairs on feet, going down the slide by herself and even dangling from the bars on the playground. Of course, the trade-off here is now she won't LET Mom help even though she's not always stable.
8) VOCAL
I picked her up from daycare one day and asked, 'How was she today?' The answer was, "Loud. Not naughty, just very noisy." That's most days, she babbles and talks and sings and shouts pretty much all the time. Annoying when you're on the phone, pretty adorable most other times.
9) INTERACTIVE
I am loving all the games and songs and toys Miranda and I can play together now. She's really into cooperative play with parents or little friends. This evening we figured out a simplistic hide-and-seek (hence learning the words 'wait' and 'hiding') and played until Mommy was exhausted from running around the house and being found every 20 seconds!
10) AWE
Despite all the things she's learned, we still find something brand new almost everyday. Then I get to watch Miranda take it in with her eyes (and mouth, and mind) wide open. This weekend it was lots of new and funny animals at the zoo. This morning it was a great thunderstorm with lots of noisy rain. I love the look on her face when she's discovering something new!
All in all, we are still really enjoying our little girl. But that's not to say that parenting is all roses, and a toddler will highlight that quickly! So my second list is 1 Terrible Toddler Trait.
1) STUBBORN
Her intense independence and devotion to only her favorite things magically combines with her Vocal powers to produce full-on meltdown tantrums pretty much everyday. Whether it's not wanting to leave the park, eat that vegetable, or let Mommy finish an e-mail she will make her anger painfully known to everyone within a 1-block radius. (It's a good thing she's learning to hug, so Mommy doesn't lose it, huh?)
Thanks for reading my list. If you have/had kids, what do/did you love about their toddler days?
1) MEMORY
Whenever we go to the park Miranda plays with the blue swing and points at the black one calling it 'Caelie!' This is because Caelie played with us at the park 3 months ago, and used that swing! Today I grabbed a pair of brown shoes for her and she said 'Al-la' which means her cousin Alice who has the same pair of shoes!
2) WORD POWER
This kid learns new words EVERY day. It's astonishing. This evening (in the 3 hours between supper and bed) she learned 'bunny', 'wait', 'hiding', and 'Barney' and used them each repeatedly and correctly. We think she's up to over 100 words, and increasing by the hour.
3) AFFECTION
Miranda has been very un-affectionate her whole life. Since she could hold up her head, she hasn't rested it willingly on any shoulder. But recently she started giving more hugs and blowing lots of kisses. I love to see her hugging her dolly and even Jack the dog! Of course Mommy and Daddy hugs are the best :-)
4) INDEPENDENCE
She loves to try to put on her own socks and shoes; has even succeeded with one shoe one time! She's into climbing things now too, since she just got tall enough to get onto the chairs and couch. If something is too tricky to climb up, she'll walk to the bathroom and carry the little stool out for assistance.
5) FAVORITISM
Miranda has firmly established her favorite toy, tv show, snack, book, youtube video, etc. Some things change weekly, but some have lasted a long time - like the Brown Bear book, her purple blankie, and on-line videos of cats. Her memory of these things is impeccable. (She sings {la-la} along to the song in the cat video - which is in Japanese).
6) HELPFUL
Doing laundry, dishes and dusting is much more fun now that I have little hands to help. Miranda is pretty good at putting clothes in the dryer (even straight out of her own drawers) and getting the Tupperware to the cabinet (after banging them on the floor for awhile. I do appreciate her fetching my towel when I get out of the shower!
7) BRAVERY
Within the last month she's started climbing kid-size stairs on feet, going down the slide by herself and even dangling from the bars on the playground. Of course, the trade-off here is now she won't LET Mom help even though she's not always stable.
8) VOCAL
I picked her up from daycare one day and asked, 'How was she today?' The answer was, "Loud. Not naughty, just very noisy." That's most days, she babbles and talks and sings and shouts pretty much all the time. Annoying when you're on the phone, pretty adorable most other times.
9) INTERACTIVE
I am loving all the games and songs and toys Miranda and I can play together now. She's really into cooperative play with parents or little friends. This evening we figured out a simplistic hide-and-seek (hence learning the words 'wait' and 'hiding') and played until Mommy was exhausted from running around the house and being found every 20 seconds!
10) AWE
Despite all the things she's learned, we still find something brand new almost everyday. Then I get to watch Miranda take it in with her eyes (and mouth, and mind) wide open. This weekend it was lots of new and funny animals at the zoo. This morning it was a great thunderstorm with lots of noisy rain. I love the look on her face when she's discovering something new!
All in all, we are still really enjoying our little girl. But that's not to say that parenting is all roses, and a toddler will highlight that quickly! So my second list is 1 Terrible Toddler Trait.
1) STUBBORN
Her intense independence and devotion to only her favorite things magically combines with her Vocal powers to produce full-on meltdown tantrums pretty much everyday. Whether it's not wanting to leave the park, eat that vegetable, or let Mommy finish an e-mail she will make her anger painfully known to everyone within a 1-block radius. (It's a good thing she's learning to hug, so Mommy doesn't lose it, huh?)
Thanks for reading my list. If you have/had kids, what do/did you love about their toddler days?
Friday, April 23, 2010
Spring fun!
Some fun new pictures up; we've been enjoying all the nice weather around here. It's raining now, and we probably won't get out too much this weekend; but Spring shall persist nonetheless!
I'm looking forward to a trip to Fargo to see LOTS of family; followed by a trip to Oregon to see Jodi F. & fam, and Jodi A. & fam (new and improved with brand new baby!) Brandon, meanwhile, will be homebound and busy with end-of-school and graduation parties.
I'm looking forward to a trip to Fargo to see LOTS of family; followed by a trip to Oregon to see Jodi F. & fam, and Jodi A. & fam (new and improved with brand new baby!) Brandon, meanwhile, will be homebound and busy with end-of-school and graduation parties.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Vetter update
We're back from Mexico, and gearing up for an Easter weekend. I have tons of great stories from the mission trip - but won't take the time to get them all down here. You can call me and get them in person; but first check out the pictures, videos and blog by following links at www.dwu.edu/campmin. Or the picture slideshow below! Ok, one quick story: we just heard this week that the family whose house we started building has already moved in and gotten settled! We broke ground for them on our first work day, and had things about 3/4 completed in just 4 days of hard work. Now Maria (18), her husband Rodrigo (21) and their kids (2 & 15 months) have a home - just in time for baby 3 who's already on the way. Copy this link for Mexico pictures: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpAQYeh-Nuc
Being back home with Miranda is great too. She's a little jabber-box these days; learning and using new words everyday. The weather has been nice, so we've had lots of walks and trips down the slide - which she calls a 'wheeeee'!
Here's a fun video of 3 girls. They hail from Mexico, Mitchell and My house; but little girls everywhere know how to sing and dance, giggle and play!
Being back home with Miranda is great too. She's a little jabber-box these days; learning and using new words everyday. The weather has been nice, so we've had lots of walks and trips down the slide - which she calls a 'wheeeee'!
Here's a fun video of 3 girls. They hail from Mexico, Mitchell and My house; but little girls everywhere know how to sing and dance, giggle and play!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Walking and Talking
Not a lot of time to post, but lots going on around here!
Bullet points:
- Vicky has the 30 Hour Famine tomorrow; 30 hours of juice fast, dozen middle schoolers over night at church, 6 awesome 'Tribe' games. Good fun - but lots of work. Had to laugh last night when an 8th grader told me she had $103 already! She had been going table to table at supper, so I asked how much she had before tonight; '$3!'
- Pastor Brad from church passed away last week. Funeral and prayer services were this last weekend. Hard time; be praying for his wife Joan and son Aaron.
- Brandon and Vicky leave for Mexico in 16 days! The trip is payed for, and most all plans made - vamanos!
- Miranda leaves for Bismarck in 15 days to stay with Grandma, Papa, Grandpa Ed, Great Gr & Gr, various friends, and dog Abby. I think they've got the babysitting thing covered!
We got a new video camera since our old one was wigging out. It's very different, but I think it'll work out. Here are the inaugural videos - some walking and talking from our toddler!
Bye for now,
Vetters
Bullet points:
- Vicky has the 30 Hour Famine tomorrow; 30 hours of juice fast, dozen middle schoolers over night at church, 6 awesome 'Tribe' games. Good fun - but lots of work. Had to laugh last night when an 8th grader told me she had $103 already! She had been going table to table at supper, so I asked how much she had before tonight; '$3!'
- Pastor Brad from church passed away last week. Funeral and prayer services were this last weekend. Hard time; be praying for his wife Joan and son Aaron.
- Brandon and Vicky leave for Mexico in 16 days! The trip is payed for, and most all plans made - vamanos!
- Miranda leaves for Bismarck in 15 days to stay with Grandma, Papa, Grandpa Ed, Great Gr & Gr, various friends, and dog Abby. I think they've got the babysitting thing covered!
We got a new video camera since our old one was wigging out. It's very different, but I think it'll work out. Here are the inaugural videos - some walking and talking from our toddler!
Bye for now,
Vetters
Monday, January 25, 2010
Video Download Day!
We finally got some videos off the camera! First, the much anticipated...first steps! This was filmed at Christmastime, and really was Miranda's first walking session! She only took about 3 steps before Uncle Eric was on the camcorder and catching all the action.
She's been practicing her walking all month now, and is much more stable and strong already.
Next up; Miranda watches herself in the viewfinder.
And now, a baby's day in the office.
We had two other kids over that night, and they were watching cartoons, but Miranda just had a few loose ends to tie up at work.
A few short clips of fun at Christmas: Miranda got rides in the laundry basket, and care of Papa Pete's floor sweeping game!
This last video is a game Miranda played for nearly 20 minutes one day. After she had done about 10 rounds of this (put bears on the chair, climb up, hug bears, throw them off the chair) I decided to film it for awhile. We have about 5 minutes of this footage, but here's the condensed version. This was before Christmas, so she was 14 1/2 months old.
She's been practicing her walking all month now, and is much more stable and strong already.
Next up; Miranda watches herself in the viewfinder.
And now, a baby's day in the office.
We had two other kids over that night, and they were watching cartoons, but Miranda just had a few loose ends to tie up at work.
A few short clips of fun at Christmas: Miranda got rides in the laundry basket, and care of Papa Pete's floor sweeping game!
This last video is a game Miranda played for nearly 20 minutes one day. After she had done about 10 rounds of this (put bears on the chair, climb up, hug bears, throw them off the chair) I decided to film it for awhile. We have about 5 minutes of this footage, but here's the condensed version. This was before Christmas, so she was 14 1/2 months old.
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