Zander's First Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year. It was so fun to celebrate with Zander this year. We traveled to Shullsburg on Christmas Eve day and made it home in time for mass. We then had our traditional celebration with the Ranum family on Christmas Eve. Zander was very spoiled by his grandparents, aunts and even us. I think he enjoyed the paper and the gift bags/tags just as much as any of the toys he got. We then spent a few more days in Wisconsin with family and friends. We then spent Friday and Saturday for a very busy few days in the Quad Cities where we saw more family and friends. We were very blessed this Holiday Season and we look forward to the New Year. Happy Holidays everyone, and thank you for making our Holidays special!!

 Our Family



Grandpa Paul gave Zander the rocking horse he had made for my sisters 34 years ago! He had a lot of fun playing with it!

 Zander was tired, but still had a lot of fun opening presents and playing with the paper....oh,  and he loved the new toys, books and clothes he got!

 His favorite "toy" was his very own spatula (he LOVES grandma's so she bought him his own!)

 Zander always has fun playing with great grandpa Kruser...here he is showing his favorite trick

 Even with Zander to entertain us, the puppies were not left out

 Thank you to all for the gifts!! He is one lucky little guy to have so many family and friends who love him

Getting close...

Winter Fun!

It looks like it will be a white Christmas this year and this weekend we took advantage and had a little fun in the snow. It has been really cold so we had not been outside very much, but Sunday was a little warmer so we decided to go outside and put Zander's sled to use. He thought being bundled up in his snow suit, looking like a marshmallow man was pretty funny. He thought being pulled in the sled was pretty cool and of course, thought it was hilarious to watch Parker run around in the snow. He didn't seem to be bothered by the cold and was trying to touch the snow.....maybe next year we'll find a hill!

 

9 months

Zander is now 9 months old and his personality is really shining through! He is a very curious little guy and likes to laugh and make us laugh. He is really smart and interactive when we play, he also has a good memory....especially when it comes to where we put our cellphones. He really loves his toys that make noise, especially his piano. He is also on the move and has figured out how to get where he wants to go (Parker's dog bed, under a table, into the dog toys, towards the only thing in the room he is not supposed to have, etc).  We might start calling his "Scooter" like Zeb as he rolls around, scoots himself with 1 leg and scoots himself backwards to get around. Zander also had another milestone this month and now has his first tooth! The addition of his tooth is perfect as prefers to eat food more than take a bottle. He is a really good eater (although we did find out what happens when he doesn't like something.......it wasn't pretty) and he is getting really good at feeding himself finger foods.

9 month photo shoot (it's harder to get photos now that he is always on the move!)

 

 Hanging out with his favorite friend, Parker

 He pulls himself to standing with a little help and loves to stand and play with his toys (well, usually not his toys, but the other things he really isn't supposed to have)

 He loves to figure out how to get himself to the places he isn't supposed to be

It's hard to see, but he's showing off his tooth



Thankful

Thanksgiving was extra special this year as we were able to celebrate the holiday with Zander. We enjoyed having extra time off work to spend with family; we were both home with Zander on Wednesday then traveled to Wisconsin to spend the holiday with Jazzie's family. Zander of course got lots of attention and was spoiled by his grandparents and aunts. He was able to put his new tooth to work with his Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans and sweet potatoes. Zander also joined us for our annual sister Black Friday shopping spree and he scored a new rocking chair for his room, lots of new clothes as he is growing so fast, and we found a few Christmas presents he will get to enjoy soon. We are now back in Chicago and will be spending the rest of the weekend relaxing and getting our new home decorated for the Christmas holiday!!  So much to be thankful for this year!

 

Having fun at grandma and grandpa's

 

 He wasn't too sure at first about some of the food

 Our Thanksgiving feast

 We didn't join the family this year for the Wisconsin game, but had our Badger gear on anyway - Zander was too tired and fell asleep before we could take pictures.....it was a busy weekend

 

 

Having some fun during our Holiday card photo shoot 

A House Divided

We are both sports fans, but we often don't agree on teams....especially when it comes to football. We spend most weekends watching football and Zander seems to like watching sports with us as well.  Each of us (in addition to our family and friends) are already trying to convince him to root for our teams (there have been many gifts of sports gear) and the battle of Iowa/Wisconsin and Bears/Packers has already begun! This past weekend we had a trip to St. Louis planned to visit friends, but due to illness Zeb made the trip on his own, but ended up having the time of his life scoring pre-game field passes along with great seats to the Bears-Rams game thanks to one of his good friends. With connections like that, I think I'm going to have a hard time competing. 

Zander was neutral during the Iowa -Wisconsin football game this year!

 

 Zander cheered on the Packers with great-grandpa during one of our trips home to Wisconsin

During a weekend away, I got this message from Zeb as they cheered on the Hawkeyes together

 

 Zeb's on-field experience with his Iowa guys



Bottle Thief

Zander met a milestone his daycare has been working on with him for a while.......but it wasn't in the way anyone expected! His daycare ladies have been trying to teach him to hold his own bottle, but he has been very stubborn. We know he can hold his bottle, but he refuses to do it (I think he likes the extra attention). Well, today he must have been really hungry because he decided to feed himself a whole bottle (one handed no less)....the only problem was he stole the bottle from the girl sitting next to him!! She left them together while she was making Zander's bottle and came to see why the little girl was crying and there sat our little Zander feeding himself her bottle!!  So we are proud of him for learning this new skill, but we hope he learns to wait his turn and not steal from his girlfriends!!

 



Can you believe this little guy would take something away from his girlfriend?
I guess when you're hungry, you're hungry!

8 Months

Zander is now 8 months old and cuter than ever. He has mastered sitting....well, except when he dives for a toy. He loves to sit and play with his toys, especially ones that have lights or make sounds. He hasn't quite figured out how to crawl and continues to do a swimming motion when he tries to go forward, but this hasn't slowed him down as he gets where he wants to go by rolling or scooting around. His biggest motivation is still Parker, but he is also starting to figure out what he is NOT supposed to have and that is what he goes for. He is a very determined little guy. He continues to babble and is starting to make "ma" and "da" sounds, so we'll see who he calls for first (if it's the middle of the night, I am all for asking for dada). We are now looking forward to the holidays and spending more time with our active little guy!

our handsome 8 month old

We had a fall photo shoot at my parent's house

Getting into mischief! You can't leave him alone for too long

Zander was a gnome for Halloween and thought the costume was really funny.....poor Parker thought he wouldn't have to do this anymore

It wasn't easy getting Zander and Parker to pose for their pictures

By the end of the night, he ended up pulling apart the whole costume