He did it!

I've been waiting for a long time for Vaughn to be able to...

JUMP! He tries so hard. He usually bends his knees and comes up on his toes but can't get off the ground. No matter how hard he tries (even in the bounce house or on a trampoline), the boy hasn't been able to jump until today!

We were at the zoo by our house where Vaughn ran from exhibit to exhibit without stopping. Then, when he got to a cage of lime colored birds who were hopping from one branch to another, he did it. It didn't last long but I saw both feet come off the ground at the same time.

I'm so proud!

Vaughn is going to be a...

 

in April! The first due date we got was April 15 and the last we got was April 11. And guess who else is due on April 11? The new baby Thompson is going to have a baby Thompson cousin VERY close in age!!! Congrats, Dusty and Jamie - so excited we're expecting together :)

What's your name?

For months, I've been asking Vaughn what his name is. He typically stares back with his huge blue eyes and says nothing. He doesn't even try! He'll try to say Santa Claus (thanks, to Dave who already has our tree up!) or different animal names but not his own name. When I drop him off at school in the morning, almost all of his friends, yell, "Vaughn" (or Bon, Juan, Mon, or Ron - but at least they try).

Yesterday, Vaughn finally said it and he said it perfectly. He's been holding out on us until he could get that "v" sound just right. Here's a video on Dave's third attempt to tape Vaughn saying his own name. I love when he says, "Hi, Vaughn." I wonder if he truly knows if that's his name or not.

I'll love you forever

 "I'll Love You Forever" has become Vaughn's absolute favorite book. Thank you, Aunt Nay Nay, for getting it for him - we even read your inscription every time. We love and miss you!!!

It amazes me that he sits through the whole thing. This week, he has even started to sing with me. Dave was able to catch it on video tonight!

Rock star painter

Vaughn attended a Princess in Paris party last week and got a cool plastic top hat and some blue sunglasses. He has been wearing them since!

Last night, Dave was getting ready to paint a wall so Vaughn decided he wanted to help.

Oh, did I mention Vaughn turned TWO? Yep, he's two. He's well into his toddler years. Oh, where has my baby gone? He's even losing his belly. 

Top hat + glasses + "Two year olds rock" birthday shirt + a paint roller = THIS!:

This is how I spent my evening last night

This was about the fifth time this "act" was done. Vaughn started all on his own by running around the island four times until someone started to chase them. Then it turned into a crazy turn of events - the monkey on the counter, a chase around the island, then a nap on the pillow.

By the end, Dave and Vaughn were both drenched in sweat and Vaughn was ready for a bath!

dress up

While cleaning Vaughn's closet out, we found some old and new items Vaughn wanted to wear. It made for a very crazy outfit! Something from granddad and Grandma T, Pappy and Nunny and Mammy...

Choo Choo!

We're going to call this the choo choo phase!

When Grammy (or should I start calling her, "Mammy" as that's what Vaughn calls her now - I almost typed Dave - for him, he still calls her mom) was in town, we went to the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. Vaughn went there with Dave for Ryder's second birthday, so he was barely walking. This time, I'm guessing, was a whole different experience.

Can we say, CHOO CHOO?!!!!!!!

 Vaughn and his new hat

This past weekend, we had a family day and went to a zoo that's only a few miles from our house. It was awesome - because you guessed it, they had a CHOO CHOO! A red and LELLOW one!

 

 

 

This last one isn't of the train - but he still has his cool conductor hat in hand as he chases the duck!

Obession with...cleaning

It's no secret. Vaughn just loves to clean. He likes to put gloves on like mommy and since we only have one extra (pink) glove, he decided to use the over mitt for his other hand. The things he comes up with! 

His favorite room to clean seems to be the bathroom. The toilet bowl scrubber is a fun tool for Vaughn to use especially because he gets to flush afterward. And he likes anything where he gets to use a spray bottle. I don't let him use the Windex or Clorox spray, mainly because of the chemicals, but he is allowed to spray water.

For Vaughn's birthday - HOLY MOLY, HE TURNS TWO IN  EIGHT DAYS! - Grammy got him a toddler janitor's cart fully loaded with a trash bag, mop, broom, bucket, vacuum, and spray bottle! Vaughn has found his calling!

it's the small things

Clean Teeth
When it's time to brush teeth, Vaughn is very willing because he knows he gets to say hi to all three of his friends, "Choo Choo, Melmo, and Babies". Interpretation: He has three different toothpaste tubes (don't ask!) which are Thomas the Train, Elmo and Fruity Animals. Once his friends come out, he gets to choose one to help him brush his teeth and then this is where it gets tricky. He typically clenches his jaw shut or keeps trying to grab the toothbrush out of my hand. For the past week, we have found a solution in which he's the one that chooses to do this - he lays on the floor while I brush his teeth. It's definitely a weird site, but I'm just excited it works!

Grammy
Grammy is here visiting from Pennsylvania. Vaughn has sort of said her name, but has definitely struggled with it until now because he has adapted it to Vaughn language. For now, Grammy is now Mammy and it's the cutest thing ever. Last night after I got home, I asked him what he did because he got to spend the day with Mammy and Molly. I said, "Did you dance?" And he responded by dancing. Then I asked, "Did you sing?" His response was belting out, "Mammyeeeeeeeee" in song. Priceless!

Prayer
We have a well-established bedtime routine. Our last thing we did was pray, but that was causing rebellion so we decided to switch that as the first thing we did. Last night, we jumped right into reading then songs and totally skipped prayer. After our last song, Patty Cake, Vaughn turned out the lights and wanted to be rocked. He has never been a baby who likes to be rocked, but sure loves it now and so do I.

The lights were off, the waves were rolling in the distance (thanks to a sound machine), and Vaughn and I sat together, heart to heart, while rocking back and forth. I began to whisper a prayer to Jesus with Vaughn's face next to mine. After almost every sentence or two, Vaughn responded in a hushed voice, "yes." I think at one time he even whispered, "Jesus." These are moments I just live for.
"And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." ~Matthew 18:3-5

Mommy
For a while when Vaughn first started to say words, I was Mom. Just plain mom. For the past four or five months, I have been, "momma" and just love it. This morning after dropping Vaughn off at Preschool as I always do, I told Vaughn bye and that I love him. Typically, I'm totally ignored as he plays with all his (much cooler than me) mom. But this time, he responded with, "Bye, Momma,"then proceeded to blow me a kiss all without any prompting. I have such a sweet boy.

boo boo

Lately, Vaughn has been trying to find ways to hurt himself or me or Dave so that he can call it a boo boo and give it a big wet smoochy kiss. He doesn't really hurts us, he just hits our arm with a remote or drags his toes along the ground. Obviously we are discouraging him from hitting us and his favorite person to hit, himself, but the kisses that come afterward are pretty darn cute.

 

 

down dog, cat cow, half moon

Here's even more new skills Vaughn worked on tonight. It started out as yoga and turned into bear crawls. Aunt Jamie would just call it training :)

new skills

Tonight was the first night Vaughn entertained himself with his roller coaster for about an hour. It was great! Not only was it nice he had something fun to play with inside (still stinkin' hot out!), he was able to work on his hand eye coordination, balance, and some other motor skills.

I should note he only fell off once and his head and body are still in tact!

Bedtime routines

We started out having about a ten minute bedtime routine after bath. Tonight, I think we made it to a record of 40 minutes. Vaughn just LOVES to read and sing and read some more and giggle and sing and pray. Well, the praying, we're working on because he knows that's the last thing we do, which in turn, has made him not like to pray. Another lesson we learned this week is that reading and singing has to be in the glider, or to Vaughn, it doesn't count. He freaked out on Wednesday when we read and sang on the floor then tried putting him in his crib.

The books he is currently obsessed with include:
The Very Hungry Catepillar
Elmo Goes to the Zoo
Elmo On the Farm
Is There Really a Human Race?
Where Do Balloons Go? An Uplifting Mystery
B is for Bear

After looking at the list, I realized they are all from friends and family. So thank you to Ryder, Aunt Heather, Aunt Jamie and Cousin Stacy! We read the first three every single night, even a few times a night. Vaughn has a little obsession with "Melmo", which totally came from an Elmo doll at school. I'm not sure if we should encourage this obsession or try to minimize it. Right now, we're kind of embracing it and letting his imagination flourish.

After putting the last book on the shelf, Vaughn immediately does two things - starts doing the rolling motion with his fists and arms (for Wheels on the Bus) then he starts putting his index fingers and thumbs together (for Itsy Bitsy Spider). He's to the point now where if we start either song, he yells, "No! Stop." I keep starting each song until he starts doing the full moves. His newest favorite is Patty Cake. We do "V is for Vaughn" first then he begs for us to do it again so we can do "M is for Molly". And the last song we end with is Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star, which I have made up motions to.

We ended up switching it up and doing prayer first so that he gets to like that part the best. It didn't work tonight, but should soon! Tonight was the first night in a long time he just wanted to keep reading and singing. He was so upset once we shut the door. Broke our hearts, but we were strong. Haha! Dave thinks he doesn't want to go to bed because he enjoys the time with us so much. I think Dave enjoys the time just as much as Vaughn.

So sweet. Goodnight!

Lights off

Our lights have not been able to stay on for long lately. This is because of a little boy who is just tall enough to reach the bottom of the light switch! He is obsessed. Lately, we have been cooking in the dark, eating in the dark and hanging out in the living room in the dark. It's almost worthless to try to turn the lights back on, because it just causes for Vaughn to sprint over to the outlets to turn them back off.

At Uncle Dusty and Aunt Jamie's this weekend, he tried his hardest to turn their lights off, but he wasn't quite tall enough.

I'm sure it'll be soon. We measured Vaughn on his Steeler's field height chart on Saturday to find out he grew over an inch in just 30 days! We sure love our curious, mischievous, growing little boy!

phrases

Vaughn constantly has new phrases. Recently, they are
"I guck!" = "I stuck"
"W'sat?" = "What is that?"
"Here go" = "Here you go"
"Go paw-ey, go paw-ey" = "Go potty, go potty"
"My nye" = "My blanket"
"Mell pee" = "Milk, please"
...and I'm sure there will be more even today!

Oh, and I almost forgot! Yesterday, Vaughn linked five words together for a sentence: "Where di my nye go?" Translation: "Where did my blanket go?" 

He found the goy!

Vaughn is very interested in the "paw-ey" (potty). I think he knows when he has to go, he just doesn't get how to go when he's on the toilet. We often put him on the potty where he just looks down and yells for the goy since pee looks like water.

Earlier today, he kept saying, "Go Paw-ey, go paw-ey" so I took his diaper off and put him on the toilet. Nothing. I told him I was going to go get him a diaper and he just kept saying, "Go paw-ey." After walking down the hall, I turned back to see that Vaughn peed a little on the tile floor. I took him into the bathroom and again, nothing. So I looked at Vaughn and said, "Come to your room with mommy so we can get you a diaper."

His response? "Go paw-ey"

I ran into his room and when I came out, he had peed all over the floor. He knew he had to go just didn't know how to go.

Later tonight, as I put Vaughn in the bathtub, he started again with telling me he had to go pee. Within a second, I grabbed him out of the tub and put him on the potty where he started to pee! He looked down and yelled, "Goy!" He was so excited that he finally found the goy. He proceeded to take toilet paper, put it in the toilet and flush the toilet.

This is a start!

22 Months!

Vaughn turned 22 months and I almost missed it. Where has the time gone? It's almost time to countdown to TWO!

Woah.

Tonight, we had a little fun in the pool. The hose water was so hot, we had to pour a bag of ice in the water, but it totally worked.

This was what he did when I said, "show me the water!"

 Concentrating!

We got the big container of bubbles out (thanks, Grammy) which occupied him for about 45 minutes! Score!

 

 

Learning the basics

I know, I know, I have SO MUCH to catch you up on...but it's been a little hectic in my life. More on that later.

I just need to blog something as my head is getting full with different posts I'm been wanting to post. Tonight was one of those moments I didn't want to forget.

Tonight, before bed, Vaughn, Dave and I were rolling around on the floor as we usually do. It's not as creeper as it sounds. Vaughn needs to get some last bit of energy out while Dave and I have no energy left so we hang out on the floor while Vaughn goes a little crazy. Lately, he's been obsessed with his little baseball mitt his Great Grandma and Pop Pop Thompson got him. He figured out how to put it on his hand all himself. He grabbed a plastic golf ball (all that was within reach) and gave to Dave to show him how to use his glove. Yes, it was as precious as you would think it would be.

Vaughn still doesn't have the catching reflex, but sure does know how to whip a ball. Dave showed him how to turn the glove so the ball falls into his palm. Then, he had him grab the ball with his other hand so he could throw it. It took him a few tries as he kept trying to throw the ball with the glove. One time, the glove even came flying at me. At about the fourth try, the ball came flying across the room with his right hand.

The look on Vaughn's face was that of one proud boy looking a one proud daddy.

Training before bed

P.S. I have a ton to post from the past month...please stay tuned!

Best toy ever when it's 109 degrees outside!

Two O

Vaughn turned 20 months old today. In just four more months, it'll be the transition of saying Vaughn is two, instead of how many months he is. It's too hard to calculate much more after 24, I guess. Umm...where was I? Oh yeah, Vaughn turned 20 months today.  He's getting big.

We were outside playing in his pool (surprise, surprise) while Dave installed lights on the new playhouse. I'll be posting more about that later! That one sentence doesn't even do this new massive amazingly priced structure in our backyard any justice.

Vaughn's 20 month pictures today were taken with him in a swim diaper. I think these two pictures really represent Vaughn at this time in his life - especially with that big belly of his!

He is so sweet with that round little face and beautiful blue eyes, but then changes in an instant with a whack in the  face or diving off the back of the chair as he inspires to be a skydiver. The second picture just cracks me up for two reasons. He's eating a stick. And I let him.Oh and I guess, there's a third reason, his belly!

Vaughn was on a mission to find Dave, but got distracted when he found a stick. Vaughn loves sticks just as much as he likes dirt. 

 Vaughn took a little break from looking for Dave by going into the bottom of his playhouse. He didn't realize there was a little step and fell into the dirt. May I remind you this was shortly after swimming so he was still wet. I asked him to sit down since he was already covered in sand and dirt and what did he do? He started to throw the dirt in every direction he could. 

Again, very typical of Vaughn at this age: Curious. Falling. Dirty. Crying. Content. 

Throwing dirt at me. 

 

 Tomorrow he'll be 20 months plus one day. I have finally given up on trying to stop him from growing. Bring on more dirt. I'm ready.

"Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each others' faults because of your love." Ephesians 4:2

Monkey says, "ah ah, ah ah"

Saturdays = Familyday, most of the time. This past Saturday, even though it was expected to be over 100 degrees, we went to the zoo! Let me repeat slowly. 100 degrees. Over 100 degrees. The zoo. Outdoor zoo. Hey, we got a great parking spot AND had a great time.

It was a little sweaty. Our cheeks became just a little red, but we had a blast! Vaughn even got wet.

The new orangutan exhibit is so cool - literally. The misters were quite nice. The big metal orangutan was a little scary, compared to the real things.Vaughn was very curious to see the huge "dogs" swinging from the top of the fence.

 

 

A turtle and a bird. Enough said.

Vaughn yelling at the "ucks". He also "qua, qua'ed" at them.

Attempt of a family photo with a manual focus lens. Not too bad.

Here, peacocky, peacocky!

 On the way home, Vaughn enjoyed his strawberries as he watched Mickey.

This sums up my day!