And So It Begins...Or Continues

Rebecca has been teething for a couple weeks now, working on her 2-year molars. But aside from chewing and slobbering she was doing fine. Well, not anymore. We have entered the worst phase of the teething...disrupting sleep. Normally Rebecca goes to bed at 8 and gets up around 7:30...and sleeps the whole night. Yesterday she was up at 5:00...and stayed up. Today she was up at 3:30...and stayed up! Even after Orajel, Tylenol, milk and rocking with Mommy for 2 hours. Needless to say she's a bit on the cranky side...just a bit :\ We're all trying to take it in stride and remember that it won't last forever. Hopefully the teeth will be totally through soon. And we can all get caught up on sleep. In happier news we flipped Rebecca's car seat around yesterday!! She has only ridden in it for a couple minutes (drive from the fire station to our house). So it's still TBD if she likes it better. But Mommy and Daddy are excited. We'll take some pictures today and add them later.

Rebecca Voogt

Rebecca is learning how to say her own name. So far she can say "Becca Boogt." So cute. There is a longer video in the video album.

Week in Review...Scrapes, Being Silly and Baking

Rebecca tripped in the driveway on Tuesday and got a few nasty scrapes on her head and nose. Hopefully they'll heal quickly. She does not like band-aids :P

Rebecca is teething like crazy! She'll chew on anything she can get her hands on. Yesterday she was being silly with her pacis (she doesn't actually use a paci, she just chews on them).

Using a yogurt container to drink from her sippy cup.

Helping Mommy make granola for Daddy and Grandpa and Grandma Voogt (when they visit next weekend). Rebecca tasted raisins and coconut for the first time. She seemed to like them both. Please excuse the post-nap hair ;)

16 Months Old...And Teeth?!?!

Rebecca turned 16 months old yesterday! And we discovered that she is cutting her bottom 2 two-year molars!! Already? We didn't think they would come for a while yet. At least now we know why she's been chewing on her hands and slobbering on everything lately. So far she seems to be doing ok with them. She's still sleeping well. Although she hasn't been eating quite as well lately.

We're working on adjusting Rebecca's routine a bit. She now eats dinner with us instead of before us. It's nice to have an extra hour free before dinner :) We're still trying to figure out if she is ready to go down to one nap a day. We may be dropping the morning nap soon.
Rebecca is really into babies and dolls right now. She cuddles with them and feeds them. She also likes to carry her purse around on her shoulder. Now where on earth would she learn to carry a purse and cuddle with a baby? ;) She's a little Mommy already.
As usual Rebecca is learning so much every day. She is really into singing right now. She can sing part of "Jesus Loves Me," "Rock-a-by Baby," "Deep and Wide," and "ABC's." And she is really loving when Mommy sings to her. We're doing all the good old Sunday School songs :) She especially likes "This Little Light of Mine" when we do "don't let Satan "blow" it out"...with the wind effect.

Now that Rebecca is getting pretty good with numbers (counting to 10) she is working on her letters. She knows I is for ice cream cone, D is for Daddy, M is for Momma, B is for bath, T is for teeth and Q is for quack. She is starting to work on recognizing some by sight. And as always she learns new words every day. Yesterday we finally figured out something Rebecca has been saying for months now. But we didn't realize it. We thought she was always saying "ga" before a noun. We assumed it was like "a" or "that"..."a book" or "that towel." But yesterday we realized she's been saying "ca" for Rebecca! She's been saying "Rebecca's book," "Rebecca's towel," etc. this whole time. We made a point when we first were trying to teach her words (long time ago) to say "Rebecca's" first so she could distinguish the actual word...she knew when Rebecca ended, when the new word started. I guess our smart cookie picked up on it and has been saying it all along! She has been saying "ca" or "ecky" quite a bit lately...referring to her self. And she is really starting to jabber lately...act like she's telling a whole story instead of a couple words at a time. Last night she went on for about 15 seconds straight, telling Mommy a whole story :) It's not actual words, but she seems to think she's talking.Speaking of, Rebecca is really aware of herself lately. She LOVES to look at herself in the mirror. She uses the oven door as her mirror. She'll ask to put her hat and coat on then immediately go look at herself. Or if she puts her swimming suit on she has to check it out in the mirror. Or if she has her purse on her shoulder...or even if she's just running around in her diaper. It's funny. Although we might be kicking ourselves later. She now looks at herself and says "cute" or "cute pie" :P She's adorable and she knows it.We could go on and on about what she's learning, but we'll stop there for now. There are some new photos and a new video in the albums. Enjoy.

Holland Beach

On Thursday we took a trip out to Holland State Park. We hadn't been to the beach yet this summer! And we wanted Rebecca to get there at least once. Mary and Rebecca went after Rebecca's afternoon nap. We played in the sand for a bit. Then Justin met us there after work for more fun in the sand and water. The water was a bit chilly for Rebecca's taste. But she had a blast playing in the sand. After getting good and dirty we cleaned up and had a picnic dinner by the water. Then we played on the swings and took a walk. It was a great afternoon/evening. The weather was perfect, and it was nice to have some quality family time. There are some pictures in the August photo album. Mary and Rebecca also went to a local pool on Wed. with some friends. Rebecca had a lot of fun in the kiddie pool. She could stand up in there. Apparently she likes pools, but not lakes :PWe have our little pool set up again and are hoping to get some good use out of it while the weather is still nice.

In other news, Rebecca can now count to 10! And she is starting to actually count objects. She is also putting more words together...sometimes 3 or 4 together. She can't get enough of her books right now. She has a first words book that she wants to read all the time and learn every single word. She has almost gotten all of them. We just got 2 new, large word books yesterday (ordered them at the beginning of the summer). So we have all kinds of stuff to learn now. And she is starting to sing. Her favorites are "Go Wok By Baby" (Rock-A-By Baby) and "Jees" (Jesus Loves Me). Rebecca tried play dough this week. She isn't too interested in making anything with it yet. She mostly likes to take it out of the container and put it back in.

We're in the process of figuring out if Rebecca is ready to go down to 1 nap a day. She's been fighting sleep all week. So maybe she doesn't need quite as much. Either that or she's teething again. She's been chewing and slobbering like crazy! Maybe we can get a good look in her mouth soon. 2 year molars already??

Where'd She Go?

We can't deny it anymore. Our chubby baby is gone. We now have an active little girl that is getting taller and thinner by the day :)

Yesterday we went to the garage sale across the street. Rebecca got a set of Graco doll stuff...a stroller, carrier and high chair. It's so cute. Rebecca is really into babies right now. So she'll have lots of fun. And she'll be able to use them for many years. She also got a little dog and a car.

Last night Justin and Mary went to Carrabba's to celebrate their 6th anniversary. Rebecca stayed with a baby-sitter for the first time. She did great!!! Mommy mentioned Erin all day so that Rebecca was excited to play. Rebecca would say "E-in, pay." Rebecca must have had a blast. She was a big goofball after we got home. Running around the house being so silly. Justin and Mary also enjoyed their time out with great food and some uninterrupted conversation :) We even got a free dessert when we mentioned it was our anniversary. A fun, relaxing Friday night.

Destined to be an Engineer

With two parents, two grandfathers and two uncles as engineers we think Rebecca is destined to be one :P Lately when she plays with her bike she sits on the floor, points at the screws (large screws that can be removed to convert it to a bike or a rocker) and says "apart." She wants to take it apart. Then she points to the steering wheel/toy because she knows that comes off too :) Once it's apart she likes to watch you put it back together. She is also becoming very good with nubmers. Yesterday she counted to 6 by herself. And she's almost able to count up to 10. She did 1-6, Mommy added 7, she did 8,9 and Mommy added 10. Counting to 10 before she's 16 months old...on to addition next month...multiplication at 2...algebra at 3? ;) We have a feeling she'll be a wiz at math. Rebecca is also very analytical and precise. She will move a pile of toys from one spot to another...one at a time...putting things just where she wants them. And she notices the tiniest details. On a page full of large pictures she'll notice a little animal in the corner and make its sound. Yesterday she saw the baby on her yogurt container with its hands out and she started clapping and saying "cap, cap." She is also getting very good at her shape sorting bucket. It's amazing how you can see signs of her engineering traits at such a young age. Maybe we'll have to start some science/math activities soon.

Rebecca continues to learn new words and talk more and more each day. Mary has a hard time keeping track of everything that she learns just by noon to tell Justin :p Yesterday we thought Uncle Chuck and Aunt Marcia might stop by, so Mary mentioned their names. Rebecca immediately said "Unca chuck" and "Marcha." They didn't come, but Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Van did. They had been out to eat with Chuck and Marcia and wanted to drop off a chair for Rebecca...an old school chair. So cute. They stayed for a little bit and we looked at the garden. Rebecca repeated just about everything they said. And before they left she said "I you" (I love you) and gave some big kisses. Such a sweetheart.

Rebecca has started spinning...a lot. She'll spin and spin until she falls down :P Then she'll try to bounce. And fall down again. It's pretty funny. She can be very goofy sometimes. Yesterday she wanted to put all of her coats and hats on. Then she looks at her reflection in the oven door. She thinks it's so funny.

She also likes to stand on her stool and look out the front "ginow" (window) and watch the cars go by. And watch the "birdies...chirp, chirp."

Today Justin and Mary are going out for dinner, and Rebecca will stay with a baby-sitter for the first time. We're looking forward to getting out for a bit. Hopefully Rebecca will have fun. She met the sitter on Tuesday and did really well. Hopefully she'll remember her :)

Whitecaps Game

We finally made it to our first baseball game of the season last night. It was Justin's company outing. So we got free tickets and free food :) Unfortunately it was a rainy day yesterday. So we had some rain on and off at the game. But we still had fun. And managed to stay mostly dry. Rebecca got to put her cute rain coat from Grandpa Holleboom to good use :) Rebecca enjoyed seeing all of the people and watching the games they play between innings. She even got a Whitecaps bear since we had a little money to use up. We left during the 6th inning. Another late night for Rebecca. Hopefully she'll sleep in today :)This week Mary has her last soccer game. It's a late one so Justin and Rebecca will stay home. On Tuesday we'll be taking a walk to visit the baby-sitter! Hopefully Rebecca likes her. On Friday Justin and Mary are going out for dinner to celebrate 6 years of marriage. Should be exciting and nerve-racking :) We're not sure if it will be harder for Rebecca or Mary :P