Talkie Talk

Tanner is talking more and more! He's only 14 months old, but here's some lists of signs, words and sounds he speaks to us. Our doctor said that any sound or group of sounds that a baby makes for a specific meaning is considered a word. So you'll see a few in the list that aren't real words, per se, but they still count because he uses them with specific meaning.

Words Tanner Signs (American Sign Language):

1. sleep
2. more
3. all done
4. eat
5. bye bye
6. that! (pointing)
7. airplane
8. hat
9. cereal
10. drink
11. so big! (when we ask "how big is Tanner?")
12. and he can give you 5 or high 5!

Words Tanner Speaks (mostly in order of when he learned them)

1. uh-oh!
2. dada 
3. mama 
4. baba (bottle)
5. nana (this originally meant banana, but now it means all food or drink)
6. bahw (ball)
7. vvvv (car or any locomotive)
8. uhf (dog. Tanner says this when he sees real dogs or pictures of dogs. He also does it when he hears a dog he can't see. At his 12 month checkup, the Dr said this kind of abstract thinking is unusual for his age)
9. nee-nee or eet, eet (in a high pitched voice, for cat. Before, all animals were "dog", but now he knows the difference between a cat and a dog.)
10. hoowa (in a hootie voice, for bird)
11. mmmm (that's good/yummy)
12. tick tock (actually, he clicks his tongue. It means clock! He can identify digital or traditional clocks, anywhere.)
13. papa (his grandpa robertson)
14. moe (more)
15. all duh (all done)
16. dddoht! (stop. It took me a while to figure this out. His "ddd" is an attempt for "s")
17. oht (off. He uses this when lights or machines are off or he wants to turn them off. He also thinks it means "closed," which makes sense to me!)
18. mmwha (when giving a kiss or when he wants to give you a kiss)
19. ba bye 
20. up (when going up the stairs)
21. pggguuhh (it's hard writing a firework sound. I originally taught him this on the 4th of July because he liked the glitter fireworks on my shirt. But we soon realized that he learned you should do this when you see ANY design on someone's shirt.)
22. ah, ah, ah (instead of saying "no," this is what I say when he shouldn't do something. And sometimes before doing the naughty thing, he'll say this and then look at me.)
23. yay! (usually after he has done something exciting)
24. ohhh, wow! (usually when seeing a new toy)
25. baby
26. appoe (apple)
27. EIEIuhh (when we sing old macdonald, and when he sees the book for the song)

Animal sounds that Tanner mimics, but can't use independently yet

1. cow moo
2. sheep baaa baaa
3. lion and bear roar
4. firetruck siren
5. boat chug
6. horse braying

Tanner also loves talking on the phone. We know he understands that someone is talking to him because he'll hear Jeremy on the phone and say "dada." If he wants to talk to Jeremy when he's not at home, he'll find my phone and say "dada" and will fuss until we call him. Then he will "talk" to Jeremy with a concerned face, saying "Uhhuh ah ba uh uhhhh," as if to say, "I really want you to come hooooome." Yesterday, Tanner got my phone and pretended to talk to someone by holding the phone up to his ear!

Time in Colorado

As mentioned earlier, we went to Colorado. For 5 days we left Tanner with my parents while we went to steamboat Springs. The rest of the trip, we stayed with Tanner at my parents' house. Here are some highlights.

 Tanner once again was a great traveler. He LOVED the airplane this time. He knows what airplanes are, and I think he was starting to grasp the concept that we were in one of them. He kept making airplane sounds in the airport and on the plane.

We spent one day getting Tanner used to my parents' house.

 Bonfire!

 Tanner loved the graham crackers that we used for 'smores.

 While Jeremy & I were gone, Tanner was a perfect little grandson! Papa took him out in the wagon everyday. They watched the water fountain, the garden, rabbits, picked apples, rode the tractor, and swung in the giant tree swing. Nana got some fun toys for him, including a wading pool that Tanner LOVED. There was no chance that he ever got bored.

Luckily, Tanner was glad to see us when we got back!

Later in the trip, we visited my Grandma and Grandpa Robertson. Tanner helped Grandpa play ball as part of Gpa's physical therapy.

 On another day, we went jet skiing with my parents and the Burkes! 

Right after jet skiing, we drove to Denver to meet up with Jeremy's childhood buddy Mike and his wife Marissa at a Rockies game. We had a great visit! And Tanner loved the game. He had a blast doing the wave and clapping "we will rock you" and other songs at the game. He fell asleep in my arms at the top of the 9th and didn't wake up until the next day.

Anniversary #6

To celebrate, we took a 5 day, 4 night trip ALONE to Steamboat Springs and Estes Park, Colorado. (Tanner stayed with my parents in Longmont, CO). Even though we visit Colorado at least once a year, we really haven't had a chance to tour the Rocky Mountains. Jeremy has always said he doesn't think there are any mountains in Colorado since Longmont is "so far" from them. I kept thinking he was exaggerating until I realized that 1) Huntington Beach, CA is about the same distance from mountains as Longmont is from mountains, so in perspective, the mountains really aren't that close to where I grew up and 2) We had never been in the CO mountains together except for snowboarding lessons a long time ago. So I made the executive decision that we would spend a real vacation in the good ol' Rockies. 

We toured Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. I didn't realize that it's the only paved highway in the world that takes you along the tippie top of the mountains. You literally drive on the peaks of mountains, enjoying the views 360 degrees around you. It was spectacular! We also saw lots of elk and chipmunks.

On our drive, we found a momma moose with her baby moose!! The baby was about 3 years old.

 In Steamboat Springs we stayed in a nice, inexpensive hotel. We rode the alpine slide, hiked to the waterfalls, ate at some fun restaurants, swam in the hotsprings at night under a meteor shower, rode the gondola ski lift, hiked down the mountain, and simply relaxed.

 We watched this fox for about 15 minutes. He was in the parking lot of our hotel and didn't seem to mind us following him in our car. He dug up a dead mouse and ate him. We were so close, we could hear the bones crunching in his mouth. Awesome!

 Our pretty hike down a big ski mountain.

 We saw a black bear! He's in the middle of the picture.

We met up with Abbie, one of my best friends from high school, and her boyfriend for dinner one night. We made the yummiest pizzas in her cabin!!

Oh ya, Jeremy and I went horseback riding, too!

On the last night, we stayed at the Kokopelli Bed & Breakfast in Estes Park. The hostess had a sign that said "Happy Anniversary" and sparkling cider with chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us in our room!

 In Estes Park we went on a history and ghost tour in the Stanley Hotel. It was really cool! This hotel inspired The Shining by Stephen King, and it's where they filmed scenes in Dumb and Dumber.

I can't believe that I've been married for 6 years! I love you, Jeremy. Being your wife is more amazing than I ever dreamed possible. This was the perfect anniversary trip for us. We really needed the time away (and the extra sleep)! A special thanks to my mom and dad for doing such a great job watching Tanner. 

And now Jeremy believes that Colorado has mountains.

1.5 days in Sacramento

We took a trip up to Sac Town on July 28 for Grandma Ginny's 90th birthday. Jeremy also finally took his dad skydiving for Dad's 50th birthday (just two years overdue). We drove up Friday afternoon and left Sunday morning, so it was a very quick trip, but well worth it!

Driving during the day was new challenge because it meant we had to work harder to keep Tanner entertained. But he still took his normal naps. I love how his cheeks pooch a little and the skin under his chin pooches over his neck skin!

 This is the last picture of our family before Jeremy went skydiving.

Matt decided that he was going to be a part of Jeremy's father-son activity. Apparently you can now skydive before you're 18. So since Matt went, then naturally Zach had to come, too, in order to make it a complete Zavoral Men event.

 We got to enjoy the pool for a few hours. Tanner liked being pulled around in the water by his daddy.

 The 90th b-day party was at a banquet room in the Spaghetti Factory. We met lots of extended family and enjoyed gma telling stories. Tanner was fascinated with all the extra chairs in the room and put it upon himself to rearrange them all. At this point he had been walking for just a few days, so it was the cutest thing to watch him roam freely around the banquet room. He was on top of the world!

 The cake was super yummy. Jeremy and Tanner were served with special treatment from Gramz.

Happy 90th Birthday, Grandma Ginny! You are an amazing woman and we love you! Love, Jeremy & SarahLynn

Happy Birthday Great-grandma Ginny! Thanks for letting me play with your wheelchair and for letting me throw food at your party. Love, Tanner