Year in Review 2013

Here is what the year 2013 looked like for our family:

• Lots of house projects completed including a new (and very large) deck, all new windows upstairs, and a beautiful living room wood floor.
• Our first vacation as a family was to Decorah with a bonus stay-cation (kayaking and biking) for Michelle and Tony.
• Johanna had her big FIRST BIRTHDAY and moved up to the toddler room at school.  She learned how to walk, talk, and just generally have a good time.  It appears at daycare that she has made her first best friend, Sienna, who could be her doppelganger and enjoys running and giggling as much as Johanna.
• Michelle transitioned to her new job as a Business Analyst but not before going on some great work trips with friends to Austin, Denver, and San Diego.
• Tony tried several new beers from Michelle's trips, took trips to a Hawkeye game and a beer fest, and broke out his wood working skills by building two benches for our new deck.
• Fitbit miles logged were 951 miles for Michelle and 1497 miles for Tony.  So for Michelle, that's like walking from Dubuque to New York City (which is almost 400 more miles than last year).  And for Tony, that's like walking all the way to Las Vegas! 
• Guster is hiding less and even lets Johanna pet him when she isn't too excited.  But make no mistake about it, the master bed is HIS territory.
• And all of this was captured in approx. 4500 new pictures this year!

Overall, we are just happy to have a healthy, happy family with good jobs that afford us the ability to spend time with loved ones and invest in our home and our future together.
  
One of our goals for 2014 is to do as little house projects as possible!  We have a few touch-up projects planned, but that's about it. With Johanna getting a little older, we plan on taking her out and about more.  We have a new bike trailer to go with our new  bikes and she has already visited (and very much enjoyed) one local children's museum.  Michelle wants to lessen the gap between fitbit miles logged by her vs. Tony - another 400 mile increase sounds like a good goal!  Looking forward to being an even healthier and happier family in 2014.

( And interesting side note, once we finish touching up the exterior doors, did you know there is hardly a single item on the exterior of our house that is the same from when Michelle met Tony?  We have replaced the roof, siding, shutters, deck, windows, garage door, mailbox, address plaque, screen door, whew!  Is there anything left? )

 

Hanging out

I asked Johanna if she wanted a ponytail and she said yes but when she saw herself on the camera, she wasn't as big of a fan :-). But she did enjoy watching daddy outside.

Christmas Collage

Johanna's First Year

Growth by Firsts

• Lost Umbilical Cord: 1 week.
• Sleeping Through the Night: 5 weeks.
• First Smile : 6 weeks.
• Grabs and Holds: 10-12 weeks.
• First Laugh: 11 weeks.
• Rolls Over: 12 weeks.
• First Cereal: 20 weeks.
• Sitting: 4 months.
• First Solid Food: 5 months.  Carrots.
• Clapping: 7 months.
• First Tooth: 8 months.
• Sit Youself Up: 8 months.
• Feeding Yourself: 9 months.
• First Pouty Lip: 10.5 months.
• First Steps: 10.5 months. 
• First Words: 11 months. Saying HI and BYE with actions.
• Stand Yourself Up: 11 months.
• Running: 11.5 months. And you haven't stopped since!
    
  Personality Highlights
   
•  Has a big precious smile and easy laugh.
• Loves to play the BOO! game.
• Really enjoys daycare, to the point it is sometimes hard to get her to leave.
• Very active – stared out with big jumps in her monkey jumper, an early walker and runner, loves slides and swings and even sledding, can throw and kick balls.
• Easily identifies what she does and doesn’t want – will point and say “Eh, eh!”, uses sign language and speaks the word “Mo”, says no with a whole body jiggle.
• Enjoys reading books, usually multiple in one sitting.
• Doesn’t like the word “No” and may cry at simply hearing it.
• A bit of a daddy’s girl but is getting closer to equally favoring mommy, takes a little bit to warm up to other family members during visits.
• Is very much into “kitty” Guster, and all types of animals (including hugging her stuffed animals) but it must be on her own terms.
• Likes dancing to music, looking at pictures, and taking baths.
• Grumpiness is usually a result of hunger which is easily resolved with your favorite foods like goldfish or anything resembling a cookie.

First Bday Collage