Busy Boy!

This week Ian has been perfecting the roll. He's getting faster, his arm stronger with the final lift, and his abs thrusting him all of the way over. Then, once he's rolled, he likes to start moving his trunk from side to side. One time he rolled over and his feet were facing me. Before I knew it he had scooted himself with his hands so he could look at me. He has also started to kick his legs way up in the air and bring his arms up, too. My parents used to refer to this as the airplane when I was his age, so I've adopted the term. He does the "airplane" often!

All too often he's rolled all of the way off of his mat. He's on the move, I tell you! And by the mischievous look of his face in the picture below, he may be up to no good. My brother joked that Leif and Ian will soon be allying against me. Leif will open the door (because he can... crazy, I know) and Ian will be out the door before I know it.

This week I finally got pictures printed and put into a little play photo album that my cousin Julie handed down to us. Now he can look at pictures of his grandparents and aunts and uncles any time. Each one is a picture of them with him. One day, I'm sure he'll enjoy pointing to each of them and telling us who they are. For now, it's an extra thing to suck on and manipulate with his hands, but it's nice to have them "around."

Thank you to my host parents, Meg & Mark, in Germany
for the adorable Adidas gear!! Check out that cute tiger!

Ian has his four month appointment tomorrow and I am looking forward to learning just how much he weighs these days! I definitely get my arm workouts day in and day out. Best workout ever.

It continues to be blast bantering back and forth with him. The more I read the more I hear that it's important to imitate his sounds. Supposedly it gives him confidence to continue trying to verbalize and enjoy making different sounds. If I ever repeat what you say, it's just turning into a habit to regurgitate what I hear. Haha... just kidding.

At the moment, the toy in the picture above seems to be his favorite. He enjoys chewing on it with his gums and grabbing it. The stuffed cotton hands, feet, and head, must feel really nice. Thank you, Julie!

He has just started to really hit and grab the hanging toys in his play-yard consistently.

The nights have been pretty long this week. Sometimes he gets up three, four, or five times. He seems to really like to get up at 4, then in the 5 o'clock hour, and then again in the 6 o'clock hour before getting up to start his day, or to go back down until seven or eight. This means I've been exhausted!

This boy is always busy, only cuddling when he's very tired, nursing, or has just gotten up from a nap.

Ian playing in his rocker while Leif and I play fetch.

Jim's been working with an otolaryngologist (ENT) and has had some long hours. One day he texted me around 6 o'clock and asked if we could swing by the hospital between surgeries, so he could get some time with Ian that day. Ian & I hopped in the car and had about 45 minutes with Papa. Here's the sweet picture of the men in blue...

He seems to be finding his thumb a lot these days. We'll see if it sticks!

Happy 18 weeks, Ian Forrester!!!