Sunday, September 27, 2015

Pinery Images

The pictures I couldn't retrieve before are now safely downloaded onto my computer! Yay! Now that it is officially Fall, here are a few pictures leftover from summer :)
 Papa had arrived around 4 or 5 AM and Ian wasn't expecting to see him emerge from the tent in the front yard. A happy reunion...



Ian's naptime location.

 James, once again, defeated all of us multiple times in croquet. BUT, I did win two times. Woot!

 Here's one of my favorite recent pictures of Grandma. She always loves to laugh and smile.
 Aunt Charlotte & Dad observing the earth oven.



 Aunt Beth and Ian :)

 Dad in one of his elements...
 My main squeeeeze.
 Mom & Ian, exploring and playing in the shallows.








 Thanks for all of the baths, Äma!!
 The whole gang...
James, Willem, Phoebe, Dad, Mom, Jim, Aunt Beth, Me, Ian, Grandma, Aunt Charlotte

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Ian's TWO!!

Well, this little shirtless man turned TWO on Friday!! How two years have already flown by is beyond us. The saying "The days are long but the years are short" certainly applies to parenthood.
 To celebrate, we had a potluck at our home on Sunday. Ian roasted his first marshmallow, under the gentle supervision of his papa. There were a few burning marshmallows, but Ian didn't mind...



 And then, believe it or not, he had his first cupcake with icing! Yes, we made it all of the way to his second birthday without him tasting icing and most sweets.


 With all eyes on him and uncertain of what to do next, he got a little upset.

 Family picture with the birthday boy!!!

 We sure love that firstborn boy of ours.
 As darkness encroached, everyone moved around the campfire. Ian continued to roast marshmallows a bit longer.


Thank you to our sweet friends for coming out for Ian's birthday potluck/a get-together of friends! We had a great time with all of you and are grateful for the village who support us in residency and parenthood :)

Happy TWO years 
to our 
rambunctious, kind, loving, active, and adventurous boy!!!

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Ian Update: FINALLY!


Oh my goodness. I am absolutely intimidated to write this post. It's been months since I updated this blog about Ian's developments and it's impossible to remember or include everything that makes our hearts beam when we interact with our dear boy.

As has been mentioned before, Ian's language has just blossomed. Daily we are surprised by his growing verbal skills. We have a few favorite lines, of course, but the list of them grow daily.

One of the best ones is "Bless you, Mama" or "Bless you, Papa." Or, "Bless you, _______." If he hears your sneeze, cough, or grunt, then he almost always will respond with the response mentioned without even looking up from the blocks he's building or the figures he's playing with. It totally melted my heart the first time I sneezed and heard the sweet, "Bless you, Mama." He's been doing this for about two months now.

Newer phrases that have melted me fully are "I lob you. You lob me." He will say these after you tell him that you love him and only sometimes is prompted to say them on his own. He repeats and changes up the words in these phrases, but he has the sweetest inflection and you can tell that he understands what he's saying is meaningful.

Before we say goodbye to him, we always give him a hug and a kiss. This happe
ns at PMO, when we leave, or when I put him down to sleep. I always tell him that I am going to give him a hug and kiss before doing it. Well, he has started saying "Hug and Kiss," when I lie down with him. It is so adorable. And then, after we've done it once, he asks for it a second time. After the second time he says, "All done." This is what I say to him when we are going to stop doing something or need to move on. I love this little routine because it shows that he knows what to expect, and then feels secure after we've completed our hug and kiss.

Just yesterday he started jumping on our bed and saying the "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" This was his first, spontaneous choice to say a rhyme on his own. So, we, of course, stopped everything and did the rhyme on our bed for the next twenty minutes :) He also started singing "E-I-O" while Iris, his good friend, as singing "Old McDonald" this weekend. It's so exciting!

Ian knows WAY more words than we realize. While reading books, he knows most of the animals we see and read about. He loves to read. We just had a library book called "The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night" by Peter Spier and it was his favorite book for the three weeks we had it at home. We sang it every day and it was especially fun because the song was from a Nickel Creek album that Jim and I listened to A LOT when we were first dating. It was fun to share with Ian and sing it all together each night. We may need to purchase our own copy. The illustrations are incredible!

He is really interested in family groups now, able to talk about each of our immediate family members that we saw this summer and recognize them in pictures. He knows who belongs in each unit. He also loves to talk about our friends and their children. Throughout the day he often asks where they are and tells me who is at work. We have been so blessed to find some great friends in this area. Another post about this to come, but it's really wonderful to have friends to spend our days and evenings with, doing life together. And Ian feels so comfortable with them and gets excited to spend time together.

He is totally crazy about Baby Dale, one of our friend's babies. He is five months old and Ian talks about him daily. He says many variations of his name with different pitches and inflections.

He's really good with Baby Dale, too. He helps by bringing him toys, loves to hold him (with support) and isn't too overbearing. I think he's getting ready to be a big brother!

Ian describes people and things as big or small. He often talks about Leif being a "BIG DOG!!" He talks about the kids he knows as being small and then the adults he knows as being big. Baby Dale is "Mall."

He has started playing by himself for much longer periods of time, which is really fun to see and observe! He LOVES the Playmobile Swiss boy and his mama and pig that Marianne sent him from Germany! Thank you, MO! They make up a great deal of his play time, making sure that they take naps, and what not.

He LOVES trains and all animal figures (those ones from Tractor Supply, especially). He enjoys lining things up in rows or in a line, normally making sure that they can see everything that's happening. We are thinking about getting him a train set for his birthday... if anyone needs an idea, I can send you some links. Wink, wink ;)

When we've gone raspberry picking, he's been very content to pick raspberries with me for a while and then go and play in the sand box and with the trucks on a mound there. It's a really pleasant time, knowing that he's having fun and getting dirty and that I am getting some fun time to pick berries, too!

He continues to enjoy coloring, as well, but that takes a little more attention on my part! If there's music on, he loves to dance and jump. And the chickens continue to be fascinating to him. He has started carrying the eggs into the house for us, which is pretty fun!

Lately he loves making smoothies! On Friday night we were out and on the drive home he begged to have a smoothie. So, we made a smoothie and sat on the kitchen floor together around 8:30 or 9 o'clock. It was really nice.

Jim has started wearing Ian, sometimes, when he's mowing the lawn. It's fun for Ian, a workout for Jim, and the lawn is getting a trim. That's triple-tasking right there. Super dad,
Other developments in the last couple months include that Ian SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT. YES, the day has come. And it's wonderful. He is still in our bed, which is something I need to start working on for Baby #2, but for now.... I am getting the rest I need during pregnancy and Ian is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT. He has also stopped nursing. He really stopped substantially around 21 months, only nursing for a few seconds for the last couple months. Motherhood's never say nevers have definitely taught me a lot about following your gut and what's best for your family and your child. This was what was best for us. What a ride it's been. I love being a mama.

This kid, I tell you what. He is so much fun.

Time to go get him from PMO! He's loving it. I am so grateful.