Ian at 10 months

The ten-month mark to me is kind of a sad one. Don’t get me wrong, I love that Ian is progressing and growing, but at ten months he is that much closer to being a year old, and being a year old, means he’s not quite a baby anymore!  I love the baby stage, and sometimes I wish I could keep my kids as babies forever (I know crazy lady.).

But I will say this; Ian is a most fabulous and cherished little boy.  He is plain awesome.  He is always bringing smiles and laughter to our home.  He always seems to know when to make us laugh and when to snuggle us and make our hearts melt.  We all love him and adore him so very much.

Here are some things about Ian:

Ø Ian can crawl with the best of them.  He is so fast, I call it his turbo crawling (especially if he knows that you’re after him and he knows he’s going for something or going somewhere is isn’t allowed.  Cheeky boy!).

Ø Ian loves to pull himself up on everything.  He loves it and thinks he’s pretty awesome for doing it.

Ø I’m pretty sure Ian’s favorite places are the bathrooms and the laundry/furnace room.  Its almost as if the kid has a sixth sense, and can tell when the bathroom door is open etc.  He zips to the bathroom and crawls to the tub first, where he will pull himself and start squawking and screaming like he is the king of the mountain.  He also loves the laundry room and since the laundry room happens to be in the same room as the furnace etc., he thinks it’s his goal to squeeze into any tight crevice and explore the workings of all things pertaining to that room.

Ø I am not sure if I have mentioned previously if Ian is teething, but of gosh!  He’s got almost two teeth, and they are taking their sweet ever-loving time!  I swear those teeth will come up and then go back down and repeat this process.  Poor Ian is miserable with them.  I really hope that they hurry up and just come in and the others are fast coming in as well.  I don’t think I can handle any more sleepless nights filled with inconsolable crying.

Ø Ian is a slapper.  He finds such joy in looking at the person who’s holding him and slapping their face super fast and over and over again.  Ryan, Nik and I all have scratch marks to prove it.  You would think that we all would be smart and get out of the way of this slaphappy kid, but he is so fast!!  Its like Ian finds it so funny to catch us off guard!  What a trickster.

Ø Ian and Nik love playing together.  Nik loves to get in the crib with Ian and just play and lay there together.  I am constantly finding them together playing and laughing and even giving some cuddles.  Nik loves to pick Ian up by the armpits and drag him around everywhere.  Ian loves to follow Nik wherever he is going.  It’s pretty fun to watch it all happen, and I just wish I were better at being able to capture those moments.

Ø Ian LOVES dinnertime.  He loves to eat, and he loves his food NOW!  Halfway through his meals, Ian will start to get a little more relaxed and start trying to be funny.  He loves to shake and make his face go red and purple (I have no idea where he learned this and yes, sometimes I do fear for the poor kids brain cells.), and thinks its just hilarious to spew his food everywhere (when he does this, after my initial surprise, I reprimand him by putting on the mom face and saying “no no.”  He thinks this is so cruel.  He leans back in his highchair and screams and wails at me.  (Oh geese, at least I can tell that he is starting to understand when I am not please with something he has done.).  What a character.

Ø Oh we also went to the doctors and Ian is around 21 and ½ pounds.

Who Knew A Crib Could Be So Much Fun?

Crib  Time

Lately I think one of Nik's, and possibly Ian's favorite thing to do, is for Nik to get in with Ian in the crib and play.  They laugh and play and it is the funnest thing to watch them.

A Little Catch Up Of The First Of The Year

January

Once again, time seems to have gotten away from me it seems.  I had planned on writing in this blog weeks ago, but it seems like every time I remember to do it, someone needs me, something else needs my attention, or lets be honest, I am just way too tired.  And before I know it, it’s been almost 2 months since I wrote.  So, lets see if I can remember everything.

The month of January has been bitterly cold here in Chicago with a couple of crazy winter storms and terrible winds that take your breath away.  We are trying to stay warm, but that wind is absolutely awful.

January also for some reason, seems to always be filled with sickness, and we were no exception.  All four of us have been sick with one thing or another.  Poor Ian can’t seem to shake off whatever he’s gotten.  I think he’s been sick now for a month straight.  Poor kid.  First he got the flu, and then he started teething, and then got a cold and a sinus infection.  He is just miserable, and there is not much we can do for the poor kid.  In fact, as I write this, Ryan is trying to get him to take a nap that he so desperately needs, but is having trouble taking.  So sad and frustrating!

Nik has been doing great in school and in tumbling.  He loves to show us what he’s learned in tumbling and is tumbling all over the house.  It s pretty fun to watch him and makes me happy to know that he is learning and enjoying himself.  I think since he is loving it so much, I will sign him up for a competitive tumbling program.

Nik loves games and it seems like he is always begging us to play one.  I feel like I am continuously picking up game pieces everyday!  But I love that he likes games so much, and we enjoy playing.  Ryan has never been much of a game player, but hopefully with the rest of us loving to play, we will eventually get him to love them too.  Nik’s favorite game to play right now is Monopoly.  Each Sunday, he pulls out the game and we sit down at the kitchen table and play.  Ryan’s a good sport and plays for the first little bit, but inevitably it comes down to Nik and I and its pretty fun.

January has been filled with one dance party after another for the boys and I.  We love to put on some good tunes and dance.  I taught Nik how to slow dance with a girl and how to spin and dip.  He loved it and ever since, you can sometimes catch him, when he thinks no one is watching, spinning and dipping an imaginary partner.  He is so cute! (He also likes to give flowers to one of the little girls in his preschool class.  What a sweet kid!)  It’s also fun to see Nik dance his little heart out doing cool moves and spins on the floor.  Ian is fun to watch too.  He loves to bee-bop.  He’ll sit on his bum or kneel and bounce with the beat of the song.  He also loves to be held and danced with.  I love that my boys love to dance and hope they continue to love it.

Nik is so funny.  I love listening to him.  He is always coming up with creative stories and singing nice songs, and saying funny things.  The other day, Nik was saying the prayer at dinnertime and in his prayer he said, “Please help my mom not to be a villain.”  Um, apparently my son is worried about my dark side.  He also told me the other day “mom, when I’m dead, I want Heavenly Father to make me into a superhero.”

Nik made a skeleton sticker with glasses and a mustache and wanted me to take a picture.

 Eating a Yummy Cupcake

Cupcake Nik wanted to try out his new superman cape from Grandma Whitesides.  Apparently jumping and leaping off couches are mandatory activities for superhero's. 

Grandma Whitesides made the boys an awesome teepee.  The boys absolutely love it!  We have had fun family movie nights with it and it seems like not a week goes by, that the teepee is up and the boys are playing in it and laughter and squealing abound.  Thank you Grandma!

Something fun that the kids are loving lately, is playing with all my pots and pans.  They love to get them out and play with them, especially to make a band.  They drum on the pans and also have a few other musical things like the Elmo guitar and the little toy piano and toy tambourine.  Its pretty fun to watch, maybe not so nice to listen to, but at least they are having fun. (Maybe at some point in the future I can have my pans back.)

Here are some extra pictures of January, I know, total picture over load.

Playing with Marble Mania

 Here are some fun videos we took.