Lost in Translation

Ian is learning so many new things constantly. It's so crazy how much and how quickly babies change. It's really amazing to watch him!!

He can now touch parts of his body when we ask him where they are (which is so cute!). He will touch his nose (sometimes up it), mouth, ear, tongue, feet. I'll try to post some video of him doing this. His vocabulary is also increasing...

Ian............................Translation

dada...................................daddy
mama................................mommy
gigee..................................kitty
ou-shy...............................outside
nigh-nigh..........................night night
shooz.................................shoes
pss.....................................please (although MUCH more reluctantly lately)
aah-K................................okay
hhhi...................................hi (this is when he plays with the phone)
ymumym.........................yum,yum,yum
szat...................................what's that? (accompanied with a point)
tee....................................tree
ball....................................ball (very clear - yea!)
jssss..................................juice
buh...................................bye
ahh gah.........................all gone (SO CUTE - he holds his palms up)

There are a few other words he's said on occasion, but not sure if he was just copying us or really saying them yet.

He's also getting more frustrated lately, which is trying on us but I know it means he's maturing too. When he's done with his drink he'll bring it to me and hand it to me for a refill, but instead of saying "pss" he says "uuuuhhh". I KNOW he can say please. He went through many weeks saying it to us when he wanted another bite of our food or for us to open something. But now all of a sudden when I ask him to say please when getting him more to drink he gets mad and just keeps handing me the drink over and over again and saying "uhhh" with increasing whining. We're battling! I don't know if he's just being stubborn or what.

He's definitely becoming his own little person, and I know that it must be pretty frustrating to not be able to fully communicate your wants and needs.

Everyday is an amazing adventure!
I sure love that little guy!!!

When one door closes another door opens....and closes and opens and closes...ahhhh!

Ian has learned how to open ALL of the doors in our house, no door is left unnoticed by him - if it's got a handle it's getting turned....several times. He discovered his new obsession on Monday evening. Ian and I were hanging out in the living room while daddy was taking a bath after getting home from work. Ian headed down the hall and usually I would go after him but Steve had closed the door so I figured Ian would just turn back around and head back...WRONG. A few seconds later I heard the rush of bath water and said, "nuh, uh!!". Steve was laughing and Ian was pretty impressed with himself. I thought it was a one time thing, so I picked Ian up and we went back into the living room....nope. At first he could only open the door on the side where he could push it open after pulling down the handle but the next day he quickly mastered the other side, actually pulling the door open. He thinks it's the best trick ever. He open and closed and laughed hysterically ALL DAY!! So...if anyone knows where we can get something to put over "handlebar" door handles please let me know!!!

Father's Day

Yes.... I realize that it is several days past Father's Day, and I feel guilty that I wasn't able to make a post before now but I do want to take the time to acknowledge the awesome daddy that God gave Ian!!!

This past year has been a difficult year within our personal relationship, many of you have prayed and are still praying for us, and we can't express our appreciation enough!! I don't preface this post with this information for any other reason than to praise God for His healing that He is doing in us and to also point out, that even amongst our struggles as a married couple I have ALWAYS been extremely thankful for the father Steve is to our son.

Steve has had to take on a different role than most fathers take on. He's been Mr. Mom for the past year with Ian - waking up with him in the mornings, feeding him breakfast and lunch each day, changing thousands of poopy diapers, scheduling nap times, playing, chasing, hugging, kissing, refereeing.....

and while I'll admit I'm envious that I'm not the one home with Ian during the day, I am beyond THANKFUL that it's my husband, his daddy who loves and adores him so much, that takes care of him!!!!!

Steve is an awesome dad! He's stepped up beautifully and embraced this amazing gift that they both have been given.....time with each other.

I love you so much Steve and am blessed to be your wife and partner! Thank you for being such a wonderful daddy to our precious baby!!!

1st "official" haircut

Okay....so I've pretty much been in denial for a while about Ian needing to get his haircut (by a professional....other than myself that is). He has TONS of hair! I guess he got it from Steve because my nickname for the first few years of my life was "woodstock" (you know the bird with a few sprouts of hair).
I was afraid that if he got his haircut he wouldn't look like my little baby anymore - that he would look like a "big boy". Plus, I love his little curls in the back. And, yes, I realize how ridiculous I sound but I'm holding on to every little thing I can. BUT....his hair was starting (actually WAY past starting) to become out of control. My occasional snips with the rounded baby nail scissors, which is actually a whole lot more like sawing than snipping, just wasn't cutting it, literally. Especially since his cute little curls were teetering on a baby mullet. So.....it was time. Steve and I decided to take him to one of those places just for kids thinking it would go smoother (HA!). That morning his hair was in rare form - Exhibit A....

We came in, video camera in hand to landmark this special occasion. Ian sat in the cutest little car, had Elmo and Mr. Noodle on T.V. in front of him and was doing great.....for about 30 seconds. As soon as the stylist started spraying his head with water he began crying, then sobbing - you know the kind of sobbing where you're making that hiccuping noise - yeah, it was that one. The lady was awesome though. I have no idea how they can cut babies (or "big boys":) hair so well with them screaming and squirming. It did take her a good 20 minutes though to cut his hair - mainly because he had SO MUCH!! But in the end, he looked very handsome!!! Exhibit B...

Been a While!

It's been a while since I posted on here, so I thought that I would let everyone know that all is well.

Rachel is out of school for the summer and will not be working for the first summer that I can remember, so she will be able to spend more time with him. I, on the other hand, will be working more hours this summer and will be filling a more traditional role as provider (at least for the summer).

This may be a rough transition for me. I am used to seeing him for most of the day, and won't be able to do that for a while, but I will have weekends off to spend more time with Rachel and Ian than I have been able to in the past, so that will be good.

Don't have much else to offer. Ian has learned a dirty look that he gives when he does not get his way. Rachel says that he learned it from me. I think he did too, because at first I thought it was cute so I would make the face back at him then we would laugh. I sure learned my lesson on that one because it isn't so funny anymore. Well, I think Ian still finds the humor in it, but Rachel and I are not so amused.

Anyway, I will share some more recent pictures and a video when I get a little more time on my hands.