10 Reasons Ian is the Coolest

1. He got his first skinned knee this week at the park. That seems to seal his arrival to toddler-boyhood.

2. He calls out for "Mom" now when he needs somebody. (You were right Tori! Though I still cease to exist on Saturdays and when Scott first gets home from work.)

3. He just fell out of his Tonka Truck (because he was standing in it) and then scolded the truck, "No-No Truck!", complete with finger wagging. He also pretends his Tonka truckbed is a recliner.

4. He strings together several words to make mini almost-sentences. Like "Yunch, Jelly, Iiiit, Okay!" ("Let's go eat peanut butter and jelly for lunch") And he says many of his words sorta jumbled and backwards, like Sit Down = more like "Das Sown!" And he always says that one like it's a command.

5. He announces every burp and toot by saying, "Bup!" and "Toot!", respectively. I did not teach him this. But at least he is now ready for Cub Scouts.

6. He grunts "Umph!" along with me as I lift him over the baby gate, or as he leans over to pick something up. I do accept responsibility for teaching him this.

7. Ian punctuates many sentences with "Okay!", especially if he is requesting something. Like, "Shoes, Go, Outside, Okay!" It is very persuasive.

8. He can identify a tube of "Gas-gar-a" (mascara) and even prefers to play with a tube of the good kind.

9. Ian says "Thank you!" and "Mmmmm!" when he takes the Sacrament each Sunday.

10. Today a gigantic wasp flew by him, and he gleefully began yelling "Birt! Birt! Teet-Teet!" and chasing after it. I stopped him and explained that it wasn't a bird, but a very nasty bug. However, he picks up any bug he sees, so I may have made it worse.

Ian really is the coolest little kid. I love being his mom.

Tax-Free Diapers

A few weeks ago, Texas had a "Sales Tax Free" weekend for Back-to-School items. This mostly covered backpacks, pencils, tennis shoes and sweaters, but I was delighted to discover that "baby underwear", aka diapers, were also included. So we stocked up on our very favorite brand. Here Ian is enjoying the spoils.

Babies

Looking at some old photos of Ian has made me really, really excited about having another infant in our home. Isn't he a cutie? I can't wait to meet his brother.

Around 8 months old

Around 3 days old

Around 2 months old

Around 4 weeks old

Around 5 months oldAround 4 weeks old

Around 3 weeks old

Labor Day Fun

It was so fun to have Daddy home for the long weekend! And thanks to Gutav, the weather was humid but not as hot as usual.We spent a few minutes on Monday in The Woodlands at Market Street and Ian enjoyed his first exposure to the fountains.

Water sprays sporadically out of the 20 in-ground fountains. Ian tempted fate wandering around and looking straight into the fountains. Somehow he kept avoiding getting sprayed in the eye by mere seconds...
...at least for the first few minutes we were there. Then they got the best of him.

Then he wandered from fountain to fountain, shoving a piece of bark inside. Maybe he was hoping to plug them all up.

He also tried plugging it with his feet.Eventually he warmed up to the spraying-water concept, and had a great time drinking it, splashing around and dancing to the outdoor music.

Our friends came along with us, and they bought us a fantastic smoothie. Once Ian tried it, the fountains all but disappeared and he parked himself on a retaining wall and drank the smoothie 'til it was gone.

It was a great weekend. It was so hard to let Scott go back to work on Tuesday!