Christmas 2005

What a fun day we had on Sunday! Ian was so much fun this year! Last year he didn't really understand what was going on and this year we are sure he didn't "get" what this was all about but he sure did enjoy opening his gifts! He was very methodical about opening each one and played with each gift after opening them so gift opening took about an hour or more! Tammy's dad was here with us and got a kick out of Ian's "WOW's" with each gift opening. He brought Ian a pair of boots which are a little big but he sure does like to wear them! He loves his wagon and lego's from his Grammy, Grandma, and Popie too! Oh what fun it will be next year with 2!!!!

The Ice Palace

Saturday night we decided to take Ian to see the "Ice!" display in Nashville. This is the most amazing display of 1.5 million pounds of ice that is sculptured into lifesize things. They even had 3 slides made completely of ice. Ian had such a good time going down the slide. About halfway down he got stuck and turned over on his belly and shimmied down. It was very funny. The temperature in the building was 15 degrees so they gave you an extra parka when you go in. We had lots of fun!

Joe and I went to the dr today and got to see the little baby again. He/She was being stubborn and moving away from the doppler heartbeat machine so they had to do an ultrasound. He was fine, just hiding up higher than the dr expected. The baby was kicking and moving around although I could not feel anything. At one point he put his hands near his mouth like he was going to suck his thumb. Dr. Anderson said it was too early for that but he was close. Hopefully we will find out what the little darling is in about 6 weeks.

Christmas Fun

Christmas is such a wonderful time of year, isn't it? It is so much fun this year as Ian is in awe of the lights. He refers to the Christmas tree as "don't touch" or "no touch"! Here are some pictures of his first visit with Santa and our trip to see the Christmas lights down by the river. Ian just looked around for the first 10 minutes at all the lights then cut loose and wanted to go and see how they worked. After he shook a couple displays we decided it was probably time to go! He really like Santa tonight. He pulls some hair out of his beard and said "haair" (he sounds like he's from Rhode Island when he says it!). Santa got a big kick out of it!

The last picture is our little Thug. Joe put his black cap on him and he thought it was so much fun.

Oh, Ian's favorite songs these day's is "If your happy and you know it" and "It's amazing how You love me". He and Joe sing the "It's amazing" song after their prayer every night and Ian can't wait until the clap in the song.

Today at Church when I went to get Ian the teach was laughing because Ian had spent the last 15 minutes organizing the crayons and got very frustrated if someone put a crayon in point down. She asked if he was a little OCD!

Exciting News

Sorry it has been a while since our last update but we have had exciting stuff going on around here. What's that in the picture to the left you ask? Why it's baby #2! Yes, that's right...Ian is going to be a big brother in June! We had our first ultrasound today and everything looks good. I have been really sick but Ian takes good care of me. He comes in the bathroom and pats my back and says "It's otay, It's otay"! He also lifts up my shirt and says "Baby"...little does he know this baby is here to stay! While Ian likes other children he loves Ianfest that happens daily! I'm sure he will be a great big brother though!

Ian is doing great. He is learning and developing so much these days. It is so exciting to see him learn new things and to almost see his little brain working! We are trying to learn numbers now and he will play along sometimes. Most of the time we get the same number again and again though. Yesterday his favorite number for vive (5).

Halloween

Ian had his first trick or treating experience this year and had a great time! He started off the evening by running into the glass door at our house when trick or treaters came and then when I opened the door he fell out! So he has road rash down the right side of his face. But that did not stop the festivities...we only went to a couple of houses but he had fun. Ian tried to go into most peoples houses when they opened the door which was hillarious! After we went to a few houses we came home and he sat on the kitchen floor and organized his candy for an hour and a half! I don't know where he gets this organization thing from but it was very funny. After a while we noticed he was chewing on something and he had started eating the chocolate, foil wrapper and all!

Family Pictures

It's Potty Time

For Ian's 18 month birthday we introduced him to the potty...we aren't expecting any miracles just want him to know what it is and get used to the idea of sitting on it. Plus last week right before we put him in the tub he stood in front of the toilet and peed on the floor:) So for the next few months we are going to sit him on the potty before bath time and see what happens. Since we will be moving next spring we aren't going to push the issue until we get settled.

Other than that big news nothing much has really been going on. Joe has been home for a couple of months now so we are into our routine and loving it. This past week Ian has been really sick so he stayed home from daycare. It started off as the croup and then was headed towards walking pneumonia but we got him on medication before it got too bad. It was pretty sweet to have a cuddly boy again but he must be feeling better because the tantrums started back!

We went to Octoberfest a few weekends ago and Ian went on his first merry go round ride and also down the giant slide. Daddy went with him and had just as much fun!

Oh, and Ian has his first cousin on the Becker side. Cooper William Zeckman was born to Aunt Kerry and Uncle Dan on Oct. 6. He was 7 lbs. 1 oz.

The Pottery Place

On Saturday we decided to go and paint pottery. Ian received a gift certificate for his birthday and I figured it was time to use it...6 months later! I had big dreams that this was going to be a wonderful family project...but have you ever taken a 17 month into a pottery place? He looks around and says "Wow" and then "UP" (which actually means down since he was already being held...more Ianisms to follow in a later blog). We then saw a big sign that said "You break you buy" so Ian was not put down! Our first decision was what to paint. So we decided on a T.V. tray and we would make a sea scene. Now for those of you that know Joe and I we are not the most creative people in the world. I have a hard time drawing a straight line so when the lady asked what we wanted to put on the sea scene we just looked at each other. I painted the background while Joe entertained Ian. Then it was time for Ian to have his hands painted to make the fish...well he wasn't a big fan of that. He screamed at first and then balled his hand into a fist when we tried to put it onto the pottery. Yikes...we then distracted him by giving him a sucker! Yes, we have a 17 month a sucker but it was under 3 adults supervising and only long enough to get 2 prints of his hand! Then we moved to his foot which was very funny. He is so ticklish he laughed and laughed. After we had that done the lady running the place felt sorry for us since we are so uncreative and said she would finish it for us:) This is after Ian wiped paint all over his clothes and started screaming so she probably just wanted to get rid of us! Whew...what an outing...not quite the family experience that I had envisioned but it was one for the scrapbook!

17 Months...where does the time go?

Can you beleive it? Ian is 17 months old today. Joe and I are truly blessed by this little guy and his silly antics! Tonight we celebrated 17 months with a chocolate donut. As you can see from teh picture he really enjoyed it! He also got to sit at the table (or stand) while we had dinner so he thought he was a big boy. Ian has started responding to us so much. When we tell him to come her he does! WOO HOO! But along with that he also has his own little streak of rebellion but when he has to go to time out he sits there and then gets hugs afterwards.

He loves the Veggie Tales so we sing those to daycare and home. His favorite is the wheels on the bus so he goes around saying "sh sh sh" like the mommy on the bus. Tonight he was singing EIEIOOOOO...And he says PEASE!!!! What a cutie! When he calls me he doesn't just say mommy, he says mommy mommy mommy.

Sunday he took his first fall down the stairs. I did not put the gate back up and he followed me upstairs, got his football from his room, and then tried to go down the stairs on his belly carrying the football. This did not work well so he tumbled most of the way down. Once we figured out he was ok we picked him up and he said "ball"! He is 110% boy!

More later...love to all!

Labor Day

Labor Day was full of fun and friends here in TN! We had about 25 friends over for a cookout and play time. And boy did they play! I never knew Ian could get so dirty! He played hard with the big kids and never thought twice about going where they went! He climbed UP the 3 foot slide! We finally managed to get him in his high chair for dinner and when we came back he was saying "up" and his tray was clean so we got him out. Well...he had stuffed the food behind him so that he could get down and play!

Wow Dad...You're the coolest!

Friday night Joe bought Ian a playset from a neighbor. Ian has had so much fun on it. He and Joe played for 2 hours and wore each other out. Ian also discovered how much he liked to cut the grass. So Mommy and he rode around on the tractor. As I write this Joe and Ian are experiencing their first Hokie football game together. Tech just got a touchdown and Ian is saying "YAY"! Stay tuned for future blogs...