He has become VERY curious about other people. At church, when someone leaves during the service, he’ll say, “Daddy, where is that girl going?” At the grocery store, he’ll point to random people and say, “Momma, what’s that man’s name?” When Kim is tutoring, he’ll ask Matt to “go see” the student Momma is tutoring. Often, when he actually has an interaction with the person that he’s curious about, he’ll get shy and just bury his face in Momma or Daddy’s shoulder. Once he knows people, though, he really likes to be the center of attention and make people laugh. He’s starting to understand emotions, too. The first few days after our miscarriage, he’d ask us, “Are you sad?” and then give us a kiss or hug and say, “That will make you feel better” or “Are you happy?”
Ian is constantly narrating what he’s doing, what he sees, or what he’s thinking. His comments crack us up! “I’m drawing a telehandler,” he told Momma yesterday while drawing a line on his chalkboard. “I see a truck carrying a skid steer loader,” he told Daddy a few days ago while watching out the car window (and, sure enough! There was one in the other lane!). “Watch me do a swick (trick),” he told Momma a few weeks ago while he rode the exercise bike pedal around in a circle. It’s especially funny to hear him role play with his beloved Puppy stuffed animal, asking a question and then responding for Puppy. His creative side is starting to come out, too, as he’ll tell us silly stories about things that he did (that he really didn’t do).
He seems to have mostly figured out pronouns, though he'll still say things like, "Me is cold."And, he’s still trying to figure out how to tell us what his opinions are. He’ll say things like “Do I want some more fruit salad?” or “Do I want my digger?,” wanting us to ask him the question in return.
Reading books continues to be near the top of Ian’s list of favorites. He likes to “read” to himself and will usually remember most of the words or phrases as he turns each page. He will immediately correct us if we say the wrong word while reading to him. His new obsession is trying to hold a significant object from each book we’re reading. If we’re reading about dogs, he has to hold his stuffed puppy. If we’re reading a construction book, his digger is in hand. The “Mary Has a Little Lamb” book warrants finding his toy sheep.
Singing is another favorite activity. He likes to sing along with the multi-verse songs we sing him before nap and bedtime. He’ll entertain himself for long periods of time singing and combining various song verses together.
Like other kids his age, his little mind is a sponge. It’s amazing how far back he can remember or how quickly he can learn new things. When he likes a nursery rhyme we read to him, he’ll keep saying, “Again!” so that we’ll read it to him a dozen (or more!) times in a row and he can remember the words himself. He’s definitely learning about cause and effect, too – what happens when he drops or throws things, what happens when he spits, and what happens when he disobeys.
Ian continues to become more coordinated. For the past few weeks, it has been easy for him to go up and down the stairs while standing and holding onto the handrail. He has learned how to jump and loves to practice – on hopscotch boards outside, at Bouncin’ Bears, on his bed, anywhere!
Some of Ian’s least favorite things are going to the church nursery (or anywhere that Momma or Daddy will not be), sharing his toys with other kids, going to time out (he feels VERY remorseful!), watermelon, and potatoes. He often doesn’t like when Momma and Daddy are having a conversation (and ignoring him) and will say loudly, “Don’t talk!”
His favorites include the children’s museum, throwing balls, puddles or water of any kind, Nerf guns, construction vehicles (which he mainly knows by name), play-doh (especially the play-doh “scissors”), his black train, fruit snacks, playing outside, his toy paintbrush and hammer, and laying down while he’s playing so he can see his vehicles’ wheels spin. He also loves routines and will do certain things the same way EVERY time. For example, he loves getting down from his booster seat after a meal, removing a cushion from a kitchen chair, and asking Momma or Daddy to pull the chair over to the sink while he runs into the dining room. Then, he’ll run back to the sink, wanting to stand on the chair so he can help with dishes. He loves to “be helpful” and help put away laundry, unload the dishwasher, wash clothes or dishes, or water the plants.
We thank God for our little guy and the joy that he brings to us!
Thank you, thoughtful friends and family members, for continuing to ask us how we’re doing following the miscarriage a couple of weeks ago. We greatly appreciate your continued thoughtfulness and prayers! Physically, Kim feels back to normal and has her energy back. Emotionally, God is helping us to get stronger each day. We continue to think of our baby throughout the day, each day, but the tears are lessening. It’s still hard to tell people the story of the miscarriage and to see women that are pregnant (especially friends who are due right at the time our baby was). We know that it will continue to be an up-and-down journey through our grieving. But, the Lord is certainly hearing and answering our prayers. We trust that our baby is safe in His arms. Our Savior has given us hope for the future and confidence in His goodness. We thank Him for the encouragement that He has provided us through many of you.
We’ll include some pictures and videos below of our most recent activities:
Ian continues to want to sleep with random items -- generally different each night, but always Puppy
jumping in the rain (YES! We got rain! I think Ian may have forgotten what it was. During the rainstorm, he was especially interested in people's windshield wipers and kept saying, "The windshield wipers are ON! They're going back and forth!" We definitely need more rain! :))
Rain + dirt = MUD! :)
We went to Hermann Park for the free Houston Symphony 4th of July concert and fireworks. It was so much fun, even if we did get completely turned around and spend 45 minutes after the fireworks locating our car. :) Ian was completely enthralled by the fireworks (see below).
"Wee Willie Winkie" was one of those nursery rhymes Ian asked us to read a zillion times in a row after he heard it the first time. Here he is proudly saying it himself.
Every so often, I like to conduct random "interviews" with Ian to see what he'll say to various questions that I think of while I'm recording. We get a kick out of seeing what he thinks and knows and hope you find them interesting, too.
as well as Papa's birthdays,
Ian made it very clear from the beginning that he was going to RUN down the aisle.
It was nice of Jonathan and Chelsea to invite ALL of us to be a part of the wedding! Matt was a groomsman, Ian was ring bearer, and Kim sang a duet with Matt's sister, Beth.Ian was also very excited that the church parking lot (which was just being completed) was filled with construction vehicles!
After covering Jon and Chelsea in bird seed, we headed to the reception -- a pretty ballroom set above a cute lighting shop in downtown Kalispell. It was a really neat reception site,