Back Home in Houston

 We've settled back into life in Houston! The weather outside has been beautiful most days since we've been back. We spend some time each day enjoying the sunshine. Ian likes "driving" on his new steering wheel attachment from Grammy and Papa.

 Kim's belly keeps getting bigger and bigger. I feel the baby moving around most days, which is a lot of fun (and also very comforting as Matt and I both still feel awfully cautious about this pregnancy). I'm still feeling very good and have been experiencing my first-ever (painless) Braxton-Hicks contractions. (I never had any during my pregnancy with Ian.)  Many friends have commented on how my stomach "popped out" during Christmas break. I laugh and say that I don't know if I should attribute that to the baby or to my mom's good home cookin' over Christmas. :)

We got together with friends Eric, Carrie, and Melissa over break for a belated birthday celebration for Kim/Christmas celebration. As always, Ian loved every moment with "big sister" Melissa. :)

 Ian has been more interested lately in playing board games like Candyland, Busytown, or this Go Fish game. We generally modify the rules so that Ian doesn't have to wait so long between turns. :) Ian thinks it's super fun to catch these fish and then sort them by color.

 Recently, we tried a new art project idea. Ian generally doesn't choose a craft/art project as his first choice of how to spend his time, but he really enjoys it once we start and asks to do more and more. I had seen a neat marble-rolling art project at the children's museum and then realized we don't have ANY marbles in our house (yet!). Grapes ended up being a perfect substitution.

 We then tried potato printing, which Ian really liked!

 It was equally fun, though, to put paint on his hand and make his own hand prints. :)

 One day, we spent quite a long time outside chasing bubbles. For a while, Ian used a long stick to help reach higher to pop the bubbles. He seemed to most enjoy "tackling" the bubbles that neared the ground level.

 Kim found this toy crane by someone's trash can on garbage day. It has been a huge hit with Ian, and we can't find anything wrong with it! One man's trash IS another man's treasure!

 Our neighbor Gloria gave Ian a s'more kit for Christmas. Ian thought the s'more was super tasty and enjoyed systematically eating all three s'mores he had ... first, he pulled the marshmallow out string by string,

then he ate the chocolate, and finally he ate the graham crackers. :)

Since right before we left for Albuquerque, Ian has been able to ride his tricycle for more extended distances. One of Ian and Kim's favorite pastimes is biking together in the cul-de-sac. We'll switch off thinking of landmarks (like Ms. Gloria and Mr. Joe's mailbox) to bike to. Ian thinks it's a lot of fun (and Kim does, too!). Of course, we also have to stop often to put treasures like acorns, leaves, or pine needles in Ian's tricycle trunk. :)

What else is new with Ian? Well, here's a list of his current obsessions:

1. Telling stories -- He says a gazillion times a day, "Tell me a story!" He went through a phase where he'd say, "Tell me a story about a (boy, girl, dump truck, table) named Flaggy." Everything needed to be named Flaggy. Then, he branched out to different names. Now, his most often request is, "Tell me a story about when I was a baby." When he doesn't specify, we usually tell him a Bible story or some sort of fable (about a boy that learns to share, takes naps in the afternoon, or goes poop on the potty ... ha ha). :) The funniest thing is listening to Ian tell himself stories before falling asleep. Sometimes he'll retell stories that we told him. Other times, he'll make up his own. The other night, I heard, "And Joseph told to Mary, 'Do you have an orange?' And Mary said, ' No. I need to go to the store. Is the store fun?' And I told to Mary, 'Yes, the store is fun.'" It cracked me up.

2. Singing -- Ian sings ALL the time. He loves his Veggie Tales Sunday school songs CD, and he still sings Christmas carols daily. He still doesn't participate in singing at Toddler Time or Sunday school, but he'll sing every word of the songs once he gets home. One of his newest trends is stopping after he sings one word of a song, so we can sing the next word ... and then we can switch off singing the whole verse.

3. Rhyming -- He thinks rhyming words are hilarious. Often, he'll change song lyrics to words that rhyme with them. Or, he'll crack up by saying, "Fly, fly" instead of "Bye, bye" when we're leaving.

4. Giving Momma's tummy kisses and hugs -- He'll say, "I want to kiss the baby." It's super cute ... but now we're working on NOT having him show Momma's belly button when wanting to "kiss the baby" in public. :) In general, he's just a very affectionate kid who loves to give US hugs, kisses, and zerberts, too!

5. Not taking a nap -- He's been sleeping longer and longer at night, so he just doesn't seem drowsy in the afternoons. He will lay in his bed for a 45-60 minute "rest time" after lunch, but he almost never falls asleep anymore. (But Momma's glad to still have the chance to take a "rest" herself while Ian is resting, too!) He's definitely transitioning, as he still gets pretty grouchy most nights from about dinner to bedtime. :(

6. Somersaults -- He loves looking through his legs and then going all the way over!

7. Trains -- It's the first thing he requests to play with in the mornings when he wakes up!

8. Sandbox -- He loves to play each day in the sandbox, too, and will stay interested for up to an hour most times!

9. Construction vehicles ... still!

10. Puppets -- He has a few puppets that he LOVES and he'll often respond to requests better if the PUPPET asks (instead of Momma or Daddy). Almost daily, he'll tell Kim, "Momma, talk to the girl," meaning that he wants Kim to make a girl puppet we have talk with him.

What a fun, funny, challenging time it is having a 2 1/2 year old! :)