January catch-up!

Ian finally has finished his l-o-n-g project of making "Ian's alphabet book," a tactile book of all of the letters. He's so proud of it! On the day we did S is for sandpaper, Ian was fascinated with the sandpaper. He wanted to sand everything -- including some of Momma's wooden spoons! Between his love of sandpaper and his fascination of tools, maybe he'll be a carpenter some day like his Great Grandpa Sylvester! :)

Kim was fascinated with an idea from Pinterest on moving colored water from one cup to another via a paper towel. I couldn't believe it actually worked.

It was fun for Ian to watch the water level in the empty cup get higher and higher throughout the day. We also tried an experiment with three cups - one with blue water, one with red water, and an empty cup. It was supposed to turn purple, but the water just looked blue (maybe because the 3.5 year old adding food coloring added WAY more drops of blue to the blue water than red to the red water??)

When helping put away Christmas decorations, Ian found Matt's trumpet. He wanted to play it right away! Kim said that we'd have to wait until Daddy got home so Daddy could teach Ian how to play. Immediately when Matt got home (hours after Ian had found the trumpet), Ian asked him about how to play. Here's Daddy giving Ian a lesson.

At first, Ian couldn't get any sound out of the trumpet. But, after spending some time working on it, he actually could produce a few different sounds. It was so cute to watch him trying so hard. Below is a video of his efforts! Good teaching, Daddy!

 

Ryan is SO close to being able to crawl. He is most motivated by the stacking cups and door stoppers.

Ryan CAN move forward a little bit while in the crawling position. Just this week, he learned to get back into the crawling position and then into the sitting position even after falling onto his belly. We're proud of his progress! Soon, he'll be on the move!

Daddy-and-Ian cuddle and book time in bed!

Ian loves taking pictures of Ryan ...

and he giggles like crazy when Ryan "tackles" him. Something tells me this might be an ongoing activity between the two of them as the years go on ...

We experienced a few cold-for-Texas days this month (in the 30s :)). Ian was pretty excited about using his winter coat, mittens, and hat. He still insisted on wearing Crocs, though Momma insisted on socks underneath.

a cold weather wagon ride ... Ryan's first wagon ride!

After reading "Arthur's First Sleepover," Ian was pretty excited about the idea of having his rest time in his tent. He actually fell asleep all bundled up and cozy under the blankets!

Ian asked Daddy and Ryan to "look at clouds" with him.

One morning while Ryan was napping, Momma and Ian did a science experiment to figure out what sinks and floats. Ian made a "sink" and "float" sign, and Momma put down the towels.

Ian ran around the house excitedly to find items that we could test.

I bet he probably tested 30 or more items -- about an equal number that sunk or floated.

Ryan loves Tupperware ... and Ian loves playing right along with him!

One day, while Momma did dishes and Ryan was playing in the Tupperware cabinet, Momma turned around to find Ryan like this ... way to go, little buddy! He's getting stronger and stronger with being able to pull himself up and staying up for longer periods (while still holding on).

Ian loves helping to "make" Ryan's baby food. This month, he helped grind up canned peaches and pears, and fresh butternut and acorn squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots. Ryan is expanding his culinary repertoire and is actually opening his mouth to willingly accept food most meals! :)

Ian loves being able to operate the food processor himself ... and also likes to "teach" anyone the steps that he goes through to do it. If the carpentry thing doesn't work out, maybe hosting a cooking show will be in Ian's future?? Ha ha!

Here's hoping that you and your family had a great January, too. God's blessings to you in February! :)