Dear Ian,
Happy Birthday to you!!! You’re 1 today! We can hardly believe that a year has passed since you changed and blessed our world! The past year has been absolutely amazing, and we couldn’t ask for a better baby…I mean…little boy! At 2:17pm last year, we saw your face for the first time, and we got to hold your 7 lb 5 oz little body for the first time. When we first saw you peek over the curtain, we just knew that we would fall in love with you.
This age has been so much fun for us! You have developed quite a personality, and we are getting to “know” each other better. You definitely recognize mommy, daddy, your grandparents, and other close friends and family. When you see somebody that you know, you kind of cover your eyes with your hand…almost like you’re a little shy; however, you still usually give them a big grin. Mama loves it when you crawl over to me and reach up when you want me to hold you…it’s so cute! Daddy plays with you a lot, and you love his “rough-housing” and tickling. He can get you to laugh so hard!
You are saying more words now, also. Your most recent favorites are “beep, beep” and “vroom, vroom.” Mommy and daddy say these words a lot when you play with your toy cars, so I think that’s where you picked them up. You also sometimes say “E-I-E-I-O” when we sing, “Old MacDonald had a Farm…” You definitely say, “mama, dada, and bebe” frequently, as well as talk in your own words like you’re having a real conversation and sharing your opinion. You have 6 teeth – 4 on top and 2 on bottom. Your “fangs” are starting to smooth out, so I don’t think that they’re your canines like I thought previously.
Your favorite toys are definitely your cars. You LOVE to push them around the house and make the “vroom, vroom” sound. You enjoy playing with big and small cars and truck, including your little car in the bathtub. Your favorite book right now is a board book that contains pictures of real trucks. You sit and look at this book for a long time! You also like books with the little flaps…it’s fun to look under each one. You seem to like anything with buttons or lights, also. Unfortunately, this includes TV remotes and cell phones. We have to keep a close eye on you! We tried to give you a play phone and a remote with no batteries, but for some reason, you know the difference. Smart boy!
You also think you’re hot stuff now that you can “walk” around the house with your push toys. You go so fast and get everywhere you want to go. We know that you could probably walk now if you would build up enough confidence, but after taking a few steps, you will sit down and crawl to your destination. I tried putting shoes on your feet more frequently to see if that helps give you a better sense of stability, but so far, it doesn’t seem to have made a difference. You cruise all around the furniture and pull up on everything. I have a feeling that you’ll be walking for real, very soon.
Starting in mid-August, Jessica Lucas started watching you while mommy and daddy are at work. Mikah’s little boy, Silas, started kindergarten in August, so Jessica offered to take over your care for 14 hours a week. You have really adapted to her and enjoy playing with her kids, Brennan and Zoey. It’s pretty neat because Zoey was born one day after you, and you were both dedicated at church on the same day. Jessica says that she really looks forward to having you come over to play. You love watching Brennan, and he makes you laugh hysterically!
Just as we predicted, you are a fan of food! You like nearly everything that we give you, except cottage cheese…haha! You’re favorites seem to be diced banana, mandarin oranges, little puffed cereal snacks, and shredded cheese. You also really like deli meat, chicken, and yogurt. Veggies are “okay,” but don’t seem to be your favorite food…you will typically eat them after everything else is gone. You are a pro with your sippy cup, and we’re slowly introducing cow’s milk. It seems like it will be a smooth transition at this point. Your bottles have about 1/3 formula and the rest is whole milk. You grin from ear to ear when you see your bottle! You have really mastered feeding yourself, and you love fishing for snacks out of your little snack trap in the car. If you see mommy and daddy eating without you, you come over and act very interested in what we’re eating. J
Your nighttime routine is still about the same as it has been. You love your bath…splashing, playing with your toys, and standing up in the tub. You also like putting your hand in the running water. After you bath, we still have our little ritual of getting your pajamas on, lotion massage, vitamin, comb hair, etc. You typically go to sleep before 9pm and sleep until about 6:15am when mommy wakes you up to eat. Then, you go back to sleep until about 9am. Your naps generally happen around 10:30am-11am and around 4pm-4:30pm, depending on the day.
At the end of July, you went on your first “real” vacation – to Red River, NM. It was a 9+ hour drive, but you did great! It was really hot in Wichita this summer (record number of days with temps >100 degrees), so the 50-60 degree weather in Red River was so nice. We spent time with the Hibbets side of the family, and you had a lot of fun playing with baby Hudson’s toys. We had a scare that you might be sick when you started crying inconsolably a couple of nights, but we think that it was tummy pains. You had your first trip to an Urgent Care clinic in Taos, but everything checked out good. As a result, you just received your first bill in the mail a few weeks ago for your copay…we thought that was pretty funny! I guess you need to get a job!
Last Saturday, September 17th, we had your first birthday party in Enid at Grandma Donna’s house. It was so much fun! We had an “Under the Sea” (ocean) themed party, and many friends and family were able to attend. Trina Ashour (Wes’ mom) made your cake, and it had an octopus on it. When we sang “Happy Birthday,” you didn’t get scared or seem upset, and you LOVED eating your cake. You had a little bit of cake at Lawson’s birthday party a few weeks before, but otherwise, this was your first “real” taste of dessert. The weather was nice, so you played outside a lot in grandma’s back yard with many of your friends, Eme Friece, Audrey and Lawson Jones, Hudson and Haley Hibbets, Brayson and Cambryn Alexander, and your cousins, Chelci and Eden. You received lots of nice gifts. It was pretty obvious that you were interested in cars because many of your toys and books were car or transportation-related.
Well, that pretty much summarizes what’s been going on in your life for the past 2 months. We have enjoyed every single moment with you thus far, and know that the next year will be full of so many surprises and memorable moments. We thank God every single day for blessing our lives with you, Ian.
HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY…AND MANY, MANY MORE!!
With Love,
Mommy and Daddy
