Happy 21 Months, Ian!

Dear Ian,

I can't believe that we're only 3 months away from your second birthday!  Time has just flown by!  As usual, you have been impressing & entertaining us daily.  The "new" things that you do are happening so frequently, it's really hard to keep up with everything!  I'll do my best to capture some of the favorite details of your age right now.

You talk ALL of the time!  I'm not going to even attempt to write off of the words you can say now because it would take up so much space.  You have been saying quite a few short sentences over the past month....like, "I'm hungry, mama," "All done, mama," "I want to watch Choo-Choo," "Dada's at work," "I want to go outside," and "I want to go swimming."  Those are just some examples, but you're like a little sponge.  It doesn't take you long to pick up words now!  You are able to recite animal sounds by seeing pictures of specific animals, or when we ask you what a certain animal says.  You can count to 10, but sometimes need help remembering "6." :)  You can say, "A, B, C, D," and you know your color words, but like to say that everything is "green."  If that's not right, your next choice is either "blue" or "orange."  I'm pretty sure you're still guessing at those. :)  Within the last week or two, you've started singing more.  You like "Twinkle Twikle" ("Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"), "Dinky" ("Skinamarinky Dinky Do"), and "Happy" ("If You're Happy and You Know It").  It's so sweet to hear you're little voice!

As always, you love your "transportation" toys; however, lately you've moved on from cars to trains.  You're new favorite DVD is "Chuggington," and you've even mastered saying that word!  You would watch the same episodes over and over if we let you!  You also love to play with your little wooden train set from IKEA, and you always come and tell mommy if it's "broken" (i.e. tracks came apart).  You still like to play with your zoo & your cars.  Since it's been hot outside, we've been swimming more.  We got you a plastic pool with a slide for our backyard, and you love to play in the water and send your toy cars down the slide/car ramp.  In May, we enrolled you in your first swimming lessons.  It was the Waterbabies class at the YMCA, and both mommy and daddy got to spend time helping you get used to the water.  You loved it!  You're favorite part was getting to go down the big slide at the end of the class.

You are starting to get picky with your diet, and you're easily distracted at mealtimes.  You don't seem to like cheese as much anymore...or veggies.  You really just like fruit, hot dogs, pizza, and yogurt.  If there's something else you'd rather be doing besides eating, you say, "All done, mama," and set your plate on the table...even if you've only had a few bites.  You will get upset if we make you sit there and eat more, but it's important!  You still love your milk and watered-down juice.  You also get excited if there's cake or ice cream in the area! :)

You're daily routine still involves waking up around 8:30am, nap between 11am and 3pm (sometime), and bedtime around 8:30pm.  Jessica wasn't able to watch you anymore, so now you go to "school" at Discovery Place.  You really seem to like being with the other kids and always have a smile on your face when we pick you up.  Your teacher is good about e-mailing picture collages of the kids and activities, so we really like to see those.

The doctor says you're still tall and thin.  You only lack one set of molars as far as teeth are concerned.  You run around everywhere & have started to attempt little jumps.  You smile a lot, and we all love to see your toothy grin!

One of the most significant things that's happened recently is that you found out you will be a big brother!  Baby #2 is due to arrive on 12/6/12.   When we ask you if you want a boy or a girl, you always say, "boy"; however, if we ask if you want a brother or sister, you say, "sister."  Haha!  I hope you'll be happy with either!  We should find out in 2 weeks.   Mommy and daddy know that you will be a great brother because you are so sweet with other little babies.

Our next big trip will be to Red River in July!  It will be fun to go there for your second year in a row.  We will also be going to the Snodgrass Family Reunion in Dodge City, so daddy and poppa will be able to show off the newest Snodgrass. 

We love you, precious Ian!  We thank God everyday for blessing us with your presence. 

Love,
Mommy and Daddy