Sunday, September 23, 2012

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ian!!




Dear Ian,

It seems like just yesterday that we brought you home from the hospital.  We were soooo ready to meet you by this day 2 years ago...as you were due on 9/15/10.  I will never forget the first time I saw you and was able to hold you!  Today you’re turning two years old and you are the love of our life!

Right now you are at a really fun age.  Not that you weren’t fun before, it’s just that you’re able to do so MUCH right now!  You talk all of the time, sing, dance, play, and laugh…you’re so animated!  You are quite the little talker, and everyone comments on how well you can speak.  You can identify several colors (blue, red, yellow, orange, green, black, white, purple, and pink), you can tell us the sounds of several animals, you can “sing” along to “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” and some of the alphabet song.  You LOVE anything train-related, both “Thomas the Train” and “Chuggington.”  You know the names of all of the trains and you can sing the “Chuggington” theme song.  You know the names of several of your family members and friends, including Nanny, Papa, Grandma Donna, Grandpa Chuck, Grandpa, Nana, Shelby, Justan, JJ, Christina, Sean, “Celia” (Cecilia), Chelci, Aunt Heddie, Edie, Joshua, and Paige.  You also know Brennan, Jessica, Zoey, Mikah, Silas, and Karly….there are probably people that I’m leaving out!  You are able to tell us when you “don’t like” something, when you want a “snack,” when you want “milk” or “juice,” and that you “don’t want to go night night,” “take a bath,” or “take a nap.”  Sometimes you do want to take a bath, and you tell mama to “make big bubbles!”  You say lots of funny things too!  Over the past few weeks, daddy has been teaching you to talk like the Cookie Monster, so you will say “I Cookie Monster…yum, yum, yum.”  Just last night, I put your pajamas on and told you that there was a monster truck on the shirt.  You ran around saying, “Cookie Monster truck!”  It was adorable!

You seem to have gotten pickier with your diet.  Your favorite foods are hot dogs, pizza, “Uh oh, beggios” (aka: spaghettios J), peanut butter and jelly, and chicken nuggets with lots of ketchup.  You also like your morning oatmeal made with apple juice or prune juice (which you call “chocolate oatmeal…haha).  You like bananas, grapes, strawberries, yogurt, “smoothies” (drinkable yogurt), applesauce, and green beans (with bacon).  We feed you a lot of those little baby food pouches because you don’t like many regular vegetables.  To our surprise, you don’t seem to be a big fan of cheese.  Your favorite snacks are “cookies” (graham crackers) and goldfish crackers. You love to drink milk, and sometimes daddy will give you a special treat of chocolate milk.  You have your mommy’s sweet tooth and really like cake and ice cream, too.

Your favorite toys are DEFINITELY trains and cars.  You play with them all of the time!!  You cannot go to bed without a handful of Chuggington trains, and you always zoom cars around the tub every time you take a bath.  Your favorite shows to watch on TV are “Thomas the Train,” “Chuggington,” and the “Cars” movies.  You occasionally like to watch Elmo, but for the most part, you seem to be over the Elmo stage.  You love for us to read books to you, specifically train books, and you always say, “one more book…” after we finish each one.  You are very active and like to rough-house and play outside.  You’re good at going up and down stairs now, although we still leave the gate closed so you don’t get too mischievous.
J
 

Your daily routine hasn’t changed much.  You get up around 8:30am, nap between 11am and 3pm, and go to bed around 8:30pm.  You still attend Discovery Place preschool from 2-5pm on Mondays and Tuesdays, and all day on Wednesdays (8:15am-5pm).  You seem to really enjoy “school” and talk about your friends Roby and Jarren a lot.  You get really excited when mommy or daddy picks you up from school or from the church nursery.  We can’t help but smile when we see your huge grin!

We took a trip to Red River at the end of July, and you had a fun time.  You slept better than last year, but still had to adjust to the “new” surroundings.  Mommy and daddy spent a lot of time chasing you around the lake and trying to keep you from falling in the water.  You really liked playing with Haley and would go looking for her whenever you had a chance.  Over Labor Day weekend, we went to Branson with Sean, Christina, and Cecilia.  We were able to go to Silver Dollar City and you got to ride the train.  You didn’t really like riding it and cried some.  I think you preferred to look at it instead!  You called it “Old Coyer Pete” (“Old Puffer Pete”)…which is a Chuggington character that looks like an old steam engine.  You also enjoyed playing with Cecilia at the cabin we rented.

Your two-year doctor’s appointment is next week and we’re excited to find out your height.  We’ve heard that doubling your height at age 2 is a good estimate of your adult height…we’ll see!  You’re wearing 18 month shorts (thin boy) and 24 month or 2T shirts.  You will have to wear 24 month or 2T pants because you’re too tall for 18 month pants.  You’re wearing size 6 shoes.  You have all of your teeth except your last set of molars.  You chipped your front tooth this summer after a fall while playing on the driveway, but it hasn’t been too noticeable. 

The excitement around our house right now is the preparations for your little SISTER, Kate Laurel.  She is expected to arrive on 11/29/12 (mommy’s scheduled c-section date), but we’ll see!  You don’t really understand how your little life is about to change, but we have no doubt that you’ll be a wonderful big brother.  You interact really well with other kids.

We just had your 2nd birthday party last weekend because there was an OU game this weekend (this will probably always be an issue!).  It was “train”-themed and your big presents were a Chuggington train table, trains, track, and other accessories.  You LOVE it and play with everything all of the time you’re home. Many friends and family were able to come and you seemed to have a great time!

Ian, the end of the time of you being our only child is quickly approaching.  This is a time of joy and excitement for our family, but we know that things will be different with two children.  We could not have been blessed with a better first-born child.  You bring us pure joy and happiness every day.  We pray for you all of the time…that you will grow to love Jesus and that you’ll be a person of good character, successful, and kind to others.  We ask the Lord to guide us as we raise you.  You are our light, Ian, and we love you more than words can say.



Love,
Mommy and Daddy