Notes

Dear Ian,

You may have noticed that the number of posts on your blog has increased over the past month or so. The reason for this is because your Baby Book only goes up to your first birthday as a record of memorable things. I'm still using it to record stuff like your teeth coming in (because they are taking longer than Christmas coming to pop up), and there are pages for your birthdays two through five years old. And don't forget that First Day of School page (ugh. don't need that showing up any time soon.). But, for the current fun stuff that we are doing, it makes lots of sense to Mommy to write it all down in your new fangled, technological baby book that is this blog.

Just didn't want you to think that you weren't doing your job of keeping me busy. More than busy. Whew.

So anyhoo... Thank goodness for this blog. Not only do I type faster than I write long-hand nowadays, but I also have the magic of spell check for those moments where I just feel like I have lost my mind and can't remember how to spell. But not you; no, son. No spell check for you at first. I plan on giving you that obnoxious grown up response of, "look it up in the dictionary." Yeah, yeah, you have to know how to spell it to find it in the dictionary. But don't think that argument will work on me or your Daddy. We already tried it with your grandparents.

Love you bunches,
Mommy

Gobble Gobble, part 2

Dear Ian,

Happy Thanksgiving Little Man!

I must say, for your second (well, first really participating) Thanksgiving, you did really well! Our Thanksgiving morning started off like a typical morning: wake up, breakfast, play time, nap, snack, play some more and a small lunch... After your lunch is when we went to Grandma and Papa Davis'. During play time though, we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! You even watched the Rockette's with me, and they are my favorite part. You didn't sit still for much more than them and a few bands, but it was neat to be able to share that with you. I got really excited about showing you all of the big balloon floats, and your Daddy is still making fun of me for that.

Anyway, after getting to Grandma and Papa Davis' house, you got to play with your cousin Payton, and you got to go out and see the animals. You really loved that! To keep your day consistent, Mommy and Daddy took along the pack-n-play, so before our big feast, you were able to get in a good nap. (Daddy took a nap, too, and then the two of you snuggled after you woke up, and I think that was his favorite part of the day. awwww)

You were well rested for all those yummies, and I think you tried EVERYTHING! Our feast included appetizers of fried artichoke and shrimp cocktail, and Grandma also had a cheese and cracker tray set up. For our actual dinner, we had turkey and ham, stuffing, mashed white potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, corn casserole and crossaints. We also had home-made applesauce and cranberries. Yum! You tried everything; you even tried a TINY sip of Mommy's wine. You ate like a champ. Grandma Davis' friend, Miss Mary Beth came to dinner too, and she brought a delicious bread pudding and a pumpkin cheese cake. So good.

We were lucky to have your Grandma and Papa there, Great Poppey, Uncle Gary, Aunt Megan and Payton, Miss Mary Beth and us at our table.

After eating, we all sat outside around the fire pit, and then we packed up to go see your Grandma and Grandpa Brooks. Unfortunately we missed out on seeing Uncle Brian, Aunt Maggie, Uncle Kurt and Aunt Stacey, but it was a great day still.

Some of my favorite quotes from our dinner today:

From Mommy, "Ian, feet do not belong in the stuffing."

From Aunt Megan, "How did you get mashed potatoes on your foot, Payton?!"

From Papa Davis, who had been teasing Mommy about her corn casserole taking forever to cook and solidfy, "Like the loaves and the fishes, God made Karen's corn soup turn into corn casserole. There was first soup, and then some thunder, and then we had casserole!"

Ahh, family. The best part of the holidays.

Love always,

Mommy

Gobble Gobble, Part 1

Dear Ian,

Thanksgiving is just a couple of days away! Where has this year gone?!

The reason for this blog post is because I am really excited for Thanksgiving this year. Why I'm so excited is a little silly; I can't wait to see how much you enjoy all of the yummy foods and goodies. Last year, you weighed less that the turkey I cooked, and you weren't too excited to be in your swing while the rest of us tried to eat. The photo to the right is from last year... You, Grandma Davis and our delicious turkey bird. Yummo.

You love food. So far in your sixth month of eating solids, there isn't much that you don't like to eat. You are not a fan of the tree-top parts of brocolli, and you CANNOT stand hot dogs (which, really, is fine with Mommy.)

I'm also excited for this year's Holiday season, kicked of with Halloween, because you are old enough to participate in the fun activities that the holiday's entail. You "helped" me carve our Halloween pumpkin, you more or less trick-or-treated around our cul-de-sac, and we have been doing some neat artwork for each activity. For Halloween we made foot print ghosts, and just today, we made hand print turkeys :) You also have fall leaves that we made by gluing fall colored squares of construction paper onto the leaf shapes hanging over your changing table. It's so neat to have you be a part of the excitement and fun. I simply cant wait to watch your face light up when you see Dorothy B. Oven park and our neighborhood all dressed up in Christmas lights. (We took a trip to Lowe's the other day, and they had their Christmas lawn decorations all set up and lit, and you just went nuts over those things! I consider that a preview to what you will be like for the real thing.)

Three days from today, we will gather around the table with our families and partake in a yummy meal and a day of thankfulness. I have lots to be thankful for this year, and you and your Daddy are at the top of that list.

Love,

Mommy

Master of Chaos

Dear Ian,

Your Daddy calls you the Master of Chaos when we stop and take a look at the status of our house when you are napping. The photo to the left is just our living room; the kitchen, dining room and your room have a similar look. You are such an active little dude. We work hard to keep up. As a matter of fact, since you're asleep for a while, I may join you so I can be ready when you wake up.

More playing and more messes to come!

Love,

Mommy

ps: you ARE learning to clean up, though.

also ps: this whole blog post was done on my phone. How cool is that?!

Great Grandma Graves

Dear Ian,

Yesterday (11/17/2010) your Great-Grandma Graves passed away. We are proud to say that she lived a full and wonderful life, but we are still sad to have her gone from us, even though she has gone on to Heaven to be with Great-Grandpa.

Though she was Daddy's Grandma, I got to spend quite a bit of time with her and got to know her as a fantastic and spunky lady. I remember the first time I really met and spent time with her was at her home in Jacksonville. Daddy and I were just engaged, and we went to go to the Jacksonville Zoo and stayed with her and Great-Grandpa Graves. That night, she pointed me to one room, and Daddy to another and said, "You may be young and engaged and all that, but I'm old fashioned, and this is how it's gonna be!" Haha! That was fine with Mommy, because Daddy and I are old fashioned, too. But anyway...

Your great grandmother loved penguins, playing the piano and big, funky jewelry. She loved playing the nickel slots on cruises that we would go on. She was a Navy wife, and she lived in some neat and sometimes scary places around the world. She passed on many stories about your Daddy to me that one day either Grandma Brooks or myself will tell you. One in particular is about your Daddy getting a whole apple instead of having to share it with Uncle Kurt and Uncle Ryan. I know that your Daddy will have tons of stories to tell you, too, like the one where she used scissors to cut up pizza.

I'm proud of the fact (and SO GLAD it happened now) that she was there the day you were born, and got to hold you within an hour of your birth. She got to watch you grow from a little bug that just slept and cried to a big bug that crawled and then started walking. She was at your first birthday party. She absolutely loved holding and playing with you.

I'm glad that you got to spend a little time with your Great-Grandmother. If only a year, it's an important part of your life. You still have your Great-Grandpa Brooks and Great Poppey, too. You are a lucky little man to have such a big and loving family. I hope when you grow up that we will be able to share stories of your Great-Grandma with you, and you will see what a special part of your family she was and still is.

Love,

Mommy

Odd, but You

Dear Ian,

I just had to write this post.
It's about one of those things that we will remember about you forever, but when we try to tell you about it - say, when you are 12 - you will look at us like we have grown three heads and say "Mother, I have NO idea what you are talking about." (By the way, you are never allowed to be that rude, hear?)

You have a thing with the American flag. While driving down the road, you can spot them at about 200 yards, and they just make your day. You laugh, smile and gesture to them (we're working on actual index finger pointing), and then immediately start looking for the next one on our route. I'm not exactly sure when it started. But it's a hoot. Grandma Davis and I took you to the Veteran's Day parade the other day, and you must have thought you had gone to Flag Heaven. They were everywhere, and it's a good thing you didn't give yourself whiplash trying to see them all. You also have your own little flag that we keep on the changing table. While we change diapers you love to wave it around.

We have theories as to why you have such a thing for them, but only you know the answer to this mystery.
Theory 1: From Mommy. We have a couple in our garage that you first noticed when you were tiny. Maybe seeing flags everywhere else reminds you of home and makes you feel secure.
Theory 2: From Grandma Davis: You are Francis Scott Key reincarnated.
Theory 3: From Daddy: You're going to grow up to be the next president.

Who knows. But it's fun to watch how thrilled you get when you see a flag. We are even trying to teach you the baby sign for flag.

So here's the proof. One of these days you will outgrow your obsession, and we have it written down so we can remind you and most likely embarass you.

Love you lots,
Mommy

(ps: I went to google images to find the picture at the top of this post, and you went NUTS! Toldya)

It's All About the Lovey

Dear Ian,

Your very best friend and most favorite thing, besides Graham, Issa and Daddy, is your Lovey. I know that I have previously mentioned Lovey in other posts, but an event today made me decide to give Lovey his very own entry in this blog.

I came into your room to get you up from your afternoon nap, and you were happily rolling around in your crib snuggling Lovey. When I hugged you good-morning, I noticed that Lovey smelled a little funky. You see, your little one-year-old self chews on Lovey to self-soothe and put yourself to sleep. You've done this for a while now, so I have to rotate Loveys to keep them from smelling to high-heaven. Ordinarily, I can take them from the crib and toss them in the washer without much of an issue, but today, you cried like I had just taken away your best friend. Well, I guess I had. But! I am a good mommy, and I had a back-up. (Actually we have quite a few back-up Loveys, but that's only because Mommy is nuts...) When I gave you the new Lovey, it was like the sun came back out. I just had to grab the camera and capture these moments of pure happiness and contentment. Lovey gives you reassurance, and it makes me smile. You melt my heart.

Long Live Lovey,

Love,
Mommy