Ian: 15 months and counting!

Hi All,

So, my baby Ian is no longer a baby - he has now officially entered toddlerdom.  He is getting to be more and more independent (and independent-minded) every day.  Ian has mastered walking - and is well on his way to mastering the finer points of running as well.  Its hard to believe that he only took his first steps a few months ago - he'll soon be outrunning his mom and dad!  He is a little ball of energy - constantly wanting to explore everything around him.  You can be fairly certain if you turn your back on him for even a second, he will have found his way into some sort of mischief. 

He's pretty much got the hang of stairs as well - but refuses to go down on his belly (the *easy* way), insisting instead on taking one step at a time, facing frontwards, on his bum - more like the way Mommy and Daddy do it.

Ian - in a moment of relaxation.

Because he is constantly on the go these days - its becoming more and more difficult to capture his life in pictures.  I realized this when I downloaded the camera pictures for this entry to find that instead of the hundreds (yes - I did go a bit overboard) of pictures that I used to have to sort through there were barely 50... But I put that down to the fact that he doesn't stay still enough these days (unless he is eating, drinking his bottle or sleeping) to even allow me to point and click the camera - let alone go grab it from across the room!

Ian - trapped!

Ian has also started to speak!  However, I'm not sure he realizes he is a human, because almost all the words he knows are animal sounds (Quack, Quack is a particular favorite).  However, in the last week or two - he has shown much greater interest in imitating human words - so he may be slowly starting to figure it out.

Ian had some exciting events over the last few months.  Auntie Hayley came for a visit from Ireland and Ian got to spend lots of time getting to know her - they had lots of fun with Aunt Hayley teaching him how to better use his iPad and many of his other toys.

Ian and Matthew - playing cards.

Ian's Auntie Jenn got married on June 23rd and Ian got to be her Ring Bearer - he got all dressed up in a tux - tails and all!  He looked so cute.  Unfortunately, the day before the wedding, Ian got the sickest he has ever been, with a fever up to 105!  Despite feeling so unwell, and missing his nap on the day of the wedding - Ian did an amazing job!  He 'walked' down the aisle in Nanny's arms, stayed fairly quiet throughout the ceremony (except for the very few minutes that Daddy had to take him away to roll in the grass), and did an excellent job posing for pictures and charming the wedding guests at the reception.  All this while he was super-sick!  It ended up that he had roseola - as he broke out in a full body rash three days later - probably best he didn't manifest that symptom for the wedding photos!  (For more wedding photos - check out Jenn Elliott (Berberich)'s Facebook page!)

Ian and Hailey (the Flower Girl)

I think someone has a crush...

Look how handsome I am!

Getting into mischief in his tux

With the beautiful bride!

A little less formal...

 

 

Probably the biggest change in Ian's life over the past three months happened at the beginning of July when his Dad started back to work, and he started spending the day with Nanny.  Nanny and Ian have been getting along wonderfully during the day - Nanny has been taking him on fun outings nearly every day and Ian has been learning lots of new things during his time with her. 

Daddy - modeling behavior for Ian.

Ian - trying to imitate his dad....

It's really amazing to watch Ian grow into being his own person, with his own thoughts, agenda and personality.  He seems to be learning and growing by the minute - you can almost see his little mind working out solutions to problems he encounters (usually how to get around some sort baby-proofing measure we have come up with).  He is becoming more fun every day - learning how to dance, play 'chase the baby', tickle monster - I love coming home from work and just being able to spend time playing with him. 

The boys - hanging out - having a snack.

Bath time!

I'm excited to see what Ian and the next three months have in store for us - I'm sure its going to be an adventure!

Love Amanda