Hi All!
So
I meant to post all the Christmas photos much earlier- but somehow it's
halfway through February already and I just getting around to it now...
oops! Christmas was great this year - we actually had four separate
Christmases - and a few other parties too - so we were kept pretty
busy. Ian loved being around all the family and friends - and was much
more into the whole Christmas season compared to last year. Our
Christmas festivities started with a trip to Auburn to visit
Great-Grandma Suertin and several of the Suertin Aunts, Uncles and
Cousins. Ian did great on the car ride (slept almost the whole time)
and really seemed to bond with his Cousin Josiah. We all had a great
time in Auburn - a wonderful start to Christmas!
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| Ian and Matthew while visiting Great-Grandma |
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| Bonding with Matthew over the iPAd |
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| Ian - pre-party- wanted to catch him before he got too messy! |
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| Just like his Dad - vegging out! |
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| Ian and Josiah at the party. |
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| Ian's first Christmas gift of 2012! |
Ian
really loved having his Aunt Hayley and Aunt Julie home for a nice
visit - he had fun getting to know them again (and David and I had fun
catching up with them as well). I also loved how Hayley seemed much
more capable than I am at getting Ian to actually look at the camera
when she is taking pictures (for some excellent examples check out
Hayley's facebook page...). Here are a couple taken by Hayley on my
camera:
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| Ian and Grandma |
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| Ian in action! |
We
attempted to take Ian to see Santa again this year - unfortunately we
made too big of a deal about putting him on Santa's lap that all of our
pictures just show a bawling Ian with a very red face. Oh well - you'll
just have to believe us that he did go, he did see Santa - and we even
have line-up pictures to prove it!
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| Ian and Daddy in Santa's Sac |
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| Ian attempting to read the Christmas story |
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| Ian waiting in line to see Santa |
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| Ian in front of the Santa display |
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| Ian with Hayley waiting to see Santa |
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| Ian with Mommy and Daddy |
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| The little Imp just before he melts down in Santa's arms |
Ian
surprises me almost daily with everything he is learning how to do, and
he seems to pick up new words every day. I'm trying to teach him good
habits - and he already helps me with the laundry, the vacuuming and
sweeping and loves putting garbage in the garbage can - I just hope I
can get a few years of him being Mommy's Little Helper before he
realizes that these are chores and not really supposed to be fun! He
can now play hide-and-seek pretty well too, as well as lots of other
games - and is starting to become more vocal about asking to play as
well.
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| One of Ian's favorite hiding spots |
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Our
first Christmas was held at our place - in our newly finished basement
(thanks Dad and David!). Matthew, Uncle Gary, Auntie Tif, Grandma and
Zaideh came over. Ian was super excited and energetic the whole time -
resulting in the fact that the only picture I got was the one below - we
he was distracted by his new toy. Auntie Hayley got several other
great ones - again I refer you to her facebook page for details.
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| Ian and Matthew on Christmas #1 |
Christmas
#2 took place over two days and included a "Christmas" eve and a
Christmas Day #2. On Christmas Eve Auntie Jenn played her guitar for
Ian and Ian was just mesmerized - he thought it was one of the most
amazing things he'd ever seen. He actually went and grabbed everyone
else and dragged them in to see. He also seemed very into hanging his
stocking this year and loved getting his new Christmas jammies!
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| Ian cheering on Auntie Jenn |
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| Ian on Christmas Eve |
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| Ian trying to figure out what to do with his stocking |
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| Ian opening his Christmas Eve present |
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| Ian modeling his new jammies |
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| One more time without the soother... |
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| The family at Christmas |
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| Ian trying on the Santa hat |
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| From behind. |
Ian woke up nice and early on Christmas morning and we headed back over to Nanny and Poppy's for stockings and presents.
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| Ian and Poppy on Christmas morning |
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| Ian opening his stocking |
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| One of Ian's most favorite gifts |
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| Attempting to make it spin |
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| Ian and Poppy with some balloons! |
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| Ian's new bouncy horse |
On
actual Christmas day - we did a quieter Christmas at home (Christmas
#3). Santa had left a trail of candy canes leading us down to the tree
in the basement where a few presents were waiting. Ian loved following
the trail - he also loved eating the candy canes first thing in the
morning. Later on Mommy and Ian went for brunch at Matthew, Uncle Gary
and Auntie Tif's house - very tastey and Ian got to play with Matthew -
which he always loves!
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| Ian following the candy cane trail |
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| Ian enjoying candy on Christmas morning (#3) |
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| One happy sugar-high kid! |
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| Ian at Christmas brunch |
Christmas
#4 was another great day with Cousin Brianne, Aunt Kathy, Uncle Don
and Great-Grandma Berberich visiting from Kitchener. Ian had another
awesome day and especially enjoyed playing with Brianne.
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| Ian and Brianne |
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Ian
is a very energetic little guy - always keeping Mommy on her toes and
always keeping me searching for ways to occupy his active little mind. I
recently read this suggestion online: tub painting. It sounded like an
awesome idea to me - so we tried it out. Basically you give your
little toddler washable finger paint - get him naked in the tub and let
him go nuts! Ian loved it! And clean up is so easy - it just rinses
right off the tub (and the little guy).
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| Adventures in tub painting. |
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| Tub cleaning - the clean up phase |
Balloons
- especially the helium kind - are also a particular favorite of Ian's.
He especially loves letting them go at the part of our house where the
ceiling is 2 and a bit stories high - we quickly learned to put very
long strings on the balloons before we let him play with them.
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| Ian with his new balloons (BTW - congrats on the 25th work anniversary to Poppy!) |
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| We filled Ian's ball castle with balloons - also lots of fun! |
Ian also loves playing with everyone he can - especially family (and especially his cousin Matthew) - which is always a great idea for an activity.
Ian has also developed strong preferences for anything to do with
Dinosaurs - books, TV shows, little dinosaur models - definitely a
current favorite. He also seems pretty into snakes - I took him to the
pet store to see the cute little furry bunnies and kittens and puppies -
but he was much more interested in looking at the fish, snakes and
reptiles section - go figure.... Ian has also started the long and
difficult process of potty training - and is slowly making progress
towards this ultimate goal - but I think its safe to say that I will
likely be having two little guys in diapers, at least for the first few
months!
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| Matthew pushing Ian around |
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| Ian playing with Poppy |
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| Playing Dinosaurs |
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| Ian and Auntie Laura post-bath |
Ian
(and his Mom and Dad) are starting to get very excited about the
expected arrival of our newest little guy - only 12 weeks to go! Ian
now 'knows' there is a baby in Mommy's tummy (at least if you ask him
where the baby is - he will rub my belly) and will also 'give the baby a
hug' by hugging my tummy. I don't think he will fully grasp the
concept until the new little guy is actually here but its pretty cute
anyways.
Uncle Gary 'snuck' me into the ultrasound
suite today for a little pre-natal photo session on our new little guy:
here is a small sample of some of the best shots. I think Gary did an awesome job - and that our new little one is looking pretty darn cute!
Awww......
Anyways - next time I post Ian will likely be two! (TWO already - crazy to think!) and I'll be just about ready to pop.
Take care,
Love Amanda
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