Ian's 1 year Stats

Technically now Ian is almost 14 months old! But I took him in for his 1 yr well visit at 12.5 months. Here's the lowdown:

Ian about 13 months old

Head Size: 18.1 inches, 34th percentile
Weight: 22.7 lbs, 44th percentile
Height: 30.4 inches, 64th percentile

So our little guy is roughly average sized for his height & weight! I think Jase was much bigger than Ian at this age (I'll have to look back and double check but I'm pretty sure). Even though he's now almost 14 months, here's some things he's been doing lately...

He is awesome fast at crawling around (used to be army crawling but just recently during our trip to New Orleans started "regular" crawling). He can also pull himself to standing on anything...and he can hold onto stuff and walk around the edges of furniture. He will also balance standing up for a few seconds before falling. He will take steps if you hold both of his hands and walk with him, but he has yet to try walking on his own (without holding onto anything).  He loves to crawl over and through objects, like chairs, boxes, etc--almost like an obstacle course, LOL! I have a really funny picture of him stuck hanging  from the rungs underneath our kitchen chair--I need to look for that! He says "mama, dada, yaya (he says yaya so much that I started calling him Yaya), uh-oh (he says this sooo cute), and just the other day he said "nana" for banana (his most favorite thing to eat).

He's making a funny face here! But you can kind of see his gap between his teeth.

He is in that super dooper picky stage of eating. Oh my goodness he won't eat hardly anything! And he has to put it in his own mouth (doesn't like to be spoon fed much). Sometimes I have to "force feed" him something I know he'll like just so he'll get the taste of it, and THEN he will eat it. Stubborn boy! Besides bananas, he loves Goldfish cheese crackers or those Annie's bunny crackers. His new thing to eat is peeled apple slices. Also yogurt.


His hair is blonde (def gets this from Roob), the top is straight and wispy and the sides are super curly. It is getting long but Reuben will NOT allow me to cut it! His eyes are still blue, but a deeper/greenish gray blue than Jase's ice blue color. I think they might turn officially hazel. His little teeth are still coming in. Right now he has 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom. Some molars are already cutting through as well (probably helps with the eating of apples). We found out that his frenulum (sp?) (skin that connects upper lip to gums) is rather long, so that is probably what is causing the gap in between his front teeth. According to the dentist, most likely he'll fall and tear this skin himself, but if not, by 2 years old they can snip it if they need to (ouch! poor baby). We shall see.

Ian's New Tricks

Glad I caught this on camera, it's too cute! He had done better "waving" before, though. But at least you get the idea. My favorite is "touchdown!" Hee hee.

Easter Eggs

I bought a couple of Easter egg dying kits and Jase has been begging me to let us dye them. Well he snuck into the packaging yesterday and took out the dye tablets thinking they were candy--and ate one! Lovely. So his teeth, tongue and lips were hot pink! Why I didn't think to take a picture is beyond me. Anyway, I finally hard boiled a bunch of eggs so we could dye them. I was able to show Jase the right way to use those dye tablets (haha) and let me tell you, he LOVED doing it. I wish we had more eggs to do! He was so good and so into it! Here's some pics of the experience...and I'm happy to have hard boiled eggs for snackin' and tuna fish! Mmm.

 Aren't these so cute? We used a wax crayon to draw words and pics on the eggs before dipping them in the dye.

 Master egg dipper right here.

Ian's Curls

I wasn't sure who Ian really looked like but now I am definitely leaning more towards Reuben/his side of the family (with a splash of Amiee). I have really been slacking with picture-taking, so last night I grabbed my camera after Ian's bath because when his hair is wet it gets super curly (normally fairly straight when dry) and so stinkin' cute. Reuben has really curly hair (no one would ever know since he shaves it) and it looks like Ian may be inheriting this as well. But I think if it does go the curly route, it'll be more wavy than curly. Oddly enough, my hair was always straight growing up but if I let it dry naturally, it's SUPER wavy underneath. My top layer is pretty straight, though, due to all the processing/coloring/highlighting over the years. Anyway, here is some pics of my baby with his damp hair...

Happy 1st Birthday Boppers!

Ian is ONE! I can't believe it! I started planning his party months out...and I was hoping for a gorgeous day so I could do the party outside and better accommodate the guests. As luck would have it, the weather forecast predicted snow and cold--so in a panic I started trying to talk people out of coming! Then the night before the party, at least four people canceled last minute due to getting sick. Needless to say I was devastated. I had over-prepared and the weather was ruining my plans! But all in all it really turned out great! I gave away all the extra food we had and I did have a few guests show up, so everything went well! My mom came up to help me with last minute party stuff and decor. Couldn't have done it without her help. Here's a bunch of pictures of the party! I decided on a fish theme because of the "fish-like" movements Ian used to make while trying to get around on the floor. Hee hee. This is his smash cake!

Party treat table! I got his banner, favor tags, cupcake tags on etsy.com. I thought they were sooo cute! Saved me lots of time, as well.

 Favor bags had a little fishy water game, fish stickers, bubbles, and fish tatoos inside...I have a ton of that stuff left, so I'm sure it'll be making an appearance at the next bday party! Ha ha.

The birthday boy!!! That's about all he wanted of the cake.

Opening presents...isn't his expression so cute in this picture? I think I had squeezed the lion's foot and he was making a "roaring" sound.

 Cute outfit from Grandma and Grandpa Erickson.

 Playing with a wooden snail pull-a-long toy from Grandma Jenith.

 My brother Nathan and his pregnant wife, Meredith! New baby niece due soon! Yay!

 Ian showing off his cute birthday tee. I made it on the computer and printed it out onto a T-shirt transfer sheet. That was way cheaper than ordering one and it came out super cute!

Grandma Jenith with her grandsons!

  Another present that sings and waves its arms!

We did a little fishing game at the party. Good thing Jase and his cousin were there to play it! My mom found the magnetic fishing poles on amazon.

 Another picture of the table set up. Those are goldfish crackers in the little cups. I also got the idea online to frame Ian's party invite (on the top right-handed side).

 Finding Nemo DVD has a "virtual aquarium" feature on it so I turned my TV into a little fish tank for the day.

Fish pinata (which is STILL hanging up in my house) that we never used due to not being able to go outside. Bummer.

 Ha ha ha this was my favorite thing. Photo ops with a shark. Here's Jase...

 Me...LOL.

 My mom! Ha ha ha.

 My brother, Nathan--he looks kind of happy to see the shark if ya ask me.

 OH more cupcakes I guess.

 Ian, aka eBopps or Boppers. He is such a sweetie pie.

Rice Krispy treat fish swimming in blue licorice water. I piped on the eyes with frosting and cut them out with a fish cookie cutter. Loved this.

 Jasey and his cousin!!!!! Too cute.

Sharing the Love

Just found out recently a friend of mine was diagnosed with leukemia. As if that is not hard enough, she is also pregnant and can't start any treatments until after the child is born. Another mutual friend of ours has started this "chip in" thing (see right side of my blog) to try to raise money for her and her family. You can pay securely through paypal if you want to donate money to them. They already have 6 children and could use some extra help. Thank you so much!

Catching Up...again

Wow has it really been a month and a half since I last posted??? Holy camoly. That is bad, very bad. I am not documenting my poor boys' lives very well here...am I? I have had a very stressful work situtation that basically consumed my life for a month--so that took up ANY extra time I ever had during the day. It was great working with the client, just really tough dealing with the other agent. I'm not going to get into here online, but many of you already know about the drama. Anyway, I am thrilled to announce that it's overwith and I'm happy to move forward. I have another listing that just went under contract over the weekend (woo hoo) and I could NOT be happier. And so far, that agent is GREAT to work with. Thank goodness! Ok enough about me...

Ian's birthday is fast approaching and I have been going back and forth trying to get things together for that. I decided on a "fishy" theme (after a ton of deliberation), since Ian reminds me of a fish when he gets excited while lying on the floor on his tummy and sort of "flops" like a fish. It's so funny! I found some cute themed stuff on etsy.com that is super simple and just, well, cute. I always have grand ideas that never actually all get done bc I swear I don't have the time and/or I'm really crappy at making time to do things. I'm also trying to do foods that I can do AHEAD of time instead of running around at the last minute preparing...stay tuned!

Besides that, Jase is just dying for summer and for some outside play time. He also desperately needs friends (big downside of living out so rural like we do). I think I will try to put together a mommy playgroup at the park this summer and do it at least once a week. I love getting out of the house and it's so good for Jase, too. We took him to this "fun center" for a friend's birthday party a few weeks ago. It had a skating rink that you could ride tricycles/scooters on, tons of bouncer houses, a huge climbing gym thing, and gigantic blow up slides! EVERY night since then, when I tuck him into bed, Jase says to me, "Mom, I have to tell you something. Thank you for letting me go to the skating center place." Shut up how cute is that!!??? I gotta take him back there--he had the time of his life, seriously. I need to call somebody and plan to go back there!! Why haven't I done this already? Oh yeah, bc my life has been insane. Jase comes up with the funniest stuff, I swear this kid is a crack up. I need to start writing down his little sayings. He loves to laugh, LOVES to be chased around the house, getting tickled, racing me to the kitchen sink, and getting as much attention as possible from Ian (at all costs, I might add). I am planning on getting him into a nearby preschool 2 days a week (about 2-3 hours each time) in the fall. I think he'll be more than ready by then. I'm excited for him to make friends! And we are so having the coolest bday party for him this fall! With preschool friends!! Yay!

Ian is getting so big and soooo good at getting around things, into things, crawling over objects, pulling himself up to his knees (so cute, he'll do that and play with little toys for a while just kneeling)...he still doesn't do an "official" crawl but then again he kind of does sometimes...but why when there's no need since army crawling has become a pro sport for him! Ha! The only downside is that his clothes get super grubby from all the exposure to the floors (am I admitting fault from having gross floors? Uh, yes.). He still has his 4 teeth and the top 2 still have a little gap in between (hee hee). I bet it'll close up once the other teeth come in. I've been trying to teach him to clap or wave good-bye but so far, not working. He is currently the biggest momma's boy you'll ever see, so if I draw attention to myself in any way he'll come beelinin' just for me. It's kind of endearing, though. Poor Reuben had asked me the other day if Ian even liked him! Ha! Of course he does! I really think it's just his age more than anything else :) Or that I'm just too cool for school! He's been on straight formula since February 1st, so that's been really nice for me.

Ian got his TOP Teeth!

Ian just barely got his top 2 teeth to break through. I think it is so cute and goofy looking! Ha ha ha I love it! There's a cute little gap in between them. Only time will tell if it'll close up or not. It probably will. But I still love it. Aren't babies so cute when they get teeth? YEAH. Time to stop nursing! Heh heh.

In order to capture these tiny things on camera, I had to have him look up so I could get 'em at the right angle. So you also get to see up his nose. Bonus!
And yes, his little nose is a tad yellow...it's from the veggies/fruits he's eating. There's a real name for it, but the pediatrician just called him a "carrot nose." Cute.

Quick Pics of the Boys

Jase, 3 yrs old. He's a bit big for this seat, doncha think? ha ha ha

I took this pic bc for whatever reason Ian was looking so adorable to me. It came out cute of the both of them.

I love this picture of Ian in his striped romper. Man, I just want to kiss him to death!

A few weeks ago we had an awesome snow storm come through and I thought Jase would love making a snowman outside. WRONG! The entire time he was trying to destroy it. Boys. Well at least I had fun and I was able to bribe him to take this picture!

Another pic of Jase "having fun" in the snow. Ha ha ha. He normally loves it, I guess today was just a grumpy day. But he looks halfway happy in this picture so I should keep my mouth shut. :)

Cute pic of Jasey clowin' around at the table. What's new?

Ian in his black football hoodie. So cute, so big. He's 9 months old in these shots.

Great faces, right? ha ha ha

Another wrinkly nose shot...hee hee

Jase's 3 yr old Stats



jase on christmas morning

As of 12/15/10...

Weight (omg I just realized they left everything in kgs, really???)= 97th percentile
Height = 96th percentile

I finally had enough of our old pediatrician and asked around to find a new one. It's a female, and I think she's German (couldn't quite place the accent). She's 100 times better than our old pediatrician. She was VERY thorough and so cute with Jase. Loved it. I think I will take Ian to her for his next appointment.

Anyways, they tested Jase's eyes (my favorite part-it was sooo adorable seeing him stand on the line and take turns covering his eyes and "reading" the shapes off the chart on the other side of the room) and some other basic knowledge (like colors, shapes, counting) and he did great. He got his blood pressure taken for the first time, too (cool). He was a bit silly & shy for some of the stuff, but for the most part he was really cooperative and spoke well. Oh and he got to wear a cute hospital looney tunes gown! At the end the nurse/aid had to give Jase 3 shots to get all caught up. I warned him it was going to hurt a little (must have because he totally cried, it was so sad) and later he told my mom (gramma)that it hurt A LOT. Lol. But he was over it after about 1 or 2 minutes!

He got to go to McDonalds germville playland for his reward. Let me tell you, it was TOUGH to get him to leave. I had to eventually pick up a screaming & kicking Jase under one arm while toting Ian in the carseat in my other arm. I am sure we were quite the sight to be seen! But once I finally tore him away, he did well getting to the car. We got home and he took a super long nap (yes!) so it made the McDonald's trip of terror all worth it :)

He's not due back for another year! Let's hope he stays healthy so he doesn't have to go back before then :)

Jase & Ian, Catch-up

Man, I am soooo far behind with blogging. Just overwhelmingly so. I almost want to just give it up, but I know I can't. This is pretty much the only "family history" I have for us. I can't quite finish (or start) any other projects that I want to do like Jase's baby book, for example. LOL. It hardly has a thing in it! And poor Ian never even GOT a baby book at all! ARGH! I need an assistant. Oh well, I will try to do my best and keep this updated as much as possible.
Jase. He's 3. Still 3. He went through a phase for a couple of weeks that was VERY difficult for us. Oh my goodness! He was so defiant and sassy! But lately he's back to his normal self...says the funniest stuff, can be so loveable, and can also manage to drive ya crazy from time to time. Like I said, normal. He loves giving and getting hugs! And he's into telling people that he loves them. We built him a huge snow hill in our backyard that he can go sledding on. It is too cool! He loves it, and it's a good way for him to get out some energy. Jase loves Ian, and loves to get reactions out of him. He is always making some kind of noises to see how Ian will respond to them. That response varies from smiling to crying, LOL. Jase wears about a 4T in tops and 3T or 4T in pants. His shoe size is 9-10! Jase's current favorite movie is "Despicable Me" which he is constantly quoting. (We love that movie, too. It's adorable.)

Ian. He's the sweetest thing. Just a few days away from 9 months old. I love how "easy" he is these days. Just keep him fed and he's good to go. He eats soooo much food, it's kind of scary. He can roll around and army crawl, but still hasn't figured out how to really crawl just yet (and i'm ok with that!). He still says "dada" and just yesterday said "mama(or baba, i'm not quite sure)" and makes all sorts of other noises. In the last week or two, he can finally sit up pretty well by himself. He also learned how to do the pincer grasp and feed himself little bits of bread or Gerber baby puffs. I love watching him do this for some reason. It makes me happy. His hair has gotten a bit thicker, and I think soon it will be moving into that "wispy" phase that I LOOOOVE! I can't wait! When he gets excited, he holds his hands up in the air and wiggles his fingers. It's so cute! Right now he wears about 9 month sized clothing, and a size 4 shoe. It's really easy to get him to laugh, too, which is so fun. We still haven't figured out who in the world he looks like?? I guess the milkman's kid? Hee hee. Well it doesn't matter anyways since he's so adorable!