Christmas PJs!

Merry Christmas from Seth

Well, Merry Christmas from us ALL, but he took some fun pictures today and wants to share his Christmas cuteness with you.

Is this one for me?

Is it time to open, yet?

Are they ALL for me?

I'll take this one, thanks.

Presents in my stocking, perhaps?

The pine cone doesn't taste good.

Wait, is that Santa I see?

Super Saturday, So Long Sunday

Well, what a peaceful shot to end our weekend with... and it was an interesting weekend. We didn't have anything major on the books except for a quick photo shoot on Saturday morning. The boys slept well the night before (only one wake-up each and conveniently around the same time), and they both did really well taking pictures. Seth then took a good mid-morning nap (which he sometimes doesn't get when we're on the go), and Ian went Christmas shopping with Daddy. Then, they both took good afternoon naps and played well for the evening. It was a nice day!

Enter Sunday. Not a good night... both boys up twice and spaced out about every1-2 hours. These nights are especially hard for mama. Seth was FUSSY from the time he woke up until the time he went to bed for no obvious reason. By mid-morning Ian was wired and literally running around the house like a crazy man. Seth's morning nap was short, and he was still fussy after he woke up. The boys did OK when we took the risk and went to a restaurant for lunch. Naps didn't go as well. Seth spent the evening fussing some more, and Ian was just so opinionated about everything, he was driving his parents crazy.

Phew! Now they are all in bed (even John is, I think) and here's hoping to days more like Saturday in the upcoming week! Wow, and Christmas will be here soon!

In other news, Seth is moving right along in some "milestones." He is SO close to crawling, and each day he makes more progress. He's up on all fours and moving some... it's like he's trying to figure out how to get it all coordinated. It won't be long now. He's also enjoyed chowing down on some crackers and "teething biscuits" lately. I made another round of baby food this weekend, and he's still eating his fruits and veggies like a champ. Tonight his peaches seemed a little bland, and he wasn't too excited about eating them... until I added cinnamon. Mmmm!

Impromptu Santa

So I had Barnes and Noble gift certificates to spend on the boys. And we found ourselves with a day with no plans, so of course, I start planning. What can we do today? Where can we GO? (I need to post soon about my propensity to always go somewhere and do something.) When I looked up to find out where the closest B&N was, I discovered they were having a Christmas storytime and Santa visit that day! Let's just say that we had so much fun with that, we didn't spend our gift cards!

Ian apparently is a ham... which I guess we already knew, but he definitely warmed up to Santa and the crowd. While Santa read The Night Before Christmas, Ian had fun commentary about each page. Santa asked Ian what he wanted for Christmas, and Ian said, "Toys!" Santa said, "Well, I hear that's a popular gift this year." Funny. I was thankful that Ian did give the answer he always gives me, "A big gun!" To which I'm sure Santa would've said something like, "You'll shoot your eye out."

I was reminded of why we don't normally attend storytime at the local library. And flash forward to Ian attending a children's sermon during a church service someday... he will be THAT kid who has something to say (and also the one that can't sit still, I'm afraid).

Seth wowed the crowd, too. Santa was concerned he would cry as many babies his age do when they see Santa. (Ian's first encounter with Santa resulted in tears.) But Seth was quite mesmerized with Santa. I didn't catch a very good smile on camera, but he was his usual smiley self. He wanted to touch Santa's soft suit, his beard, and the book. So, we all enjoyed our little impromptu visit with Santa!

Ianisms

Ian is always making me laugh at the things he says. I love seeing how his little brain works and how his language is developing. Here are some things he's said lately...

The rocking chair used to be in the living room, but we put the Christmas tree in that corner, so now it is in our bedroom. As I was rocking Ian before bed the other night, he said, "We are in mommy and daddy's room. My room is across the wood." My initial thought was "woods" like a forest, but he was really talking about the wood floor in the living room!

Ian has planned his third birthday party already. He says we are having cupcakes, bubbles, and he is inviting five friends.

I don't know if he saw/heard this somewhere, but it's kinda creepy. He gets his toy gun, pulls it up close to his face, points it, and says with a whisper, "There you are," and then shoots.

At the gymnastics place, he told me he was walking on a "bean stalk." Turns out he was talking about a balance beam.

When we are driving, Ian tells me all sorts of things. "Be careful, Mommy." "Don't drive on the grass!" "Did you make a wrong turn, Mommy?" "The light is red! (or green or yellow)." "Don't hit that truck! (or car or motorcycle. "I like the green arrow, we get to turn and go to our neighborhood!" Oh, and he always points out the water towers.

He keeps calling the magnets on the fridge, "magazines."

He tells me things like "This music is pretty" or "The sunset is pretty." This makes me happy that he appreciates these things.

When I'm putting him to bed and start to walk away, he start to fuss slightly. "What's wrong, Ian?" "I want to give you a kiss!" And he always gives me two kisses, one on each cheek. (And if I walk away after just one kiss, he wants me to come back for the second one.)

And quite possibly the sweetest thing ever is when your child says, "I love you, mommy!"

Too Big for His Britches

Why haven't I posted about Ian in a while? Well, as you'll notice, I have been doing picture posts a lot lately... because well, a picture kinda speaks for itself and doesn't require me to think much about what to write here. And let's face it... Ian is one busy dude these days. He'd much rather be TAKING the picture than standing still for one. (Hence we are getting him his own camera for Christmas.)

It would seem that Ian is an almost-three-year-old going on age fifteen. He is constantly telling me that he wants to drive the car and go to work. He can now get himself in and out of his carseat all by himself... everything from opening/closing the door, climbing in/out of his seat, and snapping and unsnapping his straps. Oh, this is very helpful when mom has her hands full with Seth. It's very unnerving when you get out of the car, though, to find your toddler already standing on the sidewalk. It is also NOT cool that he goes into the garage, climbs into one of our cars, messes stuff up in there, locks the door, presses the garage door opener, sets off the ALARM...little stinker!

On some days, I am amazed at my capacity to love someone so much, yet be completely and utterly frustrated with the kid at the same time. He used to ask me all the time, "What are you doing?" Constantly. I got a little tired of narrating my day. Now, he just says, "What?" anytime I say something... and with a little attitude, I might add. Today I actually said, "You heard what I said, now do it!" Yes, Mr. Ian does try to push his boundaries!

He still seems to be our little athlete. He is loving his gymnastics class and enjoys showing off his "flips" with daddy for anyone who will watch.

I can't seem to get this kid to want to do anything else besides watch TV or play outside. The only time he's really interested in hanging out indoors and playing with toys is when they belong to someone else. Case in point... at his cousin's birthday party as pictured below!

I can't decide whether to call him my little monkey because he's constantly climbing on things or my little monster because of his recent back-talking. Yes, we actually had THIS conversation recently:
Me: "Mommy said no!"
Ian: "Ian said yes."
Me: "It doesn't matter what Ian says. You do what Mommy says."
Ian: "Then, Mommy says yes!"
Ian is quite the talker these days, and I do really enjoy most of our conversations. Amidst the expanded vocabulary, though, we hear lots of good boy noises, too... like "ROARRRRRR!"

People Person?

John tells me I am due a post about Ian, and quite frankly it's true. That kid doesn't sit STILL for pictures very often, although he is pretty busy these days. I could fill a blog post will all the funny thing he SAYS, for starters. However, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to show you these pics of smiley Seth from our Thanksgiving travels. Remember how I said he would have a good time because there would be plenty of people to hold him? That looks to be true, huh? But the real reason he is smiling in a lot of these pictures is because, well, mama is behind the camera. Yes, that's right... I just took the credit. Oh, and this first picture is just evidence that FOOD is another thing that really makes this kid happy.