Such a Cutie!

Looking back at all of Ivan's baby pictures sure makes me want another baby. Good thing that's happening in about 3 months! Woo-hoo! I'm super excited. I miss the snuggly, little tiny baby. I miss the tiny hands that cling to your fingers. I even miss the little newborn cry, maybe not as much as the others, but it sure is quieter than Ivan. I miss how much they really really need you. I'm so excited to have another baby, to make our family bigger, and to not be pregnant anymore! Not saying we won't have more, but when this little girl moves, it causes some serious pain! Plus I want to get back in shape, I've got this soccer season looming over my head, plus Brenda is getting married a little over a month after I pop this kid out and I want to look good for pictures. :] I'm excited for Ivan to be a big brother. He's been training well at being a little brother since he gets pushed around at church and kids take his toys and he doesn't care. Now how to train him to be a good big brother? We're working on soft. When I say be soft now he rubs his head instead of hitting. I'd say we're getting somewhere.

Other things about Ivan:
He really likes nutra grain bars, eats one every day for breakfast.

He loves being chased.

He's tough. Gets knocked over, pushed down, falls down, whatever, and doesn't normally cry.

He likes making the sour face (like he's eating a lemon) all the time.

He's a little ham. He's cute and he knows it, crazy kid. And he sure uses it against us.

He loves yogurt, macaroni and cheese, fruit, and Ruffles cheddar and sour cream chips.

He'll say 'mmm' to get something he wants, especially if you are eating something he likes.

He really likes pacifiers. This is a recent thing, would never take them til about a month ago.

He loves stuffed animals. He goes to sleep with one tucked under his arm every night and can be found carrying 3 or more around the house at a time.

He likes to drive around his trucks on his hands and knees.

He loves the snow.

His best friend is Ellie Romero, she is a month older than Ivan. They play really well together and even hug each other.

He loves animals. He's really interested in cats and dogs right now but isn't afraid of horses or cows.

He loves to play 'where's dad?' I say that and he searches the house for Michael.

He loves to play 'where's Ivan?' He hides in or under something and laughs when I ask where he is.

He loves to climb. We had to block off our whole kitchen to keep him off the counters. He would climb on the bench to get to the table to get to the high chair to get to the counter after having pushed the high chair into just the right place.

He's really into puzzles right now. He mastered the ring stacker and now it's not enough, so puzzles it is. Part of that is putting the lid back on things, like tupperware or bottles or anything with a detachable lid.

He chugs his water like it's going out of style, gulps super loud, then throws his sippy cup as far as he can when he's done.

He's been afraid of the vacuum for a while. Recently he started yelling at it and running away. Today Michael suctioned his face (his own face, not Ivan's) and Ivan thought it was hilarious. So funny that he had to try it out for himself. He wasn't quite sure what to think. We'll try again soon.

He is a prince in is bed. He has this giant giraffe, which was a gift to me and was used as a body pillow before Ivan stole it, as a pillow. He also needs a stuffed animal and his blanket and pacifier to sleep with. Now he's not all that particular about which stuffed animals (referred to as 'friends' in this house) or blankets he sleeps with, but he does have his favorites. Favorite blanket: puppy dog one that Laura gave us. Favorite friend: puppy dog that Michael got him.

He says "ooo" to just about anything. If he's excited about something, or he hears a cool noise, or he wants something.

When he hears a dog barking outside he says "gug" and points and gets all sorts of excited.

In the morning Ivan gets a bottle. He wakes up around 6 but I can't convince myself it's worth it to actually get up yet. So bottle it is. Instead of trying to climb out of the crib to get the bottle faster, he lays down when he sees us come in. He pretty much collapses, gets comfortable, and reaches up for the bottle like 'hello, I've been waiting!'

Since Michael is back in school and Ivan is my full time job, I've had to get some regularity in our schedule. For the most part, Ivan is pretty good about taking a nap early or late or eating whenever and not really following a schedule at all. For the sake of my sanity, I decided to change things up. So far it's worked really well. Ivan wakes up around 7 or 8 and has breakfast, usually a nutragrain bar. Then he can play with blocks until his first nap which is at 10. He'll sleep til 1130 or 12. Then we have lunch. He likes ham and cheese, pb&j sandwiches, and fruit. Then I let him play in the play room, which is his closet, but it's big enough to be a room. He really likes having his own space to play and there's nothing he can get into so I'm not having to hover over him the whole time. This way I feel like I won't be sick of him after a few weeks of being a stay at home mom. Then he takes another nap (yay for 2 naps!) around 3 or 4. By the time he gets up from that nap Michael is home, we have dinner, and Ivan plays with some toys in the living room. Bedtime is 7 or 8, depending on his attitude. A major part of changing up how we've done things is the change in time of when we attend church. Ivan used to take one nap a day from 12 to 2 or 3. Church was from 9:30 to 12:30 last year, so Ivan would take a nap when we got home from church and be fine. This year our time got change to 1-4, right at Ivan's nap time. To keep him from being a total terror, he takes a nap before and after, but you can't just change it for one day a week, it has to be consistent. I really like how well Ivan is handling the change. He loves playing with the blocks and only letting him have them for a couple hours in the mornings keeps things new and interesting. Then when he can have his other toys he's more interested in them as well.