All About Ian

I am now 37.5 weeks pregnant and SOOOO completely ready for this little girl to be here. I have some extreme back pain that will not go away, and walk about .2 miles and hour. I am stocked with newborn diapers, clean onesies, cradle for our bedroom, and a bunch of super cute baby girl clothes. This being the second time around I know that in the first couple of weeks you really don't need THAT much. And there is always diapers.com! I keep feeling like I should be cooking meals for the freezer, (I think it is these "what to do when you are expecting emails" that I have signed up for. They give me a guilty conscience) cleaning the house, and "nesting." But all I really want to do is hang out with Ian.

So, as my due date nears I am trying to spend as much time as possible with Ian. In fact we have been attached for the last couple of weeks- inseparable except for when I am at work. We have been taking long walks, going to the Arboretum to feed the fish, hanging out with Uncle Matt who was here visiting last week, and playing, playing, playing. I even made him do squats with me this morning :)

I am trying to teach Ian that he will be two years old this coming Thursday. He loves the number 5 though. Our conversations go like this,

Me: "Ian, how many vitamin treats does Mommy give you everyday?"
Ian: "Five"
Me: "No, how many vitamin treats do I give you?"
Ian: "Four. Four, five, six. Five"
Me: "No, two."
Ian: "No, five."
Me: "Ian, I give you two vitamin treats a day, one for each hand. Left hand. Right hand. Now, how old are you going to be on Thursday? It is the same number of vitamin treats I give you."
Ian: "Five."
Me: "No, you are going to be two years old. (signal two with my fingers) Two. One, two. Can you say two?"
Ian: "Five"
Me: "Ian, you are going to be two. Can you say two?"
Ian: "Five treats please."

Ian's vocabulary is really increasing now. He is obsessed with his grandparents. "Nina, Mom-Mom, Pop-Pop, and Gee-Pop. (supposed to be grandpa)" His word for car is "la-la." Not sure where that came from. And of course he is obsessed with "poo," He has to point out every bit of dog poo we see on our walks.

Also, despite my efforts to NOT potty train Ian he seems to be doing it on his own. The first thing he wants to do when he wakes up is go to the potty. He won't get into the bathtub without sitting on the toilet. Throughout the day he insists on going in the toilet and on his potty. I am really trying to nip this in the bud before the baby gets here but Ian may just potty train himself before then.

Ian loves the flowers at the Arboretum. This is right before I got yelled at for letting my son touch the flowers and stand in the flower bed. Whoops!

Feeding the fish at the Arboretum.

Getting ready for a walk.

Grinding the coffee beans in the morning.

Chilling in the backpack with Uncle Matt.

Sporting his new glasses and backpack.

A little patch of land

A few weeks ago our neighbors decided it was about time we dealt with the disaster of weeds and ivy in the back of our houses. See the DC government is so generous that they tell you to put a fence in the back of your house six feet from the sidewalk, but then you still get to take care of the land between your fence and the sidewalk. It is such a great deal (smile :) We somewhat reluctantly agreed to tear everything up with them and attempt to plant grass. I was extremely hesitant to spend the money and plant the grass, but boy am I glad that we did. Living on a busy street in a city, we now have a great place for Ian to play out back and in a secure location. We need to replant the grass in our immediate backyard as it did not take that well, but will leave that for the fall. Also, we discovered that we had a grape vine wound around our peach tree. We have quite the orchard now if you count our pomegranate tree out front.





And...I mean...who has grass in the city without a lacrosse net? And a lawnmower? And a pool? And all the other goodies that we have now bought since taking back our land?

The new bed arrives!!!

Ian's bed arrived on Saturday along with my parents. While Tim and my dad painted porch railings outside in the 90 degree heat, my mom and I opted to stay in the air conditioning and began the task of putting the bed together and getting Ian interested. He loved laying on the bed and reading books, but did not sleep in the bed the first night. By Sunday though he was totally into it. He still goes back and forth from the crib to the bed to the floor but ends up in the bed for most naps and bedtimes. Ian is still getting used to the dimensions of the bed and has fallen out a few times and comes running into our room but other than that it seems to be working out just fine. I love the bed, and think it is just so cute in his room. It also makes Ian look so tiny! Ian is the tenth baby to sleep in the bed following me, five siblings, my mom, and two uncles.

It was great having my parents in town this past weekend, and we even got a chance to go out to a spectacular meal sans Ian to celebrate our birthdays. What is really neat is that Ian is starting to remember his grandparents, calls them by name, and even misses them and talks about them when they are gone.

Charting New Territory and Memorial Day Weekend

The last few weeks Ian has grown up A LOT!!! He started climbing out of his pac n' play when we were away one weekend and then climbed out of his crib when we got home. It is quite the feat to watch. Somehow he hoists himself up and over with one leg. Needless to say this opens up whole new territory for us as parents. The first few nights Ian climbed out several times before actually falling asleep and also came running into our room at 5am. We have had to be stern about him staying in his room and have even started locking his door at times. It seems like the novelty has worn off though and he now stays in his crib all night. My parents are bringing down a bed this weekend for Ian though and I am excited to have him in a "big boys bed."

Ian also thinks it is a good idea for him to take off his pajamas and diaper before falling asleep for his nap. He has only done this a few times and I have had to wake him up to put a diaper back on him, cutting his naps a bit short.

Ian's vocabulary has grown significantly in the last few weeks. Taking walks is very entertaining as Ian points to everything- bike, running, pole, bus, truck, park, tree, baby, etc. Since we were locking his door he now thinks that everything is locked and says, "Its locked" about a million times a day. Although it sounds more like "isch lawwked." It is the cutest thing in the world!!

Over Memorial Day weekend we drove to Johnstown, PA for my cousin Zach's wedding. We had a great (but too short!!!) time with family. It was wonderful having all of our family together- from great-grandparents to cousins. Ian LOVED the bubbles and was totally attached to his cousin Cate. He would not leave her side, or her feet for that matter.




Then we drove to Tim's parents house outside of Pittsburgh where we went to a Memorial Day parade. Ian was a bit terrified of all the noise and people and stayed put on Tim or his dad's shoulders. Over the weekend we also went to Ohio to visit with Tim's extended family and Ian got to see his other great-grandparents. It is always such a treat seeing so many generations together. Ian took a bath in the old clawfoot tub at the milkhouse and was a big hit.









I added a picture of my belly as well. I am now at 34 weeks and feeling great despite the insomnia. I am trying to soak up as much time alone with Ian before the baby comes. We spent a sunny cool day at the park to celebrate my 30th birthday.

Travel, travel, travel. We have been hitting the road a lot lately, trying to pack in family time before this baby comes. When we are back home work has taken over our lives. I am really looking forward to maternity leave!
I am 32 weeks now so not much more to go.

Some new developments:

1- Ian can now climb out of the pac n' play which makes travel interesting. I had to walk him in the stroller until he fell asleep and then transport him to the pac n' play for the night. We are counting down our days until he climbs out of the crib.

2-Still no name for baby girl Chapman. It is on our list of things to do in June

3- I turn 30 next week- WOW!

4-We recently planted grass in our back yard and are anxiously waiting to see if it takes

5- Ian is talking a lot more lately and seems to really have the "b" words down; boat, bird, butterfly, baby

Below is a little blip of the last few weeks....

Ian feeding Owen and learning how to take care of someone much younger than him.

While Tim was traveling for work Ian and I went to PA to visit my parents. Ian did a great job helping my dad stack wood and loved the suburban playgrounds


The one weekend we were actually in DC, Ian and I went to a truck show with the yoga mammas and boys. Ian was extremely apprehensive of the trucks but finally warmed up to the South Mountain Creamery truck and school bus.

We recently returned from Pittsburgh where we attended Susannah's graduation from college.

Waddling and Wandering

The waddling stage has begun. I got up from my desk today at work and felt myself waddling to the bathroom. This means it is the beginning of the end - I only have two and half more months to go! I am also inhaling more food than I care to mention. The baby is at it once again, kicking at all hours of the night, and demanding caloric intake into the wee hours of the morning. Sleeping is not really happening these days so I have picked up a new hobby- cross stitch. My first project is a pillow which at the rate I am going will take me until Ian is four to finish. I have also been reading a lot lately as I sit in the kitchen eating yogurt and toast at 4am. I just finished The Help and Water for Elephants. They were both great reads!

As I waddle around, Ian wanders. His favorite pastime of late is to walk around the block to sniff the flowers (just like Paul and Judy), duck under bushes, and carry trash cans back from the curb. I think our world record to date is an hour and a half. No joke. Ian spent an hour and a half walking around the block. We counted every car tire, squirrel, bird, helicopter (there are a lot in DC), and police car (also a lot) that we passed.

We are also really excited about all the new activity that is happening in our neighborhood. A bunch of new restaurants and businesses just opened a block away from us, including a pie store and German bier garden. They are slowly making progress on the trolley tracks as well.

TIm's sister is studying to be a photographer and took some amazing pictures of Ian a few weeks back. I wish I could take pictures this good!

Easter

Ian spent Holy Week, or the week leading up to Easter with Tim's family, Nina and Grandpa and Aunts Cate and Susannah. We hear he had a wonderful time and got to spend many hours shopping with Nina and Aunt Cate and in the workshop with Grandpa.
Tim and I arrived in Sewickley on Friday and spent the rest of Easter weekend there. The weather was absolutely gorgeous so we spent most of the time outside, playing with the dogs, going on walks, and just plain relaxing.
Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Haircut mishap

So Ian severely needed a haircut and being the frugal person that I am attempted to take on the task myself. It didn't turn out so well. I cut the back while he was in the bathtub one night, and the front while he was sitting on the kitchen counter eating an orange the next morning. Both are not ideal for sitting still. Thank goodness hair grows out!

Before....

After...



We had a rainy couple of days a few weeks back and so lined up many play dates for Ian. Below is a picture of the yoga momma boys posing in our basement. (please excuse the bare walls, I still need to decorate the basement...)

The weeks have been flying by! I am already almost 25 weeks pregnant! Wow!

Today is gorgeous out but a few weeks ago we were still experiencing chilly days. I got hooked on baking bread using this book called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day. It is incredibly easy and the bread is SO GOOD! I think it definitely helped me to get over the hump of winter. I highly recommend this cookbook if you are thinking about trying to bake your own bread. Just be prepared...it makes A LOT!

The dough rising

The yummy bread

Ian's way of making it through winter...playgrounds and making silly faces

Last Monday my friend Amy had an emergency c-section and her little baby daughter Madison took her last breath just seven hours later. This past week has been very emotional to say the least.

Yesterday Amy and her husband Josh held a service in celebration of Madison and her short time on this earth. It was incredibly sad, but it was also very hopeful. Amy and Josh will see their daughter in heaven one day, and she will be well and not sick and suffering.

Madison was only on this earth for a short time, but she touched the lives of so many people. It was mentioned at the service that over 1,000 people in 22 different countries were praying for Amy, Josh, and Madison. That is incredible to think about.

When something like this happens we all stop for a moment and are able to put things in proper perspective. Ian's whining doesn't bother me as much, and I am so much more grateful for friends and family.

I am amazed by Amy and Josh's strength this past week. One of their friends mentioned that when going through something as traumatic as this people tend to turn inward. Not Amy and Josh. They have been so open and generous this past week, and it is a true testament to the loving people that they are.

Obsession

I haven't really seen anything like it. Ian is completely obsessed with the computer and cell phones. He rarely plays with his own toys and would rather sit around playing with a cell phone all day. It is now becoming a favorite past time of Ian's to sit at the computer and look at our iphoto library. He talks to the pictures and just loves it! We spend a lot of time as a family in front of the computer these days.