Ian = Too Big

Ian is 10 1/2 months old already.  Time is going by too quickly.  I feel like I missed out on the whole newborn thing with him since he was so big at birth (9lbs. 6 oz.).  However, I am so enjoying every moment with him.   Well, maybe not every moment.  He has been teething and not handling it well (I don't blame him).  He has gotten 4 teeth within a matter of a couple weeks.  He has 2 on top and 2 on the bottom now.  Anyway, I thought I'd write down some fun things he does / has been doing because I'm so bad at documenting this stuff!  When he is not teething, he is a very happy, smily, content little dude.  He's been pulling himself up on everything since about 8 months.  Started crawling between 8 and 9 months and is now moving on to climbing.  Yesterday he managed to pull himself up, climb up onto our ottoman, then onto the rocking chair.  We had to take Anna out of the crib at 14 months and put her in a bed because she was climbing out of it...I have a feeling Ian is headed in that same direction.  Over the last couple of days he has been standing next to the couch or whatever he happens to be holding on to - and he lets go and just stands there - perfectly balanced.  He's very tall, but his weight gain has actually slowed and he's not in the 90th percentile anymore.  Probably because he's so active now.  It is certainly not a lack of food.  I have never witnessed a baby eat so much!  My girls, who have always been tiny, never ate like this!  I'm a little scared for my grocery budget as he grows even more.  I have been teaching him some baby signs - so far the only ones he knows are "More" and "All Done".  When his food is gone, I sign all done and usually he starts crying!  "More" is definitely his favorite sign...and I have a feeling that will also be his first word. He signs "More" and says "MMM" "MMM".  I have an appointment for his first haircut on Friday.  I'm not ready for that ~ every time I've seen a little boy get his first haircut, he instantly looks all grown up.  I have never been one to wish my kids would stay little - but for some reason I just want my little man to stay that way.  I kind of think he's the cutest thing on the planet and don't want him to grow up to be a smelly boy.  ;-)

PS. My friend Erin took these beautiful pictures of Ian. 

Wicked

I learned something today.  A 2x4 is not 2 inches by 4 inches.  Nope.  It's 1.5 inches by 3.5 inches.  Apparently this is common knowledge for some.  Not me.  Not Rachel (my sis-in-law who partnered with me on this project).  So, I am rather lucky this project worked out the way it did.  I ordered the vinyl lettering (www.milesofvinylforyou.com - FYI, this company is here in Clovis) to fit a 2x4 thinking that it was ACTUALLY going to be 4" wide.  Anyway, here is the latest.  Total cost = $10

 (Click to make the picture larger)

The ribbon on the Letter "I" is just kinda' hanging there because I thought the "I" block was a little boring - still gotta' figure out what to do there...

Here is the inspiration (saw it on Pinterest, for sale on Etsy for $20 + $10 shipping)  This one is a little bigger, but I think our copycat version is pretty darn good.

Thanks for doing this with me, Rachel!