So we did it. Jesse and I finally bought our first home and now Ian has a backyard he can play in. However, before we moved, Jesse and Ian had some fun outside our apartment. Jesse was using our hose to clean the grill and a few other items when Ian decided to help him. It was so cute how he would hold the hose and try to help daddy. He ended up soaked from the whole experience, but he had a blast. Even though it started out as a chore, the weather was nice enough that Jesse and Ian played in the water for a bit.

The day of the move, we had a lot of help, but the biggest help was Marcia (Grandma M) since it was her job to keep Ian occupied. Ian actually took the move really well. He played with grandma in our bedroom while we loaded to Uhaul truck and only towards the end did he really start to object to staying in the room. By that time, he wasn’t in the way as much so we let him stay out and see what was going on. He liked climbing up the ramp into the back of the truck, but he wasn’t crazy when we had to take him out. Go figure, right. Once we had the truck loaded up, Ian and I went and got lunch for all of our great helpers and then we took our first steps into our new home. This time around, he got to play with grandma out in his very own backyard. There were already two horseshoe pits ready and open for play that it gave Ian a “sandbox” to play in temporarily. Grandma and Grandpa M actually picked up the one we bought for him on their way up, so he was able to crawl around in that as well. Being able to run around outside distracted him that we were able to get most everything moved in without him getting in the way.

The only thing he didn’t do well that day was take his nap. He slept on the way from the apartment to the house, but other than that, he didn’t want a nap. Grandma tried three different times to get him to sleep, but each time he wasn’t having any of it. He actually handled not having a decent nap all day pretty well. After we got everything unloaded, and everyone was gone, Gramps stayed around to help us clean out the old apartment (he got here pretty late too). We made one more trip back to the apartment to vacuum and clean one last time and then we said goodbye forever when I turned in the keys. Of course, since we had just bought a house, that gave us an excuse to spend some money at Lowe’s so we made a stop there before heading home. Two hours later (although I’m pretty sure it was only an hour later), Ian made sure we knew that he was getting hungry (and he wasn’t the only one) and we all headed back home for some fun in the backyard. Gramps had bought us a sprinkler for the backyard and Ian had to test it out. Ian had such a fun day with the move that he went to bed easily and slept peacefully all night in HIS OWN ROOM. Mama and daddy were joyous over that event, let me tell you.

Since we moved in, Ian has been outside in his yard every moment we allow him. He loves his sandbox (thanks Gramps for the sand!) and we already had a couple of trucks that work beautifully out there. He is always coming in with sand all of his body – in his diaper, hair, mouth, all over his clothes – you name it, he has had sand in it and he couldn’t be happier. I’m still looking for some climbing toys for the backyard, but I think he’s doing really well with what he has. He loves going for walks down the sidewalk and meeting new people (we’ve already met a couple of people because Ian walked right up to them), and now that we’re in a more populated area, we’ll definitely be going for more walks.

The one thing we do love about the backyard is it’s such a great size for Ian and it backs up to a park that Ian will have a ton of room to play and grow in. We got really lucky with this place and it is worth all the hassle we have gone through.