From the very beginning…
Year 01
Oreo Dark Chocolate Cake (aka Ian’s Birthday Cake)
016 years
This is the cake I made for Ian’s first birthday and I know Jesse was sharing the description around at work, so I decided to make it for them this weekend. It’s a really delicious cake that’s fairly easy to make as long as you have a little patience or not quite the perfectionist that I can be.
Wowie….has it already been 12 months!
0
Ian had his twelve month check up today and he is now a total of 24lbs 3oz and is 30.25 inches long. That puts him in the 50-75 percentile for his weight and the 50-75 percentile for his height; his head is 18.75 inches, which is in the 75-90 percentile. He received more vaccinations during this visit. He received the standard MMR (Measles, Mumps, & Rubella), Chicken Pox, and the Hepatitis A vaccines. Mama even got a shot this time around since she’s never had the Chicken Pox (can you believe that no one in the area would give it to me??). The visit didn’t go as well as previous ones since Ian has a slight head cold and cough right now. Between his nose running, the hacking cough, getting stuck with needles, and having the Doc hold him down so he could look into his ears, Ian was not a happy camper. However, as always, he was smiling by the time we checked out.
What has he done this past month. Well, he started walking during January, so that’s not entirely new, but he is getting a lot faster at it and it seems like he’s trying to run now. Thankfully he can’t yet, but it’s only a matter of time. We did get a first year photos done by Kristian again, but we didn’t get as many as last time. The whole sitting still idea wasn’t a part of Ian’s plans, so it didn’t happen. :) We did manage to get a couple of good ones and this is the one we’re using as his first year photo (yes grandparents, you’ll have your copy this weekend).
Ian also received his big boy seat. He’s been fighting us with the bucket seat so we broke down and got him his forward facing toddler seat. He can now see out the front window and see what’s in front of us instead of watching it zoom by backwards. He’s been a lot easier to get into the seat now, but it does take him a little longer to fall asleep since he’s so fascinated by what’s going on outside. The box came with even more fun surprises when Jesse converted it into a tunnel and Ian had a blast crawling through it. Jesse even made a hole in the top so Ian could pop up through it.
Another major breakthrough – Ian had his first hair cut! He had fun with it and even got some playtime in with Gramps. I’m not sure we’ll go back to the place (they were kind of expensive), but it was well worth a trip for his first visit. We did find out that he’s going to have my hair, poor boy. His hair was definitely getting curly the longer it got and even after it was cut you could still see the swirls. It appears that he’ll have my thickness too, so that’s a good thing, but the curls are going to be a problem, maybe. I’m thinking he’s going to be needing another haircut soon, but we’ll wait until daddy starts complaining again. :)
Going for a Stroll
0
Ian received his first pair of shoes today. I know he’s getting some for his birthday, but I finally found a pair in his size. Since the weather was actually kind of nice, we took Ian out for a little stroll. He had some fun playing with the snow and he wasn’t put off by walking around in shoes. The shoes we bought him are like training wheels. They have soft bottoms, but are still hard enough to protect his feet. They’ll get him accustomed to the real deals soon enough.
Top 50 Children’s Books
116 years
The Telegraph in the UK compiled a list of the 50 top children’s books. There are a couple of books on here that I think shouldn’t be (A Christmas Carol by Dickens), but there are some that are missing too. Where is Goodnight Moon or Curious George? I also don’t understand how Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince made #6, yet the first book in the series is no where on the list. Anyway, here’s the list:
- The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, C S Lewis
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
- Famous Five series, Enid Blyton
- Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
- The BFG, Roald Dahl
- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, J K Rowling
- The Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
- The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
- Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
- The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson
- The Tales of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
- Matilda, Roald Dahl
- The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
- The Cat in the Hat, Dr Suess
- The Twits, Roald Dahl
- Mr Men, Roger Hargreaves
- A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
- The Malory Towers Series, Enid Blyton
- Peter Pan, J M Barrie
- The Railway Children, E. Nesbit
- Hans Christian Fairy Tales, H C Andersen
- The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum
- The Witches, Roald Dahl
- Stig of the Dump, Clive King
- The Wishing Chair, Enid Blyton
- Dear Zoo, Rod Campbell
- The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Judith Kerr
- Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Jan Brett
- James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
- A Bear Called Paddington, Michael Bond
- Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
- Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
- Aesop’s Fables
- The Borrowers, Mary Norton
- Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling
- Meg and Mog, Jan Pienkowski
- Mrs Pepperpot, Alf Proyson
- We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Michael Rosen 4
- The Gruffalo’s Child, Julia Donaldson
- Room on a Broom, Julia Donaldson
- The Worst Witch, Jill Murphy
- Miffy, Dick Bruna
- The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery
- Flat Stanley, Jeff Brown
- The Snail and the Whale, Julia Donaldson
- Ten Little Ladybirds, Melanie Gerth
- Six Dinners Sid, Inga Moore
- The St. Clares Series, Enid Blyton
- Captain Underpants, Dav Pilke
So cute…
0This just amuses me so I had to share. Ian has been helping me take care of his diapers. You heard me. After I change him and get him back dressed, he’ll pick up his diaper and take it over to the diaper genie, where after I lift the lid, he’ll place it inside. And then he gets all upset when I close the lid and he can’t get to it anymore.
Anyway, I just had to share.
Rocking & Playing
0This past weekend was a fun one for Ian. We got his one year photos done, and while we did get some good ones, I found out why most people don’t get one year shots. We didn’t get as many as the first time around because Ian wouldn’t sit still long enough for us to get anything. Kristian is going to do some work with them and once I get them, we’ll get the posted.
After we did his photos, Ian had some time to play with Matthew and Zsolt – Kristian’s nephew and son. He had fun. Matthew is only a month older and Zsolt has 15 months on Ian, so they were pretty close in ages. Between the blueberries, animal crackers, guitars and Huckleberry (the dog), all the boys seemed to have fun. I’m hoping Kristian, Rachel, and I can get together again so the boys can play some more, but we’ll have to see what the future holds.
Since we did the photos at Kristian’s, that meant Ian and I spent the weekend with Nana. Ian had a blast and he got to ride on his rocking horse again. He really loves that horse and I kind of want to get one for him here, but then I don’t think it would be as special. He also got to see his Aunt Lori and Adrian, as well as the rest of the family.
Ian’s Big Boy Seat!
2Ian’s first Valentines Day and he even got a treat. His new big boy seat was delivered today! We talked with the doc, and since he’s only a few days shy of his first birthday, we can install the new car seat. That means Ian will now be reading in style and facing forwards.
The seat came in a huge box and you would think we would have thrown it away. Guess again. Jesse and Ian decided to have some fun with it and it now has a home in our living room. I’m not really sure how long we’ll keep it, but it keeps both Ian and Jesse amused, so probably until Ian’s birthday party on March 1st.
Jigglers
0So I had this brilliant idea of making some Jell-o Jigglers. The jigglers I remember are firm and bar-like. What I made was soup, and I did follow the direction. I think my biggest problem was that I didn’t use an ice cube tray. According to the directions, I used a cake pan and the jigglers came out really thin and flimsy. I’m not going to make this mistake again. On the plus side, he is having a ball playing with the mess I did end up making. :)