Vocabulary Explosion

For the past several weeks, Ian's vocabulary has grown exponentially. From his first coherent word, "abwa" for agua, to all of this today (with English phonetics):

English Words
statue (tah-too)
book (buh)
car (cah)
store (stoh)
water (wa-duh)
apple (ap-oh)
Mimi (mimi)
Daddy (daddy)
nom-noms (nah-nah)
Mommy (nah-nah) LOL!
school (skoo)
No (noh)
tree (tee)
fart (fah)
"I know" (says it perfectly!)
"thank you" (tay-too)
cheese (teeee)
Sylvia (tee-via)
Jennifer (jeh-...)
Grandy (daddy) LOL!
Oliver (ah-buh-buh)
George (geoh)
down (dow)
diaper (dy-poh)

Spanish Words
abuela (a-geh-jah) - grandmother
agua (abwa) - water
pajaro (tah-tah) - bird
trilliza (ti-zah) - triplet, from a cartoon he watches
No (noh)
tortilla (tee-ya)
leche (leh-teh) - milk
sapo (tah-toh) - frog
niño (nee-noh) - boy
niña (nee-nah) - girl
caca (caca) - poop
chi-chi (tee-tee) - pee
aqui/aca (says perfectly) - here
alla (says perfectly) - there

Jason spends a ton of time reading with Ian, going over words, quizzing him, etc. Mami and I spend lots of time enriching his vocabulary as well (her in Spanish, me in English) by speaking to him non-stop. Full ride to Harvard, here we come.

Ian also mimics tons of words that we say, as we say them. There is a lot more he understands than he can utter. One thing that is so 100% Jason is that Ian is not afraid to attempt to say anything. It reminds me of the time J and I were in Nice and he used a bastard-mix of Spanish, English and possibly Portuguese to attempt communicating with the French. It was awesome.

It's All Happening At the Zoo

On Memorial Day, Jason and I took advantage of the cool morning air and a day off from work to visit the Dallas Zoo with Ian. He loved it!

Making friends at the petting zoo

A look inside the koi pond

Gimme gimme chickens!

A serious elephant

Graceful Giraffes

At Gigi's Lakehouse

The Sunday before Memorial Day, the three of us headed east to Grandma Hazel's lake house in Mineola, Texas. Lake water freaks me out, but the boys (Jason, Uncle Josh and Ian) had a blast swimming around in that murky water!






Before jumping in the lake, Ian enjoyed exploring the grounds around the lake house, smelling hydrangeas, yelling "tree!", and checking EVERYTHING out very cautiously. So cute.

Good-bye School!

This past Friday was Ian's last day at his very first daycare - Arapaho United Methodist. We were all very sad, but no one was as sad as his caregivers, Tia and Nina. They loved "little Bubba" so much. Jason and I backed cookies to say "thank you" for their compassion and caring, but there really is no way to thank the first "strangers" to fall in love with the Chunks.



We'll miss you, Arapaho!

Summer Days at Abuela's + Grandy's

Good Times in Oak Cliff

This weekend we had a blast doing fun artsy things around Oak Cliff during the 2nd Annual Art Crawl. This consisted of the Urban Street Bazaar, A Better Block, and many, many other activities and functions.

Ian squats for a better view of the goats at the Better Block's petting zoo.

Eating his favorite food at La Reyna's on Davis @ Tyler

Ian and I ate lunch together at Cafe Brazil on Saturday. The waiter kindly posted our Spring Bash poster in their window!

Ian chills at the Urban Street Bazaar with goat poop on his shoes - nice!

Outside in the Backyard

Jason and I are certain we have a James Audubon in the making. Ian loves to be outside and wants to be there all day long. We spend hours out in the backyard, the park, or walking down the street. Ian touches all the flowers, picks some of the weedy ones (which is just fine thank you), and points at the sky yelling, "Ta-tas!" (birds).


He and I spent a couple hours out in the backyard on Saturday doing nothing really. Just enjoying the incredible weather and looking and touching EVERYTHING. Every now and then I would do a crossword puzzle, scoop poop, or do a little weeding.

Ian is truly an outdoors type. We have this sand and water table on the way, and I cannot wait for Ian to get his hands on it! Here are some photos and a video from this past weekend. Enjoy!

Ian's Vocabulary

As of April 2010:

Abwa
water, agua, just about any drinkable

Tackle tackle
more food please, that right there

Da-da or da-dee
Daddy

Na-na
mommy, nom noms

Ak-oh
apple

Ta-tas
birds

Wah-wah
dog, any four-legged furry critter

He can also moo (thanks to Grandy) and recognizes loads of other words like guelis (abuela), Mimi, Grandy, outside, Oliver, and lots more!

A Nice Morning Routine

We have the nicest morning routine I've ever experienced. I used to just hate mornings. They made me grouchy and sluggish and forced me into a lifelong habit of COFFEE. Oh wait - that's a good thing.

Anyway, the little guy, Jason and I have a sweet routine. Ian wakes up rather easily, looks at me and goes, "Uh?" He wants one of two things: nom-noms or TV. He'll even go so far as to point to the TV set - "Uh? UH?!" *finger pointing*

I flip on the telly to V-Me, advert-free international programming dubbed in Spanish. His favorite shows are Cinco Minutos Mas (Australia), Pororo (Korea), and Las Tres Mellizas Bebes (Spain).
Then while he watches his developmentally-sound TV shows, we get ready for work - make coffee, wash face, get dressed - all at our leisure. The little dude might get out of bed to amble about, grabbing this or that. But mostly, he sits on the bed looking like this:


And this:

The Feeding Mystery Solved!

So the feeding mystery has been solved. The secret? There isn't one.

Basically, I was totally stressed about Ian "being behind" because he wasn't diligently eating his finger foods like "all 14 month olds should." We simply started feeding him what we eat and presto change-o! Happy boy.

His favorite foods so far are the black beans, grilled chicken and veggie rice from Gloria's. He could eat that all day long. The biggest thing we've learned recently is that if he has his own plate, he will ignore it. He wants whatever we eat. So now we salt our food a bit less and use very little spice, and are able to share with the little dude all he pleases.

Amber's Sweet Potato Fries

Amber has been a lifesaver today, sharing her knowledge with me on the foods Colm likes. Colm is 6 months older than Ian, and as I tell Amber: "Girl, I'm so lucky you got knocked up before I did." She's a wealth of knowledge! Here's an email I got from her today (among many other amazing suggestions) for Sweet Potato Fries that are baked!

1) Slice a sweet potato into little fries
2) Coat with canola oil, salt and pepper
3)Throw in the oven at 400 for about 12-15 minutes (or when they start to brown).
4) Turn them over in the middle, so they'll cook on both sides.

Super healthy and kids LOVE them!

She also suggests baking chicken strips (coat chicken in egg, dip in breadcrumbs or crushed up corn flakes and bake), or bean/cheese quesadillas. And she adds, "Be prepared for mess, but it's also fun to see when they really like something. Colm will say OOOOOOOH...yummy! So cute! :)"

THANK YOU AMBER GIRL!!!!!

Toddler Food Ideas

Ian is now at the "no more pureed food" stage and it's time to get him on the finger food express. I'm going to use this post to maintain a list of food ideas as they come to me. All would be cubed or sliced into a safe finger-food size:

PROTEIN
hard-boiled eggs, deli meat (turkey, chicken), tofu dogs, peanut butter

DAIRY
cubed Swiss cheese, string mozzarella cheese, yogurt snacks, cream cheese

FRUITS
grapes, strawberries, bananas, avocado, banana, peaches, plums, raisins

VEGGIES
zucchini, cauliflower, carrots, peas, cucumber, broccoli, yellow squash

GRAINS & SNACKS
saltines, graham crackers, Cheerios, multigrain waffles, multigrain pasta, toasted wheat bread, Goldfish crackers, cereal bars

COMPLETE MEALS
Mac-n-Cheese + peas + ham
Pasta + marinara + ground turkey + veggies
PB&J sandwiches
Cream cheese + fruit + crackers
Grilled cheese + avocado
Pizza: wheat english muffins + marinara + veggies

Recipe: Peas & Carrots

Ian has become one picky eater. One day he'll love bananas, the next day he refuses them. He uses his arm to wipe my hand away, a lot like how we used to deflect attacks in kung fu - only not as painful!

He seemed to be refusing all the yummy home cooked veggies I was making, so I decided to do it Julia-style: add butter! I mixed in a little pinto beans for some protein, and cereal for some heft, and guess what? He loved it! The recipe (like all home made baby food) is so simple, there's no reason to pop open a jar every meal:

INGREDIENTS
2 large carrots
2 cups peas
> OR 1 package frozen peas & carrots
1 tbsp pureed pinto beans*
1 tsp Brummel & Brown yogurt butter
1 tbsp Earth's Best baby cereal



WHAT TO DO
Cut and peel the carrots. Steam the veggies together until tender. Chop in a handheld chopper until chunky, not pureed. Mix in pinto beans, butter and cereal. Microwave for 10 seconds if butter doesn't melt. Done!

Mimi and Ian eating dinner in the sunroom

* I have jars of this in the freezer. You can make one bag on a Sunday afternoon, store in clean baby jars or ice cube trays, and you'll have enough beans for a month or more!

My Vampire Baby

Ian's teeth are coming out like gangbusters. Just the other day I noticed a new incisor on his left, then felt for the right one, and sure enough it's coming out! The next day, my mom noticed a new tooth on the bottom, and the symetrical buddy coming out soon, as well. By the way he's rubbing his cheeks and pulling on his ears, I can only guess molars are on the way, too! The little bugger won't let me see that far into his mouth, so it's all conjecture.

And guess what's his new favorite thing to do? Biting. He's exploring his new teeth, my little Count Dracula.

Yes, He Loves McDonald's

During the cold winter days, it's easy to get cabin fever. Ian is certainly not immune to boredom and the "same old stuff in the same old house." One day I got the idea to take him to McDonald's, not for the incredibly nutritious food, but for some free indoor play. He loved it!


Admittedly, we bought him a yogurt parfait, the only thing on the menu I would even consider feeding him. He loved it, but not as much as the slide and other children. He even got a hug from a cute little 2 year old. What a mack daddy!

My mom and Randy have also taken to McDonald's. These are some pics of them at our local Oak Cliff McD's, complete with graffiti tags! Nice.

A Look Back

This video was shot right before Ian's first Christmas Eve. He was still crawling and toddling along furniture and walls, but hadn't walked yet. Ian took his first tentative steps on his own in late January, just after his birthday.