Trick or Treat!

Today was "Halloween Observed" here in Utah. We can't have something like this on a Sunday, you know. Ian went as Yoda and he had a great time with the kids.

Here, we're at the "before party" where adults try to get a bit of food into the kids before they stuff their faces with candy.

Ian is ready to go, bucket in hand. He got the hang of going up to houses and holding out his bucket!


He's practicing his "Jedi Mind Tricks"
"I am so cute you will say. Hmmm. Candy I like. Candy you will give to me, Yes?"

Snow!

I know! Three posts in two days! Crazy person! Ian was finally feeling well enough this afternoon to go play in the snow. The snowsuit we got him last year fits well, and has room to grow. Thanks to a wonderful neighbor, there are boots to go with it! 

Of course, a boy knows that the finest snowman work is done bare handed. He knows that from watching Mama. Bad Mama.

Look who came to see what we were doing!

Could you tell that Ian is tired? Mr. AntiNap has slept a whopping half hour today, in two 15 minute sessions. He falls asleep on the swing, but won't be asleep when you stop it!

Um, Mom? Remember that nap we were talking about on the swing? Can we go inside now? And by "we," I don't mean to include Mr. Snowman here. He's just fine outside.

More Words!

I will get a picture of Ian watching the birds but haven't yet. Ian loves watching the birds. He begs me to make them come back. That Mommy cannot control the birds is a concept we're working on.

But he squeals when they visit the feeder, and he's now learning the birds! Today his favorite thing to say is "dit-dee-dee" for "chickadee-dee-dee"! I think it's fabulous that he's learning the birds!

He has more words he regularly says now, namely "doh" for dog and "he-wo" when talking at the phone (only when it's off), and "hi!" for anyone he meets. "Dadada" is one he uses frequently, too! He's learned the signs for cookie and Grandpa and uses them more frequently, along with lots of other ones. We're lucky to recognize them sometimes!

A favorite sign: Help!

Minneapolis Trip

Have I mentioned we have a busy fall planned? We were in Minneapolis for a short week. We attended Chad's wedding,

Hung out in Mankato,

Played with Piper, Heather, and Jack,

And more to come when I get the rest of the pics uploaded!

Heat! Fire!

I gave permission for the temps to drop and did they ever. It's been chilly the last few nights. John procured a winter's worth of pellets and neatly stacked them in the garage. We got the fire going, and Ian loves it. It's warm. He points at it and signs, "HOT!" and loves to watch it. I also couldn't resist putting his sweater on one chilly morning. This is the sweater that his wonderful great aunt Mary made for him. It's quite big yet. But oh, so snuggly.

Yes, clothespins are the favorite toy. He is regularly pinched and comes to us for assistance every time. My current computer desktop photo:

The Zoo

A belated post. Our first trip to Hogle Zoo. The story in captions.

Look at all of the ducks and swans!

Think I should jump in?

Water (there was a waterfall behind him)

Look Mom!

Elephants!

Look at ME! I'm the main attraction!!

Very cool carousel. Lots of different animals! Ian would have no part in riding one except on my lap.

"That is not a leopard. It's a dog!"

Long shadows. It's time to clean up the grounds.

I found a leaf! It's for you!

After a well-deserved nap, The Pie.

Fall can come now.

We've been wanting to get a gate for the fireplace so that we can use it. We've got that taken care of and I'm formally giving permission for the weather to turn cold. If it needs to. I'll take the warmth for as long as I can, but it's ok if the weather follows the lead of all of the leaves!

The view from a few weeks ago: The photo doesn't come close to doing those leaves justice.

A Guide for Talking to Ian

Ian's current list of signs (in no particular order)

1. Dada: Our version: open hand, thumb to the forehead. Ian's version: hand above the head 
2. Eat: Our version: fingertips to the mouth. Ian's version: point finger to mouth
3. Brush teeth: Use your finger to pretend to brush your teeth. He also says "teeth" with this sign.
4. Diaper: Our version: fingertips to the hips. Ian's version: hands to the butt
5. Potty: shaking a fist (back and forth, palm out)
6. Chicken: Hands to the armpits, flap the elbows
7. Monkey: Scratch the armpits. Looks the same as Ian's Chicken. 
8. Alligator: arms extended, chomping motion. He just likes to talk about alligators.
9. Apple: fist, thumb part to the cheek, twisting
10. Kitty: fingers across the cheek (he usually holds thumb and forefinger together and swipes the opposite direction
11. Dog: Our version: hold hand in a "d" shape: thumb to middle, ring, and pinky fingers, index finger extended, touch thumb portion to your nose. His version: finger on or up his nose.
12. Lights: Our version: hold fist above head, open fingers down like shining a light. His version, open and close fist that encloses the thumb.
13. Book: Our version: hands together, then open like a book. His version, flat hands twist wrist.
14. Ball: Our version: cupped hands shape a ball from top to bottom. His version: flat hands twist wrist.
15. Truck: Our version: two fists, tap wrists together. Ian's version: fists together.
16. More: fingertips together
17. Hurt: index fingers together.
18. Swing: swing your arm, open hand, at hip level.
19. Outside: similar to swing, but a shorter motion, and nearer to the head.
20. Walk: Our version: hands flat, palms down, make tiny steps. His version, swing arms wildly, alternating.
21. Water: our version, three fingers tap to mouth. His version, flat hand to mouth. He also uses this for "I want something."
22. Help (as in I want you to help me do or get something): Our version: right hand in a fist with thumb up sits on left hand, lift the whole assembly up. His version, flat hands together, moved up and down.
23. Cold: Ian makes "cccc" sound and shakes his fists near his face. Not far from our version!
24. Hot: wave flat hand in front of face, blow a bit (like you've got something hot in your mouth).
25. Bird: Our version: first two fingers and thumb form a beak, open and close near your mouth. Ian's version: open and close fist.
26. Flower: Ian's version: hand on arm, wave other hand. Our version: one hand comes up through cupped other hand and opens.
27. Milk: Our version: open and close fist. Ian's version: snap fingers!
28. Cracker: Our version: elbow comes down on opposite hand. Ian's version: tap elbow
29. Cheese: rub palms together.
30. Ceiling Fan: finger above head, rotating. Also used for Helicopter (and airplane).
31. Butterfly: Our version: hook thumbs together, palms up, flap fingers. Ian's version, hand on arm, other hand waves. Ian also uses this to talk about moths and insects.
32. Baby: Cradle the arms and rock.
33. Girl: fist, palm forward, thumb across to the cheek. Ian has yet to master this one, but he's close.
34. Boy: hand like you're grabbing the brim of your ball cap, comes out slightly from the head. Ian puts fingertips to the head.
35. Deer: open hand to the side of the head.
36. Moose: open hand to the side of the head, move away to indicate a big animal. Ian doesn't differentiate between moose and deer.
37. Stinky: Our version: stinky face (!), pinch the nose. Ian's version: pinch (preferably someone else's) nose.
38. Owl: Our version: thumbs and forefingers in "O" shape, to the eyes. Ian's version: fingertips to the nose.
39. Giraffe: cupped hand to the throat, moves up. Indicates a long neck. Ian hasn't mastered this one.
40. Bunny: Two fingers extended, hopping along. Think little bunny foo foo. Ian's version, fingertips to the temple area.

The ones that he "hasn't mastered" are ones that he hasn't seemed to attempt, or at least not that we've noticed. Think you can pass the quiz? See if you can see what he's saying in these pics. I've got the answers in the captions so don't look until you guess!

Milk (nurse)

Dada!

Tricky one. Could be "eat" or "brush teeth"

Ok, trick question. He's saying "I'm sticky and I love popsicles. I'm sure glad that someone stripped me to my diaper. I bet I'm going to get a bath." in this one. Bonus points if you got that one right!

Good Sleep!

It was a record night for sleep for one young boy. After going to sleep shortly before 10pm and waking around 11pm, he slept until just before 7! Then he proceeded to sleep two more hours. He should be well rested today.

So this is where we dissect why this might have happened.

• Food? It was a normal food day, he didn’t eat much. I think most of our relatively good nights have come after good food days.
• Naps? He slept from 3:30-5:30 or so, and he didn’t sleep as much as he’d like. We had to wake him up to go somewhere. I thought he’d stay asleep but he didn't, of course. But this week he hasn't been napping very much. Sometimes less than 2 hours per day. We have been working on an earlier bedtime, but that didn't happen yesterday.
• Activity? This is I think the biggest thing for him for yesterday. We went to the garden for a cleanup party, and there were a bunch of kids there. He just went right over and got right in the fray and chased them and played for the majority of our 2 hours there. This was shortly before bed, too. The kids were mostly older - a 2 yo boy, 6 yo girl, 9 yo boy, 12 yo boy. They loved entertaining him and watching out for him while the adults talked and worked the garden. The older boys even raked a pile of leaves for everyone to play in as well. It was great fun.
• Teeth? He has been teething a lot lately and that may have made him a tad more tired than normal. We gave him oragel around 5 or so, but nothing else during the day or night.

It's 9am, and a happy boy is waking up for the day.