Ian Michael, Age 2

Major Milestone Alert:  Ian just turned 2!  It may be cliché to say, but it is true:  time is flying by and he is changing right before my eyes.  I really can’t believe it has been 2 years since he made his debut.  I SWEAR he was just a baby yesterday!  I look at Ellen and think, Ian was JUST LIKE THIS (19 months ago)…  except I can hardly remember it.  I recently filtered through all of my pictures and selected at least one from each month of Ian’s life to compile a quick look at his changes over the last two years.  I smiled with fondness at his little baby face, that toothless grin, that monkey crawl.  And I realized that without these pictures, I would not remember much, if any of those details.  I have a few things recorded in the baby book, but I can I feel those precious baby years slipping away and I can’t keep the memories in my fingers, the images and feelings slipping through like sand.  I certainly don’t WANT him to be a baby forever; I am very much looking forward to conversations, laughter, and togetherness with Ian as he becomes a child, a teenager, and eventually an adult (though it is strange to think of him becoming a man).  But there is a little bit of a heart squeeze when I realize how quickly things are changing.  There are moments that I want to pause, right here, and just stay a while (except for the diaper changes, obviously).  But life moves on and this is why I am making a concerted effort to record our lives via photographs, baby books, and now this blog.  I find that life is a big balancing act between making and capturing memories, and I want to make sure I excel at both.  So here’s a little 2^nd Birthday Letter to Ian.  So I can remember Today with clarity.

Ian - Birth to 2 years!

Oh, Little Monkey, I get more joy from you in increasing amounts every day.  I love your developing sense of humor, your keen and observing eye, a meticulous approach to just about everything, and exploding language and vocabulary skills.  Just about every day, you say or do something that just makes my heart sing.  A recent favorite: You saw a garbage truck go by when we were at the park.  You looked at it, declared it to be a garbage truck, and matter-of-factly said, “I go help pick up trash.  Be right back.”  You are a helper through and through, and sometimes I have to hunt for tasks just to occupy your eager hands.  Just the other day, I (reluctantly) allowed you to help unload the dishwasher, spotting VERY closely as you removed each glass and plate, and quickly transferring items to the counter.  You like to set the table, you clear your place and put things either in the sink or in the dish washer.  You inexplicably LOVE to sweep and insist on sweeping the garage almost daily.  You helped me make a salad the other day, rinsing the lettuce, using the salad spinner (with great joy), tearing the lettuce, and putting it in the salad bowl.  And just like I used to (er, still) do, you grazed off of the cutting board and out of the salad bowl, snatching veggies as you worked.  You help push the wheeled laundry hamper from our bedroom to the utility room.  You carry in groceries from the car, but we have to watch closely – once you took a bite out of the apple we gave you to carry!  You JUMP JUMP JUMP over and off of and onto everything you can find (“Jump on Ellen?”).  You love for me to sing songs to you, and you know many of the words.  “Do, Re, Mi” is a consistent request, as is “ABC’s” and the Rhyming Name song.  You complete the ends of sentences in your favorite books:  Good Night Moon, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way, Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present, If You Give a Moose a Muffin, and MANY more.  You would sit and read books all day long if you could.  You love trucks and construction equipment; my daily commute is filled with a running commentary of the wheeled vehicles around us, and also exclamations of “OH WOW!”  You love your baby sister like nothing else.  You love to look at each other, and you are just pleased as punch when reporting, “Ellen smiling.”  That’s right, you made her smile.  And there aren’t many times that you don’t put a smile on my face… your trying toddler moments are quickly redeemed by sweet kisses and hugs (they always go together, you know).

Does all of this sum up little Ian at the moment?  It comes close, but I don’t think I can capture it all in one post.  To quote another loved book (Snuggle Puppy, by Sandra Boynton):  “I love what you are, I love what you do.  Fuzzy little Snuggle Puppy I LOVE YOU!”