He has a video from Aunt Trish that has holiday/snow themed Thomas the Tank Engine shorts on it and in one of them Oliver the train runs into a giant snow man. Ian is very worried about the fate of that snowman. He asks frequently what happened to the snowman. He watches the video a lot on his little portable DVD player while playing trains in the choo choo room.

Messy Birds = Angry Birds (because when they hit the towers they make a big mess)

We also were playing on my giant yoga/exercise ball this evening and Ian rolled off of it onto the floor with his face.

There have been several playground visits recently, both at Chick-fil-a and at MacArthur Center, and at one point or another it can be overwhelming for him because of either the volume or the number of kids.

Ian Bedtime Chatting (6:40)

You may have noticed that there is a gap in our monthly newsletters. The best I can explain it is that starting around month 20, things got kind of tough for us all. You were having a hard time dealing with your emotions and we were having a hard time dealing with your emotions, so at the end of the day writing was the last thing on my mind.

But things are worlds better now. They have been pretty much from the moment you turned 2. We won’t try to recap all those good months and bad right now. We’ll just focus on how things are this month.

Things are awesome. You can talk about pretty much anything you want to and you are super chatty. The fact that we can communicate so well is something I appreciate every single day because when you get tired or your emotions get the better of you and block your words, everything just starts to break down.

Christmas was last week and both Santa and your grandparents were very good to you. It was all a little overwhelming for you so we were happy to take it all in stages. Nana and Granddad came to stay overnight on Christmas Eve and we all were able to see the magic of Christmas morning unfold.

Your favorite toy by far has been a travel train mat with some Thomas trains. As soon as you tore it open you knew exactly what to do with it and immediately started making chop chop noises as you pushed trains around the circuit. You got a Kermit puppet from Mamaw and Pop and some Tonka trucks from Nana and Granddad.

You got a tricycle for your 2nd birthday and it’s been your primary mode of transportation down to Mamaw and Pop’s. It’s so amazing to watch how your imagination works. There’s a Thomas video where one of the trains Spencer gets stuck in the mud and has to have Harvey the crane train save him. As we passed the house with a muddy yard, I warned you that if you went in there you’d get stuck just like Spencer. I could almost hear the gears turning in your little brain. About 10 feet later, you stopped pedaling in your tracks (thankfully still on the pavement) and blurted out, “oh, no! Spencer’s stuck in the mud again!” and started grinning at me. So I had to walk over and pick you up saying, “it looks like Harvey will have to pick you up and get you back on track.” You repeated “Back on track!” and then took off pedaling again.

There’s a Youtube video of a baby elephant that sneezes and scares himself so he runs over to his mommy. Now every time you sneeze, you said “Ooh! I sneeze like a baby elephant!” and we have to say “Bless you, baby elephant!” I love the way you say “thanks” and I love the way you say “okay” and “sure” like you’ve known all those words your whole life. I must admit I much prefer those words to “No!” and “I don’t wanna go to bed!”

You’re still our little night owl, not wanting to go to bed tonight until almost midnight. But you were amiable and chatty the whole evening. I think it was particularly hard for you to go to bed tonight after such an exciting day. Not only did you have a visit from Ben and Megan and Riley and Molly (and Penny dog) but we all went ice skating today!

Our intention was to just carry you around or maybe let you slide around with your tennis shoes but as we sat to put on our skates, you hopped up and immediately started taking off your shoes. This from the boy who won’t take his shoes off to SLEEP. So as Daddy started to say, “oh Buddy, we weren’t going to …” I said “that sentence shouldn’t even be finished. You should go over to the rental space and get the smallest pair of skates they have.”

Amazingly, they had your size and you were so pleased as Daddy strapped them on you. You only managed a tiny bit of skating until you realized that you could go much faster in Daddy’s arms than you could on your own two feet. Poor Daddy had quite a work out today sine you weigh at least 32 pounds. But everyone had a blast. It was a magical morning in many ways and part of the inspiration to mention all that you are these days.

You’re clever and funny and happy and kind and a little impulsive and better than we could have imagined. Pop said today that he wishes he could pause you at this age to get to enjoy it for longer. I’m not so sure about that, but I am trying to bottle up little moments as I can.

Love,
Mommy

At the exact moment I was taking this picture, Ian was peeing on the floor next to his train table. I thought he looked awfully intent on the trains.

At first we were hanging out in the garage with Daddy and Travis. Travis and Ian were throwing the ball around but Travis said he needed to go use the restroom. When Ian asked where Travis went, I told him he had to go potty so he went inside since he’s a big boy.

About 15 minutes later after Travis had returned and we had all moved on to other things, Ian declared he needed to go inside to go potty. But Mommy didn’t need to go, he would be right back. He was just going to go inside to potty like Travis had.

I watched him run to the back door, let himself in, successfully close the storm door (which is no small feat) and remind me “I be right back!” as he turned around. I slowly followed behind and peeked inside to hear him in the choo choo room talking to his trains. But as I came around the corner, he burst through the door and said, “Mommy! I need to potty!”

He pulled his pants down on his own, asked for help with his diaper and sat on his Lightning McQueen potty. I went to put his diaper away and heard the bathroom door shut since apparently Ian needed some privacy.

A minute later he yelled out, “Mommy! I all done! My pants are wet!”

I walked in and he had peed in the potty … and the floor and all over his pants. Apparently in mid-pee was when he decided he needed privacy. He walked around for a bit with no pants on and said he was going to poop. I was dubious but when I was distracted taking photos of him concentrating on trains, he stood up and said, “Mommy! There’s pee everywhere over here!”

And there was! So apparently all our son needed to be inspired to potty like a big kid was Travis. Now to get him to understand how to stay on the potty until he’s really done peeing.

But we’re getting there. Travis now needs to come over every evening to continue potty training our child.

So over the years, I’ve learned to embrace the fact that my eyes disappear when I smile. I’m all >_< in Japanese emoticons.

But now I've noticed Ian smiling that way too, and it brings me great joy.

Just a nice reminder of him being my kid.

So on Sunday we were at Home Depot and they had a ton of Christmas trees all lit up for sale. When I saw one that said specifically it was a “porch tree” I said it would be nice for Mamaw to have and Ian immediately started calling it Mamaw’s tree. At 20% off, we of course had to get it.

So this evening we delivered Mamaw’s tree to her and it’s now on her porch. I worried that Pop would think of it as just more clutter but he quickly found an extension cord so we could light it up. Ian declared it PRETTY!

We look forward to visiting Mamaw’s tree over the next few weeks (and possibly into the spring) and maybe Ian can help her decorate it.

But yeah, we’re all supposed to be somewhere Monday morning at 8am. I wondered if we should try skipping Ian’s nap today so that he would try to go to sleep earlier. But as Rich said, we would either have a cranky boy Monday morning or a cranky boy Sunday afternoon.

Magically, though, Ian and I decided to mow the lawn this afternoon and he fell asleep in the backpack on me as we rode around the yard for 45 minutes. That Briggs and Stratton induced nap was just the perfect amount to get him through the rest of the day but not have him up all night.

We had bubbles at 7:30, Mama Milk at 8 and he was asleep by 8:30. There was a brief bit of crying when the phone rang but he’s back down for the count and I’m hoping Monday morning goes well for us all.

But he was so excited about the slide, I hated to tell him no. So after I helped him up twice, he figured out how to climb the steps himself. If he went over to the edge versus the middle, he could get his hands on the far side and help pull himself up. So suddenly I could just sit on the bench, drinking my iced tea and he was able to go up and down the slide a million times on his own.

It pleased me to no end to see how well he could communicate and how I could help him without even seeing him by tapping on parts of the equipment to direct him towards the slide (it’s a rabbit warren up there, trust me). This part? This talking and problem solving and finding joy in accomplishing things? This part is the Terrific Twos.

Ian is fascinated with hockey. That should come as no surprise. I’m typing this right now as a random hockey game in playing on the TV. (Toronto @ Dallas. Tied 2-2 so I should care more about the last two minutes of the game.) We have our own goal and sticks and pucks that are permanent parts of the living room decor. But I hadn’t really thought about him actually playing the game versus just swatting a puck around under the sofa.

Ian and Uncle Lee played quite a bit of hockey on the back porch after Thanksgiving dinner and I’m not sure who was smiling more. Every time he scored a goal (knocking the tennis ball through the propped open screen door) Ian would yell GOAL! and wave his stick in the air. The stick he’s now using is a Philadelphia Flyers stick that belonged to both Daddy and Uncle Lee when they were little.

So maybe he will be ready to try out the ice soon. But he’s certainly learning a family tradition and having fun.

Daddy saw this as we came to pick up Ian yesterday afternoon yesterday and said, “well awesome.”

I would have paid Ian’s teachers $100 to write Daddy up there instead of Mommy, but what’s done is done. Ian is slowly but surely moving into the Daddy Appreciation Club but he is still very much the President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary of the Mommy Fan Club. And it’s hard because sometimes Ian can be very frustrating to communicate with and Daddy isn’t getting those ‘yay!” moments to outweigh the “boo!” moments.

But just today while we were stopping for gas on our trek to Richmond, Ian turned to me and said, “Mommy?”

“Yes, Ian.”
“I want Daddy!”
“Daddy is right outside the car. Do you want him to come back so you can see him?”
“Yeah!”

So we’re getting there. And at least he wasn’t shown up on the thankful list by toy trucks or Mickey Mouse.

My son is a pretty good thumb wrestler thanks to her.