Happy Halloween

BYE BYE

It brings me great joy to see Ian do something new, something that we have been modeling to him. Today as our nanny, Amy, got ready to leave, he turned toward her, started flapping his whole left arm and said in his own words "bye bye". An absolutely adorable moment that I want to share with all.
[Age 1yo]

Decorating Cookies

Amy, our nanny, had a great idea on how to entertain Jadon on a rainy day. I come home to decorated holiday cookies!
Earlier in the week they kept busy by painting baby pumpkins.

Happy Birthday Ian!

Some highlights of the year.

• Teaching dependence on God in prayer
• Visiting with distant cousin
  
• First car trip to Seattle
  
• Sitting on potty
  
• Daily hugs and kisses
  
• Laughter and smiles for all
• Sitting/crawling/standing/cruising
  
• Teaching gentleness and laughing with his big brother
• Farmers Markets with Grandma and Gramps
• Parks and Berry Farms with Nina and Papa
  
• Four Emergency Room Visits, including one ambulance ride
• "Da Da" and "Ca"
• Emulating big brother in play
• Bath time for two
• A trip down memory lane

Eating Vegetables

We have a really tough time getting Jadon to eat his vegetables. Chocolate Zucchini Cake and Carrot Cake were pretty much what we were depending on as he also does not eat corn! (We are going to try corn on the cob this week though) We stumbled on this really great drink that Will makes up on a weekly basis and it's like ice cream to Jadon. Don't tell him, but this Green Smoothie is full of spinach and broccoli!

Stair Climbing

Seven days ago, a trip up the stairs took 5 minutes - now he's down to just over a minute!

Can't resist a smile can you?

Is this how these things come off?

Ian is now a little over 9 months old and changing every day. He has started cruising (holding on to furniture and walking), holding his own sippy cup up, and following dropped objects. Him and Jadon "talk " to each other all the time and he is starting to say "da da" Will thinks that he also says "ma ma" but to tell you the truth it's more like "da da da" or "ma ma ma".

Ian helps wake Jadon up in the morning - when he see's Jadon, he makes a bee line for Jadon's bed and starts chatting away. Soon they are both talking and heading for their respective potty's. It is then down to breakfast where the interaction continues. Ian loves watching his big brother jump, run, and tumble. Jadon enjoys making Ian laugh by doing the above! They do have times of crying and sibling rivalry which we referee, but we love to see them interact together.

If Will or I lay on the floor it is instantly followed by Ian and Jadon climbing all over us and tumbling resulting in a human jungle gym. The Bower clan keeps busy and out of trouble with lots of wrestling, running and climbing. Times of fun and busyness that I don't want to end, that I savor and look for my next opportunity to love on all 3 of my boys!