After initially rejecting this sweet ride and trying to demand his sister’s bicycle.
“bi-CUL! bi-CUL!”
Ivan eventually warmed up to riding in the “beep beep car” to the park. His sister took the princess scooter.
We found some fun chalk art at the park.
And our yard has the first flowers of spring or as Ivan calls them “geeko GEEKO!”
Sure, we are still wearing winter coats, but spring is coming.
Meghan and Ezri took Ivan on his first downhill sled ride.
He is now a fan of sleds. He will point at them and say, “wheee.”
Here he is cheering his sister down the hill.
There was a sibling dispute about whether the snowman’s face should stay on or not, but we had fun building them. Ivan was on the side of faces are for removal. Ivan was the one who added the nose – and then removed it and then tried to add again only to have it fall off and then planted it on top of the snowman in his scalp.
Ivan spent a long time playing with this leaf rattle and stick at the park.
Ivan is now big enough to ride in the wagon.
He thinks that apples taste delectable.
And he’s all tuckered out and ready for a shady nap on Grandma Liz’s lap.
Ivan believes that he can do anything his big sister can. And he’s ready to try.
Yesterday at the park, Ezri was on the swings. Ivan was in the baby swing and was getting fussy. He pointed at the empty big kid swing next to Ezri. Eric held him on the swing and his smile got huge. He wanted to swing in the swings Ezri uses. It did not matter that he would fall out if an adult did not hold him there.
Here he is on Ezri’s stepstool helping with the dishes.
He loves climbing and he loves climbing this stepstool because Ezri uses it all the time. If she can climb it, so can he.
Ezri was picking grape tomatoes from our garden and eating them.
Ivan crawled over and into the dirt and picked a green tomato and proceeded to eat it.
If Ezri can do it, so can he.
Ezri was throwing the target ball of our bocce set.
If Ezri can do it, Ivan wants to. Here’s his attempt.
Here are Ezri and Ivan working on a crayon project together. Ivan was actually holding crayons and making marks. He is smart and talented and as the second kid is trying things earlier than our first did. There are two reasons for that. This first is that we already have the things for a toddler in the house like crayons, sippy cups and stepstools. The second is that he has Ezri as his example of what is possible. Seeing me do something does not convince Ivan he can do it. But if Ezri can do something or eat something, Ivan wants to as well.
This crayon project time fell apart when Ivan started eating the green crayon and Ezri got upset about the possible loss. The green crayon still works with teeth marks.
The backyard wading pool is pretty darn fun.
This week featured baby’s first ear infection.
Ezri did a great job helping take Ivan to the doctor.
Ivan has been loving playing with all kinds of rolling balls lately.
He does something I call “baby soccer” which involves following a rolling ball and then knocking it until it rolls more and crawling after it again.
He has discovered that some balls bounce. Tennis balls are a current favorite. This means mostly that he will throw anything round towards the ground to see if it bounces. Look out oranges!
He is a super crawler though showing no sign that walking is something he needs to do.
He can get where he needs to with crawling and loves to climb over anything in his path.
He is also enjoying getting everything out of the toy box, kitchen cabinets he can reach, Ezri’s art supply bin, and any other container he’s allowed to unpack.
He discovered how to unwind the toilet paper roll and really likes taking paper and tearing it into confetti. His sister leaves him dirty tissues and it’s like his favorite present. We are working on getting all dirty tissues to the trashcan, but a few strays seem to always be about.
It’s okay. I found a rubber duck just floating in the wading pool.
