one is fun

Dear Ivar,

Can't handle how much we love you. You continue to bring us joy everyday.

Your latest favorite activity is frequently visiting your dad downstairs. You know how to get to him now, which is so fun to see. You crawl to the door to the basement (which is ALWAYS shut after a terrible baby tumbling accident in September that included you, 15 wooden steps, a concrete floor to land on and a super miracle that you crawled away less traumatized than your mom. Ish.) You crawl to the basement door and start saying, "Dada! Daddo! Da! Dada!" I scoop you up and you duck your head as low as you can as we descend on the steps so that you can see your dad. You clap your hands, laugh, yell and then dive into his arms.

We do this several times a day. And even though your dad has typically worked best with no interruptions, he has yet to say anything about our 5-6 visits a day. Turns out he lights up as bright as you.

You love to eat. Bananas, kiwi, ham, cheese, cooked carrots and pasta are favorites for sure. When you want more you politely look at me and loudly say, "mmmmmmmm." Which is the sound I make when I put the food on your tray.

You clap your hands with joy and it is a favorite thing to do. I sing a song I learned in church school and you know this song means we clap and bounce. Clap your hands, stomp your feet, spread the love of Jesus to everyone you meet. Oh Clap your hands, stop your feet, spread a little love around. You laugh and bob your head and clap through the whole song. Needless to say, it gets sung a lot.

You also love to drum on your high chair tray. We play this game at every meal with dad and I banging on the table. But if you stop drumming, we do too. And when you start up again, we join in. You love being the leader, and love that we are following your cues.

When you're done eating you enjoy rubbing your hands through your hair, just to be sure I know you're really done. I brought you to Aunt Jan's on Monday with so much oatmeal in your hair I was embarrassed. You got a bath right when we got home.

You let us know what you don't like to eat with a preemptive uh oh before you throw that food on the floor. This was funny the first few times, but now you are now getting a stern, "No." And it sometimes hurts your feelings.

And that's the other new thing. We're telling you what is and isn't okay and this often crimps your style. You like to roll over while we change your diaper and this gets you a firm hand on the leg and a serious, "Ivar, No." Again, it hurts your feelings, but its the only safe thing to do. Can't have you rolling around on the changing table.

You love riding in the shopping cart and point out all of the balls and circles in the store. Signs included. Target is basically your utopia, as their aisle signs are circles and they even decorated the outside of their store with giant concrete red balls up and down the sidewalk. You actually are hard to hold onto when you see these balls, like you might just jump out of your skin.

Today you're running a low fever and are super snuggly. That's really abnormal. You usually don't have time to cuddle, but today you do and I'm soaking up every minute of your head on my shoulder. We watched our first PBS Kids shows this morning on the couch and you seemed amused.

It's so fun to watch you grow. We love you so much.

Love,
Mama (who you currently are calling Dada, along with the real Dada)