Sorry for the lack of posts, but we have been having more family time now that Jeff's back from his trip. The snow held him up one day longer than planned, but he managed to get in on Monday the 13th. This is what it looked like from inside the house during the snowstorm on Sunday the 12th. Ian was chilling on the couch with his milk.

Ian and I spent the day at home on Monday because I wasn't able to manage digging out the car. I think we got about 20 inches total and I shoveled the walkway and the end of the driveway behind the car after Ian went to sleep on Sunday, but then I just could not reach the top of the car. Plus, I figured there would be delays on the train (which there were) and piles of snow in the city (which there were).

So on Monday, Ian and I played inside in the morning and then went outside for a walk in the afternoon. He acted like he had been imprisoned for a week. He just took off down the walkway. Interestingly, he did not pay any attention to the snow and actually purposely avoided stepping in any slush or snow at all.

He walked all the way down the street and was not very responsive when I tried to get him to go home. He went with me for a bit, then turned around and went back down the street. This is him ignoring me.
He's like a little man. He walks with such purpose, you would think that he has a very important appointment to get to. And he's pretty fast now. Before I knew it, he was way down the street. I actually had the camera zoomed all the way and he still looks far away.

On Valentine's Day, Miss Christina made red velvet cupcakes with white frosting for the kids. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of that, but I did take a picture at the end of the day. All of the kids had heart stickers on their faces, but they didn't realize it. This also shows you the facial expressions Ian has sometimes when we pick him up. First he's happy, then he starts getting upset because I don't pick him up right away. This is him starting to protest. What a face! That's Luke on the left and little Anna on the right. Anna turned one this past Tuesday.

In developmental news, Ian has added a couple of new words to his vocabulary. If you ask if he wants an apple, he says, "A-poo?" If you ask if he wants pasta, he says, "Ba-boo?" I've heard him say, "Na-na" after I say banana. He said, "Ba-bee" when I asked him to say baby. Just a couple of days ago, he started to say "Ank oo" when you say thank you. More and more, he is able to imitate our inflection and tone, even if he doesn't get the exact words out. He really understands things now and is very helpful when dressing and undressing (when he chooses to be), lifting his arms up and switching his toys from hand to hand.

We think the terrible twos have begun because he is much more easily frustrated and will really kick and scream when he doesn't want to do something. Sometimes he kicks and screams for no reason at all. Thank goodness these "tantrums" last only a few seconds. I just leave him on the floor and ignore him and he gets over it pretty quickly.

I have to say that he reminds me sometimes of his Jiu-jiu. The way he lies on the floor pushing his cars and looking at them so intently. The screaming episodes especially remind me of Alan...

My friend Carol came to visit us on Monday (we had the day off for Presidents' Day) and commented that Ian is very willful just like his Mommy! Can you believe that??? Sheesh.