Talking and playing

Welcome once again. Ian's big achievement this week is that he has been talking a lot. Not much of it makes sense, but he's trying to get out some sentences. It's fun to listen to him.


I took this one during lunch last week. I made that shirt for him about a year ago. It finally fits. He looks like a rocker. He looks like his dad.



Both Ian and the cat got some exercise here.


We went to the park along the river last weekend. Spring has come early this year - the bulbs are coming up everywhere. I even saw a willow tree getting its leaves. Anyway, we have had some sunny and warm days here and there. Ian had a great time at the park - he got to run around, play in the sand, and go down the slide, which was his favorite.


Michelle is digging a bark chip out of Ian's mouth.


Just before going down the slide. He laughed and squealed the whole way down then tried to climb back up when the trip was finished.


More slide cuteness.


One more for you that I took today. Ian was chasing after me with some of his blocks. He stopped and gave me a big smile as the camera flashed. He loves to have his picture taken.

More pictures of little Ian

Hello all. Want some more pictures of our little boy? Here they are. Sorry I'm being so brief. My external hard drive crashed and died last night, taking with it almost all of my digital music collection and a bunch of other things. Good thing I didn't need it for backup, which was its other main purpose. Later today I will hold a ceremony in which I put on a pair of boots, open the front door, and kick the drive as hard as I can out of said door.

Here are some pre-Crash pictures:


Ian is good at sorting laundry.


Further evidence of Ian's laundry prowess. He likes to throw his mother's pajamas and underwear all over the bedroom.


We played a game a few nights ago in which Ian opened the bedroom door, said "Hi Daddy", then closed the door again. He did it over and over. And over. I took about a dozen pictures of him doing it.



I told you I took a lot of pictures of the door game.


Here's what happened when the door game was over. Time for bed, Ian!

Before I forget, I updated our shutterfly page last week. This only happens when I order photos, so if you really want to see a lot of pictures of Ian, you can check there every now and then.

Thirteen Months Old

Apologies to all for not updating this blog in a while. Whenever I've felt the urge to put some pictures up here, little Ian decides he needs my immediate attention. I spend about a third of my day carrying him around the house. I've become a sort of bipedal horse.

As I said, Ian is thirteen months old now. Still healthy, happy, and mullet-topped. One of these days I'll have to trim that hair, but not now. On rainy days it shapes itself into wonderful curls.

On to the pictures...


Ian's grandparents from San Diego visited us as 2009 turned into 2010. Ian really enjoyed having his Nana and Papa around. He took to them as if he'd been in their company all his young life. Also, for the first time in thirteen months, Michelle and I were able to do something on our own - we entrusted Ian with his grandparents for a couple of hours while we went out. He's never had a babysitter before.


Little boy loves his soccer ball. Not only does he carry it around and throw it...


He enjoys kicking it! Twenty years from now, we may be saying that this is where it all began. Or not.


Last weekend we took Ian to the local elementary school playground. It was threatening to rain, so we went to the closest place. It's two blocks away. Ian had a good time climbing onto the equipment, trying to eat wood chips, and being carried across the bridge as Dad whooped it up.


Walking with Mom.


We have put up two fences to keep Ian out of the kitchen and the back rooms during the day. I place the one in the hallway off the ground a bit for the convenience of the cats. They're too lazy to jump them. A few days ago Ian discovered that he was able to crawl under the gap. The little scamp! I had to lower the fence so that he couldn't get under. Here is one of his attempts. He wasn't very happy with me!


Here is Ian with his favorite book by Dr. Seuss. He loves a particular section of the book - it says "boom boom boom", and he loves it. Before I took this picture, he grabbed the book off the shelf, sat down, turned to the page, and said "boom" over and over. I was so proud of him that I took this photo.

Bye everyone. Ian sends hugs and kisses.

The Edwards family wishes you a happy new year!

I'm sitting in the dining room of our house on a gloomy, wet Jaunary 1 morning. Typical winter day in Eugene. It's a new year, though. Lots of things happened to good old me last year - I finished my dissertation and watched Ian change from a tiny baby into a toddler, which were probably the best parts of the year. Of course, my mom died in October, which wasn't so great. I miss her quite a bit. I wish she was here to see her beautiful grandson.

Here are some more pictures of little Ian.


We used to play a game called Where's Ian? I would hold up some sort of vision-obscuring object to his face, say "where's Ian?', then lower it and say "there he is!" He loved it. We still play the game, but now Ian does the action. I just say the words.


Christmas gift time! Ian has been showered with gifts this past month - his birthday and xmas are twelve days apart. He loves it.


It looks like he's falling, but he's actually having a blast rolling around in giftwrap.


We had a few people over for christmas dinner - our friends Tung-yi, Dheen, and their daughter Ela, and Cade. Ian had fun playing with Ela. He followed her around for a while, then...


They scribbled with crayons. Well, Ela drew, and Ian stole crayons from her. Not pictured: Ian tried to eat the orange crayon, which stained his teeth.



Ian and his mother in front of our tree. This is the last year I'm dragging that heavy thing inside. Must have weighed sixty pounds. It's a lot bigger than it was when we bought it in 2002. If anyone needs a nice spruce tree for their yard, let me know.

Enjoy your new year everyone! My goals for the new year are to help Ian to continue to thrive, find an academic job, and start riding my bike around town again. Sounds achievable.

Night before Xmas

Hello to everyone out there. It's been a while since I posted - sorry if you've been disappointed. Ian has been doing well since we last checked in. He has added "hi" to his vocabulary, and today I think he said "bye" when talking to his grandfather, Uncle Terry and Aunt Tami on the video phone. It was too quiet for them to hear.

A couple of days ago he made some scribbles with a crayon after I showed him how to do it. The crayon was too small for his hands, so I picked up some jumbo ones last night and put them in his stocking. Shhh, don't tell.

What else? Ian walks better than ever, he likes to move his body to music, he can go from sitting to standing without assistance, he's starting to throw balls back to us, and can follow very simple directions (like "come here") without any visual cues from us. He's a smart little boy.

On to the pictures.

Michelle likes this picture of Ian holding his soccer ball. She says it makes him look like a little boy rather than a toddler.


Ian is charging me with the ball in his hand. I told him he has to kick that kind of ball, but he'd rather carry it around.


He liked getting Christmas packages from family. He probably spent all afternoon standing on top of this one when we got it. I hate to say it, but he enjoys the boxes just as much as the gifts.



Time for a nap!


Last weekend Ian tried blueberries for the first time. He liked them, as you can see.


Coaster in the mouth.



Here are Ian, Michelle, and our young friend Ela at the bowling alley. Ela almost outbowled us, but she had the advantage of bumpers when it was her turn. Do you like Ian's pirate shoes and rainbow socks? They say "Chicago" on them. Exactly what I think of when I think of rainbows and socks (which is often).

We would like to send our best wishes to all of you. We hope that you enjoy the holidays. We'll be thinking of you.

Love,
Eric (and Michelle and Ian)

Ian's first birthday

It's hard to believe, but Ian turned one year old on Sunday the 13th. It doesn't seem that long ago that we took our little boy home for the first time. If you want to see what he looked like then, have a look through the December archives from last year. He's changed so much.

We took Ian to the pediatrician this morning. He weights 23 lbs 6 oz and is 29.5 inches tall. Dr. Unger complimented us on our care of the healthy and happy boy.


Ian opened his presents Sunday morning. Thanks to everyone who got him something. In this photo he's opening a gift covered with chimpanzees. It's from his Aunt Melanie, Uncle Terry, and cousins Olivia and Morgan.


As you might expect, he had just as much fun with the wrapping paper as he did with the gifts.


My dad is becoming quite a progressive guy. He got Ian a lavender and pink car. Before Ian was born we had decided that we didn't want to give him toys that were the stereotypically gendered norm (trucks, guns, gi joe, etc.). Looks like Dad is helping us out with that!



Here is one of the presents that Ian's grandparents in San Diego gave him. He loved it so much that he was destroying it, so we had to put it away. He chewed on each of the puzzle pieces until the paper on front began to disintegrate. He then ate the paper.

Both Michelle and I were too busy during his party to take any pictures, but I assure you that a good time was had by all. Quite a few people stopped by to wish Ian well and we all sang Happy Birthday to him. I blew out the candle before he (or any of the other youngsters gathered around him) could get burned.

Due to the lack of party photos, here are a couple others that might provide some entertainment for you:


Guess what I'm doing!


Bed head.


Reading with Dad before bed.

11.5 months old

Hello everyone. I have a cold, so I'm going to try to keep this short. We got back from my brother's place a couple of days ago. Had a good time with his family, my sister, and my dad. We played a lot of Apples to Apples and Wii Sports Resort. We did manage to leave the house a couple of times. We used the playground equipment at the local elementary school and played a game of kickball. Of course I forgot the camera both times. Michelle and I did take a few other pictures, though.


On the way to Tri-Cities. We stopped so that Ian could get a break from the chair and have a drink.


We almost forgot to light Michelle's birthday pie. That's what you get when your birthday falls on Thanksgiving.


Ian and his cousins Olivia and Morgan.


Ian can walk! He gets better at it every day.


Michelle decided to wear the same shirt as the little boy.


Hanging out with Grandpa.


I took this photo yesterday. It was cold out, so I had to bundle up Ian. It was his first time wearing shoes!