Ilyana turns 2!

My baby girl is 2! I feel like this year has gone even faster than the first year. Ilyana is looking and acting more and more like a little girl and less like a baby, it's bitter sweet. On one hand, it makes me sad realizing how fast our time with her is going, on the other hand, I'm so excited for everything that her future holds. I've said it many times, but Ilyana's love, kindness, and thoughtfulness humbles me everyday. The other day she saw me get Ryker out of the bath and without me even asking she set aside the book she was looking at and grabbed me a diaper for him. I was just astounded that she was so observant to see a need and fulfill it. God has some big things in store for this girl. I'm proud to be her mommy. Over the past few months Ilyana's vocabulary has really taken off. She has probably between 75-100 words that she uses and is learning new words on a seemingly daily basis. She still babbles quite a bit, although she seems to know what she's saying, and she has said quite a few sentences. She is currently Pokemon obsessed. She loves watching the Pokemon TV show, playing a Pokemon video game we have, and sleeps with her Pikachu, Pichu, and Dedenne stuffed animals at night. She's also obsessed with stickers and tattoos, baby dolls, Bruno Mars, brushing her teeth, playing outside, and animals. She is still an excellent eater and loves to eat meat that she gets to dip in ketchup, berries of any kind, steamed veggies, yogurt, and cereal. She's also still a great sleeper. She usually naps from about 1-4/4:30 and sleeps at night from 7:30-6:30.
For Ilyana's birthday Jake and I took her out to lunch, just the 3 of us, last weekend and then went to Target and let her pick out a present (she choose a new puzzle!). For her actual birthday we started the morning with some doughnuts for breakfast. Then we went to the Coralville Children's museum with Grandma Ray, cousin Lilah, Ryker, and our friend Jenny and her son Liam. After lunch in the food court (chicfila for the birthday girl) we headed home for naps. After nap time great grandma and great grandpa Hansen stopped by to drop off a present and then we had supper with daddy (mac and cheese, hot dogs, blueberries, and raspberries). We ended the day with Grandma and Grandpa Marzen dropping by to give Ilyana a Pikachu balloon (which Ilyana insisted on including in our nightly dance party)! I think the birthday girl had a great day!

11 months - Ryker

It seems like over the past couple of weeks my baby boy has suddenly become a toddler! Ryker is now walking full time, even running to keep up with (or run away from) his sister. They love to play together so much. They really are each others best friend. They love to play peekaboo, chase each other, and copy each other. It's so much fun to see them together. The day that Ryker mastered walking he also learned several new words, it's as though he was waiting to figure out walking before saying any of them. He can now say: Dada, Mama, no, all done, yay, hi, and book. He also loves to fake cough, he thinks it's rather hilarious. Over the past month Ryker has also started interacting with us more when he plays. He likes to hand us toys to play with or hand us books to read, or point out light fixtures, those fascinate him. It's nice having a little glimpse into his mind. His favorite book right now is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Reading (or reciting from memory) that book almost always calms him down. His other favorite activity that usually calms him down is playing pat-a-cake. Ilyana usually enjoys joining us with that too. I'm particularly thankful that over this past month Ryker has finally started consistently sleeping through the night, praise the Lord. He usually goes to bed around 6:30 and is up around 7. He's still taking two naps a day as well around 9:30 and 1:30. A few weeks ago we all caught the stomach flu that has been going around which took a huge toll on Ryker's appetite but he continued nursing well and has slowly but surely started getting back into eating solid foods again. His favorite foods are any type of fruit (especially blueberries), steamed veggies, beef, and yogurt. He also really likes the pouches of baby food that the kids sometimes get as a snack. He will try to tackle Ilyana and take hers if he doesn't have his own. Ryker has quite the personality and I'm excited to continue seeing him grow and develop as he nears his first birthday!