IAN JAMES CHRISTIANSON

Trip to Northern California

We just returned home from a great trip to northern CA. Laura and Todd were great hosts and Ian had such a great time with his Cousins. He would climb on top of them and say "ahhh", while giving them kisses. It was so precious!

For Easter, we visited the great grandparents. We gave the kids our traditional easter egg hunt we experienced as kids at Grandma Searle's, which was a blast. Ian actually pointed out the eggs and crawled around picking a few up.

Here are some fun photos of our trip.

Ian with Cousin Brennan. They are 5 months apart and look quite a bit alike!

The boys tackling Cousin Cami.

Grandpa Marcol playing with Ian.

Audrey with Brennan.

Uncle Bryce with Ian.

Mommy's precious little boy! He gets LOTS of kisses from his mommy and daddy.

Ian on the swing.

Uncle Todd chilling out at the park (My sister's husband)

Jim with the boys. Can you tell Ian and Brennan apart? Ian's in the backpack.

Cousin Brennan (Laura and Todd's little boy) having fun with Uncle Jim.

Check out our destination spot after our hike on Friday. It was awesome!

Ian fell asleep in the backpack. He was so tired.

Cami (Laura and Todd's little girl) is quite the little hiker.

Cami and her easter basket.

Mommy and Ian on Easter.

Ian found an egg!

The kids after the easter egg hunt.

Grandma Searle with the kids.

Laura and Bryce (Char's siblings) with the kids.

Ian with Great Grandpa Searle

Ian with his Uncle Bill (Char's uncle visiting from Oregon... my mom's brother)

Ian with Grandma Silva (My dad's mom)

Ian's 1st Birthday!!!

Wow, we have been SO busy the past couple weeks planning Ian's 1st birthday party! Today we celebrated Ian's first birthday with some of our best friends here in Colorado and some family that traveled here to Colorado from California. Jim's parents and my mom were able to come and celebrate Ian's dedication and birthday. They were such a big help getting everything ready. I don't know how I would have done it without them!

Ian had such a great day today. He just lights up when family and friends are around. He was pointing and saying all his new words... showing off for the grandparents. :) He is gaining new words each week, which makes his mother so proud. :) His favorite word right now is "go". He points to the door and says "go" or drives his cars and trucks and says "broom"... "go". It's so precious!

Currently, his vocabulary at one year includes: mama, dada, go, truck, light, bath, up, pop, hop, "nana" for banana, door, bath, ball, that, nigh night, brr for cold, and poop. This week, he requested night night with daddy for the first time, which was shocking.

He is not walking independently yet, but will walk pushing his truck, by cruising with furniture and by holding our hands. He is such an efficient crawler, that he finds no need to walk when he wants to go fast. He is just bursting with language right now that his motor skills are taking the back seat. :) We figure he will walk any day now... all it will take is seeing his friends do it and he'll be on his feet!

It is so fun watching him play right now. He will explore all his toys and has them all figured out. Today, he started doing two step play where he put a little person in the car and drove it down the car ramp. Good cognitive skill! He also loves playing the "I'm gonna get you" game and will throw himself on the ground awaiting a tickle on his tummy.

Ian is now sleeping through the night since he has made it though sickness...teething... etc. This makes us VERY happy. He is actually sick again! But, it's not just our family, but several of our friends and people we know here in Colorado. It's been a really tough winter for the cold and flu around here.

Here are some fun photos from his first birthday party. Our precious, precious little boy! This year has been SO much fun. We cherish every memory we make with our son.

The dedication on sabbath.

Grandma Sylvia reading Ian his new book about Jesus.

The Party.

The cake. We had a "farm party" theme.

Welcome to our home!

The birthday boy playing with Blake.

His farm friends having some fun.

Carey and Jack

Grandma Terry having fun with Ian.

Singing happy birthday and getting ready to blow out the candle. Ian actually blew when we told him to blow out his candle...but he needed Grandpa Jim's help to blow it out.

Exploring cake for the first time. He got a little messy.

The party is all done... Ian playing with all his new toys.

Now the whole family has golf clubs! Ian is starting young. :)

Ian's First Mountain Bike Ride

Today we went mountain biking at Rabbit Mountain with the Hoffers. Ian and Blake had a great time in their Chariots. We rode around on some double single track and fire roads, which was quite the workout... especially for Jim and Chris towing the boys!

After our ride, we had a little picnic on the mountain. It was so nice being outside... especially since it was 75 degrees today! It was absolutely beautiful and reminded us why we LOVE living in Colorado.

The Hoffers.

Blake in his chariot.

Ian enjoying his picnic lunch