Trip to St. Louis - Part 1

For Memorial Day weekend, we headed to St. Louis to visit the Ferner side of the family. Ian got to take his first plane ride! On the first day, we went to Grant's Farm to see the animals.





Ian also had his first celebrity encounter - he got to pet Miss Budweiser, the little donkey in the Super Bowl commercials.



On the second day, we went to Aunt Janet and Uncle Tim's house to swim in the pool.



We'll be back in the pool again tomorrow for the Memorial Day family picnic.

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Waiting for the train at Grant's Farm.

Before and After - Plus Furniture

The deck/porch is FINALLY done! 44 days later, and we're very pleased with the results.

Before:


After:


We started placing the furniture last night, and I'm not convinced this is where everything will stay, but it looks nice for now. Still need to do a lot of accessorizing.

Where's Dada?

Ian spends a lot of time looking around for his dada.

10 Months Old

Ian is 10 months old today! Getting his birthday picture is now a two-parent job since he's so mobile.



At 10 months, Ian has 4 teeth (two on the bottom and two on the top). He eats 3 solid food meals a day, and drinks 4 6 oz bottles of formula. Tomorrow he will start eating "school lunch" since his teacher Ms. Stephanie says he's been very hungry during the day and needs more food. He's not very interested in table food just yet, but it will be interesting to see how he does with some more interesting selections - today the kids ate pasta primavera.

Most of Ian's clothes are size 6-12 months now, and his Carter's 9 month clothes are getting pretty snug.

Next week Ian will take his first plane ride to visit his Grandma and Grandpa and aunts and uncles and cousins in St. Louis. He is very excited to snuggle with Grandma and swim in Aunt Janet's pool!

As for mobility, Ian is all over the place. He's a very fast crawler, and will cruise around on the furniture and climb onto anything that's low enough. His teachers say he is even learning to jump. He is learning to walk slowly with his push toys, but hasn't been brave enough to stand or take any steps on his own just yet.

Days 15-18: Finishing

We're getting close to the end now - finally! The crew has been working hard on the finishing details this week, and the final inspection happened Friday. Unfortunately we didn't pass, but it turns out the inspector had a different version of the plans than what was agreed to by the engineer who issued the permit. So, it failed on a technicality and the issue should be resolved without another inspection required.

There is still a lot of finishing work to be done, but they promised me repeatedly that they would be finished, cleaned up, and cleared out by the end of the day Saturday (May 15th) but I'll believe that when I see it. I'm meeting with the electrician today to install the lighting and fans so that's the last big hurdle, and we're hoping to have the dogs back Sunday.

Walking

Ian is very busy learning to walk these days. He spends most of his playtime cruising around the furniture, and is getting very good with his push toys. He'll be mowing the lawn in no time!