Ian’s 5th Birthday Party!
By that title I mean that it is for his fifth birthday, not that he’s had five parties. Although… come to think of it… 😉
First and foremost I want to thank my awesome and incredible wife for putting everything that you’re about to see together. She came up with her own ideas, she looked some up on the internet, she adapted, she constructed, she worked VERY hard on this… And it went great! Here’s a peek at all that went down on January 28th!
Nina, lost in a land of giants! See this image larger.
Brandon’s son Max brought an iPad, and he was all the more popular with the kids as a result, as you’ll see later…
Natalie, Max and Rowen on the couch… that’s one of Grant & Zoe’s daughters, Brandon’s son, and Elena and Scott’s daughter.
The theme was Batman! And Mommy made masks and capes for everybody to decorate! (And the kids did so, however the drying time on the various glitter pens meant they couldn’t wear them immediately.) See this image larger.
Action pose! See this image larger.
Aaron and Clara’s sons Jake and Brendan asked Nina for some tea, she was all too happy to comply! See this image larger.
Seems like I couldn’t get a shot of Ian that day without a heroic pose! But that’s the way we wanted the day! See this image larger.
One of MANY games that Melissa made for the kids. (Muno lends a hand as the “line” the kids could not go past, in this coin-tossing game.)
This is Brendan from next door!
And his little brother Jake! (I recently asked Ian if he liked the haircut on these guys and he said yes… so this spring, I’m going to town with the trimmers!)
On the left is a friend of Ian’s from school! He was shy at first but warmed up eventually. Nina the two-fisted drinker makes her way to the next activity… See this image larger.
Mommy distributes paper to make paper airplanes for another fun game! (Our neighbor Aaron is the guy with the hat, there!)
*See how I made mine?*
This was a game about wiggling all around while the music was playing…
…and then stopping in a super hero action pose when the music stopped! I’m pretty fond of Nina’s here. She’s a little toughie, that one! See this image larger.
Momentary chaos…
Silly string attack!
Would a Batman-themed birthday party be complete without a Batman cake?
Ah, the perils of blue icing! See this image larger.
*I do get some of this cake, right?* See this image larger.
Brendon with some much-needed sugar boosting. See this image larger.
Max, the frosting vampire. See this image larger.
The opening of the presents! See this image larger.
Some of the coolest guys I know, and amongst the closest of my friends. We don’t get together nearly enough. Left to right that’s Elena’s husband Scott, Martin, myself, Brandon, and Grant… everybody but Scott is a Square One Design alumni.
More presents and some goody-bags! Elena and Scott’s newest is the baby on the left there, named Jimmy!
Nina plays with the big boys!
In Ian’s room, checking out the iPad. They were watching a puppy show called Kipper! The cute blondie on the right and his brother in “13” belong to Martin and Melissa. Their names are Isaac and Levi… Isaac is the older one. See this image larger.
Zoe insisted on taking this picture, and I’m very glad she did! Wow, what a day, thank you so much Sweetie! Ian can’t wait to turn 6 so he can do it all over again! See this image larger.
This shot was from January 21st… just didn’t include it at the time, but Ian got some ice cream at “the pizza store.” 
January 23rd. You’re looking at the kind of sketches I showed Ian prior to the sign he made for Mommy’s birthday. I showed him what a cylinder was, and how one made a cake, and one could make a candle.
I made a couple spots here and there so he could “follow the dots,” and the lines under the letters… he did the rest! I got very frustrated with him here and there, but it was worth the success; at least I can say that. I hope he feels the same, and I know Mommy was very proud. 
My lil boy, growin’ up quick! 
Ian and I still goofy! 
Still January 25th, We let Nina open a present for her birthday this night so that we could separate her b-day from Christmas! 
Muno gets a stroller ride! 
On January 22nd we got a visit from Grampa Dave and Gramma Marcia to celebrate a few b-days! Ian was thrilled to get a visit for his big day, and a really cool b-day present to open! 
That’s a good smile, thanks buddy! Nina says *Comin’ through!* 
It was also a good day to celebrate Nina’s birthday, so she got a present too! (This worked out well!) 
Ian was off on an adventure in the sunroom while Nina checked out all the cool features of her new zoo!
The Millenium Falcon lands briefly on the planet Couch, whose local inhabitants are a race of furry square-shaped creatures called Pillahs who worship their god, Blankett — who keeps them safe, warm and covered in times of great need. 
Ian poses with Grampa Dave! Thanks for the sweet spaceship! 🙂 
Nina running full tilt! 
Grandma Marcia and Nina, both sweet ladies, share a little giggle! 
At a local restaurant, Nina snuggled right into Grampa Dave’s chest while we waited for the buzzer/pager to go off in Ian’s hands to sit and eat. 
Ian discarded his fork – which was not shoveling cake into his mouth nearly fast enough. 
Some of the cake crashed like a car into his face, instead of making it into the tunnel.
These are “floor buffing” pajamas; the more she rolls around, the smoother the floor gets… by the end of the night she’s covered in cheerios and cat-hair. 
Nina and Grandma Marcia play a fun game while putting together puzzles! Thank you both for the great gifts and taking us out to dinner! We had a blast and everybody is looking forward to seeing you again soon! 
January 9th, and somebody is having a bad hair day! 
January 16th, Nina carefully placed this wash cloth down first before replacing her bowl. 
January 21st, Ian’s actual calendar birthday, not to be confused with other birthday celebrations coming up in the blog shortly… here Ian’s spokesmodel training continues as he introduces us to rocket-cake. (Actually he’s asking why it isn’t Batman-themed, given that he’s chosen Batman as the theme of his birthday party, which was a week later.) 
Opening presents, one of Ian’s gifts was bubbles! 
Motorcycle! 
A Lego boat that will go well with his Lego ship… (See the ship on the table?) 
I know this looks like he’s wondering what the heck was Gramma Sue thinking by sending this but he’s actually in the middle of saying, roughly: “Well, SOMEBODY understood the Batman theme, see?” We had to keep explaining to him that the party on the 28th is a different sort of situation. *Shrug.* 
Aunt Mel, Uncle Ben, Cousins Connor and Kaylee got Ian a New York Giants football, which brought a sparkle to my eye. 
It’ll be fun to throw this back and forth in the summer, and simultaneously give a nod to the in-laws for helping us get the kids into sports while getting a nod from Uncle Chris about what he surely would have called “bringing Ian up right” regarding the Giants. 🙂 
I surely have no idea how this post-it note ended up on Ian’s back, but it stayed all day. 
Nina after a brief nap… 
…and some ponytails. 
Buying him birthday gifts was hard this year for some reason. I ended up pacing the aisles not finding anything at first, and then suddenly having too much and not knowing what to get. The day I was at the store it started snowing ridiculously — special thanks to Mommy for the phone support because I was not going to make up my mind alone. (Those of you thinking “Pfft. Melissa wasn’t at the store?” just stay tuned and see everything she put together by herself for Ian’s party!) 
Ok so we wanted the ramp to sort of level out, so I built a small lifter, which is the flat part to the left that has table-like legs. Ian added the support which is the purple and red part… LOOK AT THAT. It even tapers toward the end! I couldn’t have made that better myself! 
Happy birthday, big boy! You’ll always be my favorite son! Thank you everybody for your kind gifts! 
One last image from 2011, Nina takes a sip from a juice box all by herself at a restaurant on the way home to Michigan. The kids were great the whole drive, and we didn’t use the iPads at all during the trip home.
Back at home on January 3rd, here comes Ian the chef! (If you’re wondering, we ended up at our new neighbor’s for New Year’s Eve and had a darn good time. Weird to be the oldest people at a party though. :-\ )
Chef Ian prepares a culinary masterpiece with his assistant, Nina! 
Nina’s second haircut! 
Not sure you’re aware, the gifts were frankincense, myrrh and COOOOKEEEES. 
January 8th, Melissa, Ian, Nina and I met with Phil Oosterhouse, his wife Joyce and son Vonn at an Ihop. We had good long conversations. If Phil lived closer I think all of us would hang out a lot. 
And here’s Vonn! 
Nina and Mommy at the grocery store… Nina looked so cute, but it was hard to get the cuteness on film. 
Untying her own shoes. She’s great at all of the standard stuff now… can take off her shoes and coat. She knows the drill, like you wouldn’t believe! You just say “We’re leavin’ now…” and off she goes. She might not be able to make each and every detail happen, but she’s willing to help, which is fantastic! 