Ian vs. Smileyface Pancake, Round II

This picture is from the 12th, I took it from inside my office it is included because it is cute. No wait, I can tie this in somehow…. um… “Featherweight Ian Chapman trains with Coach Mommy before the bout.” See this image larger.

On August 13th, 2009, we went to IHOP yet again and Ian ordered the Smileyface Pancake for a rematch.

In this corner, wearing a blue shirt, and a white bib, Ian Chapman. In the opposite corner, wearing nothing but a fruity grin, Smileyface Pancake. See this image larger.

DING! Ian comes out swinging, and immediately tears into Smileyface… he’s hungry for this win! See this image larger.

With cocky determination Ian belittles his competition: *I eat pancakes for breakfast!* See this image larger.

*I’ll wipe that smile off your face. Mmm banana!* See this image larger.

And that’s it folks! Pancake’s coach has thrown in the napkin, the fight is over! (Ian actually ate that whole thing, and then pointed at his plate and asked Mommy to put some of her pancake “right here,” and then he ate that too!) See this image larger.

Think Pink!

Ladies and Gentlemen! The Chapman line has produced many quality young men in its time, but it is time to get over the “boy’s club” mentality and start thinking pink! That’s right, we’re going to have a baby girl sometime in January.

We explained this to Ian last night, and he didn’t seem to care much at the time, but later, on the way to dinner:
“Is not a little boy in mama’s belly… little guh-ul.” His tone was awesome too, it was like he was telling us, and we were slow. He was adamant in his correction.

We only addressed the subject about three times that night, each time saying “little girl.” So I was a little surprised to see him put two and two together as I was recording. Click here to hear the very brief sound-clip.

Someday I might put the audio clip of our reaction on here as well… I had recorded our ultrasound appointment for kicks, and I accidentally kept it on during our giddy post-appointment conversation before Melissa and I went our separate ways to get back to work.

But let’s get on to some ultrasound pictures! Don’t get too freaked out by the imagery, this is just the way ultrasounds work. You end up seeing a “slice.”

Either she’s waving, or she’s trying to tell us that she’s 5 months old. Either way, genius confirmed!

Side view, you can see spine, etc. Head is on the right, looking up.

Ok, so imagine you’re holding the baby at arms length, and her entire body is facing you. Now imagine her in the fetal position. That’s what we’re looking at here. Her head is looking down, so we’re in turn looking down across the bridge of her nose. You can see the umbilical cord there, as well.

Baby lying on her back. The legs are on the left, bent at the knee. One arm is in foreground but the “depth” of the camera is too shallow to get fingers for this shot. Right arm is in background. Her head is NOT fully in the picture, because other bits were in the way… so the technician trimmed the photo to show only the baby parts. So you’re really just seeing her face, looking to the left, back to her ear.

We’re looking straight at the baby’s face here. You can see lips, very nicely in the center bottom… her nose obviously above that. Her eyes look a little strange, but you can almost see better if you sort of squint at them. Imagine eyes shut, the darker lines looking almost like eyelashes, and you might see things better. You can also see her right arm up to the hand, and her left arm where it tucks behind a part of the placenta.

I have a few more shots of her feet and stuff, but I figured this is what everybody wanted to see. I counted 10 toes and 10 fingers!

PS – I was having some odd body aches recently that turned out to be purely muscular in origin. Unfortunately the placement of said aches (left arm and chest) scared us all into thinking I was having heart issues. I’m writing this to let everybody know that I’m fine. Going in for a full physical in a month.

Fawn Island August 2009 Trip, Part I

THIS JUST IN: This morning, August 15th, Ian produced a #2 in the standard potty, with a potty seat for toddlers in between he and it. We’re so proud! One small squat for Ian, one giant leap for potty-training progress.

Last weekend’s trip to Fawn Island started with us packing up quickly, scooting out the door right at 5:00 and thinking we were going to make great time… but we hit traffic immediately. We ended up getting our food to go from Arby’s and eating while driving. Ian found this concept to be fairly uninteresting until Melissa offered him a vitamin with his dinner. Somehow a vitamin in the car crossed a line. As we zipped through Brighton, we spotted a hot air balloon. Ian was fascinated as it hovered on the horizon… we were even more surprised that it ended up directly above us, no more than 150 feet above our heads. For miles afterwards it was “Where’d tha balloon go, Mommy?”

Grampa Dave met us over on shore, but thousands of mosquitoes beat him to the punch; I think next time we’ll slather Ian (and ourselves) in our citronella sunscreen — we applied it as we waited, but next time we’ll remember to do it sooner. And I’ll wear pants instead of shorts. It is funny though that both times we’ve met with the onslaught of insects, we get maybe one or two bites each, tops. Perhaps we’re the wrong blood-types.

Grandma Marcia and Elmo say hello to Ian on Saturday, August 8th! See this image larger.

Found his toys! See this image larger.

Ian leads Grampa Dave on a cookie hunt… See this image larger.

Like any smart hunting party leader, Ian sends his partner ahead to deal with any traps while cautiously observing from a distance — like behind the safety of a kitchen counter, for example. See this image larger.

And then ducks into the frame just as a photo of victory is snapped! See this image larger.

Enjoying some of the evening’s cookie-hunt spoils. (Thanks Grampa Dave for the help, and Grandma Marica for the delicious cookies!) See this image larger.

Somebody’s packin’ a baby! See this image larger.

On Saturday and on into the wee hours of the night, a vicious storm rolled in. You could see on the map that it was a line crossing Michigan like a shoulder belt, from Rockford to Marine City. I’ve heard lightning hit pretty close before, so I’m aware of the kind of clap it can produce when it strikes nearby… but amongst the typical rumbles and crunches, there was one that was closer and louder than anything I’ve heard from Mother Nature. It was one single snap or crack, like from a whip, amplified 100 times. It scared me right out of bed, but Ian slept through it just fine.

Sunday morning, and we’re having fun with the doggie! See this image larger.

Me too! 🙂 See this image larger.

Ian stayed up through nap-time, and when it was finally time to go, he conked out very quickly. This is us waiting in line at the ferry to get home! See this image larger.

Since this visit Ian has been very Grampa Dave-centric. For example on Wednesday the 12th, Ian gave out these incredible hugs, the kind where little arms fully circle your neck, like a scarf, and pull in tight. He gave one to Mommy, then one to me. Then he said something about Grampa Dave… it was either “hug like Grampa Dave” or “hug for Grampa Dave.” He circled the living room to see if he could find him and then turned to me and said “YOU’RE Grampa Dave” as if to say that I could stand-in for him while he’s away. Ian gave me another huge hug and then said, very plainly “I love you, Grampa Dave.” It was hilarious, and sweet.

Other Stuff

Let it be known that last week, not only did Ian use the child potty again, but he USED the child potty. By which I mean, rather than simply christen it with a sprinkle and a dash, he peed at least one diaper-full like nobody’s business. And yet again, this morning, after I dressed him and fed him breakfast, he told Mommy that he needed to go, marched up the stairs, got out the potty, and did his thing. We’re so proud!

Before I forget to tell everybody, the ultrasound was delayed a week due to equipment failure. Next Wednesday let you know what we find out!

Here’s some more Ian stories:

Me – “Ian did you know that my bicycle tires are full of air, just like your swimming pool?”
Ian – “Oh my gosh!”

Ian told Melissa that Seth is “my kitty and Daddy’s kitty, not Momma’s kitty.”

I got out the train tent for Ian at one point on Monday and Ian said “Well thank you Daddy. I’m happy.”

Some recent pics:
Just wanted to try out a couple of hats while we were at Target. I’m sure nobody with lice has touched these, right? What do you think of this look, Ian? “Flannel Polka.” See this image larger.

“The Engineer.” See this image larger.

The Update Before the Update

Lots to tell you about the weekend and recent events… I’ll do that shortly! Wanted to share a little snippet of the videos I got this weekend right off the bat because I thought this one was pretty neat. It is 5.5MB, and features just part of a boat ride on Sunday.

I’ll call this one Change of Heart… click here to view it.

Dun Dun DUUUUUUUUN!!!

Here’s a little more information on this video: There’s a thing going around on the internet called a “me-me” or “meme.” A meme is more or less a running joke. One example would be being “rickrolled” that’s when you send somebody a link claiming that it will have important information, and instead it leads to a video of the 80’s pop tune “Never Gunna Give You Up” by Rick Astley. Another example would be the infamous keyboard cat.

Recently a slew of videos with a dramatic animal or person have begun appearing on youTube. I mention all of this because I think Ian’s video here would fall nicely in line with some of these other videos that star other dramatic scenes.

Dramatic Dog
Dramatic Prairie Dog
Dramatic Cat
Dramatic McCain

Here’s a video of Ian being a little on the dramatic side only a few days ago… This is a pretty short video, 1.5MB in size.

Click here to see the video.

Situation Normal

Hi all! Just wanted to give you a quick update after the doctor’s appointment, and throw some pictures your way as well.

The appointment went well, things still looking pretty normal. We got the results back from a test as well; let me explain it in very simple terms — it looks for red flags. It found no red flags. So we’re in about the same shape as any other set of parents at this point. Heartbeat was down in the 135 range — Dr. Jill told us that slower is supposed to mean a boy; which is the opposite of what somebody else told us. Whatever! Ultrasound next week, on Wednesday, I’ll give another update at that point, and post some pics if possible.

On to Ian news, and the weather.
Ian enjoys his new “big boy” sized mattress. He’s still only about 6 inches off the ground, however, just a mattress right on the carpet. Picture taken on the 31st of July. See this image larger.

The fourth of August and Mommy gives Ian another bath. It would be funny to see all of his bathtub pics in one spot, now that I think about it. See this image larger.

Tickles a little, doesn’t it? See this image larger.

He’s such a character! See this image larger.

We asked you not to drink the bathwater, son. See this image larger.

If only he’d open his mouth that wide when Mommy’s trying to brush his teeth, sigh. See this image larger.

Helping with the rinse cycle. See this image larger.

Adorable troublemaker. See this image larger.

Updates Soon

News slowed down this last week a little bit. I’m making myself a to-do list of things to write about at this point, just in case, but Ian hasn’t really done much “blog-worthy.”

We’re doing another cottage trip this weekend, so I’m going to try to squeeze an update or two in before we leave on Friday. (Also doctor’s appointment on Friday, FYI, to listen in on Bun#2.)

Incoming:
• More Bath-Time Pics
• Sleepin’ on a Big Boy Bed!
• Video of 2nd Trip to Playworld
• Video of Dramatic Ian
• Video of Ian Singing/Drumming

I see now that it isn’t a lack of things that have happened so much as a lack of effort on my part getting these things on the blog!!! I guess I better get my butt in gear!

Dialogue

Ian continues to astound with his growing vocabulary!

Ian – (Watching Daddy vacuum for a moment) “Clean the floor and pick-up dirt!”
Me – “That’s pretty impressive, kiddo, you’re very smart, you know?”
Ian – “I know, Daddy.”
Me – “That’s even MORE impressive.”

We were singing a number of songs, which we got on video, hopefully on the site here in a couple of days. At the end of each song I’d say “What’s another song?” and Melissa would name a song, and we’d sing it. Later, Ian started singing again, and got to the end of the song… but did not get the same response from us; so he helped me fill it in:
Ian – “Ask me ‘whas anudder song!'”
Me – “What’s another song?”
Ian – “How ’bout ‘Row Your Boat?'” (begins singing)

I’ve got another video where Ian talks to the “baby” in my fat belly, just to be funny. But he did also talk to the real baby in Melissa’s belly…

Ian – “Thar’s the baby. That’s my bwotha in thar.” (No we don’t know the sex of the baby yet…)

Ian – “Bwotha or sister, I wanna boy.” (There was a point where Ian would repeat back whatever the second part of any choice… so if you said “Boy or girl?” He’d say “Girl.” If you said “Girl or boy?” He’d say “Boy.” But I think he’s leaning toward wanting a little brother these days… well, that or he knows in a way that modern medicine cannot. Hey, weird things happen.)

I’m working on DVD4… after my first round of edits it is over 2 hours long. The DVD’s I’ve made so far averaged about 40 minutes in length. To be fair, DVD4 covers Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas and Ian’s first birthday, so there’s a million pictures and lots of video footage to contend with.

Baseball Rules

I think the segment of the video from Fawn Island with the cookie finally starts to shed a little light on what living with Ian has been like lately in terms of communication. There is banter. And although each sentence may not make sense, I can almost always see what he’s going for, because he’s frankly very good at expressing himself. (Sometimes maybe a little too good.)

Anyway, here’s a big ol’ video again, this one has some great bits to it, and I’ve provided subtitles.

Click here to see the video.

One quick note: Hard to see because of the compression in the video, but Ian hands his mommy a flower there at the end, and his face is priceless when he turns around with a proud smile… but again, hard to make out at this size/quality.

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