I do remember now on of the other recent instances of Ian’s improving communications… I asked him how his day went, and he actually told me about something that I hadn’t seen with my own eyes. You know up until recently you could ask him specific questions, and get yes/no/good/bad answers, if he understood the question. In this case Melissa had told me that they had been on a picnic at school, and so I asked him to tell me how it went. He told me that Miley fell off the table and fell on her head, in almost perfect English. Melissa told me the same story earlier, so I knew it to be true. Neat to be able to have him tell me something like that.

Today is Father’s Day, and I’m going to see a movie tonight with Melissa! I want to thank everybody for their cards as well, and wish Grampa Dave, Grampa Ray and Uncle Ben a happy Father’s Day!

Here’s how the Dinosaur exhibit ended up…

Ian and Isaac found their way to the top of a treehouse in the exhibit almost immediately. See this image larger.

And here’s the bottom half of the same treehouse! There they go smiling and running again — at least Ian’s tongue is in his mouth this time! See this image larger.

A smaller relative of the carnivorous T-Rex, the Crappantsasaurus* never-the-less scared the beejeezus out of Ian for a few moments. He didn’t freak out too bad at all, even though it was a mechanically animated model and moved on to the next area. *There is no such dinosaur name, but I didn’t take notes, so it has a new name. See this image larger.

Still an occasional look back over one’s shoulder to make sure the Crappantsasaurus has not closed any distance is advisable. See this image larger.

Here they had a metal skeleton rigged with various air compressors and motors set up to be animated by the simple press of a few buttons. Ian appears to be wondering if he could animate this right out the door, and down the street. See this image larger.

Isaac shows Ian how the puppets can surprise, Ian shows Isaac what a surprised Ian looks like. See this image larger.

After Mommy shows Ian the cool puppet theater, Ian puts on a brief show for Daddy. As the drama unfolded, the Triceratops did not win; it is a herbivore. See this image larger.

Mommy recycling. When I saw this happening, a quick picture seemed appropriate! See this image larger.

It was around this time that paleontologists Ian Dangerguy and Isaac Beastmaster showed up at the scene. See this image larger.

A brief picture of our half of the excursion, backdrop by the stegosauruses. See this image larger.

And then it was off to run s’more! See this image larger.

A ride on the carousel, one of the very few hand-carved versions left, and then it was time to head for the door. See this image larger.

On the way out, one last ride on the old car with Isaac. Good times, Schoenborns! See this image larger.

The day after Melissa got home Ian actually asked her where I was, so ingrained was our morning ritual, I guess! After about two hours of her being around, he went back to being a complete mama’s boy again.

I woke up a few mornings ago to “Wake up Daddy, get pants on!” (PJ’s weren’t good enough, apparently.)

Also have heard some other good ones lately. If I haven’t already mentioned it, he’ll tell you he lives on “Hylender Driveway” (which is close…) We also have a game where we pretend to not be able to find the house and ask him if any of the houses nearby is Ian’s house… and inevitably find it right where we left it.

Ian has this new thing, that we’re still trying to determine the origin of. He gestures in a very dramatic fashion, wrists upturned, palms flipped open pleadingly and arms sort of waving outwards to emphasize the words: “That’s not a car.” No idea, but it is funny to see.

He can sing a smattering of songs by now, of course: the alphabet, twinkle twinkle, row row your boat, rockabye baby, and a few I don’t know anything about. One of them involves “hurry” repeatedly the word firetruck and “ding ding ding” and has several steps, including “spray the hoses.” He also sings a song that goes something like “I squished a baby bumble bee, won’t my mommy be so proud of me, I squished a baby bumble bee, OUCH, it stung me!” Any of the various musical DVDs or CDs that we own get a bit of accompaniment, in the form of a warbling, slightly difficult to understand two year old. He’s so awesome!

This shot was taken earlier in the day before Melissa got back on June 10th. Ian and I ran around the Rockford Dam area a bit. See this image larger.

On June 11th the three of us went to Target, and this toy caught my eye. Inflatable Tee, inflatable baseball, and a plastic baseball bat where the actual hitting surface is inflatable as well. See this image larger.

He LOVED it immediately. Look at that focus… I think I see a little kung fu going on here. See this image larger.

Here he hits a line drive right at the camera. See this image larger.

That ball never had a chance, did it Ian? See this image larger.

Ian looks out into the stands, choosing the ball’s destination. See this image larger.

Seventh-Inning Stretch! See this image larger.

10:01pm Added some pictures, below. Ian was alright kinda tonight… I guess we have our ups and downs. We probably would have been ok if we hadn’t tried to squeeze a bath in — plus I think we’re both tired. Last night he wasn’t sleeping good, probably had to do with the diaper situation outlined in an earlier entry. Speaking of tired, I showed up at my hair appointment today a good twenty-four hours early. Maybe I should get some sleep. Goodnight Sweetie, don’t get used to Texas… come home soon.

I think in this picture I see more of me in him than in any other picture. Figures it would be while he’s being hypnotized by the television. (Alas, Daddy had to cook last night, and needed the distraction. Obviously it worked.) See this image larger.

This was actually taken on the fifth, but I just downloaded my camera and liked the shot. If I’m frowning it is because it is hard to take a picture with a big heavy camera in this particular position. See this image larger.

Each of the males in the Chapman house deals with Mommy’s absence in our own special way. Here the kitty simply gives up, sobbing in the corner. See this image larger.

This was taken today, Ian decided he was driving. He started the car, all by himself. I’m serious. Luckily you have to have your foot on the brake as well to get the car to start in such a way that you can actually move. See this image larger.

“A penny! My penny!” he said, and then inserted it into Melissa’s car’s air vent. Again I’m not kidding. I was able to get it back out with my thumb after saying “Noooooooooooo.” See this image larger.

Also today, after dinner Ian watched Elmo’s Potty Time DVD with rapt attention. (And it turns out he tried the potty today!!! Twice!!!) See this image larger.

I’m not sure who he has seen exhibiting such a behavior. See this image larger.

I bought Ian a map a few days ago that is laminated… so then I made these little stickers for us to place on the map so he can see where people live. The arrows are in different corners so I can fit everybody on the map… (And also to make it so that people living in the same spot have arrows that meet there.) So far the results are a little mixed… he just seems to want to move people around. Grandma Barb, if you somehow find yourself transported to Missouri, I apologize for the inconvenience — just grab some souvenirs and hold on, you should be back in Florida shortly. 😉 See this image larger.

8:58am We got to breakfast in time this morning miraculously… there was one yellow light along the way that I pushed Mommy’s car through after making sure it was very clear. From the back seat I heard “Be careful Daddy.” And I blushed and slowed down.

Dropoff was almost too easy this morning… breakfast was being wheeled down the hall as we got there, Ian hopped behind the wheel of a firetruck, and after I told him several times that I was leaving and would pick him up without a response, I said good-bye to everybody else and left. Ian suddenly noticed I was heading out and waved with a quick “Bye Daddy!”

8:00am Ian had an accident last night of the “front end” variety. Right through his diaper, PJ’s, blankie, that quilt-like thing with the animals on it, and a bit on the sleeping bag like thing under that. @Melissa – I need advice on how to wash the sleeping bag, blankie and quilt, as soon as you read this! (To give it time to dry before he gets home.) (Last night he asked for a water refill, I gave it to him, not knowing he must have drank the whole container after I closed the door.)

He missed you this morning, Sweetie — I don’t want to make you feel guilty, but do want you to know that you are missed.

3:00pm Melissa is doing a couple of last minute things before she goes. The departure time for this flight will at least allow Ian to say good-bye to his Mommy before she gets on the plane.

It is weird how this works. When she’s gone, she’s gone so suddenly. And while I know I could probably help Melissa more than I do, it really becomes apparent when you’re on your own just how much an extra set of arms can help, let alone actual you know… thoughtful assistance; which I like to think is the least I provide, but who knows.

5:13pm Ian was a little sad at first, pretty much asking me to turn around and get Mommy.

8:44pm hehe little guy didn’t allow me much time to update. I know Melissa made it safely to Detroit, and that the plane is en route to the SAT airport.

Ian was fine until I told him we were headed to bed, and then his attitude kicked in big time, right around the same time as my patience ended. I think I gave him his first in-bedroom timeout after the second round of spitting while brushing his teeth. It is a shame too because he was a complete angel over dinner, and we had a great time at the park this afternoon after dropping Mommy off at the airport.

By the way there’s a great site out there for people tracking flights… I typed in Northwest 316 into google and the site actually shows the flight’s status IN the google results… so no additional clicks to go to their actual site… the answers are RIGHT THERE in the Google results, it tells you if the flight is on time, etc. If you actually DO click the link to check out their site, it shows you where the flight is currently (10:49pm EST shows her flight just east of Austin Texas, and landing pretty soon.) and you can track the flight in real-time, which refreshes the map every few minutes, showing progress. Very cool site if you’re as much of a worry wart as I am.

I really need to get my own temper under control. Ian pressed my buttons tonight, and I got very angry with him. I think it is because it is immediately obvious that he’s doing whatever it is precisely to press my buttons that I get so agitated. He’ll hit something, I’ll say don’t do that, and he does it again while looking at me with a big “oh yeah?” look on his face. Sigh.

I’ll put some pictures up tomorrow night, I think I’m going to go to bed early tonight. Melissa if you’re reading this, I love you, I miss you, sweet dreams.

These pictures are from our trip on Friday… for a little treat Melissa and I picked up Ian together, and took him to the park, and then out to eat. He seemed extremely happy about everything, starting the the dual-pick-up.

Still a little guy in a big, big world. See this image larger.

“Does ANYBODY in this park know how to drive a playground?!?!?” See this image larger.

If Ian looks a little perturbed here it is because he had to stop playing… See this image larger.

Weeee!!! Love Ian’s little lop-sided Indiana Jones-esque smile! See this image larger.

Kisses for Mommy… we miss you. See this image larger.

Look at that concentration… he was too afraid to go down this slide just a month or so ago… and wait til you see what he can do now… See this image larger.

I get by with a little help from my Mommy! See this image larger.

Look at that poise! See this image larger.

Mommy found a turtle, and taught Ian not to be afraid. See this image larger.

“Bye bye turtle!” See this image larger.

I think there’s maybe a little philosophy going on here, when I watch this in motion… if you think of the slide as life, it thrills me to see Ian get a little smile on his face as he speeds through it.

When we went out to eat, Ian did a pretty good job with a true cup, lid and straw. Look at him. How old does he look there, four or five? See this image larger.

I haven’t had a real Monday with Ian in a long time… can’t wait until next week! See this image larger.

On the 30th we went to the Children’s Museum, where a “Blue Man Group” exhibit was in place. Ian’s first interest right out of the gate was the ramp that you can roll golf-balls down and it rings some bells. I’ve got video of that I think… Grampa Ray found some fun stuff to do as well! See this image larger.

I’m not even sure who had more fun, come to think of it! See this image larger.

Ian and Grampa Ray filled this exhibit up with balls and then released them in a big flood! See this image larger.

Trains, you bet those were fun! (Just to remind myself, a mother in the near area threatened her daughter with the choice of playing or getting a spanking. Unique parenting for the win.) See this image larger.

Ian impressed us all with his ability to play “Happy Birthday.” I’m kidding. See this image larger.

Ian loved the bubbles, of course! And the rest of us had fun as well!

Turns out you could use the big bubble makers like a normal bubble wand and blow, or just kind of pull and twist to make great big bubbles! See this image larger.

If Mommy looks a little tired here it is because that evening Ian ran us around the Rockford Dam area for a good long time. See this image larger.

You can tell Ian’s batteries are fully recharged! See this image larger.

Reaching for Grampa Ray’s hand to get ahead of the group! See this image larger.

A quick milk break, then off to more adventure! See this image larger.

Grandma Barb and Grampa Ray enjoy a rare break in the action and the scenic vista! See this image larger.

And then out to eat, before bedtime… thanks for the fun day! See this image larger.