Mario Iandretti

Being a bad Da takes practice and excuses. Ian has always imitated my car’s engine while we’ve been in the car, and made the same noise with his little toy cars… he always tries to get in the driver’s seat when I pick him up from daycare and don’t directly place him in the baby seat. So… I figured he should see what a car handles like the safest way I know how… video games.

This is his first time on the Xbox360, particularly the wheel peripheral. It’s pretty early in the morning, so forgive my disheveled appearance. See this image larger.

I think everybody that’s seen this picture has fallen in love with it. I’m not sure what it is that’s so appealing. Gpa Dave got an early glance and said he liked the relaxed grip of Ian’s hand on the wheel. I like the anticipation on his face… “This is fun! Oh but there’s a turn coming…” See this image larger.

Overall he had fun, but his interest did not last long. And that’s probably a good reaction if you ask me. I don’t want to get him too attached to games, but it is something I do as a hobby, and I’d like him to at least understand why his Da likes them. See this image larger.

We decided to let Ma give it a try with Ian too, just for kicks. It was funny how he picked up the wheel with one hand, looked at me as cute as he could, and pointed to the blank television screen saying “Curz?” (“Cars?”) See this image larger.

Such focus! See this image larger.

And a round of applause at the end of the race for our brave champion! See this image larger.

The Incident (and other stories)

Here’s a little something I call “the incident.” It occurred on November 11th… I happened to catch this on audio, but it doesn’t do it justice without a transcript and a bit more narration… Click here to hear the clip. And here’s what you’ll be hearing –

Ian – “Mommy!” “Naaa.” (Ian hits Mama, not accidentally, but not quite realizing the ramifications of what he has done until she looks at him.)

Ma corrects Ian, and I do as well… the words of the adults are not the focus here though…

Ian – (His eyes are as big as dinner plates at this point, as the prospect of braving the cruel Michigan winter living out of a Pampers box on the street slowly dawns on him.) “I’m sowwy. Love you. Sowwy. Sowwwwy. “

One other note, unrelated but interesting: Ian wiped his own nose, and then walked over and put the tissue in the trash. Our trash has a lid, but he figured it out, of course. It was impressive on many levels. This was pretty much a one time occurrence, but we’re hoping for more!

Footy pajamas are probably one of life’s most unique pleasures in that they make you feel warm and snuggly just seeing a cute kid wearing them. See this image larger.

Speaking of warm, Ian’s in full winter regalia here, from boots to mittens, and snow pants. Was the 3 minute walk worth the 10 minute battle of suiting up? As long as he’s happy, yes. See this image larger.

Ever wonder how they make those mirror “disco” balls? Just let a 22 month old near a roll of tin foil for 5 seconds. See this image larger.

Da’s B-day

Way back on November 2nd, yours truly got a little older, and had a great time doing it. Truly these are the best years of my life, and despite everything that’s wrong out in the world today, my little world within that world would be hard-pressed to be happier.

I got this for my birthday from Melissa, and it is one of the best gifts I’ve ever received… she took an existing children’s book and glued pictures of Ian and I over the drawings, so that it became about my relationship with Ian. I couldn’t even speak when she gave it to me, it was so nice! See this image larger.

Gramma Marcia was kind enough to lend us her skill and scissors for Ian’s first haircut. It was crazy to see how different he looked so quickly! See this image larger.

Well ok, first he just very quickly looked sad, but he got over it pretty fast, and then — Voila! A more handsome and mature looking lad See this image larger.

Eventually this will go in a more prestigious container, but for now there’s the first snip of hair! See this image larger.

Ian did a few cool things over the course of the weekend, as usual, but the one that stopped everybody in their tracks was when we went out to eat (on my birthday) and Ian suddenly said “Mahsha!” in the parking lot, while looking at Marcia. Nice job, kiddo! For that you can have some ice cream!

This is called an animated gif – I took pictures of Ian eating ice cream at dinner, and kind of stitched them together as a sequence, just like making a flip book. This probably looks like it is sped up, but he attacked that sundae with at least this much vigor.

Thank you to Gpa Dave and Gma Marcia for driving out to see us on my birthday… the idea had been to let Melissa and I have a night out alone, but the truth of the matter was it was a great present to spend my birthday dinner with a bigger chunk of my family. I didn’t want to hear about how much fun those three had that night, I wanted to see!

Random stuff

About a week ago he came out of a nap, but was apparently still tired… I sat down on the couch with Ian in a little bundle. He fell asleep in my arms — and it was as wonderful as when he was an infant, if not more so.

About three days ago (the 5th) Ian took my hat off, played with it a bit, and handed it back to me, saying “Here you go, Daaaddy!” This was a stunner, Melissa and I had to check with each other to make sure we weren’t hearing things.

I left my shoes out of the closet, and Ian said “Bindon!” That’s his word for Brandon, my co-worker who shows up some days at my office — and when he does? You guessed it, he leaves his shoes at the door.

On Monday the 3rd, I poured Ian a bowl of Cheerios in the morning for breakfast. He looked down and announced “Zeros!” The day this was written (the 8th) he had Cheerios for breakfast and it was remarkable to see him handle a bowl half filled with milk and cereal and end up with the vast majority of it in his tummy, all by himself.

He was so sick Monday (the 3rd) night that he was up every 10-15 minutes crying. We ended up letting him sleep in our bed, and he slept much better. No ramifications from that yet. Was funny to hear him meow back at the cat when Seth pulled his usual middle-of-the-night antics.

We came up with a new game where he sits on a blanket and I drag him around a bit on the blanket. We make him sit in the middle of the blanket and pat the place where he should sit while saying “sit.” We shouldn’t have been surprised when he requested playing this game by gathering the blanket from a couch, throwing it on the floor, tapping the middle of it and saying “sit.” See this image larger.

The Many Faces of Bathtime

Sometimes he looks old, sometimes quite young. You’ll see that a lot as we tour The Many Faces of Bathtime! Here we wonder if he’s peeing. See this image larger.

Here we KNOW he’s peeing. See this image larger.

We love this smile. I should probably Photoshop the black-bean skin off of his tooth. See this image larger.

“Pardon me Ma’am, but have you considered this higher-quality baby shampoo? As you can see it gives enhanced lift and body at a price just pennies above your store bought brand.” See this image larger.

Wet! See this image larger.

More wet! See this image larger.

I’m not sure which sort of “classic” comedy actor I’m thinking of, but I see a little of that in this picture. Who am I thinking of? Tim Conway? Gomer Pyle? Clampetts?See this image larger.

His head slipped through the visor with a pop and he giggled, of course. See this image larger.

“Whoa, whoa, is that a CAMERA in here?” See this image larger.

I got about five shots like this, and they were so wonderful it was hard to narrow it down to one… See this image larger.

… or two. Really we’re lucky I have the restraint to not show more than two… See this image larger.

… or three. This one’s my favorite. See this image larger.

Looks a little drunk in this one. See this image larger.

Ma takes a turn getting her hair brushed for a change. See this image larger.

Finally, time for bed! See this image larger.

Robinette’s with the Schoenborns 2008

One of the cider mills that we visited with Grandma Sue during her recent visit is a place we also go to with some very good friends of ours, the Schoenborns! We met them back when Melissa and I worked with Martin at Square One Design, and started a tradition of getting together at the cider mill (a place called Robinettes) once a year in the fall. With Grandma Sue Ian had a lot of fun, and as you can see here, our meet with the Schoenborns on November 1st was a lot of fun as well, particularly compared to last year, when he really didn’t get to do as much… (Click to see!)

Isaac and Ian run through the leaves, with a curiously satisfying “crunch crunch crunch!” See this image larger.

Ian enjoyed garnering the attention of all the children by forming a roadblock across the top of the slide. See this image larger.

Uncharacteristically, he sort of stopped and stared around when he got to the bottom of this tree. See this image larger.

We take the opportunity for a quick self-portrait. Ian takes this opportunity to try and eat a wood chip while his parents are distracted. See this image larger.

Have I said my wife is beautiful this entry yet? No? Well, she is. 🙂 See this image larger.

Anything is twice as safe as long as you’re holding Ma’s hand! See this image larger.

Isaac and Ian prepare to go down the slide together… I smell a photo opportunity! See this image larger.

Ok, both of you go down the slide at the same time… ONE, TWO — IAN! Ah well, maybe next year! Thanks Schoenborns! See this image larger.

Halloween 2008, Part II

In honor of Ian’s quickly approaching “terrible twos” we decided it was permissible for him to wear a Darth Vader costume. He’s the evil villain in Star Wars, of course. See this image larger.

“YOU DARE PROVIDE YOUR LORD VADER WITH A HEALTHY FRUIT-SNACK?” See this image larger.

Doesn’t quite play the part of an evil overlord very well does he? All I see is a happy little boy! See this image larger.

“THE DARK LORD OF THE SITH REQUIRES YOUR ASSISTANCE IN OPENING THIS CONFECTION.” See this image larger.

I’ve learned to stop questioning, and simply enjoy the fact that my wife just gets more and more beautiful. See this image larger.

“LORD VADER COMMANDS YOUR PARENTS TO CONTACT MINE IN REGARDS TO A PLAYDATE, MINNIE MOUSE GIRL. TRIFLE WITH MY EMOTIONS AT YOUR PERIL!” See this image larger.

So ends another Halloween… May the Force be with you. See this image larger.


Click here to hear an mp3 of Ian saying “Trick or Treat!” (It should be noted that he learned this a day or so after Halloween… there was enough repetition as the evening progressed, that he got it eventually, just not quite in time. It was cute the night he figured it out, because he led Mama by the hand and trick or treated around the living room.)

Click here to hear an mp3 of Ian laughing like a vampire. (Grampa Dave and Gramma Marcia got Ian a book that plays a sort of menacing laugh. That plus his weekly exposure to Sesame Street’s Count probably caused this. I love it!)

Halloween 2008, Part I

The first part of Halloween was the day care party, and we decided to have Ian wear the same costume that he wore last year… after all he should fit in it this year, right? (We even thought about the same costume for trick-or-treating, but I wouldn’t let a good photo opportunity pass me by. He’s too cute not to try another one!) See this image larger.

We thought for sure he’d hate the under-the-chin strap hood, but he put up with it just fine. Perhaps seeing the other kids in costume made it more acceptable. See this image larger.

“Pumkin!” See this image larger.

“Excited, Yoda is!” See this image larger.

We visited the bigger kid rooms, and here Ian finds a farm so that we can all make animal noises. See this image larger.

Yoda manned the toy register and played with Ma… “Your change here is. A nice day you have. Come again, you should.” See this image larger.

“NO NO a ten you gave, a TWENTY you DID NOT. CALL A SUPERVISOR, I MUST.” See this image larger.

I fashioned his pumpkin after Ellie from Pocoyo, an elephant character, which can be seen in the circular inset. See this image larger.

Trying to remember what Ian looked like last year in this costume? Here’s a flashback to 2007!

Always Welcome!

I’ve got a lot to tell you, again, because I’ve been so busy. A huge deadline approaches on the 10th, and I only recently got into good enough shape with the project to be able to write about the latest happenings. The good news is that I wrote about 5 entries, and will be doling them out over the next week, so check back often!

On October 26th Grampa Dave and Gramma Marcia dropped by to get a look at their grandson again and see how he’d grown. And boy has he! Here we discover that he’s as tall upside-down. See this image larger.

They got us this cool book that is hollowed out for candy, and a witch voice chimes in with a comment when you lift the cover. Ian experiments with it here, wondering where the voice is coming from. See this image larger.

This is a combination of two different images that were fairly close in composition. I love all the smiles together, couldn’t help myself! See this image larger.

This is a photo of our new band, “Wall of Noise.” That’s Daran “the shaker” Chapman on maracas and Ian “mad skillz” Chapman on the drums. See this image larger.

We invented a game where the ball keeps going back and forth on the curved surfaces of the mats. I think Gpa Dave probably came up with that, I’m guessing. See this image larger.

Ian impressed Gpa Dave with such words as “skwaar” and “courcull” for square and circle. See this image larger.

If Ian looks happy to say good-bye here it is only because Da and Ma asked Gpa Dave and Gma Marcia to please return in a week on Da’s birthday, and they agreed! See this image larger.

Another note about this visit that was hilarious. Ian pulled his blanket comfortably onto a reclining Ma, and patted the blanket reassuringly… “Night, night” he said. So funny!

Farewell Ada

Jerry’s recent passing made it very apparent that just because you know something painful is coming, that doesn’t make it any less painful when it hits. Just because people may tell you somebody’s passing could be seen as merciful, you’ve still lost someone, regardless. Such is the case also with Grandma Marcia’s mom Ada who passed away last night. When I talked to Marcia this morning she mentioned how the world keeps right on spinning, and I agree, but quietly we often wonder if it should.

I’ve always felt a little distanced from Marcia’s parents, and I’m not sure why it turned out that way, it just did; but I can say with certainty that Marcia loved them both very much, and that she has reason to grieve (and feel 1,000 other emotions) even if the world does keep right on spinning.

We’re here for you Grandma Marcia, let us know how we can help!


Here’s an image of Ada holding Ian at his baptism, with the widest smile I’d ever seen on her face.

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