Extended Weekend with the Kunzes 2008, Part III

On the 28th we went to the Coshochton County Fair. Aside from Ian’s Ma making a bit of a bad decision in regards to hopping on a spiny ride with Cousin Connor, all went well. No animals were harmed during the course of the County Fair — except those that were, and they had it coming.

I think this is Ian’s first carousel ride. Good times! See this image larger.

Followed closely thereafter by his second carousel ride! This one with real ponies! See this image larger.

Ian pushed Kaylee’s sharing threshold to her limits by being a typical boy and trying to play with every toy in the joint. The two of them squared off a lot more than I had thought they would, based on the extraordinarily cooperative visits in the past. See this image larger.

Here Kaylee enjoys a brief moment of victory, as Connor reads with Aunt Melanie in the background. See this image larger.

Ian tries the ol’ squatter’s rights tactic. See this image larger.

A true power-struggle, it looks to me like animated character Spongebob Squarepants is involved in the fight somehow. See this image larger.

Generally Ian caved whenever Kaylee wanted something for her own. And we thought it would be better if he didn’t give up so easy; but when he started heavily using the phrase “mine” and kind of open-palm “smooshed” Kaylee in the face, we went back to wishing for peaceful hippie Ian. See this image larger.

Extended Weekend with the Kunzes 2008, Part II

The weekend of the 27th of September continues…

EDIT – Of note, Ian pointed at Ben as he cooked some steaks on the grill and said, very plainly “Ben.”

Grampa Ray and Grandma Barb always want to see pictures of their three grandchildren together. Seems like Ian is always the odd man out when we try to get everybody to hold still. See this image larger.

Kaylee reaches the summit of the swing-set with a cute little smile. See this image larger.

Ian also emerges victorious from a difficult climb that he made look very easy. See this image larger.

Ian and Connor saw eye-to-eye on a lot of tasks this trip, in this particular instance, it was time to get those trucks dirty! See this image larger.

I’m not even sure this one needs a caption. Suffice to say she was taking a bit too long getting through the ladder. But don’t worry, she got him back, eventually. 😉 See this image larger.

Kaylee adjusting Ian’s chapeau. See this image larger.

A smile of thanks… perfect hat placement! See this image larger.

He’s happy to see his cousins, alright, he’s having a blast! Remind me to tell you about just how much he missed them after we got back! See this image larger.

I knew I could trust Connor to be careful with my camera, and once I showed him how it worked, he was off and snapping some great shots! See this image larger.

Here’s one Connor took of his mom, Ian’s Aunt Melanie! See this image larger.

And a very nice shot of Ian’s Ma! See this image larger.

It may not look like it here, but Ian was able to dodge the killer blue potato chip and counter with a deadly snack-shattering headbutt. See this image larger.

The chairs were in the way of shenanigans involving flailing toddlers, so they were removed by the participants prior to injury. See this image larger.

Back to me having the camera here… Ian laughs as his cousins pile onto Kaylee’s bed… See this image larger.

Quick Ian, join them so we have a good shot for Grandpa Ray and Grandma Barb! Perfect! See this image larger.

Extended Weekend With the Kunzes 2008, Part I

On September 27th we arrived at Uncle Ben and Aunt Melanie’s house, some of us exhausted and ready for sleep — some of us rested and prepared to romp with our cousins! Let the pics begin!

Connor shared his trucks and here Ian takes one off-roading… See this image larger.

“Wait I see something over there that would make this truck better.” See this image larger.

And lo’ it could hold a ball, and thus, by Ian logic, it should. See this image larger.

“Strangers in the night… ” See this image larger.

Kaylee and her mom head for the backyard while Ian wonders where everybody’s going… what could be more fun than hauling a ball around in a 4×4? See this image larger.

“Oh my GOD, a swingset!” See this image larger.

“Oh my GOD, a rock wall!” See this image larger.

“Oh my GOD, a slide!” See this image larger.

“…An upside-down kid!” See this image larger.

“…A rope and stick thingy!” See this image larger.

“…Some kind of hanging rubber doughnut chew toys?!?” See this image larger.

“…and grass! This backyard is awesome!” See this image larger.

I’m not even done with the first night yet! More to come!!!

Nighttime Rituals

He said “shirt” tonight, which was pretty awesome. You could sense that he was sounding it out in his mouth. “S… ssirt.” He’ll get the h in there, give him time.

This entry is about bedtime! Well, ok more than just bedtime, but I did notice that the after-dinner Ian moments have been sorely lacking coverage. So here’s some of that!

September 20; to paraphrase a movie Melissa and I saw recently: A Father-To-Be “I wish I could still get that excited about [water.]” Already Father “I wish I could still get that excited about anything.” See this image larger.

Yep, he’s still laughing! I have to wonder just how bitter I’d have ended up without his smile and laugh. See this image larger.

“And this. This knob turns the water… off.” See this image larger.

Following Mama’s opening salvo of sticking-out-tongue faces; Ian does the same, but ups the ante with a double finger point! See this image larger.

He’s been a great boy, of course, but a little bit more rebellion happens every day. Something about this picture has me thinking about the terrible-twos. See this image larger.

Possible caption: “And then I picked up Da’s phone like this, and called my grandparents!” See this image larger.

“Ha-HA! Deftly escaping from two grown adults!!!…” See this image larger.

“…crap.” See this image larger.

They say in parenting magazines that this helps Ian brush his own teeth if he brushes somebody else’s. As the potential for a shared toothbrush is very real in such a scenario, Da does not participate. See this image larger.

But hey apparently it works! See this image larger.

I read Ian a bedtime story. Our favorite line in this one is “AND A KISS FOR MR. BEAAAR.” See this image larger.

The next night, the 21st, Ma reads a different book to Ian. Here he tries to pop bubbles on the page. (I’m not kidding… there’s a game I let him play on my phone where the bubbles look like that.) See this image larger.

Times like this… let me tell you; I thought I knew what awesome meant a long time ago. But this is it. See this image larger.

Here’s that dresser Gpa Dave re-finished… Ian laid his blanket down in there and tried to sleep for a second or two. See this image larger.

Let’s see if you can spot this signal and what it means: He’s put his head on his blanket in a laying down position, but still walks around with it smooshed to his face. (Answer: I’m really, seriously tired.) See this image larger.

Every night Ian clicks the lightswitch off. Melissa and I laughed about the timing on this shot. Literally a 100th of a second later, that light was off. And a few moments later, he was fast asleep. That’s it for now, see ya! See this image larger.

Names and Faces

Ian is able to correctly identify the following classmates from his younger toddler class. (That’s his old class… some of these kids have moved up with him, some have not.)

Miley – (“Miyey” and/or a perfect “Mylee”)
Jacob – (“Cub”)
Gage – (perfectly – “Gayg”)

He’s taken to just calling Melissa “Ma!” and I’m “Da!” I know we all know that I’m not the manliest of men, so it should come as no surprise that I well up with tears sometimes when he comes running to me across the daycare room floor, pointing and shouting “Da! Da! Da!” Just yesterday he saw me through the office window (he was outside) and he excitedly ran to the deck and through the door to meet me inside. It was interesting to see how well he understood where inside and outside of the house mesh up, so to speak.

At the church nursery there was a moment where I set him down in the play area, and he stood shyly for a moment. He looked up at me for guidance. “You’re alright kiddo. We’re going to be back in just a bit. I think there’s some trains over there if you want to play?” And he looked cautious but a bit more brave… and ran over and played with the trains. (He’d been there before — so I don’t know what was up with that. But it was neat to be able to talk him down from being nervous.)

Several grandparents received unintended phone calls from Ian as he played with my cell phone the other day. Sorry about that! 🙂

I know there’s more about talking and learning. He’s been moving so fast in that arena lately that it is hard to keep up!

From Signs to Sentences

It is crazy watching Ian learn — I think he’s focusing a little less on motor skills (which he has in droves already) and is turning his attention toward communication.

Hat, cat, bike, back, book, ball, clock, cat, duck, kitty, door, up, please, cheese, dirt, mama, dada, eyes, socks, (more like “zocks”) nose… I know that’s not everything. He’s said so much, and obviously much of this he’s said before, but you need to hear how very clearly he’s speaking most of these, and there’s a frame of reference. He’s not parroting. He’s correctly naming by pointing, gesturing, or signing.

And add to that list a few sentences now:
“Cat go awayee” (Cat go away) Spoken as a kind of narrative, I guess, he was trying to explain what just happened, that the cat had run from him to hide upstairs. I believe that was on the 13th.

On the 15th, Ian dropped a puff into his high-chair and couldn’t find it. “Ware diyi go?” he asked. (Where did it go?) This one was impressive.

Also of note, about a week ago we asked Ian where he hurt and he pointed to his ears. (I believe that’s passed now based on his recovery, but I truly hope he can keep up communicating about this. Nothing sucks worse than not knowing how to help the poor kid.

Over the last several days, Ian surprised Melissa and I both by pointing at the letter “A” on blocks or in books and saying, again very clearly, “A.” No other letters. Just A.

UPDATE – Ok so tonight, the 19th, we took him out to eat (where he and another little boy a bit older than he made friends) and then over to a bookstore. On the way to the restaurant, we ended up driving west into the setting sun, and from the backseat an irritated Ian exclaimed “Eyes!” Probably his way of saying “hey that’s a little hard on the eyes.” At the restaurant they serve squeeze tubes of yogurt to as part of a kid’s meal, with a picture of a cow on it. Ian points and says “moooo.”

At the bookstore they had a multitude of stuffed animals and other toys. To a stuffed steam engine he said “toot toot!” To a bear he says “Bahr!” To a little girl he said “guhl.” And to Clifford, whom everybody knows is the infamous big red dog? He said something that sounded a whole lot like “Red dog.” (Probably more like “reg gog.”)

Here’s a shot from my iPhone from the bookstore trip, just added in for kicks. See this image larger.

Dresser Drop-Off

Gpa Dave re-finished a dresser/chest that he had when he was a kid… it was also something I grew up with on the weekends at the cottage. He dropped it off on the 10th of September. We also decided to surprise Ian by having both of us pick him up instead of just me. I was pretty much chopped-liver the moment he saw Gpa Dave, and that lasted throughout the evening. I’ll get a picture of Ian and the chest shortly, but for now here’s pics from that day.

This was par the course for the visit. He wanted Gpa Dave to pick him up or be holding him. See this image larger.

When Grampa went out to the truck to get something, Ian had to choose between keeping an eye on the TV and watching where Gpa Dave was headed. This was his middle-of-the-road solution. (Something about the way the carpet matches Ian’s pants, and the wall color matches Ian’s shirt makes this an interesting shot to me.) See this image larger.

“You’re not leaving yet, right?” I think the best part of the visit was Ian’s big smile and speaking the word “cookie” when one was offered to him. See this image larger.

They were making something at daycare that required flour and water to be mixed together… I think Ian ended up using some as mousse. He kinda looks like Kramer from Seinfeld here. See this image larger.

Another shot of the rooster-do. Thanks again for re-finishing and bringing that out, Gpa Dave! (And sorry Ian shared his cold with you yet again… Melissa and I are currently sniffling around the house as well. 🙁 ) See this image larger.

The next day, Melissa went to daycare to pick Ian up and found him waiting by the door with his coat and hat on. Was he hoping for another surprise pick-up? Who can say?

Technical Difficulties

I’m in the process of updating the software that Ian’s blog runs on. It’ll probably look like this mess for awhile, until I have time to figure out what went wrong.

UPDATE – The majority of the issue was with the Twitter/LIVE section of the site that I had pretty much decided to stop using anyway. (There’s no way to save that data!!! That’s no good!) So I removed that for now.

The banners are part of a plug-in that I have off for the moment as part of the upgrading process.

Fall Colors

As Fall 2008 begins to take its toll on our weather, Mama warms Ian up with some brightly colored layers. See this image larger.

Of course all the extra clothing, and colder temperatures slowed Ian down a lot… See this image larger.

…oh wait. No they didn’t. See this image larger.

Never Enough Peek-a-Boo

September 7th, Ian plays peek-a-boo and/or is caught admiring our new deck. See this image larger.

This one gets cuter the longer you look at it. If you don’t see why, look in the lower right hand corner to see who Ian’s looking for… See this image larger.

Not even the chill wind of a pants-free evening can stop Ian from achieving top speed! See this image larger.

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