Attack of the Cousins! (Part IV)

Saturday afternoon continues… when we last left them, our daring trio had made their way through plants and water… where to next?

Next we made our way to a sculpture that included some cool fountains you could interact with. But Ian missed them entirely, at least at first. Why? One word: B-A-L-L. See this image larger.

The young’ns start exploring, the adults watch from a safe distance. See this image larger.

I’ve got about 20 shots like this, looking for the perfect one; this is about as close as I got. He enjoyed this a lot. See this image larger.

A quick rest, and then off to more exploring! See this image larger.

Kaylee checks out a mobile exhibit about worms. Her face says it all! “Pfft. Not scared. Right, Mama?” See this image larger.

Up in the tree-fort, Ian’s posture again says it all. He’s smiling happily, and turning on the charm, and he’s almost tip-toing he’s being so careful. What could inspire him to such a state? See this image larger.

This girl with the glasses! He kept track of her for awhile, always peeking from around corners in a coy fashion. See this image larger.

Connor jogs through the tree fort as well, because he knows his favorite part of the trip is next! Excavation time! See this image larger.

At the base of a flat area of sand, they have cement markers that have the shapes of dinosaur bones in them. The kids all gather round to dig them up, and a volunteer comes along and buries them again. Fun stuff! See this image larger.

There’s a boy with a smile that can only be interpreted one way: “I ate enough of this stuff to crap a whole sand castle.” See this image larger.

This shot included because Dada likes artsy cropped images. See this image larger.

She’s SO cute! And Kaylee’s pretty cute too! 😉 See this image larger.

Attack of the Cousins! (Part III)

Ah and finally we get to Saturday, when we went to Meijer Gardens… I’m only going to give you the first half because there’s a lot of them, sorry!

First we stopped in the greenhouse area to check it out… these three made it look like grandchildren grow on trees. See this image larger.

Then it was off to the Children’s Garden… see that little door on the right? See this image larger.

Ian’s posture tells you here – he’s both walk-running and either laughing or at least heavily enjoying this… he tucks his chin down into his chest. Sure I missed the shot where he comes through the door on the other side, but the path re-joins the adult path on the other side anyway… Besides… See this image larger.

…THIS is the shot I wanted; where Ian sees a whole world of fun before him — pauses briefly to take the scenery in… See this image larger.

…and then off to experience the adventure! Look-at-him-go! (He’s running at full tilt here, pausing only to take in the sounds of the sculptures above, which sounded like tubular bells.) See this image larger.

An interesting moment here, he goes up this tiny little bridge, and then freezes halfway across, refusing to move on. Perhaps awaiting the Billy Goats Gruff to require a toll of him. How did he get down? See this image larger.

Once it was Mommy to the rescue, with a shy smile of gratitude… See this image larger.

… and the other time he remembered “when in doubt, skootch!” See this image larger.

The Children’s Garden has a scale model of the Great Lakes, down to their relative sea levels… so kids can watch the lakes empty out into each other. The lowest lake was the perfect height for toddlers to mess around in. Here Kaylee gives Ian the “this if fun, but cold!” face. See this image larger.

Ian enjoys playing in the water and splashing around… it took everything Mama could muster to keep him out of the lake. See this image larger.

“Woohoo!” See this image larger.

Mama helps Ian investigate a whole wall of water… results of analysis? It’s wet. See this image larger.

Cousin Connor gives us a genuine smile to remember, aboard the S.S. Landlubber. See this image larger.

Kaylee and Aunt Melanie back-up the earlier theory about the water-wall! See this image larger.

Attack of the Cousins! (Part II)

Friday late afternoon it rained…

Kaylee took every available toy and brought it to the screen door, as if in an attempt to please Mother Nature so that we could all go back outside. See this image larger.

Ian – “Hmmm… Spidey-sense is tingling… something about an imminent head injury…” (I’m kidding she actually went right by him.) See this image larger.

I didn’t see it with my own eyes, but I hear Kaylee was actually picking up our 12 lb dumbell that acts as a door-stop. So once that got hidden the door became a bit more of a toy than usual. See this image larger.

Attack of the Cousins! (Part I)

On Thursday the 12th of June, Aunt Melanie, Cousins Connor and Kaylee arrived in Rockford. Dinner was had, video games were played, however, no pictures were taken.

The rest of the visit, on the other hand, was captured in stunning detail. (You can tell I’m not lying because it says “Part I” up there in the title. I’ll try to add a few pictures every night, there’s plenty more than what you see here!)

Let’s start with Friday during the day. Sadly, I had to work that day, and was surprised to see that Melissa was able to take it off. It makes me sad to miss these kind of things, but the kids needed something to do, so off to the Grand Rapids Children Museum they went!

Again, I was not present, so I can only assume that these smiles were the result of telling them they were going to Disneyworld. See this image larger.

They made “water squirters” I’m told, out of turkey bastors. Looks like bath time to me, and Ian too apparently. See this image larger.

Olympic weightlifting? Chimpanzee escape? Lunar lander? The sky’s the limit when you’re a kid. See this image larger.

Kaylee decides on a quick nap, while the boys figure out what to make next. See this image larger.

They say behind every great boy is a little sister that thinks she’s doing the hard part. I think. Maybe I just made that up. See this image larger.

Again, I was not present, so I can only assume that the museum serves up choking hazards as a kind of help-yourself smorgasboard. See this image larger.

Two asleep, one to go, take them to the park, quick! See this image larger.

Looks like they didn’t stay asleep for long! See this image larger.

Kaylee doesn’t seem to take a bad picture, as far as I can see, but this is one of my favorites. Look at it bigger; nice shot Aunt Melanie! See this image larger.

Ian goes for that “gangstah” look with his cap on backwards, or did a particular older cousin give that a twist, I wonder? 😉 See this image larger.

Mama and Ian share a fun ride down the slide at the park. See this image larger.

If I haven’t mentioned it before, I wasn’t there. Maybe you can help me fill in what you think happened here. I think Ian misses his daddy, myself. (By the way, anybody picking up on the irony that Uncle Ben and Aunt Melanie’s son is wearing a video game shirt, and ours is wearing something with sports on it? Who woulda thought!?!?) See this image larger.

A New Day(care)

Tuesday Gm Sue left Michigan and it was also Ian’s first day at his new daycare. Over the course of the last few days since then we’ve learned more and more about this place in which Ian will be spending a good deal of his time. How does it compare with the old place? Let’s do the math.

Cons:

– They are further away.
– Ian is used to the people at the old place.

Pros:

+ He appears to be in less danger.
+ They are cheaper.
+ They provide lunches.
+ They provide a more detailed written analysis of his day.
+ They have a monthly newsletter.
+ They just seem to have their crap together.
+ Code-based security system.
+ Special event days.
+ Tile floor eating area better than cement floor.
+ He comes back smelling like sunscreen almost every day.
+ I got a paper cut-out “#1 Dad” sign and a framed picture of Ian for Father’s Day… from the daycare as a project. Pretty sweet.

Several things made us happy right off the bat on the first day; we were nervous as to how much he liked the place, and they kindly sent us pictures via email.

I have yet to see a picture that confirms that Ian is enjoying himself at daycare. He always seems to look bewildered and like he views the photographer as a paparazzi goon. “Who the heck are you to take pics of me? You don’t look like ANY of my Grampas, Grammas or Dada.” Doesn’t he look old sitting at a desk? See this image larger.

When we heard that there was an ice cream day event, the thought occurred to me that I couldn’t possibly imagine two adults wrangling a gaggle of stumbling toddlers across the street that the daycare is on, in order to get to said ice cream. Enter the six-seater plastic toddler bus. See this image larger.

Yup, in case you didn’t recognize him in that earlier picture, the kid with the vanilla goatee is our boy. Looks like a pretty big cone to me. See this image larger.

Good Luck Granny

We all had a blast with Grandma Sue in town, and we had a few more days together since last entry. She flew home, had some tests and a successful surgery since then; so perhaps the title of the blog entry is a little late. At any rate, we’re just happy to hear Gm Sue is safely at home with no problems!

One funny story to tell, and then some pics. I decided to run a funny test on Ian to see what he had learned of late. I asked him to please bring me something… anything… that was yellow. I was sure to tell him that he could bring me his yellow ball, for instance. He walked away from me, around Gm Sue, and back toward the bookshelf. He proceeded to pull a pink book off of the shelf. He handed me the book, and sat on my lap. Gm Sue immediately noticed the yellow flower on the cover, but the truth revealed itself moments later. The book was called “Colors.” He opened it to the first page, and pointed. The book says, clearly “Yellow.” it shows yellow cheese and a duckling. At first I figured he was a genius, but later tests seem to reveal that his sense of awareness about color may be limited to that book for now. Ask him to bring you something purple, and I think he might get that same book, for example. Of course, at the rate he’s learning now, that may no longer be true!

The shirt says “When Mommy says NO… call 1-800-GRANDMA” Cute! See this image larger.

Ian wore the cat out again… here he takes what appears to be a very deep cat nap. See this image larger.

Gm Sue and Ian dance to the music of an episode of Pocoyo. He waves goodbye at the end of an episode when Pocoyo does the same. See this image larger.

Ian explains to Gm Sue about his potential future as a jockey. See this image larger.

If no blankie, then “woof woof” and a pacifier is a close second/third. See this image larger.

Trinity

Grandma Sue didn’t get too much luck in the way of her flight to Grand Rapids; delays, mechanical breakdowns, inclement weather. Well, three’s a magic number according to those old Schoolhouse Rock videos from Saturday morning cartoons when I was a kid… and this is the third grandparent-ly visit. Her luck started turning around after she landed. As Gm Sue started walking toward the main terminal, I hefted Ian up on my shoulders in the hopes she’d at least see him on her way to say hello to us… Ian immediately and enthusiastically started waving hello. We giggled and beamed with pride.

Time passed, we had a lot of fun. Gm Sue and Ian played outside, we went out to eat, and when it came time to go to bed, we jokingly offered up an Ian good-night kiss to Gm Sue. Now, he’s kissed Melissa and I before. Historically it has been like taking a 2-liter bottle of drool, pressing the top of it against your cheek, and maybe giving the bottle a slight squeeze. Ian kissed Gm Sue in a much improved way, his little mouth actually sliding shut after coming in contact with her cheek. Still no puckering of the lips, but better!

More time passed, we dodged some horrific weather, Melissa cooked, or maybe this was the day where we went shopping, went out to eat, etc, I can’t remember. Regardless, as we put Ian to bed we showed him, again somewhat jokingly, how to blow a kiss by putting your palm to your lips, make a smacking sound while also say “mmmmm-MOI!” and opening your palm outward. Somehow he pulled off a close approximation of this by putting his hand up, and saying “mmmMMMM.” With his tiny voice, it sounded hilarious, and the gesture was a cute summary of what we had shown him. So there you have it a trinity of love for Gm Sue.

Other notes:
• Ian is somewhat clearly saying “don’t touch” and striking a similar pose to that of Pocoyo in one of his episodes of the same name.

• Here’s a fun game — Ian said this: “BAHBETBAW.” What is he trying to say? The answer has been written in the comments section.

• While we’ve had some exceptionally crappy weather, Ian continues to sleep like a dream through the rain and thunder between, say, 8 and midnight. At around midnight on he wakes up from time-to-time but typically only needs his zooey/pacifier to go back to sleep.

• Ian’s Greatest Hits II and III are almost ready to go. I need to find some more photo paper that doesn’t get off track in my printer. Sigh.

• Gm Sue watched an important tennis match, and the moment it was over, Ian stood up and successfully turned the TV off using the button on the front of the set. (He turned it right back on again, but it was a first worth noting; and seemed a whole lot like commentary about the match.)

Here’s some pics!
That’s a happy grandma! If he somehow manages to say “Sue” before she goes home I think she’d be impossible to photograph, as she’d be so whole-heartedly dancing a jig.

“Yup, its worse than I feared, ma’am; the whole exhaust system is fried. That’ll be $700.”

“Of COURSE it’s not working, Dada. The negative power coupling has obviously reversed its polarity. Pfft.”

Grandma Sue and Ian take some time to play outside in the sunshine!

We all tried to look as vacant as when Ian watches TV. Did it work?

Hi again!

EDIT – Ok, here’s the link to the video! This one’s not too big. The usual warnings apply about how the video works and stuff.

Click here to enjoy the video!

I can’t say I’m all that happy with this particular video… since this was taped he’s much better at annunciating the “h” in “hi.” In this video it sounds more like “aye,” but suffice to say he’s doing much, much better with it than what you’ll be seeing here.

Some interesting observations:
• Ian pulled his zooey/pacifier out the other day to say something to me. It didn’t make any sense, but it was funny to watch him pull it out, speak his line, and plug it back in.

• A day or two later Melissa said he pulled his zooey/pacifier out to say “Hi!” and then, again, plugged it right back in.

• Uncle Ben called for some router advice on Sunday and got an earful of Ian saying “Hi! Hi!” in the background.

• Today Ian got to see baby Robins up close and personal. Several are around on our property trying to get life started whilst doting parents chirp angrily from rooftops. Sandpipers have decided to make a nest under our pine tree. That’s a kind of conifer tree, Ian. 😉

• Ian said something that sounded vaguely like “good boy!” about two days ago. He said “Don’t touch!” this weekend. Is that a sentence technically? If so, there you have it, his first sentence. Melissa and I saw a dog on the way home from church, but Ian couldn’t see it. We both said “Look Ian, a woof-woof!” And this was the first time I have heard him use his tone to convey a question in response: He said “woof-woof?” with the second “woof” significantly higher in pitch.

• Ian balanced a cup of cheerios on top of his sippy cup yesterday, and put a bubble wand in a tube of bubbles and blew on it — Didn’t get any bubbles, but kudos anyway. The most impressive part of that was the size of the wand and tube; these were specially made for a wedding we went to recently, to fit nicely onto the “program.” A tube not much bigger than a sharpie marker, and a bubble wand that fit so tightly into the tube that it looked like those commercials you see on TV for mascara. But he was able to line it up repeatedly. Pretty impressive for a 16 month old, I guess!

• Not sure if I mentioned this yet, but Ian has great chef potential. I’m guessing… I don’t know, maybe for the last three months or so, he’s been taking small bits of food and adding them to the spoon as it approaches his mouth, or just dipping. He kind of gestures until you get the ingredients before him. This morning he dipped a few bits of waffle into applesauce.

• Ian’s Greatest Hits III DVD is entering the final stages of production thanks to Melissa keeping Ian busy this weekend. Anytime you think about thanking me, thank her instead… So this is the 2nd part of the two disc set. I still have to print out some covers and whatnot, so we’ll probably be into the weekend before progress is made again, but when that’s done, I’ll be sending or handing these out.

Sibling Revelry

Uncle Chris is finally on Xbox LIVE with a broadband connection. I got to play poker with him last night and chat and catch up on his life. Really cool to be connected that way. The first pic I tried to send him with my camera failed, but I took a picture of the picture with my camera. (See above.) Uncle Chris is going to buy the same little camera that I have, and we’ll be able to video chat whenever we like — and even play some games while video chatting. (We can audio chat during any game… don’t even have to both be playing the same game.) So not only will the brothers Chapman be re-connected despite the miles, but a nephew will get to see more of his uncle. Pretty cool for just a bunch of video games, if you ask me. 🙂

New Wheels

There’s a bunch of fancy plastic wagons you can get these days, spending one’s money on cup-holders and special compartments and whatnot. This one wasn’t cheap, but it is metal, with big soft rubber tires. Dada put it together, time to take it for a spin!

“Well heck, this isn’t any fun.” See this image larger.

“Much better!” 🙂 See this image larger.

Look at that lil’ Buddha belly! See this image larger.

Moments later, now with a coat and hat on… you can see our elaborate safety harness on the back there… It’s actually a backpack-like bag… I just stuck the straps through the guard-rail. Whatever works, right? See this image larger.

On the way home, Ian spots a “woof-woof” off the port bow. See this image larger.

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