We’ve caught some smiles before from Ian, but most of them were related to gas and a lucky shutter click. Melissa confirmed with me today that as we were making goofy faces today near the upstairs bathroom, at around 12:20pm, Ian smiled real smiles. It was awesome. We’ll share with you soon!
The weekend before last was our trip to go meet Kaylee! The three of us made it down to Ohio in about 6.5 hours with almost no fidgeting at all! The only crying happened when we stopped to eat, and it was very much within reason. On the way back Ian did quite well, only getting upset in the last hour of the trip. Think about it… that’s 13 hours in 1 weekend… for a 7 week old, that’s pretty good.
There were a few awesome photo opportunities — some of which may look a bit alike, but I couldn’t help myself!
Ian – “Alright, I’m ready, let’s DO this!” (print version)
Ian – “Pfft, dad’s gotta pack the car still?” (print version)
Ian – “Women.” (print version)
The three “little” ones together! (print version)
Grandpa Ray and Grandma Barb with the entire grandkid collection. (print version)
Ian – “Over there?” (print version)
Ian – “Over here?” (print version)
Ian – “OOOH over there!” (print version)
Sorry about being a bit behind… I’ve already got St Patrick’s Day pics all lined up… See you in a couple days!
Ian is more awake, alive and alert than ever, making weird noises and looking around him so much these days. If you haven’t seen him lately, don’t be surprised if he’s a little more of a “person” than when you saw him last! I saw him change in the course of a day. Just crazy!
Dad and Marcia came to visit us on the weekend of the fifth and we had a great time! This time we took all kinds of pictures, and some of the best of them are here:
I like that two finger wave over there “hey, granny, w’s’up?!” (print version)
Seth takes advantage of Grandpa Dave’s generosity, here. Why the cat wants to go outside only to freeze his buns off and go back in the house, I have no idea. (print version)
Two happy grandparents and a snoozer! (print version)
And two happy parents and that same snoozer. We call him our “sleepybird” because of a character in a series called Pocoyo. Not available in the States, but you should check it out. The only TV show for kids that has ever dropped my jaw in its greatness. (print version)
I want to take a time out to thank everybody for their awesome generosity. You’ve all been very nice, and we’re thrilled to have such great support. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
This morning Ian’s new cousin appeared in the world! Welcome Kaylee Ann Kunze, who arrived at 8:32 am at 7lbs even and 20 1/2″ long. Sounds like Ian’s first major road trip is in order!
Heartfelt congratulations to Melanie and Ben; and her big brother Connor as well!
Here’s a pic!
The other day was Ian’s month old check-up. As you may recall, nurses were pretty happy with his two week check-up, where he had bounced back up to 9lbs and 6oz from his 9lb 3oz birthweight… and we all laughed that somebody must have screwed up his measurement at the hospital for him to have grown an inch (from 21″ to 22″) in two weeks. Well… there’s not much I put past this kid anymore. At the one month mark we’d be worried that his 95th percentile weight (11 lbs 3oz) might not be healthy if it weren’t for his 97th percentile height of 23 1/2″!!! He’s growing like a weed!
He’s making new noises, which I’ve recorded for you here. Hit “play” below to hear what Ian’s got to say these days.
[kml_flashembed movie=”https://www.outoftheirminds.com/media/2007/firstGarbles3.swf” height=”100″ width=”500″ /]
Finally, here’s a couple of photos! These were taken AGAIN in the bouncy seat, this time with the added fun of a mobile.
One interesting thing about being new parent is that some pretty average activities become more exciting when you factor in that they are among your child’s first experiences.
For instance, our first non-medical outing as a complete family happened on Monday night… we went to Babies R’ Us, the mall and to a sit-down restaurant. Ian slept and/or quietly looked around through the whole thing.
Ian’s first holiday (aside from his birthday) was Valentine’s Day.
Here’s Ian’s first sit-in-a-puddle-of-water-style bath. We’ve pushed a washcloth around on him a bit in the past, but this seems a bit more official somehow.
Ian is also officially a person according to the US Government… he received his social security number on Wednesday.
Finally, just the other day the little stub of gauze finally fell off of Ian’s belly button.
Apologies for the lack of updates lately. Here’s a few kind words and then some photos…
Ian did go to the doctor’s office last week, and while the doctor is pretty sure the initial measurement may have been in error, he’s now 22″ long; which means Doc’s either right about the error, or the kid has grown an inch in two weeks. If this is true we may change his name to Iansquatch (terrifying image below) as at this rate he’d likely be 8′ 10″ by the age of 12. He’s also 9lbs 6oz, which means he’s gaining weight at a healthy rate.
And that’s the news, believe it or not. Not much new to report. Uncle Chris’s visit is on the horizon, and we must take many pics! Speaking of which, say is that an IM from Grandpa Dave asking for more pics? How can I refuse?
Let’s start with some that I should have had up awhile ago, of Uncle Ben, Aunt Melanie, and Cousin Connor’s visit (which coincided with Grandpa Ray, Grandma Barb, and Grandma Sue’s visit.)
You’ll be seeing these folks again real soon, Ian… a new cousin on the way!
Grandparents Ray and Barb show off their grandson collection!
Ian says, “Again, you put the ‘papa’ in ‘paparazzi.'”
If this looks like a strained situation, imagine after the camera shutter clicked. (A book I read mentioned that high contrast black and white objects about 8-12″ away from a baby’s nose would be of interest to him. I guess Seth already knew that.)
The write-your-own caption judges would have accepted “Look ma, no hands” or “Nothin’ up my sleeve, PRESTO!”
I think folks sometimes say “awww” because words just don’t work.
“SKREEEONK!!!!” Oh my God!!! IANSQUATCH!!! RUUUUUUNNN!!!!
– Daran
We’ve just kept right on trucking over here in Rockford… despite somewhere in the neighborhood of 16″ of snow sitting around in drifts. I guess if nothing else we can all be thankful that Ian wasn’t born this week instead of two weeks ago.
During his two weeks on Earth Ian has yet to master the art of the English language, though we’re trying very hard to teach him such words as “Mama,” “Dada,” and “A full night’s sleep.” He’s actually doing really well on that point, however… he’s usually sleeping about 4-5 hours in a row, followed by a diaper change/feeding and right back to bed for 4-5 hours. (Melissa informs me that he’s up for quite awhile during that feeding part… daddy does the diaper change bit and then usually goes right back to bed, I must admit.)
For the most part all is well in our family. I keep waiting for something unusual or interesting to happen for a nice picture, but not much (in the way of a photo opportunity) has happened out of the ordinary. More updates to follow!
Thanks again for all the comments! Knowing that people are reading this makes it much more fun to update!
… and boy did we drop the ball! No pics!
The good news is that Ian is perfectly healthy as far as we know. He’s gaining weight back that he lost after birth, and is even a little ahead of schedule on that front.
No other real news, so I want to thank those of you who are leaving comments!
On a personal note, I never thought I’d be this kind of dad, but apparently I am. My desktop background has changed to a big pic of Ian and I’m using that hiccup sound from the last video as my email alert noise.
Here’s the first decent image of Ian smiling, although this is one of those artificial smiles that comes from gas. This is a still shot taken from a video that shows him hiccuping and making bizarro hand gestures, which will go up later today.
To me it looks like he’s saying “Yace, yace, I CALL you. Don’tju go changin’, kapiche? I call you, buh bye.”
EDIT -> Ok, so here’s the link to the video… please keep in mind that this is probably not for people with slow bandwidth. Even those with broadband need to be prepared to wait about 2 minutes after clicking this link before seeing the controls to start the video. Sorry! Simply click on the word “hiccup” below to start loadin’.
