Wrapping up February in Pictures
February 26th, Nina playing in her socks, and that’s pretty much it. See this image larger.
Yup, just playin’ away! See this image larger.
Same day, Ian looking rather dapper! See this image larger.
Look at that face! Don’t you just want to give him a cookie? That’s what he’s hoping for! See this image larger.
February 28th. Here Ian shows off his cool boat design. Honestly, he’s designed a few a bit better, but he was so excited! See this image larger.
Finally trying to take our living room back. One side of this is Nina’s and one is Ian’s. We’ve had this thing for awhile, but until I went over where things go, object by object, we were having little luck. Things are better now, but not by much.
February 29th, the kids on the couch looking at my camera. See this image larger.
And then back to the TV. See this image larger.
In this picture, the featured item is actually the glass in the foreground. Ian claimed that he liked milk at school but not at home because of the glasses they have there. So we asked for one. Didn’t turn out to be the problem. See this image larger.
February 16th, Nina in her Pooh Bear towel/costume. If you haven’t seen these, they are great. The towel has a hood in the middle of it, allowing you to make your kid happy and warm and dry at the same time. 
See, doesn’t she look happy? This was the night before Mommy returned home from her trip to Texas. Over the course of her absence, Nina learned to say “Texas” pretty darn well. Also of note, Ian passed a hearing test.
February 17th, Ian drew a few members of the family. I don’t think he drew himself. I have the hat on, the other tall one is Melissa. The squat one in the upper left is the kitty. And Nina’s on the right. 
February 18th, sort of out of nowhere, we decided to go the movies. I’m 99% sure that this was our first real trip to the movies as a four-member family, and WOW did it go well. (We saw a movie by Studio Ghibli, not worth going into it much, but it was based on a story called “the Borrowers” and the kids liked it a lot!) Everybody was fairly quiet, Ian was brave, they sat there and watched every minute of the film… it was incredible! Nina said “raining!” during a scene where it was raining, and at the end she said “Bye-bye movie!” I bought them each a cheap ball from one of those “claw” games, and that was a big deal too, Nina talked over and over about “Ian ball GHEEN. Nina ball PUHPLE.” 
February 21, Ian was invited to Brendon’s (from next door) birthday party at a local inflatable fun factory. Melissa could not go, so I didn’t get too many pics… but I thought the kids looked cute with safety goggles on. 
The goggles were for a room that allowed people to shoot balls at each other with large stationary guns. 
I did also get a movie of Nina climbing a sort of rock wall to slide down a slide, and I will share that with you shortly. She had an incredible time on that particular slide, and it was no small feat to make that climb. 
Ian was so excited for Brendon to open his gifts, that he was jumping around in front of the inflatable throne that Brendon was sitting on. 
February 24th, the kids are ready for a sunny drive to school! 
February 6th, Ian’s class went to Java Gym on a Monday. Despite being “off” that day, I took Ian there so he could have some fun, and brought along his lil’ sister too!
She had a lot of fun stacking, and is incredibly good at it, too! Nina did the best she had ever done on a slide this day, and I got a lot of that on video! Stay tuned for a few more entries, and I’ll share it with you. 
February 11th, and Ian proudly displays his latest Lego creation. I don’t know what it is, but I thought it was cool… it had two sets of wheels out on maneuverable supports. 
Ian sometimes seems to be getting so big he’s hard to fit in your lap!
I thought it would be “cute” to send Chris the birthday card that I has purchased months in advance of him leaving us. I tied a couple balloons on it, and let it go off the back deck. It immediately got caught up in a neighbor’s tree (the only one it would need to clear should I have happened to be unlucky with the wind before it got high enough.) I got the card back, but the ribbons and popped balloons will likely remain in that tree forever as a reminder that Chris probably wants no part of “cute.” It took me about two weeks to find this situation amusing, but I got there eventually. 
February 14th, Valentine’s Day! Melissa and I divided and conquered… each seeing a kid and then exchanging. Here I saw Nina while she was eating something… but she wanted to hug me hello. I asked her to go wash her hands first, though! 
This is right after she was done washing her hands. “DAADDDYY!” 
Ian got to put together some valentines in his class. 
He’s focusing pretty hard. 
For completing all of the activities, he got this little heart sticker! 
This was the start of a series… Nina would make something vaguely birthday cake-shaped, and hand it to a family member and say “(name)’s Birthday!!!”
February 4th, and you’re looking at one of Nina’s favorite puzzles. She loves playing with puzzles and she’s really quite good at them! 
February 5th… Ian and Nina working on one together. Actually now that I look more carefully, they’re working on as many as three! 
February 5th, and it was the day of the big game. Uncle Chris would have loved the game, it was a close one, and the Giants pulled off a very fitting miracle win! He also would have loved this shot, I’d think. It does make me a little sad that we didn’t do anything like this while Chris was alive… but I’m not sure we ever would have, without knowing our time together would be cut short. Was the onus on me to get Ian and I involved in the team Chris loved? Maybe. The kind of questions I’ll take with me wherever I go. 
Thanks to Aunt Melanie and Uncle Ben for these jerseys, it was very cool to be able to wear these for the big game! 
’68, the year Uncle Chris was born! A great number for our jerseys! 
From time-to-time, Ian still says that we should sit down and watch football. I think he just wants to watch TV with me. I’m looking forward to the two of us watching anything with equal interest. Has that happened? Yes. We’ll talk about that in a couple entries. You’re wondering what that expression is on my face? Satisfaction: A nice beer. A great football game honoring my bro. A beautiful family. 
Ian drew this picture, and we taped it in the front window. It says “Go Giants” and has a picture of a football (at the top) and a set of uprights on the left. 
Daddy made sugar cookies. They were alright. Frankly I might just make chocolate chip cookies without the chips next time I want sugar cookies. 
January 31st, and the kids are takin’ the dogs for a walk. 
Didn’t know we had dogs, did you? 
*Whoa, that IS a good “play dead!”* Actually this sort of reminds me of a Coppertone ad, for some reason.
Hey, nobody brought along a baggie! 
Nina, lost in a land of giants! 
Brandon’s son Max brought an iPad, and he was all the more popular with the kids as a result, as you’ll see later… 
Natalie, Max and Rowen on the couch… that’s one of Grant & Zoe’s daughters, Brandon’s son, and Elena and Scott’s daughter. 
The theme was Batman! And Mommy made masks and capes for everybody to decorate! (And the kids did so, however the drying time on the various glitter pens meant they couldn’t wear them immediately.) 
Action pose! 
Aaron and Clara’s sons Jake and Brendan asked Nina for some tea, she was all too happy to comply! 
Seems like I couldn’t get a shot of Ian that day without a heroic pose! But that’s the way we wanted the day! 
One of MANY games that Melissa made for the kids. (Muno lends a hand as the “line” the kids could not go past, in this coin-tossing game.) 
This is Brendan from next door! 
And his little brother Jake! (I recently asked Ian if he liked the haircut on these guys and he said yes… so this spring, I’m going to town with the trimmers!) 
On the left is a friend of Ian’s from school! He was shy at first but warmed up eventually. Nina the two-fisted drinker makes her way to the next activity… 
Mommy distributes paper to make paper airplanes for another fun game! (Our neighbor Aaron is the guy with the hat, there!) 
*See how I made mine?* 
This was a game about wiggling all around while the music was playing… 
…and then stopping in a super hero action pose when the music stopped! I’m pretty fond of Nina’s here. She’s a little toughie, that one! 
Momentary chaos… 
Silly string attack! 
Would a Batman-themed birthday party be complete without a Batman cake? 
Ah, the perils of blue icing! 
*I do get some of this cake, right?* 
Brendon with some much-needed sugar boosting. 
Max, the frosting vampire. 
The opening of the presents! 
Some of the coolest guys I know, and amongst the closest of my friends. We don’t get together nearly enough. Left to right that’s Elena’s husband Scott, Martin, myself, Brandon, and Grant… everybody but Scott is a Square One Design alumni. 
More presents and some goody-bags! Elena and Scott’s newest is the baby on the left there, named Jimmy! 
Nina plays with the big boys! 
In Ian’s room, checking out the iPad. They were watching a puppy show called Kipper! The cute blondie on the right and his brother in “13” belong to Martin and Melissa. Their names are Isaac and Levi… Isaac is the older one. 
Zoe insisted on taking this picture, and I’m very glad she did! Wow, what a day, thank you so much Sweetie! Ian can’t wait to turn 6 so he can do it all over again! 
This shot was from January 21st… just didn’t include it at the time, but Ian got some ice cream at “the pizza store.” 
January 23rd. You’re looking at the kind of sketches I showed Ian prior to the sign he made for Mommy’s birthday. I showed him what a cylinder was, and how one made a cake, and one could make a candle.
I made a couple spots here and there so he could “follow the dots,” and the lines under the letters… he did the rest! I got very frustrated with him here and there, but it was worth the success; at least I can say that. I hope he feels the same, and I know Mommy was very proud. 
My lil boy, growin’ up quick! 
Ian and I still goofy! 
Still January 25th, We let Nina open a present for her birthday this night so that we could separate her b-day from Christmas! 
Muno gets a stroller ride! 
On January 22nd we got a visit from Grampa Dave and Gramma Marcia to celebrate a few b-days! Ian was thrilled to get a visit for his big day, and a really cool b-day present to open! 
That’s a good smile, thanks buddy! Nina says *Comin’ through!* 
It was also a good day to celebrate Nina’s birthday, so she got a present too! (This worked out well!) 
Ian was off on an adventure in the sunroom while Nina checked out all the cool features of her new zoo!
The Millenium Falcon lands briefly on the planet Couch, whose local inhabitants are a race of furry square-shaped creatures called Pillahs who worship their god, Blankett — who keeps them safe, warm and covered in times of great need. 
Ian poses with Grampa Dave! Thanks for the sweet spaceship! 🙂 
Nina running full tilt! 
Grandma Marcia and Nina, both sweet ladies, share a little giggle! 
At a local restaurant, Nina snuggled right into Grampa Dave’s chest while we waited for the buzzer/pager to go off in Ian’s hands to sit and eat. 
Ian discarded his fork – which was not shoveling cake into his mouth nearly fast enough. 
Some of the cake crashed like a car into his face, instead of making it into the tunnel.
These are “floor buffing” pajamas; the more she rolls around, the smoother the floor gets… by the end of the night she’s covered in cheerios and cat-hair. 
Nina and Grandma Marcia play a fun game while putting together puzzles! Thank you both for the great gifts and taking us out to dinner! We had a blast and everybody is looking forward to seeing you again soon! 
January 9th, and somebody is having a bad hair day! 
January 16th, Nina carefully placed this wash cloth down first before replacing her bowl. 
January 21st, Ian’s actual calendar birthday, not to be confused with other birthday celebrations coming up in the blog shortly… here Ian’s spokesmodel training continues as he introduces us to rocket-cake. (Actually he’s asking why it isn’t Batman-themed, given that he’s chosen Batman as the theme of his birthday party, which was a week later.) 
Opening presents, one of Ian’s gifts was bubbles! 
Motorcycle! 
A Lego boat that will go well with his Lego ship… (See the ship on the table?) 
I know this looks like he’s wondering what the heck was Gramma Sue thinking by sending this but he’s actually in the middle of saying, roughly: “Well, SOMEBODY understood the Batman theme, see?” We had to keep explaining to him that the party on the 28th is a different sort of situation. *Shrug.* 
Aunt Mel, Uncle Ben, Cousins Connor and Kaylee got Ian a New York Giants football, which brought a sparkle to my eye. 
It’ll be fun to throw this back and forth in the summer, and simultaneously give a nod to the in-laws for helping us get the kids into sports while getting a nod from Uncle Chris about what he surely would have called “bringing Ian up right” regarding the Giants. 🙂 
I surely have no idea how this post-it note ended up on Ian’s back, but it stayed all day. 
Nina after a brief nap… 
…and some ponytails. 
Buying him birthday gifts was hard this year for some reason. I ended up pacing the aisles not finding anything at first, and then suddenly having too much and not knowing what to get. The day I was at the store it started snowing ridiculously — special thanks to Mommy for the phone support because I was not going to make up my mind alone. (Those of you thinking “Pfft. Melissa wasn’t at the store?” just stay tuned and see everything she put together by herself for Ian’s party!) 
Ok so we wanted the ramp to sort of level out, so I built a small lifter, which is the flat part to the left that has table-like legs. Ian added the support which is the purple and red part… LOOK AT THAT. It even tapers toward the end! I couldn’t have made that better myself! 
Happy birthday, big boy! You’ll always be my favorite son! Thank you everybody for your kind gifts! 