Yet Additional Hijinx

EDIT – 8:01pm. Ian has been playing with our names on the way home. When I was taking off his shoes he said “You Dah-wan, Daddy… I’m Ian CHAP-uh-MAAAAAN.” (Imagine each syllable an octave higher than the last.) That I know of, first time announcing his first and last name on his own, out of the blue.

Bath-time, and the fun never ends! Until it does. And then we towel off and go to bed. See this image larger.

Uh-hee-hee! See this image larger.

August 24th. Morning found Ian a wee too early. See this image larger.

What’s funny to me about this picture is not that Ian decided to pretend that a coaster-holding tin was a drum, but that he went to the kitchen specifically to find appropriately tiny spoons to use as drumsticks. See this image larger.

It seemed like only last week he was at daycare… oh wait, he was! Oh that’s right, we just went here to check out their park. See this image larger.

It seems pretty nice, don’t you think? Nice little fortress! See this image larger.

Did I mention we got to this park via bike? It was great getting there, all downhill from the house… cruising through the city of Rockford with Ian pointing out the water behind me, and saying “hi another kitty” to a feline along the way. What was spectacular was drifting down the city sidewalks and hearing Ian giggle at his own reflection in the passing shop windows. What wasn’t spectacular was the ride home. If the condition of my heart was ever in question, it would have gone kablooie on the all uphill trip home with thirty-five extra pounds strapped into the back seat, believe me. It didn’t hurt, so we’re fine. (I even stopped at another park about half-way at home to let Ian run around while I rested.) Incidentally, this was the day wherein Ian started his nap at around 1:15… woke up at 4:15… I carried him down to the couch, and then he fell asleep for another 30 minutes. See this image larger.

Family picture time… I’m staring like a deer in headlights, hurray. See this image larger.

“Cheese!” See this image larger.

More Hijinx

Craziness ahoy! All of these from August 23, 2009…

Ian feeds another coaster into the credenza. Perhaps in his mind he’s shoving quarters in a Wurlitzer. Which reminds me, all coins were pennies until recently, and our little boy upgraded to asking for quarters. Inflation these days. See this image larger.

*I know, let’s take all the toys out of the toy box aaaand… sit in it.* See this image larger.

Just chillin’. See this image larger.

Is this considered rude if we’re only taking it so that we can look at it on the camera and laugh? See this image larger.

Ian takes his guitar playing very seriously. See this image larger.

Seriously. See this image larger.

Fish-lips! (Look over to the left, and you can see why Ian’s making this face — Melissa has a book open to a page with a fish on it.) See this image larger.

*DOUBLEYOU ECKS WHYYYYY….* See this image larger.

*ZEEEEEE.* See this image larger.

Ian and Mommy share a moment before bath-time, to be continued next entry! See this image larger.

Forever Boys…

Does this really need an introduction?

August 14th. Please keep my identity a secret! See this image larger.

Up and away!!! Dun, Dun, Duuuuuun! See this image larger.

Sidekick! See this image larger.

Only Superpup will get us there in time… what? Oh right, that doesn’t make any sense, sorry kiddo. See this image larger.

August 15th. *Very good, Mr. Bond, your cleverness has led you to my lair… while you’re looking around be sure and check out MY GUARDIAN ATTACK DINOS.* DUN DUNNNNN. See this image larger.

Choooooo! Choooooo! See this image larger.

You can’t sleep on a train, people will think you’re a hobo. Plus you’re causing confusion and delay. See this image larger.

*So, you’ve discovered the broadcast monitoring station, Mr. Bond. Have you discovered MY GUARDIAN ATTACK DINO CLONES?!!?* DUN DUNNNNN. *AND ELMO?* DUN DUNNNNNNNN. See this image larger.

Hellooooo Grandparents! See this image larger.

August 16th. On a serious note, Ian can handle entertaining himself from time-to-time… unfortunately he tends to make a mess when this happens. We slept while he napped, and we found his room in a state of disarray. See this image larger.

August 17th. *Wrapped in child safety bumpers, now I can safely jump down the steps.* (No he didn’t say or do that.) See this image larger.

TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. VEEEEEEEEEEEEE. (This picture is worth looking at larger…) See this image larger.

AAAH!

I asked him to pose for this picture the moment he came home from getting his haircut on the 18th, and immediately he went into this GlamorShots look. This one’s also worth looking at bigger, he’s a cutie. See this image larger.

*WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA. ANOTHER kid? Seriously?* See this image larger.

August 19th. Ice cream that followed the celebratory “you’re having a sister” dinner. Haircut still looks cute, yay! See this image larger.

Ian vs. Smileyface Pancake, Round II

This picture is from the 12th, I took it from inside my office it is included because it is cute. No wait, I can tie this in somehow…. um… “Featherweight Ian Chapman trains with Coach Mommy before the bout.” See this image larger.

On August 13th, 2009, we went to IHOP yet again and Ian ordered the Smileyface Pancake for a rematch.

In this corner, wearing a blue shirt, and a white bib, Ian Chapman. In the opposite corner, wearing nothing but a fruity grin, Smileyface Pancake. See this image larger.

DING! Ian comes out swinging, and immediately tears into Smileyface… he’s hungry for this win! See this image larger.

With cocky determination Ian belittles his competition: *I eat pancakes for breakfast!* See this image larger.

*I’ll wipe that smile off your face. Mmm banana!* See this image larger.

And that’s it folks! Pancake’s coach has thrown in the napkin, the fight is over! (Ian actually ate that whole thing, and then pointed at his plate and asked Mommy to put some of her pancake “right here,” and then he ate that too!) See this image larger.

Think Pink!

Ladies and Gentlemen! The Chapman line has produced many quality young men in its time, but it is time to get over the “boy’s club” mentality and start thinking pink! That’s right, we’re going to have a baby girl sometime in January.

We explained this to Ian last night, and he didn’t seem to care much at the time, but later, on the way to dinner:
“Is not a little boy in mama’s belly… little guh-ul.” His tone was awesome too, it was like he was telling us, and we were slow. He was adamant in his correction.

We only addressed the subject about three times that night, each time saying “little girl.” So I was a little surprised to see him put two and two together as I was recording. Click here to hear the very brief sound-clip.

Someday I might put the audio clip of our reaction on here as well… I had recorded our ultrasound appointment for kicks, and I accidentally kept it on during our giddy post-appointment conversation before Melissa and I went our separate ways to get back to work.

But let’s get on to some ultrasound pictures! Don’t get too freaked out by the imagery, this is just the way ultrasounds work. You end up seeing a “slice.”

Either she’s waving, or she’s trying to tell us that she’s 5 months old. Either way, genius confirmed!

Side view, you can see spine, etc. Head is on the right, looking up.

Ok, so imagine you’re holding the baby at arms length, and her entire body is facing you. Now imagine her in the fetal position. That’s what we’re looking at here. Her head is looking down, so we’re in turn looking down across the bridge of her nose. You can see the umbilical cord there, as well.

Baby lying on her back. The legs are on the left, bent at the knee. One arm is in foreground but the “depth” of the camera is too shallow to get fingers for this shot. Right arm is in background. Her head is NOT fully in the picture, because other bits were in the way… so the technician trimmed the photo to show only the baby parts. So you’re really just seeing her face, looking to the left, back to her ear.

We’re looking straight at the baby’s face here. You can see lips, very nicely in the center bottom… her nose obviously above that. Her eyes look a little strange, but you can almost see better if you sort of squint at them. Imagine eyes shut, the darker lines looking almost like eyelashes, and you might see things better. You can also see her right arm up to the hand, and her left arm where it tucks behind a part of the placenta.

I have a few more shots of her feet and stuff, but I figured this is what everybody wanted to see. I counted 10 toes and 10 fingers!

PS – I was having some odd body aches recently that turned out to be purely muscular in origin. Unfortunately the placement of said aches (left arm and chest) scared us all into thinking I was having heart issues. I’m writing this to let everybody know that I’m fine. Going in for a full physical in a month.

Fawn Island August 2009 Trip, Part II

Here are a few videos that show most of the footage from our August Fawn Island Trip… this used to be one big video, but I split it in half for slower connections. If you’re having trouble seeing these videos, you might need to download the latest Flash plug-in. You can find out what version you have by clicking here. A small box beneath with a grey outline should say “version information.” Tell me that number — again, this is only if you run into problems. (I have NOT changed anything about the way these videos play, I’m just trying to be helpful.)

Click here to see the first video.

Video 1 – He’s watched his own videos so many times that I think he remembers what a hit it was to say “turn it on” either that or he thinks he’s telling Grampa Dave to speed up.

Click here to see the second video.

Video 2 – At the beginning of the video, you can see Ian for whatever reason making a diamond with his fingers and placing it in the sky. Apparently he had Twinkle Twinkle on his mind.

Fawn Island August 2009 Trip, Part I

THIS JUST IN: This morning, August 15th, Ian produced a #2 in the standard potty, with a potty seat for toddlers in between he and it. We’re so proud! One small squat for Ian, one giant leap for potty-training progress.

Last weekend’s trip to Fawn Island started with us packing up quickly, scooting out the door right at 5:00 and thinking we were going to make great time… but we hit traffic immediately. We ended up getting our food to go from Arby’s and eating while driving. Ian found this concept to be fairly uninteresting until Melissa offered him a vitamin with his dinner. Somehow a vitamin in the car crossed a line. As we zipped through Brighton, we spotted a hot air balloon. Ian was fascinated as it hovered on the horizon… we were even more surprised that it ended up directly above us, no more than 150 feet above our heads. For miles afterwards it was “Where’d tha balloon go, Mommy?”

Grampa Dave met us over on shore, but thousands of mosquitoes beat him to the punch; I think next time we’ll slather Ian (and ourselves) in our citronella sunscreen — we applied it as we waited, but next time we’ll remember to do it sooner. And I’ll wear pants instead of shorts. It is funny though that both times we’ve met with the onslaught of insects, we get maybe one or two bites each, tops. Perhaps we’re the wrong blood-types.

Grandma Marcia and Elmo say hello to Ian on Saturday, August 8th! See this image larger.

Found his toys! See this image larger.

Ian leads Grampa Dave on a cookie hunt… See this image larger.

Like any smart hunting party leader, Ian sends his partner ahead to deal with any traps while cautiously observing from a distance — like behind the safety of a kitchen counter, for example. See this image larger.

And then ducks into the frame just as a photo of victory is snapped! See this image larger.

Enjoying some of the evening’s cookie-hunt spoils. (Thanks Grampa Dave for the help, and Grandma Marica for the delicious cookies!) See this image larger.

Somebody’s packin’ a baby! See this image larger.

On Saturday and on into the wee hours of the night, a vicious storm rolled in. You could see on the map that it was a line crossing Michigan like a shoulder belt, from Rockford to Marine City. I’ve heard lightning hit pretty close before, so I’m aware of the kind of clap it can produce when it strikes nearby… but amongst the typical rumbles and crunches, there was one that was closer and louder than anything I’ve heard from Mother Nature. It was one single snap or crack, like from a whip, amplified 100 times. It scared me right out of bed, but Ian slept through it just fine.

Sunday morning, and we’re having fun with the doggie! See this image larger.

Me too! 🙂 See this image larger.

Ian stayed up through nap-time, and when it was finally time to go, he conked out very quickly. This is us waiting in line at the ferry to get home! See this image larger.

Since this visit Ian has been very Grampa Dave-centric. For example on Wednesday the 12th, Ian gave out these incredible hugs, the kind where little arms fully circle your neck, like a scarf, and pull in tight. He gave one to Mommy, then one to me. Then he said something about Grampa Dave… it was either “hug like Grampa Dave” or “hug for Grampa Dave.” He circled the living room to see if he could find him and then turned to me and said “YOU’RE Grampa Dave” as if to say that I could stand-in for him while he’s away. Ian gave me another huge hug and then said, very plainly “I love you, Grampa Dave.” It was hilarious, and sweet.

Other Stuff

Let it be known that last week, not only did Ian use the child potty again, but he USED the child potty. By which I mean, rather than simply christen it with a sprinkle and a dash, he peed at least one diaper-full like nobody’s business. And yet again, this morning, after I dressed him and fed him breakfast, he told Mommy that he needed to go, marched up the stairs, got out the potty, and did his thing. We’re so proud!

Before I forget to tell everybody, the ultrasound was delayed a week due to equipment failure. Next Wednesday let you know what we find out!

Here’s some more Ian stories:

Me – “Ian did you know that my bicycle tires are full of air, just like your swimming pool?”
Ian – “Oh my gosh!”

Ian told Melissa that Seth is “my kitty and Daddy’s kitty, not Momma’s kitty.”

I got out the train tent for Ian at one point on Monday and Ian said “Well thank you Daddy. I’m happy.”

Some recent pics:
Just wanted to try out a couple of hats while we were at Target. I’m sure nobody with lice has touched these, right? What do you think of this look, Ian? “Flannel Polka.” See this image larger.

“The Engineer.” See this image larger.

The Update Before the Update

Lots to tell you about the weekend and recent events… I’ll do that shortly! Wanted to share a little snippet of the videos I got this weekend right off the bat because I thought this one was pretty neat. It is 5.5MB, and features just part of a boat ride on Sunday.

I’ll call this one Change of Heart… click here to view it.

Dun Dun DUUUUUUUUN!!!

Here’s a little more information on this video: There’s a thing going around on the internet called a “me-me” or “meme.” A meme is more or less a running joke. One example would be being “rickrolled” that’s when you send somebody a link claiming that it will have important information, and instead it leads to a video of the 80’s pop tune “Never Gunna Give You Up” by Rick Astley. Another example would be the infamous keyboard cat.

Recently a slew of videos with a dramatic animal or person have begun appearing on youTube. I mention all of this because I think Ian’s video here would fall nicely in line with some of these other videos that star other dramatic scenes.

Dramatic Dog
Dramatic Prairie Dog
Dramatic Cat
Dramatic McCain

Here’s a video of Ian being a little on the dramatic side only a few days ago… This is a pretty short video, 1.5MB in size.

Click here to see the video.

find me on social media

©2025 Copyright - Out Of Their Minds Design, LLC