So Melissa has returned safely to the nest, and everything is sorta back to normal! Yay!
Here’s a pic of Ian from yesterday…
He’s seen enough golf to know to shoot the ball toward the flag… in this case a utility marking flag makes a perfect Ian-sized target! See this image larger.
@Melissa –
9:19AM – He either slept very well last night or I slept so well that he didn’t wake me up more than once, at 6am. I’m pretty sure he slept well, probably to make up for the night before.
This is the first morning where Ian woke up and called for “Daddy.”
Drop-off went fine. Miss Judy told me Ian was doing alright all things considered. I said “Yeah, me too,” and we laughed.
Have a safe flight home please, and don’t forget to lift your feet on take-off.
Melissa is through security at the San Fran airport… she’ll land in Chicago first, and end up in Michigan at around 11:00pm EST. Because Ian will be asleep and I don’t have any real options to leave him here — she will take a taxi home and she will return home here in Rockford at around midnight.
UPDATE – Melissa landed safely in Chicago…
@Melissa
8:43am – Not a whole lot of sleepin’ went on last night, unfortunately. He was restless, and so was the cat.
When I told him we were going to school he said “No….” and looked sad. (I smiled and thought “awww he wants to be with Daddy!”) “…breakfast.” he continued. Cereal bar for the road, and we were on our way!
Drop off went fine this morning… in fact he ran off ahead of me to get to the door once he was in the school. It took him a couple minutes but he was off playing very quickly, and I just quietly left rather than tell him I was leaving. (I can never tell what to do there, I think telling him I’m leaving is a better thing to do so that he doesn’t panic or look for me.)
Miss Judy underlined that the afternoon was “rough” yesterday. I have a feeling I don’t have all the details there.
10:07pm. Pick up went fine. He seemed a little warm despite being dressed appropriately. I got the idea they ran him around outside.
His sheet mentioned his emotional state and a guess that he “probably misses him mommy.” You think?
Went home, glanced at his sheet… did not play outside this time… and Ian seemed very fine with this decision.
I ordered pizza and sat back and waited, then told Ian about ten minutes later. Noted an odd hesitation, checked the sheet… sure enough “pizza, all + 2nds!” Offered Ian a million choices, but when the pizza showed up, that’s what he wanted… so it was a pizza-filled day for the lil guy.
Went through most of the motions of bedtime alright, but was not quite out when you called. And you successfully “tucked him in” from California. He totally cuddled up to a blankie and was out like a light, without so much as a yodel.
Meanwhile…
Yesterday, the 19th after day care we went to a p-a-r-k, I figured he’d be happier there than running around the house. When we pulled into the parking lot, he exclaimed “Look, Daddy, right there! Park! PARK! Isa park!” See this image larger.
This tractor thing was fine, but that yellow thing seemed to barely move… and then BOOM hit Ian square in the teeth. He wasn’t happy but got over it pretty quick. See this image larger.
I remember less than a couple weeks ago Ian was totally afraid of slides… See this image larger.
…not anymore! See this image larger.
@Melissa
9:06am – He woke up fine, got dressed fine, hopped in my car fine (I realized on the way home that, by Ian’s logic, Daddy’s car RARELY ends up at daycare… it only drives home and to cool parks and playgrounds… thus insisting on Daddy’s car will most likely result in a non-daycare day.) However when we got to daycare, Ian suggested we go somewhere else; when I dropped him off, he began to get upset when I said goodbye, but looking at Judy I knew that this was the time to leave — whether I wanted to or not — so I did.
9:45pm Dinner didn’t turn out as planned… following the directions resulted in a frozen block of pasta sitting in a warm oven, somehow… maybe I didn’t do something right. Some emergency microwaving and, well… for whatever reason Ian wanted nothing to do with the finished product. I gave him some other food, and he ended up eating plenty, but I still denied him the Popsicle grand prize because he didn’t eat the real meal — he got the runner-up store-bought cookies. (I gave him a handful, and he identified each animal like so “Beaver. Two froggies. (and he was correct there were two!) Owl… HOOOOOOOO”)
Bath went fine, but dinner had started late and ended up being complicated… so the bath came late as well. One thing I found out while we were drying off… if you sing LIKE a kid, Ian will join in faster and louder than usual. We sang the alphabet, twinkle twinkle, and itsy bitsy spider. He also joined me toward the end of the prayer that you usually say with him. 🙂
He’s still talking to himself up there, unfortunately, he’s not going to be a happy camper tomorrow morning. (Minutes later…) I just checked up on him, he was yelling at his water bottle, apparently it interfered with Mickey Mouse’s sleepytime, as it was explained to me. It sounded like it potentially took Mickey’s zooey. I investigated the crime scene and indeed found the baby Mickey stuffed animal tucked in some blankets with a nearby pacifier; the water bottle was sulking guiltily nearby.
This is from the 17th, the day we took Melissa to the airport… Ian woke up from his very long nap and just wanted to lay with me and watch golf… so we did. See this image larger.
The same day he suggested that he be let in my car… it was in gear, with emergency brake on, so I let him. Right after this picture was taken we both jumped about a foot. See this image larger.
On the 18th, fresh from day care, Ian and I played outside until supper-time. Here Ian has narrowly avoided the bunker and prepares for another swing for birdie. See this image larger.
I showed Ian that he could actually take his clubs in their “bag” if he wanted, instead of pulling them out while in the garage… and where the handle is. He immediately started carrying it as such. Here he walks along on the brick border of Mommy’s flowerbed, carefully stepping over the downspout. See this image larger.
“Wobot.” See this image larger.
@Melissa
10:07am – Good mornin, Sweetie! Last night I thought I heard the sound of dripping water in our room, and listened around… it turned out to be a watch of yours, in our cubbie, just ticking away like it is supposed to… that’s how quiet the house is! :\
Ian woke up at 7:15 ish… asked for you. I explained you were out and he seemed to get it, and didn’t get upset. We got ready just fine, but he was hungry right off the bat, so I gave him a cereal bar. He insisted we take my car. At drop off Miss Judy said she’d take extra special care of him. Ian looked a little… tired and sad… and maybe a little betrayed or scared. But he didn’t cry. He was brave and went with Miss Judy to play with the others. I was brave and didn’t take him home, although I really, really thought about it.
Phil commented in Facebook that there was a 5.0 earthquake in L.A… I checked to make sure that nothing happened in your area… around midnight last night there was a very small 3.1 quake near you. Not that you can actively dodge an earthquake — but be careful anyway.
9:24pm He’s yodeling again. Not putting up much of a fight. He was an absolute angel during dinner… second night in a row! This time he ate the planned meal, plus a jar of those weird turkey/veggie stick things, a full cup of applesauce, and won the coveted red popsicle award. Vitamin administered. Pillow fluffed. Teeth polished. Stories and love of the written word bequeathed. Prayer invoked.
I told this story to you earlier but for anybody else — the cat managed to escape out the garage door, (Seth showed me how he apparently does try the garage door from time to time by pulling on it with his claws later in the evening) apparently he found that it was not fully latched as Ian and I were attempting to go play… as we ran around the house, there he was rolling around near driveway. It was a very careful dance getting everybody safely back in the house. I wanted to grab the cat, but I couldn’t leave Ian, and Ian getting close to the cat scared the cat further away. So I had to say to Ian something like “Come with me, but stop right there… ok come with me again, but slow down… ok Ian stop. Seth, STOP. Ian don’t yell at the cat like Daddy just did. Ok both of you hold really still.”
Meanwhile…
I have a bunch of shots from the 16th of May, only a few days ago, which means we’ve finally caught up!
Melissa hadn’t even left yet and the cat claimed her side of the bed. Indeed that is where he slept last night. See this image larger.
Sweet mohawk! See this image larger.
Buh-GAWK! See this image larger.
A couple little scratches from his own nails, actually… Yes, we cut his nails. See this image larger.
It is funny to me how cute a two year old can be — so much of him is a toddler, but he’s still such a beautiful baby. See this image larger.
And here he is looking to me like he’s about four years old… See this image larger.
Same basic shot, but I liked them both. See this image larger.
Smiling up at his Mommy… we miss you. See this image larger.
Time for the doggie towel thing again! See this image larger.
Can you tell there’s some love going on here? See this image larger.
Kisses for Mommy! See this image larger.
A quick hug from Daddy! See this image larger.
Ian explains the visual subtext behind the illustrations in his bedtime story. See this image larger.
This is an animated gif… if you wait long enough you should see some animation happening. See this image larger.
I’ll be doing several entries today, so be sure and scroll down to make sure you didn’t miss anything!
Reminder – Melissa is in San Francisco!
@Melissa –
It is 4:10pm, and Ian has finally started stirring from his nap — but he’s still not up… of course that was the biggest lunch I think I’ve ever seen him eat!
update 4:26pm, still asleep… I’m going to go get him up now because otherwise he’ll never get to sleep tonight!)
update 10:10pm, when he awoke, he was fine, but eventually asked where you were. I told him you were on a plane and he cried for a little bit. He ate a full plate of the planned meal, plus some crunchers. When we took our vitamins, he said something about “mama’s vitamin” and then looked sad for a second, but bounced back to normal in a few minutes. We read a few stories, said the “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep” prayer… it took him a little bit to go to bed, he yodeled for a while, but he slept without a struggle. Mostly I’ll say the evening went fine. Please see last photo caption if you read this tonight. All our love.
Meanwhile, let’s catch up on pictures!
Back on May 12th, 2009, Mama snapped this one of Daddy and Ian chilling out in Ian’s room. We miss you, Mama. See this image larger.
We tried to pull off a nice shot of the three of us, but you can actually see my brain through my nose, so I don’t think we did very well here. See this image larger.
On May 13th 2009 (Happy Birthday Greg, by the way!) Melissa came home with a new sexy haircut. Ian was shocked by the change. See this image larger.
Wait, can I say “sexy” in a family blog? How about if I meow like a cat? (We miss you, Sweetie!) See this image larger.
When I look at this picture I can’t decide if he’s laughing diabolically like a super-villain, if he’s singing like in an opera, or maybe doing a Louis Armstrong imitation. See this image larger.
I included this one because Ian made me take it. “Pictchuh, Daddy…. CHEEEZ.” And he stood there with his eyes closed, waiting for me to take it. Must have picked up the goofy face habit from Uncle Chris. 😉 See this image larger.
That’s more like it! See this image larger.
Kisses make boo-boos better! (We miss you, Mommy!) See this image larger.
Antarctica is cold on his belly, hee hee! See this image larger.
Speaking of hair, look at all of that kid’s hair! That’s a lot of hair! Remember when he didn’t have any? See this image larger.
Everybody has cool hair except me because my hair cutting person likes to talk and cut off ALL my hair. See this image larger.
I look a little crazed because I’m trying to hold the camera and pull off this shot, but otherwise I think it is great… Melissa looks gorgeous, Ian looks silly and happy… This is my wonderful family. We miss you, Melissa! Sweet dreams tonight! See this image larger.
Today I took Melissa to the airport, and with a teary good-bye she disappeared into the terminal. Ian had fallen asleep a few miles back, but Melissa got to say so-long while he was groggily making his way toward the land of naps.
So currently I believe she’s in the air, heading toward San Francisco. Those of you who are the praying type could please pray for her safe delivery home to Ian and I, we’d appreciate it. If you’re wondering why this is such a big deal… this is only the 2nd time Melissa and I have been apart for a night, since… well a long long time ago. And this is Ian’s first night without his Mommy! She’ll be back Thursday night! Stay safe Mommy!
Ian’s language skills continue to develop, with a little more elaboration… recent good ones:
“I want popsickle, gheen popsickle, pleeeeez.” (“gheen” is “green”…. I’m gussing you can figure out the rest.)
“Come on daddy, go downstairs.” (said perfectly.)
“My need tishoo, I right back.” (runny nose.)
And now some photo updates, trying to quickly catch us up to present, but I don’t think it’ll happen in one entry!
On the 8th of May I got a new drawing tablet that I am absolutely thrilled with, one can easily draw and change the drawing, adding layers and making changes… it is like magic paper and crayons! This is one of my first “good” drawings with it. See this image larger.
Over the course of the last many days, I let Ian try out the tablet to see what he thought. Here’s some of his work! See this image larger.
Really his gestures have a randomness to them that I could never fake, well done! See this image larger.
Before you get too excited, the butterfly is actually a sort of brush that allows you to paint butterflies… it varies the size, direction, and rough location around your pen. So all Ian is responsible for here is choosing black, choosing a color, and the scribble of his composition… that said, he chose well! See this image larger.
Well, so the last entry was toward the end of April… not much else happened other than one more Dad’s group meeting, and I think I only got a little video on that one, and unfortunately, the one after that was even less of a photo/video opportunity, as Ian soaked himself with water and I had to take him home. Any video missed here will of course be referenced on a DVD… someday.
So that brings us up to May then. Over the course of this entry and next, I’ll be sharing some photos, and bring us up to present. The reason that this is important is that starting Sunday Melissa will be going to San Francisco for a five-day business conference trip. During that time, we’ll be using the blog as a communication tool, with updates every night this week, so that Mommy doesn’t miss the lil’ guy too much.
In the middle of the night, around May first, I grew tired of trying to get Ian to go to sleep, and he seemingly needed me, but was also simultaneously asking for Mommy. Solution? Into our bed I unceremoniously placed him, and there he slept, like a log; mostly on my side of the bed. :-\ See this image larger.
These are just some nice shots I took while trying out a special flash attachment that Mr. Brandon had on his camera. See this image larger.
Tickle, tickle, tickle! See this image larger.
He had this really great mohawk for about three minutes, this night, just before bed. I couldn’t pull off getting a good shot, though, before he mushed it down. See this image larger.
On the eleventh of May Ian requested to be able to wear his rain-boots that have a planetary theme going on, while he was still in his bear-print pajamas… sounded like a photo-op to me! See this image larger.
He almost looks startled that I was going to take a picture, you’d think he’d know better by now! See this image larger.
Just tonight we received notice that on July 6th our little baby boy will be upgraded to the “Early Preschool” room at daycare. I’ve never felt so old and proud at the same time!
On Friday, April 24th 2009, Ian stepped outside into warm spring air for some much needed dirt time. Here you’ll see me casually ask Ian to sing us Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and he launches into it.
I find that I pretty much have to do what I just said in order to get such behavior recorded… I have to act like something that I find very miraculous is status quo…
Click here to see the video, weighing in at a very slim 1.5 MB…
However if you’re feeling like it, I’ve also provided just the audio. Click here to listen to a teeny tiny 636 KB audio clip of the same thing.
The next Monday, April 20th 2009, Ian and I went to a little place called Wee Play.
And play he did. See this image larger.
And play. See this image larger.
Play. See this image larger.
Play. See this image larger.
Play. See this image larger.
Rest. See this image larger.
