ian – Page 6 – Out Of Their Minds Design

Wrapping Up September

September 30th, Nina sure can be happy at times. On the other hand, she sure can cry when she wants to! See this image larger.

Let’s take a moment and think about her in the sun room having this sunny moment! See this image larger.

Mmm hmm! See this image larger.

Alright then, back to your regularly scheduled less-cheery-than-this activities! See this image larger.

*Ride ’em cow-kids!* See this image larger.

Ian tries on some cool sunglasses at Target. See this image larger.

See, they um… they flip down. Pretty awesome. See this image larger.

At school, our little Nina made this for Ian. What a nice girl! See this image larger.

We bid the crib adieu, but yanked out the mattress so that Nina would have a familiar surface to sleep on. She chose the floor instead. I have other pictures in this set… she created a “road” out of books and ended up sleeping in some pretty bizarre positions. We’ll miss you crib! I still remember wheeling it down the middle of the street after purchasing it from a garage sale, before we had told any of the neighbors that Ian was in the works. “Nothing to see here! Carry on!” See this image larger.

Some of the kids from Ian’s class gathered in the leaves. Fare thee well, September! See this image larger.

Life is a Ride, Like Days on a Train

September 29th, why the great big hugs, you ask? Because “we’re going on a traaaaaain!” See this image larger.

Waiting in line to hop on the train! See this image larger.

“All aboooaaard!” See this image larger.

The excitement was palpable! See this image larger.

Nina, resplendent in a strawberry band-aid, expresses a deep-seated need to begin the journey. See this image larger.

By this time, we’ve waited too long, and it is time to do goofy things like try on Daddy’s sunglasses… because, well, what the heck else would there be to do? See this image larger.

Nina tried them on too! See this image larger.

Lighting is so important to a good picture! See this image larger.

Ticket punched, here we go! See this image larger.

Eventually some odd characters showed up and started dancing around in our train car. Ian’s reaction: Enchanted. See this image larger.

Nina’s reaction: Concerned. See this image larger.

Halfway through the trip, they just move the engine to the opposite end of the train, and go back the way we came. By now, teenagers on the train have begun texting their friends with things like “OMG I M SO TOTALLY BORD, DOOD.” See this image larger.

Ian shares a wave with the engineer. I was assured his name was not Choo-Choo Charlie. See this image larger.

Love the wispy bangs in this shot! See this image larger.

Pretty smile from Mommy. See this image larger.

Nina enjoying a slight tickle. See this image larger.

Ok, seriously enjoying said tickle. See this image larger.

A random scene from along the tracks. See this image larger.

Our journey complete, I made the kids stare into the sun so that I could take their picture next to the train. See this image larger.

We received a pumpkin each, as a bonus! See this image larger.

Muffins With Mommy (and other adventures)

September 21st, we knew Ian’s school’s addiction to sugar was not good… but frosting on a rice krispie treat? See this image larger.

On a personal side note, it was this day, September 21st, when I got the following text from my new/old friend Steve, who was working on an adventure video game called Lilly Looking Through:

What would it cost to hire a guy like yourself with skills similar to yours, to work 9 months to help work on an adventure game?

The answer was, of course, a lot more money than they had… but it didn’t matter. With Melissa’s approval, I told Steve I’d help him. At 41, this old dog was not only going to learn a new trick, but had found a whole new back yard in which to play, the one he’d always longed to be a part of. 🙂 Should it have a future, or be just a one-off deal — it’s still a big deal in and of itself. I got to try to do the thing I always wanted to do… stuff I had written off as impossible considering how “settled” life is now. How many people get that chance?

September 22nd, Ian and Nina make their own fortress/tent in the sunroom! See this image larger.

Well done, kids. You look really packed in there. Now who has to go potty, anybody? See this image larger.

Nina snuggles with Mommy on the couch. See this image larger.

They both look pretty content to me! See this image larger.

September 23rd, Ian pets a kitty at the farm. See this image larger.

September 25th was “Muffins with Moms!” Mommy got to go in, enjoy a muffin with her kiddo and see elementary school in action! See this image larger.

Here Ian points out a word with an “a” in it. See this image larger.

Melissa got to enjoy a day with her son, in fact. Here Ian and a hot dog get along just dandy! See this image larger.

Happy to be exploring near the Rogue River! (Not to be confused with the Rouge River.) See this image larger.

That’s my kiddo! See this image larger.

You get a real sense of scale here. I know who would win in a fight, but if there was some kind of stinky foot battle? I think it’d be a toss up, honestly. See this image larger.

Some weird interactive art installation thingy that was both fun and functional! See this image larger.

A day later, Mommy got a nice card for coming in to Muffins With Moms! See this image larger.

The inside had a hand-written note from Ian! See this image larger.

Mrs. Lanham kindly passed along the original shot from the card, as well! See this image larger.

September 26th, one of Ian and I’s afternoons together after school. See this image larger.

This wasn’t too much of a staged shoot. I ran in, grabbed my camera when I noticed the lighting, and asked for some smiles. See this image larger.

What I feel like I got was the definitive images of Ian for that summer and even this age. See this image larger.

This is potentially my favorite shot of Ian for all time. He glows. I definitely recommend looking at this one larger. (I did do some minor photoshop work here, a scrape near his elbow, a stain on his shirt, a little food or something on his face…) See this image larger.

September 28th, the school had a “walk” for a charity. I know they raised $15,000 but I can’t remember what for. Probably to buy more candy. Melissa and I both came down to join in, but we missed Ian as he walked right by us here. (It turns out he drew the short straw to carry the “Lanham” sign indicating what class they were in, so he was walking right next to her! We caught up eventually!) See this image larger.

What a great day. When I look at these pics I can almost feel the warmth of the sun, and I remember being very happy. See this image larger.

Wonderful smiles! See this image larger.

Back at the classroom for debriefing. See this image larger.

Pre-walk, the kids gathered for a group shot. Ian is in the front on the left. See this image larger.

Post-walk, the participants of Mrs. Lanham’s class gathered for another shot. We’re on the right toward the back. 🙂 See this image larger.

Still Somehow Holding Off Fall

September 8th, our little barefoot peanut exploring around the sandbox… See this image larger.

… and squishing her toes in the sand! See this image larger.

What a happy face! I can’t kiss those little cheeks enough! See this image larger.

September 9th, Mommy enjoys the tire swing with the little ones. See this image larger.

My beautiful wife… I want to kiss those cheeks too! See this image larger.

Alright, Mommy’s feeling dizzy, let’s go in! See this image larger.

Somehow the can-cozies that we got at my cousin Nicole’s wedding turned into power-bands! See this image larger.

September 11th, hard to believe Ian still fits in this car, but he can manage it. See this image larger.

Still my little ray of sunshine. See this image larger.

September 12th, checking in Ian’s folder after school — orange highlight means he knows the letters, he did pretty darn awesome! See this image larger.

Good job, buddy! See this image larger.

September 14th, Awww! Look at the pigtails on that little beauty! (And somebody bought Mommy flowers, see kids? Daddy wasn’t always mindless.) See this image larger.

You really can’t lose with pigtails. See this image larger.

This was one of my first Friday lunches with Melissa. We don’t always do these, but when we do, it is really nice to get a little “us” time to chat. See this image larger.

Ian strikes a confident pose outside in the front yard. See this image larger.

September 15th, still a book Ian likes to read from time-to-time. See this image larger.

Nina packs a nice lunch. See this image larger.

And she sets a mean table, but if you like a blue plate, I hope you like a blue lunch, or else you’re out of luck. See this image larger.

September 16th and this shoot ended up very nice. See this image larger.

Probably the best of the bunch, right here. See this image larger.

This one’s good too. See this image larger.

*If you hug me, maybe Daddy will stop taking pictures.* See this image larger.

Awwww! See this image larger.

Ready for action! See this image larger.

*Daddy, maybe while I’m doing this, you could edge the lawn?* Yeah, yeah, I’ll get to it, sheesh! See this image larger.

What a character. See this image larger.

My beautiful girls! See this image larger.

Nina built a makeshift iPad holder out of a chair. See this image larger.

“Hey Nina, can you look up at Daddy for a sec?” See this image larger.

Well, you could smile too… I guess that’s too many interruptions. Alright, back to Yo Gabba Gabba. See this image larger.

At least she’s getting fresh air? See this image larger.

Nina lines up her blocks in a big “train.” There might be more to this story, Mommy took this one, so I’m not sure. See this image larger.

September 21st, Ian put some blue chalk on this fallen leaf, and I thought it was a great color contrast. Nice! See this image larger.

Ian hopped outside and wanted a dry slide. But it was wet from the rain. See this image larger.

Now, if I had tried this, I’d have ended up with a wet butt and two paper towels up the back of my shirt. Ian, on the other hand, sat on two paper towels, slid to the end, and wound up with wet paper towels and a dry slide. Good job, buddy! See this image larger.

Grasping the Last Bits of Summer

I was always sure to get at least one update per month on the blog, even if a very late one… but I finally let an entire calendar month go by without an update, January of 2013. Disappointing, but understandable; I’ve never had less time. Excuse me while I get back into the swing of doing this. Undoubtedly I’ll find some things that slipped through the cracks, and make a mad attempt to bring them back to the surface. As we have a lot to catch up on, expect there to be multiple updates per day in the future, without warning. Sorry about the delays! Let’s do this!

Still Ian’s first day of school, but these pictures were provided by Ian’s teacher! That’s him on the right there looking a little crazy. See this image larger.

The kids in front of the sign for the school, that’s him in the back on the left. (Photo by Mrs. Lanham.) See this image larger.

September 5th, I checked to make sure Ian found his way on his second day of class. The first thing they did the day after orienting the kids was park the buses on the other side of the round-about so that the kids were disoriented. Nice! See this image larger.

Ian had to learn lunchbox etiquette. For example, there’s some things that don’t have to be brought home. Like partially empty juice boxes. Half of an egg. Straw wrappers. The other part of the juice, not in the box. That kind of going’s on. See this image larger.

September 6th, Nina hangs out on the porch and reads a cloth book. See this image larger.

September 7th, Ian and I spent the afternoon after school outside doing chalk drawings; here Ian draws the whole family. I believe Ian was on the left, I’m wearing the hat… See this image larger.

Nina is wearing the purple and green. Mommy is playing some kind of game with a ball… See this image larger.

… and Seth the kitty is apparently so long that he stretched right into the garage!!! See this image larger.

I drew Nina a Hello Kitty… See this image larger.

… and wrote a little note to Melissa to let her know I did remember that the next day would be our anniversary. See this image larger.

Sure, why not throw a Batman in there too. See this image larger.

Nina came home from daycare and showed me her baseball bat. I told her that the one with which I will be keeping her high school boyfriends at bay will weigh about that much, but be made of aluminum for maximum bruises. See this image larger.

That night, our kids gather with the two little ones next door, Brendan and Jake. As I probably mentioned, we watch Brendan a bit every school day… in return we get an occasional night out. See this image larger.

What a cute crew! See this image larger.

September 10th, Ian drew what he imagined the batcave would look like. See this image larger.

My little cutie came with me to the grocery store, and rode “Sandy” the horse — a long-standing tradition in our family, apparently! See this image larger.

Funny that as I write this, its only a few months later, and Nina looks quite a bit different. What a little peanut! See this image larger.

Ian’s First Day of Kindergarten

Before I get into the subject behind the title, I want to take this opportunity to point out that while at the cottage, Nina threw away her last zooey/pacifier. Thus, the Chapman household is zooey-free as of September 3rd. Extremely proud of my little girl, you’re brave and awesome!

Another important note – While up at the cottage, without internet, I ended up checking out a page I had stored on my laptop via a special feature in a browser I have. It was there that I recognized my friend Steve from about 15 years ago. We had ripped tickets together at a movie theater. I recognized him on a “kickstarter” page for a video game. I’ll mention this a couple more times, as a wave turned into conversation, and conversation into a nice job opportunity! (Never burn bridges, kids!)

You’ve seen Ian’s last day at daycare, and his Kindergarten Orientation. September 4th was his first real day at Valley View.

And so it begins, Ian’s next chapter. He looks like such a big boy. See this image larger.

K is for kindergarten! See this image larger.

This is one of the two boys from next door. His name is Brendan. He gets dropped off at our house because his parents can’t stick around until the bus gets there. About once a month they watch our kids in return so Melissa and I can have a night out. It works out great! See this image larger.

Still pretty excited looking! See this image larger.

Here we are at the bus stop. That’s Brendan’s dad Aaron in the red. The little girl in blue is Gracie. Her parents are in the pic as well. Brendan is looking for worms… trust me. See this image larger.

All aboard the bus to school. See this image larger.

Yes, I drove to school and then took more pictures. Melissa and Nina came with me. 🙂 See this image larger.

The real adventure almost begins! See this image larger.

A quick pose in the lobby. The principal is out of frame to the left. He was handing candy to kids, winning Melissa’s disapproval immediately. See this image larger.

Back outside to get in line. See this image larger.

Nina’s forehead, to the right. Ian begins to wonder about what’s up with this whole school thing. See this image larger.

Yup, he can sense something’s up. See this image larger.

Now he suspects a trap. See this image larger.

Love this look… what, me worry? See this image larger.

Mrs. Lanham gathers our little ones in line to file into class. See this image larger.

Nina wanted me to be sure and take a couple pictures of her as well. We sort of acted like she was upgrading something as well. See this image larger.

Stepping off the bus, to come home! (I stand there every day, waiting for him to arrive.) See this image larger.

That’s one small step for Ian, one giant leap for Ian-kind… and then a bit of a shuffle, skip and jump. See this image larger.

Home from his first day of school… can you hardly believe it? See this image larger.

A celebratory ice cream after school is worn in this lovely ensemble by Nina Chapman. See this image larger.

I don’t know if I shared this before… I thought maybe it was time to start worrying about Ian’s Lego play, but he assured me that the head-on-a-stick was a puppet. See this image larger.

September Begins and the Cottage

We jumped at another chance to go to the cottage this year, given that the previous visit had had an understandably somber tone.

Grampa Dave and Grandma Marcia were not around for one of the days when we arrived at the cottage on September 1st. It was interesting because I don’t think I’ve ever tried to tackle the cottage without them. At one point I looked up, and my crew was taking care of some items on the deck, I was grilling dinner — and I realized we were doing just fine. See this image larger.

The next morning (September 2nd) was beautiful! See this image larger.

Like seriously beautiful! See this image larger.

Somebody must have asked Nina how a French Poodle barks? See this image larger.

The kids started their own band this weekend! See this image larger.

Nina makes a cookie on the iPad. No, not a real cookie. See this image larger.

Time to take a little dip! See this image larger.

Ian brought some weaponry. See this image larger.

My awesome family. See this image larger.

I like the occasional serious shot; she’s so pretty! See this image larger.

*This thing’s no fun, show me how it works, Gramma* See this image larger.

*Say, this IS fun! Thanks!* See this image larger.

Ian and Mommy strolling around. See this image larger.

“Lookit we got!” See this image larger.

Nina with a feisty smile! See this image larger.

Snuggling with Mommy. See this image larger.

Grandma Marcia suggests a duet! See this image larger.

*Who DOESN’T know this tune? I know we do! Aaaay Beeee Ceeee Deee–* See this image larger.

“Yaay!” See this image larger.

Grampa Dave puts together a much more microphone-like shape with some foam bumpers and a golfball, and immediately the ham/drama-factor is out the window. *THE HILLS ARE ALIIIIIIIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MUUUUUSIIIIIIIIQUE*See this image larger.

*Who knows the theme from Star Trek? OOOOOH Uhhhhh Ohhh OOO Ohh Oooo Uhhhhhhhhhh… uhhh oooo UUUHHHHHH Ooh uh ooh uh uh uhhhhh* See this image larger.

Ian enjoys a special boat-ride! See this image larger.

We saw a cool boat while we were out. See this image larger.

He held on tight and we bounced around out on the river… we got to see a freighter super up-close! Thanks Grampa Dave! See this image larger.

September 3rd, Ian used the foam letters that were available to make a costume, of sorts. See this image larger.

I think he said he was a scuba diver. See this image larger.

Time for a cruise! Thanks guys! See this image larger.

The Island Princess waves to her subjects! See this image larger.

Mommy glances back and gives me a smile. I love that smile. See this image larger.

Out on the river, we spy a loon hanging out (sort of) around a very special place in the water. See this image larger.

Daddy’s girl again! Happens once in a while, and makes me very happy! See this image larger.

The best kind of ride home starts like this. Thanks for a great weekend, Grampa Dave and Grandma Marcia! See this image larger.

August Dialogue and Milestones

Dialogue, August 2nd
Nina, after peeing in the potty: “You proud of me?”

Dialogue, August 2nd
I have no idea what happened here. Ian: “Where are we going?”
Nina, I think…: “The monkey house?”
Ian: “The monkey dentist!”

Dialogue, August 2nd
Nina, pretty much explaining all of existence: “It’s complicated, because it’s a problem, and that’s not ok!”

Dialogue, August 3rd
Nina, woke up in her crib, called only for Ian.

Dialogue, August 3rd
Nina: “Daddy, we gotta go back to my room and pick up my zooey. I dropped it on the floor. I need to put it on my dresser.”

Dialogue, August 3rd
Nina: “Monkey having a picnic. And the picnic is on the grass.”

Dialogue, August 3rd
Ian asks what history means, I explain that it is a study of the past so that we don’t repeat the same mistakes; he focuses on those last few words, but mishears: “Pizzeria steaks?!?”

Dialogue, August 3rd
Nina: “I have short cuts in my hair.”

Dialogue, August 3rd
Nina: “Daddy I need to pack the light in mommy’s bag so we can pack it in the car. We have to zip it up. Mommy I want to zip it up for you.”

Dialogue, August 6th
Ian watching Olympics horse agility: “Why they making the horse jump over that? He could just go around.”

Dialogue, August 6th
Ian, in his sleep, in the middle of the night: “We can share. Here, ride my bike.”

Dialogue, August 10th
Nina, in response to Gramma Sue telling Nina that everybody needed to get up for school: “It’s not time for school; is time for shopping!”

Dialogue, August 17th
Nina, frantically after iPad makes noise in the morning: “We gotta turn it not loud! My Ian tryin’ to sleep!”

Dialogue, August 17th
Nina sits next to me in the living room face covered in oatmeal and berries, I ask if she’s finished eating her oatmeal; her reply: “I kinda needta watch this movie.”

Journal, August 27th
Ian’s orientation at Kindergarten is today. He woke up via an alarm, and I was already up to see him scrambling to figure out how to turn it off. He looked like he grew overnight, but he does that a lot, as I imagine most kids will.

Dialogue, August 27th
Ian at Kindergarten orientation: “His name is Tanner. Tanner, this is my dad… his name is Daran.”

Dialogue, August 31st
Ian said this… people smiled at the Children’s Museum… then he hid: “Pizza is served!”

Dialogue, August 31st
Nina looks at ultrasound area of Children’s museum: “Scary.”

Dialogue, August 31st
Ian, in a tone I’m not sure I’ve heard before from him: “But Nina, there’s so many kids in the universe that want my world famous ice cream.”

Dialogue, August 31st
Ian, as if this is a deal I should be made aware of: “You want 100% money?”

NINA DAYCARE NOTES:

Daycare Notes, Thursday, August 2, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina had a great day she loves playing with Playdough. This morning she was so cute with her legos. When she was playing with beanie babies she made a fish and a turtle kiss.”

Daycare Notes, Friday, August 3, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina enjoyed reading books to herself today. She loved practicing colors with scat the cat at circle time and thought it was so silly!”

Daycare Notes, Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina had a great morning. She really enjoyed playing with all the new dollhouse furniture. She was such a chatter bug today! I could sit and listen to all day. She enjoyed building with Legos.”

Daycare Notes, Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina really enjoyed painting the wall with water. She also enjoyed running around and counting the cows we had on the walls.”

Daycare Notes, Thursday, August 9, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina had a great day. She had a lot of fun playing with the new dollhouse toys. She also enjoy painting a cactus. You got to play with yen on the playground and she was so excited about it!”

Daycare Notes, Friday, August 10, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina loved dancing to “we are the dinosaurs” at circle time she also loved Ring around the Rosie with her friends.”

Daycare Notes, Tuesday August 14th, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina pretended a shark was chasing her around the playground and she ran around screaming at the top of her lungs. She loved painting a hippo with a sponge.”

Daycare Notes, Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina kept calling the Playdough “taydo.” It was so cute! Nina had fun running with her friends at the Belmont playground. She rode on the train and said ‘all aboard!'”

Daycare Notes, Thursday, August 16, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina loved coloring with yellow markers, crayons, and twisters. her lion turned out beautiful! Nina enjoy playing dramatic play and with the dollhouse today. Nina really been trying to work with Nina putting her socks and shoes on all by herself!”

Daycare Notes, Friday, August 17, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina built a train in dramatic play with Ava and Jake. She kept saying “chugga chugga choo-choo!” She did have some trouble sharing toys with her friends this morning. She loved swinging on the playground today. Nina did a great job putting her shoes on by herself this afternoon! So proud of her!”

Daycare Notes, Monday, August 20, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina was very talkative today. She had a lot of fun playing with the sorting bears and stacking cups. Nina did a great job putting her shoes on today! She told me she’s been working on it!”

Daycare Notes, Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina loves to sing! Every time we go to the playground she lives she leads her friends in a song time! She pretended the climber was a house. She said she was the mommy and her friends were the sisters. Then she kept asking “do you hear my words?” She helped pick up at the end of the day she’s an excellent helper!”

Daycare Notes, Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina was happy today — she loved playing in the water table. Her favorite toys were the stacking cups that dripped water. She also enjoyed digging in the sandbox.”

Daycare Notes, Thursday, August 23
Nina’s caregiver: “She was so excited to see her ABC’s in the echo tunnel this morning!”

Daycare Notes, Friday, August 24, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina made a “big big road” in the sandbox today! She tried really hard to blow bubbles through a straw and was really excited when she was successful.”

Daycare Notes, Monday, August 27, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “You had a great day she was very talkative she had an impromptu singing session with Miss Jillian and seeing a lot of fun songs. She also enjoy painting a snake with a bit of colors.”

Daycare Notes, Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Instead of singing “the farmer in the Dell” Nina saying the “the farmer in the cow” she also really enjoyed watching the turtle swim and singing the turtle song.”

Daycare Notes, Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina enjoyed playing with the felt board story. She was constantly rearranging the numbers and frogs. She also had a lot of fun painting her frog and worked very hard to cover the whole thing.”

Daycare Notes, Thursday, August 30, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina really enjoyed making daughter dots this morning. She also enjoyed cutting our alligator puppet.”

Daycare Notes, Friday, August 31, 2012
Nina’s caregiver: “Nina looked at me and said “cups and turtles and swings and run” and then she ran away. It was cute! She liked also to play pretend games (like house and family and teacher) at the Belmont playground! She is full of imagination!”

IAN DAYCARE NOTES
I’ll spare you most of this… Not much exciting happened other than injuries. :\

Daycare Notes, Thursday, August 2, 2012
Ian’s caregiver: “He really enjoyed the school playground at Belmont. He ran from toy to toy.”

Daycare Notes, August 6, 2012
Ian’s caregiver: “Ian really liked doing track and field in Tumble Time.”

Daycare Notes, August 16, 2012
Ian’s caregiver: “Ian was playing with the balls he slipped and fell on his arm. It was pretty rough up. We got him an ice pack and held it on his arm for 20 minutes.”

Daycare Notes, August 17, 2012
Ian’s caregiver: “Ian was walking in block area when a friend brought a block up and accidentally hit Ian in the lip. This caused a fat upper lip. I offer him ice but he didn’t want it.”

Daycare Notes, August 23, 2012
Ian’s caregiver: “Ian enjoyed Kevin the entertainer and his puppet.”

Daycare Notes, August 27, 2012
Ian’s caregiver: “He was running and tripped and fell in his right knee.”

Daycare Notes, August 28, 2012
Ian’s caregiver: “Ian really enjoyed his ice cream sundae with sprinkles on top.”

Daycare Notes, a thank you, received weeks into September…
Ian’s caregiver: “Ian, Daran and Melissa thank you for the beautiful plant and for going on all the field trips. You were a great help. (At Ian) Your mom says you love going to kindergarten. I am so glad you like it but I do miss you. Miss Rhonda”

And that was Ian’s last day at daycare. I think we’ll all miss these days. Thinking about the toddler that stumbled toward that door, and the young man that walked out. I’m so proud of him!

August Video

Video, August 9th
This is a long video of each of the kids reading a book called “What’s Up, Duck?” Both kids pretty much relying on memorization from the pictures, and maybe a bit of sounding out the words on Ian’s part. To see this video, click here.

Video, August 18th
The kids sometimes like to watch a show called “Bo on the Go.” This is Nina excitedly watching the credits and both kids jogging along, per Bo’s instruction in the video. To see this video, click here.

Video, August 24th
Rockabye baby with alternate lyrics. To see this video, click here.

Video, August 26th
Nina throws a mean color-coordinated picnic, if only Ian would sit properly! To see this video, click here.

Ian’s Last Day at Daycare

August 30th, Nina stops washing her toy dishes, sensing a blog entry primarily about Ian! *Will have to remember to do something adorable tomorrow so I can get some pics in!* See this image larger.

August 31st Nina sleeping like an angel in her crib! See this image larger.

Look at how sweet! See this image larger.

I think this might be the last pic of Nina in her crib, come to think of it… she’s moved on since this image was taken, you’ll see in a future update. See this image larger.

Seems like a fitting first image for the topic of Ian’s Last Day at Daycare. It used to say the name of the daycare place, but Photoshop to the rescue! Alright so like I said, a fitting first image, but not first chronologically, so let’s head back to our house in the morning. See this image larger.

Look at him! He’s bursting with excitement! He’s been waiting months to say good-bye to daycare and hello to Valley View! For those of you who just sighed and shook their heads… youth only has a vague notion that growing up and growing old leads to a lot more responsibility. He’ll understand soon, believe me. See this image larger.