We start this entry at the DeVos Children’s Hospital on June 24th. This was the appointment with the non-sedated echocardiogram. They wanted to sedate Nina but Melissa made the bold call telling them they could probably get the results they needed during her nap. The tech was awesome, letting Melissa hop right up on the gurney with Nina to hold her until the nap set in, and Mommy’s instincts were right; Nina slept soundly and they got some great pictures. Even better, we got some great news that day, as you may recall. In essence, Nina’s not in any immediate danger, and we’re going to put off surgery for a year.

When the doctor was giving us feedback on Nina he expressed that he had had his doubts that she could hold still enough, but that he had been wrong. Very proud of Melissa for knowing Nina so well, and making a great call.

Finally, the cardiologist explained that he was going to show the images at a conference to get other doctor’s opinions of how she’s doing. Now, hopefully this won’t confuse anybody too much, but I’m going to go ahead and put the voice mail that we received on July 11th here in this entry, to keep that information together.

Audio
Click here to hear what our doctor had to report on July 11th, after the conference.

Here’s some videos from that visit!

Video
Click here to see Nina look at a bubble-wall and say “pop! pop!”

Video
Click here to see Nina play with a hospital room toy that has a little ambulance and police car on it… siren sound effect provided (with great skill!) from Nina.

After we got back from seeing the doctor, we picked up Ian…

Video
Click here to see Ian in an impossibly good mood! I wish we’d see more of these! (I notice the audio is out of sync with the video. Investigating.)

Scroll down and maybe even hit the “previous entries” button at the very bottom of the page if you haven’t been here in awhile, folks. Lots of entries in the last 24 hours.

June 12th, Ian eats something. I’ve run out of good captions for this other than “nom nom nom.” See this image larger.

Nina sucks on a fruit pouch. These are awesome for babies as it takes a lot of the “texture” issues some people have with fruits and turn it into… smoosh. See this image larger.

As an added bonus they are delicious. I’m told. These pictures were also taken because Nina transitioned to a booster seat from a high-chair! See this image larger.

*More?* See this image larger.

*Just a teeny bite of yours?* See this image larger.

June 13th… able to lift mid-sized vans with single heave-ho. See this image larger.

Nina’s walk is still a ways away from being perfectly stable, but there’s a confidence here that is hard to deny. She’s gaining speed, she’s gaining control, and she’s got an Elmo microwave and knows how to use it. See this image larger.

Yet more face-making. See this image larger.

Yet more face-making. See this image larger.

Yet more face-making. See this image larger.

Ballerina Nina strikes again! See this image larger.

*Where’s my car-keys?* See this image larger.

I wish I had known Ian was going to look genuinely happy in this shot, I would have stopped making faces. I wish kids could see how hard it is on a parent to be a parent… you have to be the tough guy, the stern one, for very good reasons. Kids reactions are to be sad or mad. You don’t always feel loved. When you do though, it’s the best feeling in the world. See this image larger.

Daddy loves his family so very, very much. See this image larger.

Hey buddy, let’s go to the park. See this image larger.

Yes, all three of us, Nina! See this image larger.

This park is great because they have distinct areas for different age groups. It does mean having to keep your attention carefully split, however. Nina looks adorable on equipment that’s right around the right size, for a change! See this image larger.

Nina minds the register. See this image larger.

Video
Click here to see Ian and Nina running the “General Store” in a local park. I’ve got videos of Ian doing this solo at a younger age – this is the first time the kids tackle it together. This video is rather large, so go pour yourself a cup of coffee while it loads, please.

One eventually gets a feel for what their kid can handle. I talked Ian over the tippy-top of this rock wall from across the park, and prayed that he didn’t bust an ankle. See this image larger.

Cheese. See this image larger.

*Let’s go home.* See this image larger.

Snack-time! See this image larger.

Little goofball… can you see her smile shining through? See this image larger.

Video
Click here to see and hear Nina being a chatterbox. If you thought some of the banter from the park was good, you’ll love this. Listen carefully for “little girl” which she says a couple times.

Video
Click here to see and hear the second part of the video above. Listen for “I’m all done now daddy, all done.” I’m pretty sure she also says something like “Daddy, I got this.” or maybe “all done.” The reassuring nod while she says that slays me. I’m not sure of some of the other things she says, but she’s doing great!

Sleepy one, June 3rd. See this image larger.

One would be forgiven for thinking that I somehow did not pass my face-making expertise on to my son based on this image. Forgiven but mistaken. Ian’s full range is quite impressive and will be displayed during the Florida pictures when we finally get to July. See this image larger.

Kids see themselves on the iPad video screen on June 4th. See this image larger.

I can’t remember if this is the only time Nina’s ever sacked out during a meal. She sure did on this one though. See this image larger.

Some catch-up on artwork. This was made as an activity at Nanny-On-Demand, the time Melissa rescued me from a horrible deadline issue. See this image larger.

Ian made this during “JAMS” at our church, and asked me to write out the dedication before he signed it. See this image larger.

The kids practice “cheers!” See this image larger.

June 5th – by now most of you have seen and/or own a print of a few of these. Those of you who have not, brace yourself for cute. See this image larger.

Sweet pea in the front yard… See this image larger.

What a hat, huh? See this image larger.

We had frolic we had fun, sidewalk-chalk and a wag-on. See this image larger.

Nina ponders a last-minute leap before the inevitable wagon-chase to downtown Rockford. See this image larger.

Perhaps a quick safety lesson… *pull it more like this, Mommy.* See this image larger.

I’ve been told that this picture is so good that it should win an award. I think it sort of looks like the one that comes in a new frame as a place-holder. 🙂 See this image larger.

Air Nina in 3… 2… See this image larger.

Hey, HEY… traveling! See this image larger.

It is ok to photograph potentially sad children, you just have to write a funny caption. Um… I got nothin’. See this image larger.

He just got done throwing seed-helicopters in the air from a neighboring tree, if you’re wondering. See this image larger.

She can’t possibly do more harm than the deer. See this image larger.

Anybody else look at this picture and think of Flamenco dancing? Rat-tatta-tatta-tat-TAT-tatta-TAT… TAT-TAT! See this image larger.

May 28th, like the title says. How did Nina get in this chair? Wait for a couple entries and you will see her awesome “climb” video! See this image larger.

Paging Dr. Nina! See this image larger.

Peek-a-boo!!! See this image larger.

Hi kids! Where are you? See this image larger.

Oh they’re going on a trip in their favorite rocket ship! See this image larger.

Awwww! Rest up, ladies! Fun night ahead! See this image larger.

Ian smiling… get camera! See this image larger.

He’s still smiling! Click click! See this image larger.

I know why he’s smiling, it is our evening destination! See this image larger.

Yup! Our triumphant return to Java Gym! See this image larger.

Cute! On the way to Java Gym, we were trying to figure out how we would trade off taking care of Nina back at the ground-level table while the other parent chased Ian around the structure. See this image larger.

But little girl refused to be coddled safely at a table. No… little girl got fierce! Little girl got brave! *GRRRR!!!* (Truth is, she’s practicing this face… expect to see it in a few more pics shortly!) See this image larger.

One foot-wide mesh filled with ankle-eating holes? We TRIED to stop her! Look at her go! See this image larger.

Did this foam MOUNTAIN slow our girl down? Heck no! See this image larger.

Still goin’! See this image larger.

Somehow I ended up adopting 5 more kids that day. While parents are allowed up in the fun structure, very few do… thus I became popular very fast. We played cops and bad guys and ran all over. It was fun! See this image larger.

A well-deserved nap on the way home… (You can see Nina in the reflection of the mirror if you look carefully.) See this image larger.

Video
Click here to see if Nina had any fun while at Java Gym. You tell me! (The boy in the blue shirt, in both videos, is not Ian! It is one of the kids that started hanging out with us… I think Nina might say “Ian!” when he says “Boo!”)

Video
Click here to see Nina tackle a foam mountain!

Time for our dialogue update. You’ll see this runs the gambit from a bit ago to more recently… I will continue the main timeline from where we left off last entry, as usual.

Here we go!

April 24th, 2011
Nina – “Button.”

April 25th, 2011
Nina – “Blankie!!”

April 26th, 2011
Ian – “See that? There’s bubbles on my hands, and I washed them off!”

May 22nd, 2011
Mommy – “Just tell the bee to go away.”
Ian – “I can’t talk to bees.”

May 22nd, 2011
Ian – “Look what I’ve arrived with, Daddy. (shows me his shoes) … and my lucky water cup. Now I’m going to get my shoes on Dad… k? But. The socks are in my shoes, because. Every day I wear shoes I have socks in my shoes.”

May 23rd, 2011
Ian – “Nina you can play with me but you can’t do anything bad. You gotta do everything good.”
(moments pass.)
ian – “Now you can’t play with me you did something bad. Serious don’t move that. I’m serious!”

June 1st, 2011
Ian – “if we did get these toys without magnets? (shakes his head sadly) Bad idea. Were goin to jail.” (Magnets are the “currency” by which he gets toys these days, don’t forget.)

June 1st, 2011
After a rough day, I met Ian and Melissa at the YMCA so that Ian could go to swim class. When he saw my car pull up, and me hopping out, he squealed “Daddy!” and gave me a much-needed hug like we hadn’t seen each other in a week.

June 6th, 2011
Nina – “Ariel” (Pointing at the Little Mermaid… her real name is Ariel.)

Nina – “Close dah duhr.” (Close the door?)

Nina – “Eye.” (Pointing at my eye.)

Daddy – “Who is that in the mirror?”
Nina – “I duuno hoo eed is.”

Nina – “Here ya go. Righ here.”

Nina – “Welcome!” (After somebody said “Thank you!”)

Nina – “Dissue.” (Pointing at tissue.)

Nina – “Wuhn duhr dree” (I made a habit out of counting out the steps on our staircase as we climbed up or down them while holding Nina… you have to hear the words in context, but she’s saying her version of “one, two, three”.)

June 10th, 2011
(This one is a bit much in the “poop talk” department, read at your own risk.)
Ian – “I didn’t want poop to come out of my belly but it did. That’s a big bad poop. Stick it away from my butt.” (The various ways the word “stick” can be used have caused a little confusion. “Stick that in the oven” explains why he’s using it here.)

June 11th, 2011
At the time we thought our system of gating off the kid’s play area was working perfectly. An ottoman, a gate, and then another ottoman on the other side. This allowed Ian and the cat to get over, but Nina was stuck. But this day, she walked over until she was about two feet from the ottoman, lifted her left leg until just the toes somehow had reached the top of the ottoman, (somewhat like a practicing ballerina) then proceeded to lift her whole body up on top of it.

June 12th, 2011
mommy – “Where’s your water cup?” (Not really expecting an answer.)
Nina – “Ovah deyr.” (She points behind her… sure enough, water cup in that general direction.)

June 12th, 2011
Ian made up his own prayer:
“God, keep me safe day and night day and night day and night. Can you? Can you do that God? Amen.”

June 15th, 2011
From Nina’s daycare sheet:
“Nina had a wonderful day. She really liked coloring with markers. Whenever she was done w/ that color she would hand it to me and I would give her a different color. When she was finished she did the sign for “all done.” When I was changing her diaper I pointed out elmo and she said “Elmo” after I did. I was surprised.”

June 16th, 2011
From Nina’s daycare sheet:
“Nina had a great morning in the young toddler room. She played w/ all sorts of toys. She especially likes our dramatic play. She sure loves to talk. She makes us laugh because when she talks she sometimes has such a serious face. She colored a Father’s Day card for art and got marker on her face. I tried to wash as much as possible.”

June 18th, 2011
Nina grabs coloring book, points through gate at drawer which contains crayons, and does sign language for “please.”

June 23rd, 2011
Nina points at a fish and makes the “Ffffffffffffffffffffffff” sound… as if practicing the f sound.