DinoRoars, Part I
It has been funny listening to Ian’s vocabulary grow. The other day we were in the neighborhood of a few stores and Ian said he wanted to go to “A-B Giraffe.” Translated that is Toys R Us. The A-B part is short for A-B-C which he says instead of “this has letters on it” sometimes. (So like if he picked up a football an it said “Wilson” on the side of it, he’s point at the letters and say “ABC football.”) Obviously the giraffe is in the worded logo on some store fronts, so thus… A-B Giraffe.
This morning:
“I want a duck.”
“Which duck?”
“Want two ducks.”
“Which ducks?”
“Green… and Pink.”
(We have four different colored rubber duckies… and yes pink and green are amongst them.)
I don’t remember a few of the other instances, but suffice to say he’s able to tell you what he wants much better these days… which makes it all the more infuriating when all he does is cry. And he’s been a champ at that this week. We keep trying to get him to just try food. We offer that he can just put it on his tongue in order to try it, and he still will not do so, even if we offer him another helping of something he DOES like as a reward. So he just sits there and cries. And cries. We could cave in and make everybody’s life easier, but I’m being much more adamant about this now; he needs to learn it isn’t always going to go his way.
This afternoon Ian was crying about wanting to stay in, then wanting to stay out, then wanting to go back out, play more games, watch more videos, shoes on, he’s asked for pretty much every grandma and/or grandpa, etc. Eventually I just said “Why don’t we get you something for lunch or go to bed (take a nap.)” Ian walked upstairs without another word, grabbed his zooey (yes we’re working on breaking him of that vice) waited for me to bring up his blankie, and put himself to bed. I did not have to direct him in any way, and it was me doing the following the entire time. I even told him flat out “Look, I’m leaving the door cracked open — if you want back out, just open the door, alright?” and without a peep, off he went to dream about a Daddy that lets him do what he wants more often, I guess. He’s in his room right now, snoozing away. (That’s the end of the latest news, here’s some stuff from a week ago!)
On June 13th, Ian, Melissa and I joined the Schoenborn family at the Grand Rapids Public Museum for their Dinosaur exhibit!
The Schoenborns, for those that need a review, are Martin and Melissa, (friends that you might remember from our wedding, where they were an enormous help!) and their two sons, Isaac who is almost 4, and Levi who is one years old. See this image larger.
Ian is either pointing to an airplane or a whale skeleton. I love the way he points at this age, his hand comes right up to eye level and he does not straighten his arm, so that he ends up looking right down the length of his finger. His is a shy way of pointing, and somehow less rude. See this image larger.
Foreshadowing of what is to come when we reach the exhibit! See this image larger.
I swear he’s going to end up with a fly in his mouth one of these days. See this image larger.
There’s two happy boys! See this image larger.
It’s full of stars! See this image larger.
To be honest I’m a little surprised by the lack of cushion under this bicycle that they pretty much tell you to hop on. See this image larger.
Ian’s turn! See this image larger.
Maybe he’ll be a runner, who knows… seems like the best smiles I miss are streaky blurs as he’s cruising by! See this image larger.
That’s alright, I saw the guy that cleans the glass on the railings, and he looked like he was grateful for the job security. See this image larger.
Finally, it is time to go into the Dinosaur exhibit!! Ian dutifully hands over his ticket for admission — but you and I will have to wait for next blog entry to see the inside! See you soon! See this image larger.