Ian is Very Trying lately. From other parents I’m hearing that we’ve got things great, but if you could see the sinister glee in his eyes as he does something you’ve told him not to do in precise and clear words a hundred times. It was enough that I picked him up the other day just so he could look at me right in the face after he did something wrong. I think it must have been the classic “I’m about to shake my baby” pose, because I looked over at Melissa and she was staring at me like she might have to use pepper spray and call 9-1-1. Of course I did NOT give him the slightest shake, I just wanted him up at my level so he could see that we need to mutually respect each other. It actually seemed to work, but nothing gets the message across for very long. In moments he’ll be off doing something… biting the tablecloth hard enough to rip it, tipping back in his chair. Putting feet on the table. And about once a week, not trying a single bite of his food, even when a bribe is offered. (It is easy to accidentally reinforce this kind of behavior, so I’ve actually been making deals with him even when everything on the table is something he’ll easily eat… I’d love to get out of that entirely at some point.) You’ll also notice the dinner table in particular seems to attract the nastier side of Ian. Generally we believe this is because we aren’t paying rapt attention to him, instead trying to eat or ask each other about our day.

On the other hand, he’s SO awesome right now. I can’t believe that this is our little baby when I hear “Ouchie! (scampering feet) Daddy kiss it! My hurt my pinger.” and there he is, looking up at me, three feet tall, finger extended and waiting impatiently. Or when he tries to read a book to us based on memorization. Or when he says “WEWKUM HOME, MOMMY!” standing just inside the garage door. The way he’s become so much more responsible about his pacifier… leaving it on the dresser without a word — not asking for it in the car. Small steps toward giving it up for good.

I want to sort of circle and highlight something that I noticed about the blog. Melissa is busy. Melissa has all kinds of fun with Ian and takes him to fun places… but Mommy does not always have a camera handy — and when she does she may not remember to give the photos to Daddy. So keep in mind that you’re seeing an inordinate amount of Father/Son pictures, but that is not an indicator of how our time is actually spent. I just used “inordinate” in a sentence. Woohoo!

And now some pics to catch you up to present!

There’s an ice cream truck that drives through our neighborhood that plays a notes-only rendition of the theme to “Popeye the Sailor Man.” We have yet to treat Ian to an ice cream from said truck because he gets so much joy out of just watching it go by. We know once we get him the first ice cream, his enjoyment will be marred with thoughts of “why can’t I?” Ian and I both have good hearing, so we typically look at each other and tilt our heads like curious dogs, while Mommy wonders what the fuss is all about… then Ian says “PINK TRUCK!” and runs over to the window (or his lion) to wait for it to appear. See this image larger.

At home, Ian is booster-seat free. We’ve decided that part of his behavior at the table is brought on by being done with his meal, getting bored and not being able to do anything about it. Also I erroneously thought that he would not be able to reach high enough to put his feet on the table. See this image larger.

On the 22nd Ian and I went to another park, this one is called Frog Hollow, and it is the only Dad’s Group location that I haven’t really liked so far. The parking lot was very small, and there were a lot of people there. See this image larger.

This park was close to a hospital, so they made it handicapped accessible in a number of ways. You can see a sort of walkway over to the left for wheelchairs… they get up there through a path that winds through the tall grasses of a hill nearby. See this image larger.

“Woodchips are lava!” See this image larger.

The children at the park were meant to be able to climb up the inside of this tube with the hand-holes. It looks to me like a really steep slide combined with a cheese grater. See this image larger.

This is the hill I mentioned earlier that allows wheelchair access to the slides. See this image larger.

They had special swings with a 5-point restraining system. I’ve got a number of shots, I’m wondering if I could make it look like Ian’s piloting a jet fighter or something. See this image larger.