And Nina on keyboard and orange ice cream co– uh, singing. Thank you for coming to our jam session! See this image larger.
Melissa has been feeding Nina these fruit pouches for forever, and both of us have either squeezed the contents into a bowl, or squeezed a spoonful at a time into Nina’s mouth. See this image larger.
I thought about doing this but never did follow up on it. Mommy handed her the whole pouch. Nina emptied it like a champ. This is good because it means that somebody else can eat while she’s feeding herself. See this image larger.
Video Click here to watch Nina on February 7th babbling for a bit.
Video Click here to watch Nina realize that Mommy is home!
February 8th, I went through the steps of how to draw a snowman, and Ian followed right along. Check it out!!! See this image larger.
https://outoftheirminds.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ootmd-logo-dark-wings-3Asset-15.svg00vrbfwhttps://outoftheirminds.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ootmd-logo-dark-wings-3Asset-15.svgvrbfw2011-02-18 12:36:232011-02-18 12:36:23Winter in February Continues
Video Click here to watch Nina and Ian in action. I want to point out that this video illustrates another theory that I started figuring out with Ian. If you keep things humming along fairly happily, he stays happy and tries to do good things. If you yell at him and make him feel like crap, he’s only going to do worse things. Either way it is a snowball effect, good or bad. I’ve been referring to this theory as “keep it light.” I started reading a book that I thought might help with Ian, and I think it did, a little, but ultimately Ian isn’t the kind of kid they’re talking about. Some kids have a way of behaving that is the way they are at all times. Ian changes depending on who is or isn’t around, which tells me the behavior should be correctable. In the case of this video, for example, one could blow a fit about not being able to film Nina, or one could realize that what is being recorded is much closer to the way life is right now, and have some fun with it.
February 2nd, so Nina’s pretty awesome about standing and walking with her pink pony or Ian’s old wheeled truck. But one of the more surprising moves she can pull off is getting on or off the pony very quickly. See this image larger.
This is something else that she seems to do a lot, which is pretend that the TV is a drive-in movie theater. Just the other day, Ian and I were sitting happily next to each other watching a show on the couch… where was Nina? The wheeled truck, just chilling and watching the same show, down at ground level. See this image larger.
Video Click here to watch another clip of Nina saying “Hi Da Da!”
Video Click here to watch Nina cruising around with her pony.
Video Click here to watch Nina building with some blocks!
February 5th, we finally got around to adding those smashed cookies to a new batch of ice cream, just vanilla this time. Was pretty awesome. See this image larger.
You want to see me get a little sad? Put a stack of Ian’s outgrown shirts in a stack and put a name on the top that isn’t Ian’s. Yup, these are moving on to a boy who fits in them. See this image larger.
Some of these outfits are the definitive Ian at a different age. This striped shirt for example. I’m not sure what video or picture it is in, but when I picture Ian at a certain age, he’s in this shirt. So. I stole it. I took it out of the stack and put it in a drawer. See this image larger.
https://outoftheirminds.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ootmd-logo-dark-wings-3Asset-15.svg00vrbfwhttps://outoftheirminds.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ootmd-logo-dark-wings-3Asset-15.svgvrbfw2011-02-18 02:12:322011-02-18 02:12:32February Comes In Like a Lion. An Angry Snow Lion, Made Entirely of Snow.
Video Click here to watch Nina yawn cutely on January 30th. You’ll want to turn your volume up so as to maximize cuteness. Then turn it back down so as to minimize irritation with whatever happens next on your computer.
Ian built this shuttle completely on his own. As in, one moment he was playing on his own, the next this shuttle came flying through the room at his hand. Pretty impressive. He’s four, mind you. Look at the tapered cockpit, the wing configuration and the tail section. I’m betting he’s got a good reason for the red part too. I seriously think he’s going to end up being an engineer or something. The guys on the Chapman side back as far as I can remember, and as I recall one of Melissa’s grandparents seem to have that as a sort of hidden talent, so who knows — might be in his genes. See this image larger.
Kid in destructive mood has excess energy to burn. Solution: Bang up these cookies for some ice cream… use your hammer. See this image larger.
He seems to be enjoying himself. While this was supposed to be for a batch of mint ice cream, that ultimately failed, so the cookies were preserved for a later batch. See this image larger.
On Mondays I’ve been trying to do something fun with the kids, particularly Ian. I’m not sure I need to explain myself on that — part of it is that this is what he was used to before Nina came along, and another part of it is that the entire day goes better when Ian is kept a little busy. So on January 31st, I put Nina in the sunroom, stepped outside onto the deck with Ian, and we tried to build a snowman. Only it turned out that there was only a light coating of ice with non-packing snow underneath. So… we built a snowman out of our grill. Hey, it worked. (Ian said it looked like a character from Thomas the Tank Engine.) See this image larger.
*No cavities, and your top teeth are coming in fine, hard to see in here, though.* See this image larger.
https://outoftheirminds.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ootmd-logo-dark-wings-3Asset-15.svg00vrbfwhttps://outoftheirminds.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ootmd-logo-dark-wings-3Asset-15.svgvrbfw2011-02-17 12:55:402011-02-17 12:55:40January Goes Out Like a Lamb, Part 2
Winter in February Continues
February Comes In Like a Lion. An Angry Snow Lion, Made Entirely of Snow.
January Goes Out Like a Lamb, Part 2