Ivan declared this t-rex to be his favorite.
Dinosaur park is great
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Author Archives: amanda
Super Ivan!
Introducing Super Ivan
Protector of the Backyard
With his star spangled cape
Master of all he surveys
Every superhero needs help sometimes. Luckily, Super Ivan has Super Ezri on his team.
Here they are returning to their hideout after a hard day protecting the backyard from an invasion of bubble aliens. Despite his superpowers, there’s no chance Super Ivan could have popped all the bubble aliens himself. It’s good to be part of a super team. Super Amanda is not pictured though she did have on her cape during this foray. She may have double crossed our super team and been helping create new bubble alien foes.
Wet kids resting after running through the Children’s Gardens
Happy Faces
Silly Faces
Truck Yeah!
Because his parents have the sense of humor of the average middle schooler, Ivan’s pronunciation of the word truck makes them giggle.
He loves the new trucks he got for his birthday especially the dumptruck.
Happy 2nd Birthday, Ivan!
Celebrating his 2nd birthday in DeKalb with Grandma Liz, Grandpa Harvey, and Aunt Amy.
Bubbles, bubbles on my nose. Bubbles, bubbles on my toes.
Bubbles, bubbles float on top.
Bubbles, bubbles pop! pop! POP!
Bubbles, bubbles are so fun.
Bubbles, bubbles for everyone!
Puppets
Ivan will not play with just Bert or Ernie. He wants both when he plays.
He knows they are a pair.
To explore strange new parks. . . to boldly go where no Blau child has gone before
After nap, I asked the kids if they wanted to explore a park we’d never been to before.
I think this exploration was a rousing success.
Ivan ran the whole length of this soccer field chanting, “Supah Fast! Supah Fast!”
When he got to the far side he really wanted to climb. I was lagging behind, but heard him calling, “Help. Boost, Evvie, boost.” His sister pulled him on up.
Faux tire swings are awesome. Ivan said, “More swing. More spin.”
We found a softball in the grassy meadow by the baseball diamond.
Ivan seems to have better control of his pitching than Ezri. I think he may have learned a thing or two watching her summer softball class.
Ivan declared this playground discovery to be “bumpy slide!”
We may have to explore some more parks we’ve never been to before.
Ivan loves the big red water pumps in the Children’s Garden
Step One
Step Two
Ezri is now big enough to operate the red pumps in the Children’s Garden. Ivan is pleased. Very pleased.
The two steps above were repeated many times due to Ezri’s hard work.
Water from the pump was pronounced “delish!” by Ivan.
Boots
It looks like it might rain as we head out to the park.
Do we take umbrellas or raincoats?
No,
But we wear our boots. Ivan and Ezri agree boots are great.
Today Ivan was wearing Ezri’s boots around the house saying, “Ivan boots. Ivan boots.” Ezri made me correct him and let him know that she was just sharing HER boots.
Ivan’s ability to say words that approximate standard English pronunciation is increasing daily.
Banana went from Nee-ah to nana to banana.
Ponies went from Moanies to ponies (though penis he still says dropping the p and adding an m sound).
Ezri went from War-ee to Weh-vee to Eh-vee.
Amanda went from Mama to a brief time when he said Mean-da to Manda.
He rarely says his signature “No-WAN-IT” when refusing, but instead varies between “No like” or “I no want.” He does still sometimes do an exaggerated head nod usually three times when he is asked a question like, “Do you want to have a snack?”
His favorite question lately is “Who dat?” Which he will ask of anyone he doesn’t know from the man jogging past our stroller to a picture of cartoon character on the back of a coloring book. He is proving he remembers the answers as he then recognizes people he’s met and characters he’s seen. I also now know the names of a number of folks in our neighborhood who’ve stopped to introduce themselves when Ivan’s called out “Who dat, Manda? Who dat?”