Known to his parents-to-be as "Bumper", Ian Karl was born eleven weeks early after his Mom, Barbara developed Preeclampsia. Ian was born on January 22, 2006 and started his life in the new born intensive care unit (NICU) at the local hosptial.
Ian Karl's Blog Site follows Ian's journey through his time at the NICU, to his home coming and beyond.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
In the mountains ....
Ian went to the mountains last weekend, one night away was with Dad's Department on the annual Away Day (always lots of fun!). We were in Thailand's Khao Yai National Park, which is also a favourite of Mom & Dad's. The air was so cool, and the skies clear. We stayed at two great resorts which allowed for Ian to have some fun. Jumping in the pool -or more like having Dad throwing him -was one of Ian's highlights (it's the simple things that so often count, eh?! Ian also got to hang out with Dad'd Assistant, Pae who you see Ian with in our photo's.
Sorry for the long break away from the Blog, but since August it's been so very busy. You'll see a number of photo's of Ian in this post enjoying a few activities, including a beach trip to Hua Hin with 'baby Neve' (as Ian calls her!) and her Mommy Michele along with Mom (of course) and Ian lounging by the pool at the Shangri-La hotel in Bangkok. Ian has just returned from the UK having spent a very brief trip there whilst also visiting Grandpa Frank and Grandma Lily in Ireland, who just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary (congratulations, guys!). You'll see a nice family shot too of us all (and rare one as well!).
Ian is off to Hong Kong this weekend, so more pictures to follow along with a promise from Dad to keep up-to-date with the Blog photo's!
Look who's taking the photos now!! Yes, Ian has now mastered Daddy's SLR Camera! Not only does Ian take a really good photo, he gives commands on where to stand and always says "another one" to be sure he gets more than one shot in. It's the way he quickly looks into the back of the camera to see how good his photo's are that makes us laugh the most!
We had a quick chance to visit with the Boston gang before heading out of New England at a wondeful party hosted by our good friends Jon and Franchesca which allowed us to enjoy a terrific afternoon of fun with plenty of young friends for Ian to hang out with. Great seeing you all guys!
Mom and Dad took Ian the Wequassett Resort on Cape Cod, to revisit where we were married in 2004. Ian had a blast, since we had several visitors join us the resort and enjoyed some great catch-up time with beautiful weather to boot. Uncle Eddie taught Ian to fly a kite on the jetty dock, while Ian also got to play with Matthew and Kevin running around endlessly while we got to hang with Kevin and Matthew's Mom and Dad (Jacqui and Michael). Baby Sarita even stopped by with her Mom and Dad (Ragav and Stacey) to enjoy the wonderful cape cod baylocation. Finally Ann and Jim swung by for breakfast on our final day to conclude a wonderful stay in Chatham.
Next on our tour was to Boston, Daddy's favourite city! Daddy took Ian to Boston Public Garden, where we see Ian posing in front of the statue of Washington. A wander around Boston's many sites led to Ian spotting a mini-Baseball player whom he quickly sided up to.Ian found a Fire Engine to play on too. A visit to see Uncle Butter meant a chance to take some snaps on Boston's famous Beacon Hill streets.
After NYC, we all went to Connecticut to visit with Auntie Olive. Then a visit to see Paige and Griffy led to a fun evening for all as Ian got to play with his buddies right up to bedtime (and beyond!).
Next stop for Ian was New York City - yes, the Big Apple! Daddy took Ian to Times Square and then onto the Museum of Natural History at Central park so Ian could see the Dinosaurs. And boy did we see some!!! Ian got to pose on the steps of the Musuem afterwards - don't he look cute?!.
It all started in the UK, with a flying visit to sunny (wet!) Hitchin to see family and friends. Ian got to enjoy some fun in Nana Margarets garden on the skateboard and visit with Grandad Bob and Sue. As ever, Ian got to play Grandad's drums, waking up the neighbors on a Sunday morning!
Ian finished school yesterday and next year will move to the K1 class at a new location down the road. Teacher Camilla kept a photo record of Ian's exploits in class this semester, so enjoy a few shots of Ian at work. Thanks for the many photos, Camilla - they're great!
We are just back from a long weekend in Hong Kong, mainly to see our very good freinds Colin and Fiona and for Ian to see his girlfriend Jessica! This time we spent a few hours with M-I-C-K-E-Y and friends at DisneyLand and as you'll see for some of our photo's Ian got to meet some of his favourite Disney stars! Upon meeting Winnie, Ian promptly asked "Where's the Hunney!?". His favourite seemed to be Pluto, who he keeps mentioning. Ian also got to ride the Carousel with Mom, fly with Dad on Dumbo and go through The Small, Small World (yes, we're still singing the song!). Our time in Hong Kong was fun too, with lots of 'retail therapy' (as it was also Mommy's birthday) with some great dinners and some R&R. It's only 3 weeks now before Ian starts his summer vacation to Europe and the US and this week marks the last week of school too.
Yes, it's that end of school time again and this year see's Ian graduate from his 'Nursery Aboard' class and he will next year move to the 'bigger' school up the road, with lots of new exciting classes and facilities. Ian's school report was a good one this year (again!) as you'll read below. In our photo's we see Ian with Teacher Camilla walking onto stage to collect his graduating certificate and some happy shots of Ian with Mom and Camilla too. We are proud parents today of our wondeful little boy, who is growing up oh-so-fast!
IAN'S SCHOOL REPORT:
Self-Help Skills Ian enjoys being independent; he always uses the bathroom and washers his hands unassisted. During snack time he makes sure that he has tissues and his water bottle. He can put on his shoes by himself.
Gross Motor Skills Ian enjoys and is confident at jumping from heights, climbing and swinging through the playground. He is completely fearless. He is learning to do a unassisted ‘roly-poly’ in Baba-Grow and to throw and catch a ball correctly.
Fine Motor Skills Ian is our champion at threading beads onto a string faster than anyone. He has become more confident in cutting out shapes with little or no assistance. Ian is learning to hold his pencil and paintbrush correctly.
Language Skills Ian’s vocabulary has grown enormously since the beginning of the academic year. He is very confident in his speech and can pronounce very well. He has excellent communication with his teachers and classmates.
Listening Skills Ian thoroughly enjoys story time and has a great memory for recalling all the details of the story read. Ian listens well to instructions. However, he may occasionally need encouragement to retain this focus to the task at hand.
Academic Skills Ian has progressed enormously this year. He can now recognize colours and shapes. He is working hard to remember what we have been covering in class. Ian can recognise his own name, and is able to trace it without any assistance. Ian thoroughly enjoys school.
Most Favourite Activities Cutting out shapes and cutting up paper are Ian’s favourite activity at school. He also enjoys Baba-Grow sessions and Music and Movement class with Teacher Air. He loved making and eating banana muffins in cooking class.
Most Favorite Activities Ian loves to swim but generally enjoys all of the activities on offer at school. He keeps himself busy by playing with a wide variety of toys and puzzles.
We are between trips away but Ian has still been busy. He is off to Hong Kong in two weeks, but since going to Singapore last month Ian has said goodbye to his girlfriend Katrina who has now returned to Serbia. Our best wishes to Michael, Natasha and Katrina on a safe and happy return home. This was their last photo together - and know that Ian misses Katrina!
Ian spent this past weekend having family fun at the Oceanarium in Bangkok. It's a place he's been to before but each time is something new and exciting. This time Ian got to watch the Scuba diver feed the fish in the massive fish tanks - you can see Ian with the diver in our photo! And of course a happy family photo taken of us all at the beginning of our fun day. Ian also got to see a 4D movie, hence the attractive glasses that Ian and Mom are both wearing! To round off our weeknend, Ian also got to have brunch at the Four Seasons Hotel, which is where we see him standing next to the spice cart at one of the hotel's restaurants.
Ian went to Singapore this weekend, to visit Mommy and Daddy's friend Sue. We all had a great time, as you'll see. Ian got to ride on the 'Singapore Flyer' which is the 165 metre high iconic ferris wheel on Singapore harbour - what a ride and what a view! We also hung out along the river front where we saw a exhibition of horseshoes (shoes as horses!) then Mom and Dad got some time for 'retail therapy' (yes, shopping) while Ian played at the pool with Sue.You'll see that Ian has adopted giving the 'V' for Victory sign in many of his photo's now. We're not sure where he got it from but Dad decided to try it too.
Ian spent the weekend at the beach to escape the Bangkok heat and enjoy some much needed water time. We headed for Hua Hin, a resort town that is a short drive from Bangkok though on a busy holiday weekend it can take a while as we found out. Ian got more than a beach and water this weekend too, with a pony ride along the sand to cap a long sunny Saturday by the pool. He grinned the entire time he was on his pony and mastered the reins well. It wasn't all sun though as you'll see, since we also encountered a massive storm with dramatic darkened skies across the Gulf of Thailand. Ian also got to play the Xylophone - you'll see Ian pictured with the young man who played for us at dinner.
It's been a few weeks since our last Blog post, much due to lots of travelling. Dad has been in China and to upcountry Thailand, while Mom and Ian went to Ireland and England (as our photo's show) to enjoy some wonderful family time. You can see Ian with Grandma Lily, Grandpa Frank and Aunties Olive and Valerie. Ian is also seen stealing a kiss from Mommy at the Wineport Lodge in heart of Ireland, while we also see Ian playing in Nanny Margaret's garden and hanging out with Cousin George who Ian is always excited to see. We're off to the beach this weekend then off to Singapore the following week, so plenty of new photo's to come!
Yes we're here again, another St.Patty's Day where Ian gets to celebrate his Irish heritage. In today's photo Ian sports his favorite green sweat top and hat, whilst waving his Irish flags. It was only last week that Dad got chatting with a fella whose first comment when he saw Ian was "with hair like that his name must be Liam!". He was close! But clearly Ian looks like a true Irish redhead now, of that we cannot dispute. Happy St.Patricks Day son - not long now until you get to drink Guinness!
This weekend Ian's God Father, Richard paid a brief but welcomed visit. Ian got to hang out, go on a boat trip and enjoy some fun in the swimming pool too. We visited the famous Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, taking a longtail boat there. You can see Ian with Richard and the Temple in the background as we approached. Up close the Temple is very tall, and very steep as you'll see from the photo's taken looking up.We didn't get Ian to the top!
Ian headed to the mountains on north east Thailand this weekend, to stay in the cooler climes of the Khao Yai National Park. We all had a great weekend, enjoying yet another beautiful resort with fantastic views of the national parklands. Dad enjoyed some golf, while Ian got some more pool time in as well as made friends with his baby-sitter (pictured) so that Mom and Dad could enjoy some terrific food at the resturants. Ian even got to pet a baby elephant, though he is still a little unsure of this wonderful animal.
Ian's school held International Day on Friday. Each student wore a national dress and/or the colours of their country and wore the flag of their country around their neck, including their parents' national flags too. Ian was the only child wearing 3 flags, and he elected to wear his Irish rugby shirt! The kids then did a big parade then sang on stage (you can see Ian with the microphone and his teacher, Camilla in our photo!) and danced to some national songs before heading to the classrooms for some nationaldishes. It was great to see many children in so many colourful national costumes. This has to be one of the most international schools ever!
Ian is just back from a half-term holiday break. He went with Mom & Dad to Krabi, is southern Thailand. It is a beautiful part of the country, with a number of islands scattered along the coast making for great scenery especially the dramatic rock outcrops (like you can see in our photos). Ian stayed at a great hotel, with it's own beach front and, most importantly,a kids pool and Kids Club where he spent most of his time. The weather was great, with some terrific sunsets as you can see in the photos. Ian also got to make new friends, meet some of the local kids on the beach and went out on a snorkelling trip with Mom & Dad to the Phi Phi islands on a super fast speedboat.
What a great time we had last weekend at Ian's 3rd Birthday Party. Mom and Dad threw open the doors to the apartment and along came 22 of Ian's school, building and playgroup friends (and some Mom's and dad's too!). What a houseload! Ian's party theme was Spiderman (his latest craze!) so his birthday cake was naturally designed as such. Ian started his day having his face made up like Spiderman too! We also had a magic show, with the highlight of the act being the magical appearance of two bunnies much to the delight of all the kids. One of our photo's shows Ian and his buddies with the bunnies while another shows all the kids lined up attentively watching the show. Of course, like all good magic acts, they finished with a suprise banner to wish our little star a very happy birthday!
Many thanks to everyone both near and far who sent Ian birthday wishes and presents. He was a very lucky boy again this year and he really loved all the cards and gifts very, very much.
Yes, it's January 22nd and our little boy isn't so little anymore. In fact he's three years old now as he is quite proud to tell you! Ian has had a great day, with a cake at school to celebrate and the making a birthday hat to wear too. Daddy made it home in time especially to have tea ... and more cake, with another candle to blow out as we see pictured. Ian was (of course) spolied with gifts from friends and family. He now has his own PC, which as he says is the "same, same" as Mommy's lap top. We show Ian tonight enjoying his cake, another of which he will get on Sunday when he has his party and a few little friends round to play. More pictures from that event later. Happy Birthday, son. We love you.
Ian spent his Christmas holiday in the northern Thailand city of Chiang Mai. We stayed at the incredible Mandarin Oriental Hotel (images shown), which offers spectacular surroundings, spectacular service and a stay that is restful and complete. The Mandarin boasts its own rice (Paddy) fields which is where Ian got a chance to see how rice is harvested and inspected some fields with Mom. Ian also took part in the annual rice blessing ceremony and he joined the band who played for the dancers - Ian got in on both pieces of action as you'll see from the photos!Ian also got to ride around in a rikshaw, as well as a horse-drawn carriage all which made him (and Mom and Dad) all rather lazy during our stay as we got taken wherever we wanted, whenever we wanted! On Christmas Eve, Mom and Dad were treated to a cocktail party overlooking the rice fields, and the fields had been lit up withthousands of candle-lit lanterns. It made for a very special setting on a very special night ... in a very special place.
Safari Saturday Ian spent the day at Bangkok's Safari World. What a great time we had. The Park is extremely well organized and has plenty to see and do - a drive-through safari range, whale and dolphin show, lots of animals and fun stuff to do. Ian loved the giraffe's which you can feed from a platform above the park they roam in. Initially Ian was a bit concerned but soon got into the swing of things. However, Ian was far from happy when it came to being with the Orangutans! Mom and Dad got to play with them instead and had a nice little 'family' snap taken of us! Mom got to feed a Tiger cub and Ian jumped on board to enjoy the action. Our final photo shows Ian racing along some of the shaded walkways around the park. He's now at the stage where he's keen to run off and explore so he's keeping us fit at chasing him around. And yes, all day long around the park echoed the seasonal songs of Christmas - but t'was not a snowflake in sight. Just a perfect 80 degrees.
On Ian's last day of term at the IPC School, Mom and Dad attended the annual Christmas Show. Ian's class was second on and did two 'numbers' - Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Wheels on the Bus. Ian was a little quiet on the first song, but showed intense vigour and energy for the second as he loves to shout the chorus lines! Ian got to hang out with his girlfriend, Katrina too so he was a very happy boy.
For the first time on Ian's Blog site we've added video! You can see Ian's 'Wheel's On the Bus' song here (the quality is not perfect as this is a copy of the original video, sorry!). Enjoy.
Ian spent eight glorious days on the island of Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand. Great weather, a fantastic villa and wonderful food made for a terrific vacation with Nanny Margaret and Grandad Paddy, Mom and Dad.Here are just a few photo's from hundreds taken(!) showing Ian and Mom having fun. Ian became quite the swimmer while we were there, as he spent a lot of time in the pool. Ian now swims around quite confidently (with his ring, of course!).
Ian celebrated the annual Loy Krathong festival (Nov 12th) in style, wearing his traditional Thai outfit while lighting his 'Krathong'. We went to our local park, which has a large lake where we helped Ian launch his Krathong (which means raft in Thai and traditionally made from banana tree leaves). The launch was done under the night of the full moon, where across Thailand many people will release small rafts like this on rivers, ponds and lakes to celebrate. It is a wonderful event, very colourful and romantic too! Ian was helped by Nanny Margaret, and got a hug from his girlfriend Nina too!
Look at our little man ..... as "Little Rambo"! Ian got dressed up for the annual Halloween event, wearing his costume to school as well as back at home as the other trick 'n treaters came knocking on our door. Ian was generous with helpings of candy to all the kids who came to visit. And Mom and Dad got into costume too, as they headed off to a party, sporting 60's attire and a hint of Austin Powers!
Last weekend Dad and Ian spent the morning at the company Futsal Competition. Dad even came out of soccer retirement and played in one game with the Marketing Team (but we lost!). Ian got to hang out with a number of friends who were all eager to see him sport his footballing skills, which Ian ably did. It was a fun day!
Mom and Ian went to Ireland and England last month, allowing for some time to catch up with family and friends. Ian went to the farm with Auntie Valerie, and spent a lot of time with Grandpa Frank and Grandma Lily. And of course, Ian had to hang out with Cousin George, seen here pulling faces as only boys can! It was a great trip, with some beautiful weather which meant plenty of time in the park for Ian.
Anyone familiar with Bangkok will know that Tuk Tuk's are a popular form or transport - and much more fun than a regular taxi! Dare we say it, but Ian loves to ride in them and occasionally we take him on one (when he is good!). Last Sunday was one such day and we 'tore' through the streets on our way home from a fun day out. As usual Ian isn't content with just riding on the Tuk Tuk but he had to sit in the rivers seat. We also see Mom and Ian with the wind in their hair! And finally Ian in one of his other favorite places at the moment - the play center at Central World Mall. Mom & Dad have to drag Ian (literally!) from this place as there is too much to do and so many balls to play with. Ian and Mommy head to Ireland next week, so we'll not see Ian on the Blog until early October but we'll have plenty of photo's to share then.
Ian had quite the weekend. Firstly on Friday Ian joined Dad (and Mom) at a business 'away day' with Dad's department. We headed to a hotel in central Thailand overlooking the lush green hills of the Khao Yai National Park. The weather was great, and so much cooler than the city. Ian got to meet many of Steve's work associates and have fun with them. Ian and Dad toured the gardens and found a banana tree, so Dad could show Ian just where all the bananas come from. On Saturday we took a trip to Chokchai Farm, which is famous in Thailand for their great steak restaurants and the farm they operate which the public can visit. Ian got to feed the cows and deer (Mom even milked a cow!), meet the Cowboy ranchers (Mommy got to ride a horse!) and play on the motorbikes. It was a great weekend!
Known to his parents-to-be as "Bumper", Ian Karl was born eleven weeks early after his Mom, Barbara developed Preeclampsia. Ian was born on January 22, 2006 and started his life in the new born intensive care unit (NICU) at the local hosptial.
Ian Karl's Blog Site follows Ian's journey through his time at the NICU, to his home coming and beyond.
.jpg)
