Ian hits it out of the ballpark once again!

Francis and Zeynep got engaged today! Jeff, Ian and I were the decoys for Francis' plan to ask Zeynep aboard his NYPD Scuba Team boat. Francis told Zeynep that he wanted to take us out on the boat and show us the boat and the views of Manhattan. The weather had been so great up until last night -- pretty mild in the 50's during the day. Of course, yesterday, the temperatures started to fall and it rained all day and poured in the evening. Then it snowed during the night. This morning, we woke up to a dusting of snow on the ground and a bitterly cold, overcast, windy day. The temperature was around 25F and the wind during the night had been up to around 50 mph in some areas, so it was still pretty gusty. This was not looking good. However, Francis wanted to stick to the plan and if it was too bad out there, he would just ask Zeynep on land, rather on water, but we would play it by ear. We left a bit later, hoping that the wind would die down and the water would be calm.

We went to Queens to pick up Zeynep (her sister was originally part of the plan, but because of the weather, she and her family couldn't make it), got out to Brooklyn (the NYPD Scuba Team base is at the Brooklyn Army Terminal) and there was another snag -- the lieutenant was there checking things out, so we couldn't go in until he left or there would be a mountain of paperwork for Francis. So we had to sit in the parking lot behind a sanitation truck for about 15 minutes while waited for him to leave. Finally, Francis couldn't wait anymore and told us to just come inside. We went in the front door, and the lieutenant left through the back door. One problem down. The next issue was whether we could go out on the water. The sun had come out and the winds had died down. Francis' whole squad was there (six guys including Francis), so it was a full boat. The question was basically whether I would make it. I was torn -- I wanted to be there, but I didn't want to ruin the moment by throwing up. Ian was trooper throughout. He was having a great time walking up and down the hallway at the police base (the NYPD Harbor Patrol is also based there). In the end, it didn't look too bad and I usually get seasick when the boat is docked, not when it's out on open water. So we went. As you can see from the photo, I was fine.

Ian was just wide-eyed, taking it all in. He felt so comfortable with the guys, that when the big moment came and Francis was going to lure Zeynep to the back of the boat under the excuse of giving us a tour of the engine room (we couldn't go on the outside because it was too rough), Ian was perfectly happy sitting on George's lap (he's got a little boy of his own who is about Ian's age). He and George had matching hats. You can't see it in the picture, but George also had a tassel on his. The guys said he didn't fuss at all and just sat quietly. They were all impressed by how he sat still and didn't climb around or fuss.

As you can see, the proposal was a success! We brought champagne glasses ($0.25 each at Ikea!) and a bottle of champagne, so everyone toasted the happy couple. Ian was bummed that he couldn't drink champagne, but he had a bagel and his sippy cup.

We went back to the base and Ian spent some more time running up and down the hallway and exploring the base, including nosing around the lunchroom. He had the honor of having his diaper changed in the tank room. He really enjoyed his tour of the place, seeing all the dive equipment and other things he shouldn't touch. Then we went to Fran & Zeynep's apartment in Queens, where we met up with Fran's parents and they were told the good news. Ian enjoyed running around there while we made dinner plans, and then was a good sport through dinner at a Turkish/Argentinean restaurant in Astoria co-owned by Zeynep's friend. Ian took a half hour nap on the way to Brooklyn and a half hour nap on the way back from Brooklyn to Queens, so it was pretty amazing that he hung in there until we left the restaurant around 9:00 without being too cranky. He enjoyed playing with a spoon and a glass of water towards the end of the evening, so he didn't want to leave.

Yesterday, he was equally as good when we went to Paramus. We had lunch with Kai-Yi Po and Gong at a burger joint where I ordered him his own chicken sandwich. He enjoyed the chicken and some pickles, then was very well-behaved at Kai-Yi Po's house while Jeff and I spent 2 hours at Ikea. Kai-Yi said that he was fine when we left, and then when he realized we hadn't come back, he went to the front door and was banging his little hand on it and yelling, "Da! Da!" She thought he was saying "Daddy!", but we noticed that he yells that whenever he's in a yelling mood.

When we got home, I made spaghetti and meatballs (macaroni for Ian) and the Lins came over to see our renovations. He was following Sabrina around (she's 10 months older than him) and watching how she played with his toys (he doesn't know how to sit on his scooter yet, so it was probably very enlightening for him). He then proceeded to eat a bowl of macaroni, almost 4 meatballs and half a nectarine. He probably would have had more meatballs, but he was scaring me, so I stopped giving them to him. Actually, he wouldn't touch the meatballs at first, but then I put tomato sauce on them and he inhaled them.

He really is a good boy. It scares us because the next one will probably be a terror.