Random Things

We've reached that time of year where there are no events, no time off, and generally nothing exciting going on... but we're still busy. Go figure!!

Ryan is all over the place. He is walking more and more. It is odd to see him walk into the kitchen! He hasn't figured out how to bend his knees and he keeps his arms up for balance so he looks a bit like Frankenstein... a cute Frankenstein, but still.


He's getting more daring every day. He can now get into Tyler's power wheels by himself and we have to be really careful with stairs. Whenever he gets the chance he's going up. It is exhausting.

Here I come!!

Mid-month marked the end of Tyler's first season of soccer. He received a medal to mark the occasion and he was quite proud. Here he is with his prize.

We have found some silly time over the last couple of weeks. Here are the boys having a ball with some tunnels.

The tunnels work well as cages too. If only they couldn't figure out how to get out...

Could he be any cuter??

We also spent some time with the family at Aunt Debbie and Uncle Tom's. The boys are drawn to the piano, of course!

I think this picture is funny. I believe Tyler is playing the piano and Ryan's head at the same time. Ryan isn't sure what is happening. He has this look often as he is trying to figure Tyler out.

The boys and I traveled to Grandma and Grandpa W's this weekend. Ryan was crabby right from the start in the car, but Tyler and I were able to distract him most of the way. As soon as we got into the hills in the last hour of the drive, Ryan began screaming as hard as he could and there was nothing that could distract him. An ear infection crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it as Ryan hadn't had one yet. I think I was in denial. We reached our destination and Ryan seemed better out of the car so we went on with our day. Unfortunately he refused to take a nap and wasn't interested in eating so when he started screaming that evening my first thought was that he was overtired and starving. But, it became clear that we had a bigger problem so off to urgent care we went. He does have an ear infection. Poor kid! I've shared all this because the urgent care doctor told us a theory that I just have to pass on. She was an interesting doctor... a little rough around the edges, but she gave us a script and was kind to Ry so I can't complain. On the way out she asked if Ry still took a bottle. I told her that our pediatrician wants him off the bottle by 15 months so we're in transition. She then said that doctors should let babies keep the bottle longer because then we'd have less smokers. What?? She went on to explain that they need to suck and if they don't get over their oral fixation they'll find another way to address it later in life... smoking. Hmm. Interesting!! Mom and I got a good laugh, which was very much needed at that point in time. I learned another valuable lesson on Saturday... don't get sick in a small town after 6pm.

In case you are wondering... Ryan got a bottle Saturday night.

The Ball Popper

I have to share this. Ryan is not in to many toys, but he absolutely LOVES this one. It was a gift picked out by Aunt Sara.

Ryan can turn it on himself and then does this little boogy dance. Sometimes he boogies side to side and sometimes he goes up and down. He has such a blast that I can't take it away despite how annoying it is for adults. I swear it gets a little louder each time he plays it and the balls go a little higher (when he lets them go) sending them all over the place. At least he can collect the balls himself and reload the popper... over and over again...

There is another bonus in this video. Ryan demonstrates his knee walk. He's using it a lot lately. If he doesn't start walking regularly very soon I'm going to have to buy all new pants for him!!

Unfortunately the lighting isn't the best in the video, but I'll never get this posted if I don't do it now.

Check this out...

It got a little weird at the end. Tyler had just finished a frozen yogurt tube and wanted to confirm that his fingers were cold. Don't you love it when they stick their frozen fingers down your neck?? Is it really necessary to share?

Here is another funny. The other day a delivery arrived in a US post box. Tyler spotted it and said "I see you got a US mail priority package. If it fits, it ships for one low price all over the US." Ha! Then tonight he was telling Dan all about AT&Ts roll over minutes. His memory is amazing.

Yes, I hear this toy in my sleep. And, now you will too!

Milestones

I forgot to mention in my last post that our week ended with Tyler sleeping over at a friend's house for the first time. He was so excited. I got home from work on Friday just in time to see him off. He could hardly contain himself. Dan and I were apprehensive about letting him go, but not because we didn't think he could do it... that was never a question... but, there is something about Tyler sleeping at a friend's house that we don't feel when he sleeps over with family. Maybe it is our denial that he's growing up. In the end, he did well and had a fabulous time. He was treated to Chuck E Cheese and then got to sleep in a tent!!

I believe we'll have to count today as the day that Ryan officially started walking. I'm told that he walked across the entire room when Dan picked him up at school. He didn't repeat this feat for me, but I'm sure I'll see it soon.

And, finally, Tyler is officially the senior room champion of limbo! We're so proud!

What a week...

Monday and Tuesday started out just fine. Tyler did well at school, things were humming along, and then.... Wednesday happened.

It seems Tyler heard a curse word and saved it up until just the perfect time to use it... at school. Yes, my baby used the S word. According to his teacher, he used it in context (of course!). I knew it had to happen some day, but I was hoping we'd at least make it to elementary school.

The next morning as we were getting ready for the day I asked Tyler what I was going to hear from his teacher when I called that afternoon. He told me that he was going to be on blue all day (the best he can be) and he wasn't going to use any bad words. I told him that was what I wanted to hear. He then said he knew the worst word of all and it started with an "N." You can imagine what word I thought he was referring to and I starting to panic that my 5-year-old knew THAT word. So I asked Tyler to tell me the word. After double checking to make sure it was ok, he said "N-O, no." Phew!

I got a good report from his teacher that day so I decided to take Tyler sledding that night. The temperature was in the high 20s and it wasn't snowing for the first time in a long time... conditions were perfect. Unfortunately I didn't think the whole idea through. Maybe I was blinded by my desire to make sure my kids have winter fun despite our crazy schedule. Usually I am so careful to follow all the rules... So, Tyler and I went to the park behind our house and had a blast sledding as well as going down the snow-covered slides. The snow was deep, making it difficult for Tyler to walk so I had to pull him back up the hill after each run. I was getting tired and had given him a warning that we were going to be leaving when I saw a police car turn into the park. It was then that I remembered the park closed at dusk. Oops! The officer was very nice about it and Tyler found it very humorous... as did Dan.

Here is Tyler after our run-in with the law enjoying his well earned cup of hot chocolate.



Then it was Friday. Another milestone. I thawed the last of the milk from the freezer. It took a while to go through it all. The last time I pumped was October 16. Since then I've taken enough milk out of the freezer to send three bottles to school daily. We nursed nights and weekends until November 25th before transitioning to whole milk. And, now he's officially 100% weaned.

I had an extra bottle of the good stuff from yesterday. Here is Ryan enjoying his last bottle of white gold this morning.

So sad!

Bringing in 2010

We decided to start the new year off right and spend the whole weekend at home! I can't remember the last time we had days in a row without plans... and this weekend we had 3 days...

Tyler had been talking about New Years Eve the entire week prior to the big day. The Tuesday before I found him at the top of the stairs at 10:00pm. When I asked him what he was doing, he told me he was staying up to midnight and was going to watch the ball drop. He was adamant that he was going to do it. I shouldn't have doubted him.

We started on New Years Eve with a sleep out in the living room. After dinner we blew up the air mattresses and brought out all the blankets. Here are the boys testing them out.




Ryan had an especially fun time. He was crawling all over, laughing the whole time. He started doing an odd face plant thing over and over. I tried to catch it on camera.

Here he is at the beginning of his stunt.

Going, going...

DOWN! What was he doing??

Finally we had to put the little man to bed. Then it was time for popcorn and movies!! Dan fell asleep during the first movie. I fell asleep during the second movie. But not Tyler. He managed to stay up the whole time.

Here he is 20 minutes before midnight with his "bubbly," aka sparkling grape juice.

And, proof that he made it to midnight! Woo Hoo! ...can we go to bed now Tyler?

The rest of the weekend was spent doing random things... playing board games, watching cartoons, making cookies, playing with friends. I can't think of a better way to spend a weekend.

Here's Ty and two of his friends shooting the floor because we don't aim at people. (I'm no fun)

Ryan is getting really good at standing on his own.

Yay! Look at me!

Here is our resident artist...

And, both boys enjoying the race car together. I'm very concerned about how this car is going to work out over the summer. Ryan really likes it. So far Tyler is willing to share. He actually requested that Ryan be put in his lap.

I hope the rest of 2010 is as "boring" as this weekend. It was so nice.