Summer 2014 - Day 15 & 16

Wednesday, July 2nd - Day 15

Two weeks down, many more to go!

Today was a pretty low key day.  We spent most of the day at home, except when we ventured out to run some errands for an hour or two.  I was tired and sore from mulching for the past two days (woke up early this morning to spread some mulch before Ryan woke up today, too!) so I didn't feel like doing much.  Lucky for me, Ryan didn't want to go to Marbles, the pool, Oma and Opa's house, or the park - so lazy day at home it was!

When Ryan finally woke up this morning (he picked a great day to sleep in so Joe and I could get more mulching done), he wanted to play with his food instead of building towers.  He LOVES his play food set - loves cutting the food apart, pretending to eat it, making different dishes, etc.  We made and cooked lots of soups and stews today with his food, and even made Daddy a tomato, watermelon, and butter sandwich :)

Hmmm, what are we going to make today?

"You slice it like this, Mommy"

After cooking, we went fishing (another one of his favorite toys):

 I think Ryan wanted to "go fishing" since we are going to be at the beach next week (we're all pretty excited about the Everitt family beach trip).  We talked about all of the sea creatures, if they had "good manners" or "bad manners", and if we could eat them.  Of course, any edible creatures were gobbled up :)

Then, we painted with watercolors:

I think Ryan mostly enjoys painting with water colors because then he can play with the water cup.  He really enjoys dumping water into the water colors, painting with colored water, painting the coffee table with the colored water, filling back up the little cup, etc - not so much with the actual painting of anything or really using the colors to create anything, other than a mess.

Because we know that Ryan loves water so much, we're beginning to use this to our advantage.  We bribe him with trips to the swimming pool and baths in the "big boy tub" (the bathtub in our bathroom).  He LOVES both the pool and the big tub, and will pretty much do whatever he's supposed to do (like, not walking/running/jumping on the couch or picking up something that he intentionally dropped).  All we say is "if you want to take a bath in the big boy tub, you need to do X" or "if you want to go to the swimming pool, you need to do X".  And he'll do it 95% of the time.  It seems to be working pretty well with his 2 1/2 year old listening and obeying skills.

Some funny things Ryan said/did today:
--"I had a long day at Paul and Jan's house.  I need some water".  He proceeded to try to pour himself a cup of water.  We didn't go to Uncle Paul and Aunt Jan's house today so I'm not sure what he was talking about.

--"Daddy, thanks for bringing home the bacon".  Joe brought home watermelon from the store and I asked Ryan to thank him (since Ryan is a watermelon monster).  I guess Ryan felt the need to thank him for more than just the watermelon.




July 3rd - Day 16

Today was a busy day!  Ryan slept in until almost 8:30, so we all got some much needed rest!

You'll never guess what we did this morning.

After a round of building trains and towers and watching the latest updates on Hurricane Arthur, we got ready for the day and went to Marbles.  We had a special guest with us today - OMA!  We had a great time today at Marbles :)  I know it's one of Ryan's favorite places, but I love it just as much to watch him investigate the world around him, interact with other kids, and see him play and just be happy.

Happy to be at Marbles!

Watching the coins go around and around and around

My budding engineer

Something to climb??  Sounds good to me!

"I made it!"

This last picture is probably my favorite picture from our Marbles trip.  Ryan has been obsessed with bubbles (and water) for a long long time now.  Today was apparently bubbles day at Marbles, and kids had the opportunity to see what it was like to be inside of a bubble.  Ryan waited in line so patiently (and was by far the youngest kid in the line) and we talked about how he was going to wear goggles and he needed to be very still while they were forming the bubble around him.  We practiced how he was going to hold his hands so he wouldn't pop the bubble.  He did so well and despite his expression, he LOVED it!  He asked for another bubble, and that one turned out to be much better, but I couldn't get a picture in time.  Either way, it was a very special event for him and I'm so glad that Oma was there to witness it as well!  

After we came home and napped, we had a dinnertime playdate with a friend and Ryan enjoyed jumping on the trampoline and playing with legos (and building more towers).  He took a bath in the "big boy bath", so I'd say it was a great day!