Summer 2014 - Day 6 & 7

Monday, June 23rd - Day 6
What a busy day!  I decided to treat Ryan to a morning at Defy Gravity (a trampoline park in Durham).  He was very excited to jump:

Waiting for the fun to begin!

We started our jump hour by jumping into the pit:

Ryan liked the pit but got frustrated with it after awhile - it's hard work to get out of it over and over again!  We spent the rest of the hour bouncing around the different areas of the building and having fun.  Ryan LOVES to bounce (he's logged many many hours in his bounce house and still wants to bounce it in regularly) and had so much fun - lots of smiles and laughs :)  And yes, I think I had juuuust as much fun as he did :)

Ryan was on the move for the entire hour - hardly stopped, just kept bouncing or running around.  So cute!

After our hour at Defy Gravity, we went to the pool, where Ryan showed off his "swimming" in the little pool.  His "swimming" consists of dragging himself around the pool using his hands, never putting his head under water.

He did venture out to the big pool though and we went into deeper waters (only because the basketball goal was in the deeper area).  I love that he's gotten pretty comfortable in the water with us only going to the pool for the past month!

After his nap, we went back to the pool for a little bit so Joe could enjoy some pool time, too.  After dinner, we all enjoyed some ice cream - some of us more than others!

Tuesday, June 24th - Day 7
One whole week!  I can't believe I've finished one full week of summer so far!  Ryan woke up this morning and wanted to build towers and trains immediately (one of his favorite tasks these days):

After we got ready for the day and ate breakfast, we went over to my parents' house to celebrate my mom's birthday (which is really on the 25th).  We played nerf basketball over there for a bit and watched part of the England vs. Costa Rica World Cup game.  We then took a quick trip to Target, came home, ate lunch, built some more towers, raced some cars, and then Ryan took his afternoon nap (almost 2 and a half hours - remember when he used to not nap at all when he was an infant?? Yeah, he's a champ napper now!).  We read some books and built more towers until Joe finished work.  All in all, not a super eventful day today, but still loads and loads of fun!  I could get used to this!

Summer 2014 - Day 4 & 5

This weekend was a little bit nuts for us!

Saturday, June 20th
We had lots of events to attend this past weekend, which kind of makes for a long and draining weekend.  A birthday party and a baby shower all in one day makes for a long long Saturday.  Ryan was a trooper and even though he didn't end up taking his afternoon nap until almost 6pm (which meant bedtime was a lot later for him!), he still did a great job and wasn't *too* grumpy when he woke up :)

Sunday, June 21st
Everyone was a little tired from the busy Saturday and the weather was kind of overcast and dreary, so we nixed the idea of going to the pool again.  We took a walk around the neighborhood to get out of the house instead.  I had another baby shower to attend that afternoon, so Joe got to spend some one-on-one time with Ryan.  Since Ryan is going through an "I love basketball" phase, Joe's been helping him sharpen his shooting skills (nevermind that Ryan's shooting a football!):

Summer 2014 - Day 2 & Day 3

Thursday, June 19th

Another great day with my sweet boy!  Ryan spent some time with his Oma and Opa since I had a dentist appointment in the morning.  Afterwards, we met Meaghan for lunch (need to do this again soon, Meaghan!).  We both took naps that afternoon.  We went to the pool in the afternoon, but the pool was shut down due to thunder, but Ryan still played on the playset and on the swings for a little bit.  Nothing extremely eventful, but nonetheless, still an awesome day!

Friday, June 20th

I decided to take Ryan to Marbles since I hadn't been there myself in months and months.  Ryan loves loves loves Marbles (what's not to love?!) and I love watching him have so much fun there!  For the longest time, we wouldn't go to the upstairs play area since that's where most of the "big kids" play.  I figured Ryan can hold his own now and is pretty big for his age so we eventually ventured upstairs.  I'm SO GLAD we did!  They have redone it (not surprising since they change up the play areas pretty often) and they had a sports section.  Since Ryan is BIG into basketball right now, he was in heaven!

After our afternoon naps, we had an incredibly tasty dinner with some great friends - need to do that again, as well!

Summer 2014 - Day 1

So, to honor my first real summer since 2007, I figured I would stop neglecting this blog and actually keep a record of how I spent my days with Ryan.

Day 1 - Wednesday, June 18th

WOO HOO, SUMMER IS HERE!  After Ryan woke up, we played with some blocks and built several towers (one of his favorite activities right now).

Then we spent a big portion of the day at the pool.  Ryan LOVES the pool - what's not to love?  He loves the little pool much more than the big pool (understandably) but is warming up to the idea of using his puddle jumper to float around in the deeper waters.

His water squirter is by far his favorite toy.  We typically bring two to the pool so he can give one to another toddler so they can "play" together.  This was pretty much how we spent our day - building towers and playing at the pool.  All in all, it was a FANTASTIC start to our summer!

Ryan and his bounce house

We got Ryan a bounce house for his 2nd birthday because all he ever wants to do when he gets his diaper changed is bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce and bounce some more.

Needless to say, this present was a HUGE hit with him and his friends!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ryan!

Dear Ryan,

We can't believe you are TWO whole years old now!  TWO!  This past second year has really flown by, and you have made it so exciting, so happy, so complete.  You are such a joy to be around, and we can't imagine life without you!  We say all the time that you are THE BEST little boy ever because you are so wonderful and make us so proud!

We love you so much!  We love the way you wake up in the mornings, already being silly and ready for the day.  We love how you are completely full of energy and ready to move as soon as you get up.  There isn't a slow wake-up process for you!

We love that you love swings, slides, parks, and open fields.  The world really is your playground and you want to have fun as much as possible.  We love that you love your lawnmower and enjoy pushing up and down the sidewalk, like you're taking a nice afternoon stroll.   We love that you love being outside and being active!

We love your budding independence - how you try so hard to buckle yourself into the carseat, how you try to put on your own socks and shoes, how you want to zip up your own jacket, how you want to brush your own teeth, how you want to feed yourself all the time now.  We savor doing these little things for you because we know we won't be able to do them much longer for you.  "Ryan do it" and "all by self" are now frequent phrases of yours and while we're so proud that you want to do things for yourself, it hurts our heart a little because it's a daily reminder that you are growing up.  You are so focused and so determined at times!

We love that you are so good-natured and so happy.  We love that you love bouncing all around, constantly moving, and you never seem to want to stop.  You love to take every opportunity to bounce - on beds, on the floor, on the couch, on chairs, ANYWHERE you can!  And you laugh - OH, how you laugh! We love hearing you laugh all the time - it really is one of the best sounds in the world to us, and it fills our hearts everytime we hear it.  We love your sense of humor and your happy-go-lucky nature.  We love that you find so many things funny, and it seems that all you want to do is laugh and laugh and laugh.  We love your "funny face" and that you give a fake smile in some pictures when we ask you to smile :) 

We love that you love reading and will read books over and over again with us.  We love that you never tire from hearing the same story over and over again - and we also love when you try to read it yourself at times :)  We love that you "get your needle stuck" on certain things, just like your parents. 

We love that you have manners, and especially when you say "plea" and the occasional "peas" instead of please :)  We love that you'll say "thank you" all on your own, without any prompting at times.  You worry when someone else is sad or upset and on your own will offer a hug to someone in need.  We love that you have such a big heart!  You are such a generous and loving little boy - always wanting cuddles and hugs, always willing to share whatever you have, always wanting to make sure that other people have what they need.  You want other people to be as happy as you!

We love that you love your family, and always want to spend time with others.  We hope that you continue that love and let it grow bigger and deeper throughout the years.  Family is so important, and we're so happy that you have been able to spend lots of time with everyone.

You are by far the best and most important thing in our life, and you make every day so special for us.  Yes, you are a complete handful, but in the best possible way.  You are the sweetest, most precious thing we have and we are so blessed that you're in our life!  We wouldn't trade anything about you and we love you just the way you are.  You make the worst of days so much better, and the best of days that much brighter.  You have made us so happy and we are so lucky that you are our son and that chose us to be your parents.  We can't thank you enough for the past two years - all the laughs, the tears, the funnies, the sillies, the snuggles, the cuddles, the hugs, the kisses, and ALL the love you've shared with us.

We love you to the moon and back!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Almost 2 years old

It's amazing how quickly my baby boy has grown up.  Looking back on this last year, I really feel like time is already slipping away!  Those first few months (let's be honest, that first year) took FOREVER.  Often times, I felt like I was watching paint dry.  But now, I blinked and days/weeks/months have gone by. 

 

So, since April, we took another trip to the west coast to see one of Joe's childhood friends get married in Portland.  We hopped down to Santa Barbara and spent some time with family there (we absolutely love CA).  I earned my "brave momma" badge and flew back with Ryan on my own from San Francisco to Raleigh.  Yes, I dealt with a 21 month old in a confined space for 5+ hours.  I survived, too!

 

Ryan on 9/10/2013

Ryan is a talking machine these days and repeats things that we say all the time.  It makes life more interesting now - little ears are always listening!  Ryan is becoming more and more conversational (you can definitely tell a difference just within the past 2 months).  He's beginning to interact with other little kids his age, and it's so cute to see his personality coming out more and more!

 

This video is from 11/2/2013.

 

Some of Ryan's favorite things these days: anything construction related (excavators, bulldozers, impact hammers, front end loaders, backhoes, dump trucks).  He loves watching videos of himself, too :)  He's beginning to learn how to navigate our phones, voice-search for things on YouTube (I'm not kidding), make voicenotes of himself saying various things, and watching Rebecca Black's "Friday" video.  He loves reading books - and once you read it to him, he'll start it all over and repeat as much as he remembers from the pages or will imitate us reading to him.  He loves going to the park, swinging, sliding down the slide, and running running running around.

He is the best little boy ever!