22 months!

I almost feel weird saying that when people ask me how old he is because he is basically two! And boy is he acting like he is two. Very independent, stubborn, knows what he wants and if he doesn't get it, he will make sure you pay for it. The past month has been full of daily tantrums, telling Mommy (and anyone else for that matter) NO to just about anything, and making his wishes known. Don't get me wrong, I am loving this age, but it has been very trying at times. He LOVES to play (or plsaaaay as he likes to call it). Pretty much if you are in the same room as him, you must be on the floor doing whatever it is that he is doing or at least observing him with no other distractions. Especially when it comes to playing blocks or kitchen.

Things he is currently loving at the moment include anything and everything cars (this has made his birthday theme an obvious choice). He loves to drive his cars everywhere while saying "varrooom" - up our legs, walls, on tops of furniture, across my headboard, etc. He also is really into his puzzles which he will sit at his table and do while eating which serves as a nice distraction. He has started to learn how to count - mainly from one to two. Up until a week ago, anything that there were multiples of was 2 (whether it was 2 or 20), but now he has gotten up to about 6 (one, two, tree, chore, fiiiii, six). He has learned most colors (red, yellow, blue, green, orange) with his favorite being yellow. He always demands more yellow of anything he is playing with (blocks, trucks, puzzle pieces). I think the biggest achievement in my book is learning that his name is Ryan and no longer baby. He called himself baby up until this month and thought it was pretty darn funny. Now he can even see pictures of himself and say baby Ryan. It's funny and it sounds like Why-an. Right after Christmas he started saying I love you ("I ruv you") and it seriously can make any bad day better. He has even done it without being prompted a handful of times (usually when he gets in trouble), but it makes it that much sweeter.

Some funny words of his right now include "helcopper" (helicopter), "crewbiber" (screwdriver), "bulldober" (bulldozer), and "capillar" (caterpillar). His vocabulary is out of control and literally he talks non-stop. Sometimes I can't even hear myself think. A few other things he has enjoyed doing are playing on our bed (which he can now get up on) and can literally entertain himself on it forever. Getting "cogee" (cozy) under the covers, making tents, telling secrets, and driving his trucks around - he loves it. He now loves my Ipad and the toddler apps; so every morning he asks to play the Game. I am sure this is only going to get worse over time. He is also really starting to get into a few TV shows that he can watch for about 15-20 minutes. He loves Super Why and Dinosaur Train.
Sorry for the blurry IPhone pic.

We have been going up to the park at least 2-3 times a week which he just loves. Especially when a wagon ride or bike ride accompanies it. Whether we are there 30 minutes or two hours, leaving is always a pretty big ordeal. We have been meeting friends up there and other moms in the neighborhood which has been great. He loves the swings and the slide. And loves to close his eyes while swinging (such a daredevil). He also loves to mimic anything the big kids do and loves to chase them around.

We've gotten together with our friends Ashley and Alex a few times, and I think Ryan has quickly taken a liking to her. He talks about her all the time. They came over to play earlier this month and when they were about to leave, we told them to hug. Ryan basically charged her and tackled her to the ground. He's a little too enthusiastic at times.

 About 2 seconds before the big fall and tears that followed.

Ryan has also broadened his horizons on food. We still have a ways to go, but he will now welcome just about any lasagna or casserole, even grilled chicken and veggies occasionally. He loves to use silverware too, even though he is not too swift with them just yet.

He loves this baby doll as well and even had to bring her to class with him one day!!! He calls her Abby (after meeting a girl at church with red hair named Abby at Christmas). He likes to change her diaper, feed her, and wrap her up in blakets. I am not sure where all of this came from; I guess people just have a natural instinct in them to take care of others!

 Still into stacking Tupperware whenever he gets a chance.

 He was loving the tractors at Lowe's. A good form of cheap entertainment!!!

This is where he sits every morning while I get dressed. Usually he will drag his Cozy Coupe and a ton of toys in the bathroom to occupy him.

 Happy 22 months sweet boy! We love you :)



Too Tight

This is Ryan's new favorite thing to say. At first everything was just tight. Pants tight, shuuurt tight, socks tight, you get the picture. Now that has turned into "too tight" which I am sure he gets from me asking him, "is that really too tight?!" Well just the other day he was complaining that his hair was too tight while he was grabbing at it and then proceeded to say his elbows were too tight and was pinching his skin. Maybe he is growing and has some growing pains or he is just peculiar. Either way, it's really funny. When his pants are too tight, he will immediately strip down and take them off. However, two seconds later he wants his "beans on", his jeans, and tries to get them back on. He actually got both legs in the right hole once the other day :)

New Year's Celebration

Our celebration continued after Christmas because one of my very best friends, Kristen, got married on New Year's Eve at the Omni by the Galleria. She and John had been in town for Christmas, so we were lucky to get to catch up some a few days before the wedding. The festivities kicked off with a lunch at Ousie's Friday, followed by the rehearsal and a delicious dinner at Grappinos. Saturday morning, the girls headed up to the hotel to get dressed and hang out all day.

After we finished getting ready, a limo took us to the church. Kir bought us these super cute personalized hangers from Etsy. Aren't they adorable?

 The beautiful bride! She was stunning :)

 My two besties. Now we are all married off!

Wes and I at the reception. It seriously was so much fun. The DJ was amazing and kept everyone on the dance floor the entire night. They also had the New Year's part down perfectly. It was complete with hats, nosiemakers, etc. and at midnight they rented a snow machine with bubbles that appeared! It was one of the most fun weddings I have ever been too. Wes and I stayed at the hotel that night, which was good since we didn't get to our room until after 3! Sad it is over and sad to see Kir go back to Chicago, but hopefully we'll see them very soon.

2011 was such a great year complete with lots of fun trips to Cabo, Napa, NY with my besties, and Wes went to Chicago; Ryan turned 1 and has given us so much joy; we celebrated 4 years of marriage; Wes was promoted to a new position which moved him downtown (and closer to us); my job has given me such a great balance to spend time with Ryan; Wes started his MBA at Rice at night; my brother was married as well as one of my best friends; and we were able to spend a lot of time with all of our family and friends. We have so much to be thankful for and are truly blessed. I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us!

21 months

So, I am a little late in this post, but with the holidays and new year, I just haven't found the time to catch up (we still have all of our decor and lights outside up, maybe this weekend we will finally put it all away). Anyways, Ryan has been crazy this month. He is so full of life, which comes with really high highs and extremely low lows!

He is talking up a storm putting two and three words together at a time now, even though each word has a pause between them, it's a little choppy but we're getting there. A few of his new favorite phrases include "Boom" which can pretty much be said emphatically for anything. When he shuts doors, throws a ball, pushes you, tries to move furniture, you name it. Also, he is really into, and possibly confused, with saying "Pants on." We are beginning to think he actually thinks pants are called "pants on." He will go up to you with pants on and say it, point to them on the floor and say it, or if you don't have any on he will say it. Who knows, but it's pretty cute. And he is still repeating everything, but can now be words that are 3 and 4 syllables. So by the time he repeats a word back it sounds nothing like  the actual word. For instance, his humidifier is key-ka-ka. Don't ask me why. Here is he displaying "pants on"

Ryan was also sick twice this month. He got strep throat the first week of December and then once he was well, I got a bad sinus infection/virus and of course passed it right on to him. So needless to say, we were holed up the first half of the month a lot and he missed all but 1 week of school and fun Christmas activities. At least he was well for the second half of the month and didn't miss out on family fun.

We have been going to the park a lot! He is always so excited to go and each time becomes more daring. He watches kids that are bigger than him and then all of a sudden thinks he can do what they are doing. Wes took him earlier this month and apparently he started his crazy yelling and began chasing a 4-5 year old which apparently was very frightened of him. At least he won't let someone bully him, even if they are twice his size!!! One of the conditions of the park this winter, was that when it is cold, he must wear a hat. We can finally say that, "you can't go to the park without your hat." And it has worked! For a boy that has not once ever worn any type of hat for more than 2 seconds, this is a major success (and he doesn't throw a fit!)

We have also been able to use the who bargaining tool with everything more recently, but most importantly food. I am somewhat proud to say, we have finally moved past corn dogs. Not that his food has too much variety, but he is hooked on all of the Stouffers casseroles and lasagnas. This is a success in my book because at least now he gets some protein and vegetables! Hopefully we can expand our selections soon.

We also have made progress on the pacifier (or "pi" as he calls it). It's been about 3 weeks, but now he knows he only gets it for naps and nighttime and it stays in the crib once he gets up. Occasionally he will pretend like he wants to go to bed and ask for night night, just so that he can have it, but he knows it won't work. He also started sleeping with a pillow which is really cute because he loves it. I am sure he has now felt deprived all of these months.

One last milestone would be "the potty." We gave him one at Christmas just to have around and get familiar with, but now he is really obsessed with it. He understands it is his and what to do, but he will say he needs to go and then proceed to go in his diaper. After he finishes, he will ask for the potty and run to sit on it. So the order is messed up, but the concept is there. Maybe he won't be too hard to train, cross my fingers!!

He had his 3rd haircut this month and it was the first time for just me to take him. BIG MISTAKE! He needs someone to stand in front of him to distract him. This was worse than the first two times combined. Oh well, he really needed it. Here is a pic from a week or so before we went.

Our friends Ashley and David moved to Houston a few weeks ago and they have a sweet little girl, Alex, who is just a month older than Ryan. We met them for dinner and here is Ryan giving his version of a hug as we were leaving. I can't wait for them to get to play together more! It's blurry but what can you expect with a phone camera?

Oh, and he still loves to organize! Can't believe he is almost 2!!!