Wednesday, February 29, 2012

23 months

I can't believe this will be my last post before my baby is TWO! Yikes! It has definitely been an interesting month for us - full of laughs, disciplining, non-stop talking, bouncing off of the walls, becoming a daredevil, I guess typical boy-like behavior!
He is still a great sleeper, although his bedtime keeps getting pushed and somehow is now almost 9pm every night, but at least on most mornings he will sleep until at least 8am and sometimes longer. He also naps about 2 or 2.5 hours in the afternoon. He has been taking his pacifier just at nap time for the past two and a half months. I guess it's about time to start thinking about getting rid of it.
He talks and talks all day long. He can count to five on a regular basis now. He also just learned the lyrics to the whole song of Rock-a-bye Baby. I was in shock. We have accidentally developed this nightly routine before bed which can absolutely not be broken now. It starts with Wes and Ryan reading a few books in the living room. Then, I take Ryan into his room and we rock while reading this Pirate book, and then we must sing Rock-a-bye Baby no less than 5 times. We finish up with prayers which he has learned he can buy more time if he keeps adding other people to the list to be prayed for. Well, this has now turned into a MUST every night but it has also indirectly taught him the lyrics to the song. Yesterday, I was telling him to sing it because I knew he had the first two lines down and then he just kept going until he finished the song. It was too cute - I need to record him singing it.
Another one of his funny things lately has been, when something is broken - he loves to say how it needs new batteries. With all the battery-operated toys this kid has, it seems like one of them is always in need of new batteries. So ever since we fixed one of his toys, anytime something doesn't work as it should or that is it just off (whether it be a lamp, the tv, a toy, you name it) he says its "bwoke" and "new batwees."
He is always making messes wherever he goes. Sometimes it is just his stuff, but other times it is an actual real mess of food, dirt, etc. I think he likes to make messes just so he can scream - "Maaasssss" and then proceed to run into our utility room and tell me to get the "buster" (dustbuster) down to go clean it up. Pretty sure this is a new game of his.

We have started to enforce some level of discipline. He has been testing me nonstop these days (and usually it's only me he does this to). I tell him not to do something and not only does he continue to do it, but he exaggerates whatever it was he was doing to the nth degree. So we have decided on a time out mat in his room (it's just his rug infront of his crib). He must go sit there for 2-3 min with no toys, lovies, etc until we come and get him. It worked the very first time and now he knows exactly what he has to do. A lot of times he will cry and it breaks my heart, but afterwards I feel like he learned his lesson. So we will see.
He has such a big heart and is so incredibly loving. He doles out I love you's all the time now (although, sometimes not in the correct circumstance). The other day he told my Ipad (also known as "the game") that he loved it. He then told my kneecaps about an hour later that he loved them too. I look at it as that he just has a lot of love to give because he more often than not uses it correctly and tells all the people in his life how much he loves them and blows kisses to them.
Last week, they had Go Texan day at his school and we don't own boots, but we did have a plaid button down - so this is the best we could do! "Ahh, too bright!" (good thing I know how to take a pic without the flash because he did not do well with flashes!).


Notice his new kicks in the pic above? Well, this kid gets stuck in his ways and FAST. The past few weeks he has ended up wearing the same pair of shoes every single day. Well, they are kind of out of season now and definitely getting snug, so I decided before school last week to try and break in his new shoes. It was traumatic to say the least. It started with huge tears rolling down his face, then he proceeded to open all the drawers in his room looking for his "old shoes", then he ran into the utility room and tried to scale the dryer because we usually keep his shoes up there. After about 15 minutes of fighting and trying to explain that the old shoes were too tight, he won and ended up going to school in a teal shirt and plaid shirt, with knee high socks and big black shoes. It was a sight. We quickly fixed the issue later that day, when we told him the only way he was going on a bike ride was to wear his new shoes. Now, he'll at least wear the tennis shoes - guess we'll have to work on the Sperrys later!

We are thinking of starting gymnastics this month to try and focus some of his craziness and burn some energy. I hope he loves it because I will love watching him :)

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Fun times

We have had a lot of fun this month visiting the Children's museum a few times, going to the park a bunch, fun play dates, birthday parties, and even riding the train at Hermann Park for the first time. I would say Ryan has been living the good life :)

Since Ryan has gotten a little older, he has been having fun exploring the downstairs portion of the Children's museum. He is pretty cute because he acts like he owns the place and just goes off exploring on his own. The pulley system ride is pretty neat. He always enjoys it (sorry for the Iphone quality)
 "Dad, back off!"
He also really enjoys shopping at the HEB there and frequently talks about going shopping at HEB at home while playing with his kitchen.

Our friends, the Williams' little girl, Alex, turned 2 a week ago and we had such a fun time at her Barnyard Bash party. Ashley did a wonderful job planning and painted this cute backdrop for photos. Wes had to show Ryan how it was done first :)

 My cute little moo cow
The weather had been gross all week, so they brought the party inside complete with a nice big slide for the kids to play on. Ryan loved sliding into a baby pool of balls that they had put at the foot of the slide. He was in heaven and did not want to leave! Here are the two cuties saying their goodbyes :)


Last Sunday we headed to the park again. It's funny to see how different each park experience is and what it is that he is into at the time. This time, it was setting up shop with my phone and his juice. He had his own personal office. Apparently, we didn't have an appointment.
 My two boys
Then, this past weekend, we decided to take Ryan to ride the train at Hermann Park. Ashley and I tried to take the kids earlier this week, but it was President's Day and way too crowded so we decided to try again a different day. Well, Ryan had not forgotten about this promised trip, so off we went on Saturday. Luckily, we walked right up to it and off we went! We got on first, so we had to wait a few minutes for everyone else to load. Ryan did not like that at all and kept saying "All done train." I was worried he was going to get scared mid-trip and we would all suffer, but luckily once we took off, he was in heaven. He literally was just so relaxed and almost fell asleep! We kept trying to teach him Choo Choo, but he insisted on Beep Beep. I imagine we will be back very soon :)



I feel like the weather is finally starting to get nice and can't wait to get out more with Ryan this spring!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Practice session

Yesterday, Penny (Wes' mom) and I went and took an introductory DSLR photography class near the Galleria. We have taken one short one before, but it was about 6 months ago and I think I forgot anything and everything I learned.I had found a Groupon, so I thought it would be worth giving another class a shot (and I am glad we did!). I definitely learned a few good tips that should be easy to remember (assuming I practice often) and learned how to shoot off of Auto and with no flash, yay!!!! She had also given me a new lens for Christmas that is good for portrait shots and I am already in love!! As soon as I got home, I made my favorite subject pose for me :)






I love how I can at least capture shots more quickly because I always seem to miss him smiling, since he does NOT like to smile for the camera. He loves to say CHEEEESE but in a very serious face!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Sesame Street Live!

Late last week, my mom told me she heard on the radio that Sesame Street was coming to Reliant. So at the last minute, I got online and purchased some tickets for the three of us to go check it out. Now Ryan had never really been to a sports arena or any huge public event for that matter. When he was a baby loud noises and crowds really scared him, so we hadn't given it a second thought. The past few weeks he has really taken an interest in a few shows on PBS, including Sesame Street, so I thought it was a good sign he was ready to sit still for more than 10 minutes. I talked it up to him for a few days, telling him we were going to a "show" to see Elmo.

We started off the morning with some Shipley's (nice way to get him all sugared up so that he would stay awake!) and then headed over to Reliant Arena. The whole experience was perfect. Easy to park, get inside, find our seats, etc. Luckily he isn't quite old enough to be lured by cotton candy, balloons, popcorn, and any other overpriced nonsense. He was pretty excited to have his own seat.


Once the show started, he was seriously mesmerized. It was broken into two 40 minute acts, and I think the first 20 minutes he didn't move and kept his eyes locked on the stage. It was literally like nothing else existed at the moment. He was dancing to the songs and just obsessed with the lights. We were sitting somewhat close to the light technicians and once he figured out where the lights were coming from, he was more into that. Wes took him up at intermission to see the lights.

I seriously just loved watching his expressions the entire time, wondering what he was thinking about everything. Seeing life through a child's eyes is truly amazing. I know this just made his day and love I seeing him so happy. He thought every character was Elmo and talked about Elmos the whole ride home.
 My sweet boy!
Maybe in a few months, I will be able to take him to the movies :)