Big Boy Room

With only three more months until baby brother's expected arrival, we have been working hard on getting a big boy room ready for Ryan. We're hoping this will give him plenty of time to get settled before he has to adjust to yet another transition.

Today was the big reveal, and Ryan is very excited! (phew!) He took a decent nap in his big boy bed, so we'll see how tonight goes. Here are some pictures and a video of his first impressions.

The view from the doorway (book/play area)

The train paintings that I spent hours & hours & hours on (but it was worth it!)

various views of the bed/dresser/doorway


Ryan & Daddy, checking out the new toys for his big boy room

happy boy! :-)

Now maybe I'll have time to start blogging more regularly again (and fill in my gaps!)

"I need a phone"

As my belly is getting bigger, Ryan is noticing it more and more and we end up talking about "baby brother" quite a bit. He likes to lift up my shirt and give my belly kisses and "push my button", which is now protruding quite dramatically.

Giving baby brother a kiss at the beach

Yesterday, during one of these moments, I told Ryan that he could talk to the baby if he wants to. He paused, looked at me, and said:

"I need a phone"

Blueberries!

If you know my son at all, you probably know that blueberries are one of his absolute favorite things (he gets it from his Daddy). So, this morning, we set off early for a special treat (and now summer tradition): picking blueberries!

He was so good. I was amazed. He followed me to the bushes and I showed him which ones were the good ones to pick. And then he got right down to business, picking two or three ripe ones at a time and putting them in our bucket. A couple of times, he accidentally picked one that wasn't ripe and was sure to tell me about it and hand it over. He didn't even ask to eat one until we got home. I guess blueberry picking is serious business, but we sure did have a blast!

and now for a little trip down memory lane:

blueberry picking, 2008 : Ryan was 2 months old & slept in his carrier the whole time



blueberry picking, 2009: Ryan was clearly more interested in other things (though he had no problems eating the blueberries once they were home!)

Water baby (well... toddler technically)

As it has been ridiculously hot here recently, we've been spending a lot of time inside. And when we're not inside, we do our best to be in the water!

We went to the pool twice in the last week, and Ryan LOVED it... so much that I don't have many great pictures because he was far too distracted by playing.


splashing with Sophia

add Emelia (trying to get a good photo of the 3 of them)

a little resting with Daddy from all of the busy swimming!



When we can't make it to the big pool, Ryan likes to cool off in his little froggy pool at home:




It has a sprinkler feature, which Ryan loved last year, but as you can see, he's not so sure about it this year!!


We've been working on blowing bubbles in the big pool, which makes Ryan a bit wary. He was more than happy to practice in his little pool, though :-)


Stay cool, everyone!

Self Portraits

Ryan was being especially fussy in the car one day last week after being dragged around to a number of appointments, so I let him play with my camera.

Here are Ryan's first self portraits:

An afternoon in the life of a two-year-old

These days, I frequently ask Ryan how old he is, and he replies (with a smile) every time "TWO!" It seems that he is acting more and more like a two-year-old every day, and it's a good reminder to me that the ways in which he is acting are normal considering his age.

He woke up particularly cranky one afternoon this week. I figured snack would cheer him up, especially since I let him sit in "Mama's chair".

After four snack choice attempts, he was still whining and refusing to take a bite:


Once I finally convinced him to try a berry (one of his favorite things in the world to eat, btw), here is the sequence of what followed:






*sigh*

Welcome to an afternoon in the life of a two-year-old

Quad Reunion Weekend

I am blessed to have three wonderful ladies in my life who have been close friends of mine since middle & high school. In high school, the four of us were more or less inseparable, and so some other friends of ours started calling us "the quad" - while we disliked it at the time because our goal was not to be exclusive, it stuck nonetheless and now, 10 years later, we embrace the name for our special bond :-)

A couple of weekends ago, my dear quadettes came to visit for the weekend, and we had so much fun!! Mason was sweet to watch Ryan for parts of the weekend so that we could have girl time, but we spent plenty of time hanging out together too. Ryan loved having 3 extra women around to pay him attention, and he quickly went into show-off mode... for an entire weekend! It was a blast :)

They came from all different directions by 3 different modes of transportation. Here we are at the train station waiting for Amy to arrive:


On Saturday, we all went to the beach at Jordan Lake to hang out and play. Ryan loved playing in the sand and the water. Mason had to tear him away to take him home for a nap, and then the rest of us girls got to tan & chat some more!

couldn't wait to play in the sand

playing with Daddy in the water

Our family

We like to call these the paparazzi photos since Amy took them from far up the beach & they look like they came straight out of People magazine!

Ryan vs. the giant apple - it won

Quad on the beach: Amy, Abby, Caroline & Lucia

On Saturday night, we gave Mason the night off & had a ladies' (+Ryan) evening out:

The group

Ryan insisted on carrying Abby's purse around all evening - I guess he had too much girl time that day!

Amy is my personal photographer. Ryan & I spent much of the evening walking circles around the fountain - he loved it!

The evening concluded with a Quad tradition, Ben & Jerry's pints - we didn't finish the whole things in one night like we used to in HS, but we enjoyed them just as much!


Ryan got in on some of the action, too!

showing off our pints

being goofy

On Sunday, the girls wanted me to show them the town where we will most likely be living in a few years. We had a blast wandering around downtown and eating lunch outside.


Sunday night, Mason was kind enough to grill out for us in the rain. We had a toddler-style dance party to Ryan's hamster dance card that he received for his birthday, and took lots of group photos. It was a great way to finish off the weekend :-)

dinner chez nous

dance party (aka four grown women acting like fools to entertain a 2-year-old)

Ryan with his new best friends


Love you girls! Thanks again for all the years of friendship and yet another weekend of fun.