A Princess Quiz for Ryan

A short clip of Laura quizzing Ryan on Disney Princesses. I was absolutely shocked to hear him identify them all. Impressive. Way to know your women, Ryan!

Face-name recognition is a clear cut trait from his mother!

What We Did on Our Summer Vacation, Part 1: June

Summer break started early for us this year!  By the first day of June, we were already "on vacation."  This summer, no one is taking a morning nap, so we have a lot of free time to go out and about and do some fun things in the morning.

Face painting from the park party

In June, some of the things we did were: pool visit to Champlin, story time at Barnes & Noble (Laura listens to stories, Ryan plays at the train table), neighborhood park party, penny carnival at the park, Kids Concert at the park, soccer on Saturdays for Laura, road trip to WI with Grandma Barb, "Baby" Joey's 1st birthday party, Musikgarten class for Ryan, and swimming lessons for Laura.  Wow!

Party at Joey's!

The road trip was our biggest undertaking, 5 days in Wisconsin visiting Great-Grandma Mason, the Olley Greats, Auntie Annie & Daniel, and Great-Great Auntie Carol.  Good thing Grandma Barb could come along and entertain in the back seat!  The kids were great riders and adapted well to being shuttled all over. Laura particularly liked eating at Panera (three times!), twice polishing off giant cinnamon rolls, sharing a bed with Grandma Barb, looking at Auntie Carol's jewelry collection, and climbing up the pole in Grandpa & Grandma Olley's basement.  Ryan enjoyed playing with cars and trucks in Grandma Mason's basement, bonding with "Papa Woh-wee" (my Grandpa Olley), visiting the airport restaurant with Grandma and Grandpa (he still tells me "Papa Woh-wee...helicopter") and driving Matchbox cars around in their basement.  Always fun to see the WI relatives, which we don't get to do often enough.

Pit stop at Grandma Mason's for dinner!

Trucks in the basement

Visit to Auntie Carol's

Made it to the top!

Playing in the backyard with Papa Woh-wee

We've only been to Musikgarten once so far, but Ry exceeded expectations by staying seated in my lap, and following commands about taking/using/returning musical instruments.  He participated, sang along, and generally had a good time.  Yay, Ryan!  You may recall when I took Laura to ECFE classes that she stood in the corner at music time and WOULD NOT join in.

Laura had a good experience at swimming lessons the last two weeks, made even more fun by the fact that her daycare buddies CJ and Grace attended lessons at the same time!  This year she was in Guppies (step up from her 2 year stint in Tadpoles) but did not pass yet because she "just needs to get bigger and stronger."  Story of her life!  She also forgets to keep paddling and kicking when she wants to take a breath so there is definitely a little room for work there.  Soccer went through June and wrapped up at the end of the month.  I think she liked soccer, but was frustrated when she didn't score, it was "too hot" or she had to face off against kids that were better/bigger than her.  She certainly learned some skills she put into action on the field and it was fun to watch her try something new.

Soccer girl

So there's June.  Other current info is that Ryan continues to be obsessed with playing "cars and trucks" with Matchbox cars, and we are constantly toting buckets of his favorites up and down three floors of our house. It keeps him very focused and busy!  Walks are still a favorite and most days we make the loop around the block with Laura on her bike and Ryan walking or riding in the stroller.  Finally, Laura is growing up and enjoying pop music on the radio immensely and has several favorites (she will blast out of her room to announce what's on the radio).  Some are a little older and others more recent - here's Laura's "playlist":

* Ingrid Michaelsen "Girls Chase Boys"

* Katy Perry "Roar"

* Magic! "Rude"

* Sara Bareilles "Brave" and "I Choose You"

* Paramore "Ain't it Fun"

* Lorde "Royals"

Ryan's still digging The Muffin Man and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  Glad I still have my "baby!"

Fishing Trip 2014

This year's fishing trip to the Lake of the Woods had cool, rainy days. In fact, the entire spring has been rainy, so much so, bringing water levels to flooding heights. See the dock submerged in a few pics below.

This year will be noted for the amount of northern pike caught. I caught a number of them, including a 31" and 37". 

Once again, I didn't hit my goal of a 25" walleye. The closest I got was this 21 incher. Maybe next year! :)

21 inch walleye

31" northern pike

37" northern pike

Massive rains this spring raised the water to flooding heights

Our last year at Sportsman's on Oak Island. Next year we're staying at Redwing Lodge.

Ry-Roo Turns 2!

Our adorable little buddy turned two last Saturday.  Such a big boy now!  We celebrated with a "cars and trucks" party and lots of family members were able to come and be with Ryan on his big day.  This year he did like to sit and open his presents, although he got distracted by playing with them along the way.  My sweet tooth son was very excited about cake and painstakingly ate every single bite of cake and frosting with his fork, long after all the big kids left their half-eaten pieces on the table and were off to other things.  He also loves singing "Happy Birthday" and was pleased to hear everyone singing it for him!

Ryan at Age 2:
Likes: Puzzles - has specific favorites, in particular the "Fox pussle...Yak" which is an animal/alphabet puzzle.  He can do a lot of them by himself and starts by announcing "Dump!" as he shakes out the pieces.  Still loves going on walks whenever the weather is nice.  He always wants to hold my hand on walks and right away offers his hand and announces "Hand."  We have our "usual loop" and certain things he likes to point out on the way: 1. "Circles" (manhole covers)  2. Slide on swingset  3. Flag (without a doubt his favorite landmark..."Flag coming!")  4.  Another flag  5. Another flag  6. "Ding dong" (chimes on somebody's back deck).  Cars - has certain favorites here too, loves to drive them on the "nap" which is a ramp/track he got for his birthday.  He continues to love books and singing at bedtime.

Dislikes:  It is easy to know Ryan's dislikes right now because he announces "Yike it," which really means "I don't like it."  Or sometimes just "Yuck." Things he says "Yike it" about: cars he doesn't like, freshly washed blankies, noodles, veggies, cheese.  Also says "Stop it Daddy" to anything he wants a person to stop doing (generally because Daddy is the offender).  It's funny to hear him say it to Laura when she is wrestling him or whatever.

We love this picture...a classic Ryan "look."

New Tricks:  I can't think of too many new tricks...he has finally had some new molars break through in back, but true to his teething fashion, you wouldn't even know it.  He can nap on a mat at daycare now and doesn't have to be in the pack and play.  There are a lot of books he's familiar with and can "read" them when he sits down with them by himself.

Love you little Rooster!

Soccer-girl

The highly anticipated soccer practice!

This little girl couldn't wait much longer to get outside and try out soccer. We've been kicking the ball around in the basement and backyard for two years-but it's not the same as an organized event.

Today, she happily attended her first organized soccer league. Not only did she learn techniques but she also scored a goal during 3-on-3 competition. Congrats, Laura!

Excited about practice!

After 30-mins of drills, time for 3-on-3

A little tired after her first shift

Helpful

Laura thoughtfully used her new box of sidewalk chalk to circle all the dried up worms on our driveway from Thursday's rain "so we wouldn't step on them."  Wish I would have taken a picture of this before the rain came tonight!

Also she has been giving me a jellybean from her stash each morning to put in my lunch bag for work, but really so she can ask to have one too.

She is becoming legitimately helpful on many occasions though, especially with her brother AND she has also finally learned to buckle her own carseat.  Hurray!

Ryan is almost 2! (23 months)

Sorry, bud.  We managed to knock one of these out every month for your sister, and you haven't gotten one of these updates in ages.  That's the breaks of being the second kid.  We are mentally filing away and enjoying these daily moments, but official documentation is spotty.

Height/Weight: unknown.  More than Laura when she was his age; he's already surpassed the 20 lb. marker.

Likes: "Walking" (going for a walk), "Cars" (organizing and lining up cars), "Bankie" (chewing on his blanket), "Teets" (treats/desserts), "Ahside" (going outside), "Futtin/Muffin" (banana chocolate chip muffins for breakfast), "Gah-ko" (Hello Baby! book with a gecko in it), "Esores/Di-sores" (dinosaurs) and "Yizzards" (lizards), "Fo-nin" (Frozen, both the music and movie), "Feeshees" and "cahcahs" and "cahkees" and "toh-ss" (goldfish, crackers, cookies and toast), "Baby" (Hush Little Baby) and "Ahpa bahtda wahso high" (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) at bedtime; much to his grandmothers' dismay, he has a strong preference for his Bapa and Papa

Dislikes: "Mah-ters...coming" (not sure if this is really a fear, but he's always pointing down dark hallways and announcing this), when he can't go outside or go for a walk, having to get in his carseat "buckle...stuck!" HAIRCUTS.  Really hates the haircuts.  We had to leave one at Great Clips back in March; he threw the stylist's comb and the bribe M&M's before going into full-blown kicking and screaming.




















Any new tricks?: Doing good with counting and can get to about 10, definitely looks like a lefty as he chooses to pick things up and throw with his left hand, walking up and down stairs rather than doing his trademark "slide," really good at singing Happy Birthday, familiar with praying before dinner "Amen?Amen? Eat!!"

Other funny Ryan things:
"Bah bah basssh" for toothbrush (due to song lyrics "Brush brush brush, brush brush brush, brush your teeeeth!")
Somehow knows to twist open Oreos and eat all the filling first
Calls Laura "Rah Rah"
Likes to tell you which way to go - "ee fay" (this way)

PEWP!

For the longest time, Ryan would walk around with poop in his diapers and not say a word. Yuck! Since I can't smell, it's hard for me to know when it happens. So, we've been reminding him to be more vocal and tell us when he's released "the goods."

He has responded quite nicely! And the best part is when he assumes the position, face red, he makes a quick, gaspy breath announcement, "pewp." It's cute!

Today, Mom, Laura and Ry-Roo went to the mall. In the middle of Dick's Sporting Goods, Ryan announces "pewp" and proceeds to sit down in a rack of lacrosse sticks. I guess when nature calls, answer it immediately.

Bowling With Friends

One of the things I love the most about our daycare is the nice group of kids she has there.  Laura grew up having two good buds there with her; Ayden, who is one year older, and Christopher, "CJ," who will head off to kindergarten with Laura next year. (But not at the same school...lots of sadness when they figured this out.)  They have always played together nicely and miss each other when they are away from daycare in the summer.  Laura has really missed CJ this year on the days when one or the other is at preschool, and is so happy come the end of the week when they can be at daycare together.

Every once in a while, we try to plan some get togethers for the kids.  Laura had her first "official" playdate at our house on Dec. 31 when Christopher came over to play for the morning which was major excitement. She was worried that he might not like her room, or that he wouldn't want to play with her things.  You should have seen her beam when he walked in her room and immediately said, "Wow!  Laura, your room is so cool!"  They played cash register, ran around in the basement, made sticker art, ate a snack, and played her new Disney Hedbanz game.  She did struggle a bit with the "Your guest chooses what to play" rule but it went pretty well.  These two do love to play together but have such a history that they will on occasion bicker like an old married couple which is pretty funny.

This past Sunday, all three of them reunited to go bowling, which was Laura's first experience at the bowling alley.  Like she does with all new events, she was initially really apprehensive about the whole thing and didn't want to go.  Somehow I got her on board and of course she had a blast, although she remained pretty disdainful of the bowling shoes. "Can't I just wear my socks?"  The kids bowled with bumpers and a ramp.  In the first game the scores were solidly in the 60s, but by the second, Laura was the winner with an 82.  Note to self, do not tell preschoolers the "winner" in a moment of absentmindedness - Laura could not keep quiet about that and it resulted in some rather put-out boys.  Have to remember the Catholic school gym teacher telling the kids the score was "Fun to fun!"  Even my first graders didn't buy that.  Anyway, it was fun just to see them having a good time together, cheering for each other and giving fives.  Most of the time all three would walk up to the lane regardless of who was bowling, and the other two would adjust the ramp, give pointers, etc.  I love this friendship and hope we can keep the connection even after our kids all leave daycare and are in school.

Long Days in the Winter

Yesterday was a day off from school for me, and so I was home with the kids.  Dad was in at his office for the day, so I had some things planned to keep the long day busy.  Lexi came over with Baby J to visit and play, which was fun, and surprisingly Ryan was intrigued by her but not worried enough to consider her a threat (they currently have different toy interests).  Therefore she escaped his aggression but did maybe earn a pat on the head or two.

They stuck around for a couple of hours and then Laura was insistent that I make good on a vague Christmas break promise that we would go out to lunch at Panera "someday."  We bought some gift cards there as Christmas gifts for her teachers and the bakery case there was quite appealing to her.  I truly thought I was a bit crazy to try to bring both of them to an eating establishment by myself.  Laura is fine but in these situations Ryan can be a bit of a wild card.  They both turned out to do great, but still there is nothing much relaxing in overseeing three meals at once, restraining a toddler in a booth with no high chairs available, cramming in a meal during his 10 minute eating attention span!

By the time we got home I was pretty worn out and although both kids napped, my tank was definitely empty by late afternoon.  Laura is generally great with/about Ryan but on that day wanted a lot of attention and was not pleased that he was requiring so much of my time.  I was getting kind of snippy (you know you're being a bad mom but can't quite stop yourself) and Laura says to me, "Mom, are you going to quit being our mom?"

Oh, man; heartbreak.  Had to have a talk with Gooz about how moms can't quit, and I would never want to, but it was just one of those days where my patience was worn out and I was needing a break.  Not too much longer after that Dad came home and the backup support was much appreciated!  I do always feel lucky that we are there for each other to "hand off" when we need breaks, and often think of how tough it must be for single parents, military parents, etc. when you are on duty, just you, all the time.  No breaks, can't quit.