Superhero Stories Told By Ryan

Three's a crowd

I am willing to admit that I made a mistake. Who would have thought 14 months later we would still be dealing with Ryan's bedtime issue!

Quick rewind: December 2014, I made the decision to take down the crib and upgrade to a big boy bed. The following 4 - 5 months, Ryan refused to sleep on it, preferring the floor. Not to mention requiring someone to accompany him.
 
Today: Our munchkin has graduated to OUR bed. Both Mom and I sort of like having this snuggle buddy with us but the kid has grown and it's now tight quarters. For every warm snuggly moment, we have to experience:

• Space. Ryan rotates, flips, twists and turns throughout the night, pinning Mom and I to the edges of the bed. 
• Kicking. Ryan goes to extreme measures by jackhammer kicking to create room. 
• If that doesn't work, he will stab you with his knife-like toes.
• No Covers. I often find myself frozen with the covers down by my knees. 
• Sass. Unwanted commentary about the sleeping conditions. "Dad, you breathe loud and your mouth smells horrible!" 

Perfect example: Last night Ryan came in at 12:50am and made his way into the middle of the bed. With my arms at my side, he placed his right leg on top of my left arm.

In a serious/annoyed whisper:
Ryan: Dad, stop touching my leg!
Dad: My arms are at my side. There's no room.
Ryan: Go find room somewhere else!

I then laid down the law in a half-ass manner: "That's it. When you turn 4, no more sleeping in Mom and Dad's bed."

Nothing like kicking the can down the road to get your point across!

Creativity!

Laura is one of the most creative kids I have ever met. This statement comes with one major stipulation - as long as there are no directions, she does it by herself, and no one watches. She is deathly afraid of criticism.

Hockey Girl - custom skates, stick, and puck.

Every morning, I have the privilege to listen to Laura be Laura. Raw and pure! With her bedroom door shut or partly open, I can hear her build things, teach imaginary students, count money, draw pictures, organize rocks, perform plays, write letters/rewrites pages from a book, and sing songs.

Rarely will she show us her work but take a step into her bedroom and you will get a glimpse her personality. Awfully amazing!

Tooth #3

Another friendly reminder of gross things that happen to kids. Say goodbye to tooth #3, Laura! Not to mention, an impeccable timing on losing a FRONT one the week of Christmas. 

To Quote Ryan, "All I want for Christmas is my toothbrush teeth." 

Say "thistle," I dare you!

*NOTE* - If you are reading this...and Laura shows you her new toothless smile...act very, very surprised!!!  She wants to surprise you with this information if she is going to be seeing you in the next week or so.

Some Things About Ryan

Well, we have now waited long enough to write updates that we can have Laura do them for us. Today she typed a spontaneous essay about her brother, and we decided it does a good job of summing things up about Ryan right now...with some bonus information about Laura!

Ryan  is my brother. he likes trucks and  cars. he also  likes supohers.   he is   in   dacare   his  frends   are   brock   and  broockly    and  hadle .     his   favrit    color   is   blue.  He   go  on   nacher   wocks.    He   also  go  to   the   librare.    His   brstone  is   n   emrld.   His    sister    is   laura   his   mom  is  Christie   and    his   dad  is  mike  laura  is  the   big  sister!  She   has   a  wiggle   thoth.  My   brother   loves  puzzles!                                                                          By    Laura

"supohers" = superheroes

"nacher wocks" = nature walks

"brstone is n emrld" = birthstone is an emerald (Laura is super into rocks and minerals right now, and thinks birthstones are of great importance!)

"wiggle thoth" = wiggly tooth (Currently on loose tooth #3 and it was of great concern today)

Also, some holiday "Ryanisms" for you:

"Dirt in your sock" = coal in your stocking
ex: "Ryan, what does Santa put in your stocking if you aren't nice?" "Dirt in your sock!!"

"All I want for Christmas is my toothbrush teeth!" (two front teeth)

Here's Ry enjoying a hot chocolate on a special outing from our Advent calendar.

I want that!

And so it begins... The wanting, needing, and begging for things that friends have.

"Dad, So-in-so has a TV in her room, and So-in-so has a laptop in his room. Why can't I have one?"

Or hearing "I want that!" at every commercial break.

Now, I cannot stand on a pedestal and be annoyed with Laura when I remember vividly doing the exact same thing, except my attempt was for a $4,000 snowmobile. Like her, I used the same whiny voice stating that "all my friends have one." And like me, her attempts will fall short.

Now Laura is a crafty young lady and shines with creativity. When I told her "No TV in your room," she responded by designing two TVs and placing them on her closet door. One dedicated to a Science show and the other to a Dolphin show. Bless her heart!

Two TVs - left is a Science show and on the right is a Dolphin show.

After reading, she needs a few minutes to watch a show.

First Day of First Grade

Laura's first day of first grade at JP! Excitement. Nerves. Excitement. Fear. Excitement. That sums up her roller coaster of emotions that past two days. But this morning there was no hiding her 100% excitement and eagerness to get on the bus!

With Zoe, Kaylee and Owen in other classrooms, Laura feared she wouldn't know anyone in her class. Fortunately, we dropped off supplies last week and recognized a few names from her kindergarten class and one who used to live in our house [and currently rides her bus]. So that helped ease some of her anxiety.

In addition, similar to the first day of kindergarten, Mom once again presented Laura with a gift called Schultute that contained school-related gifts such as a journal, dolphin stickers, dolphin sandwich cutter, new Laker colored headband, and a 1st gr. reading activity toy. This is a Czech/German ritual to help with first day jitters. Kudos to Mom for showing off her creativity to help Laura start the school year in a positive, encouraging way.

Schultute
[When children in Germany and Czech Republic set off for their first day in school upon entering first grade, their parents and/or grandparents present them with a big cardboard cone, prettily decorated and filled with toys, chocolate, candies, school supplies, and various other goodies. It is given to children to make this anxiously awaited first day of school a little bit sweeter.]

The Schultute

New Shoes!

First Grade

The Walk

Fishing Trip 2015

View of Redwing Lodge in Morson, Ontario

This year's fishing trip brought us to a new resort/lodging on the east side of the Lake of the Woods. Redwing Lodge just outside of Morson, Ontario.

We wanted to try out a new part of the lake as we have been on Oak Island for the past 8 years. It's tough to leave the honeyholes that we have become accustomed to.

Due to our unfamiliarity with this area, fishing numbers and size were down a bit. Although, I somehow outfished Dave's entire boat 92 to 88. Lucky I guess.

Likes: Something new, shorter drive to the resort, better docks, gas grills
Dislikes: More open water/less islands, smaller cabins, cost more

This might have been the 23" walleye.

Max, myself, and Jeremy showcasing today's catch

Getting ready for dinner in our cabin

Added a new feature to this year's mix - grilling meat

Max casting for muskie on the dock at sunset

Pulling up on an island for shore lunch

This year's trip I outfished Dave's entire boat - 92 walleye vs 88!

Disney World

Laura, Mom and Dad did a quick four day, three night getaway to Orlando, Florida, for Laura to experience what Disney World has to offer. We began to notice that she was slowly becoming less interested in princesses therefore it was the appropriate time for her to meet her fictional idols before her interests moved on to something else.

This was Laura's first plane ride and she couldn't have been more thrilled. Unfortunately, before and during the trip, all three of us caught the flu bug. Even though our appetite wasn't there, we persevered and made it to all of our planned destinations (Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios).

The days were long and Mom planned out each ride, attraction, parade, and play perfectly. Laura was a trooper, never complained, and appreciated the whole experience. I take that back, she was a little fussy about meeting the princesses but did a great when they talked to her.

We learned a few things from this trip. Laura does well on trips. She enjoys plane rides and long days walking around. Who knew that she would like roller coasters (Big Thunder Mountain and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train) and a scary ride (Haunted Mansion).

Here are a few pictures of our Disney trip

Excited to board the plane!

Of course Laura would site with Mom

Easy on the coffee, Anna

Laura ran up at the last second for this picture with Belle

Cindy

Queen Elsa

Fireworks at Magic Kingdom as we race for the bus

Ice Cream... Yes please!

Mickey-shaped pretzel as large as her head

Our hotel resort (who is hiding in the zero)

Mom and Laura at the Magic Kingdom

Family pic - darn that construction

Magic Kingdom Parade

Rapunzel

Rapunzel's Tower

I think we forced Laura to ride with me on Aladdin's Magic Carpet

Dumbo!

Teacups - Mom was shouting, "Slow down!"

It's A Small World

Ryan Thinks He Is Baby Jesus

This Christmas as usual, we took out our Nativity toys for the kids.  Ryan hadn't shown a lot of interest in them in the past, but this year he really liked setting them up and playing with them, especially "Baby Jesus."

As Christmas arrived, Ryan really liked the whole scenario and wanted to "play" this with our family. He assigned roles - "I am Baby Jesus, Mama is Mary, Daddy is Jofis (Joseph), Wowa (Laura) is the angel." I was ok with this pretend game because mostly I just had to hold Ryan or wrap him up in a blanket.

He's continued to like the Baby Jesus game, and a couple of days ago we were hanging out in his room.  He walked over to his bed and patted it and told me, "I am Baby Jesus.  This is my hay."  Ha! Dad and I suggested that he sleep on his hay just like Jesus when nighttime rolls around.  He's made some rather annoying changes in his sleep habits lately and we are suffering.  More on that another time.