Happy Birthday Ryan!

Ryan turned three yesterday.  Unfortunately (or perhaps we should say typical for Ryan) he started off the day okay, but just got grumpier as the day progressed.  I am not sure if he would say is was a happy day! 

Michael's Latest

Michael has a loose tooth!  Yesterday morning he told me his tooth was loose.  I took a look and it is loose.  One of the bottom front ones.  He told me it had been hurting "for like 2 to 3, no, 6 days".   So, now we are just waiting for it to fall out.   He does have a dentist appointment on Thursday.

This past Monday evening, he found where I was hiding the Christmas presents.  My quick cover was that the army guys are for Jake (a lie) and the monster trucks are for Ryan's birthday (the truth).  He didn't mention anything else, so I am hoping he didn't really notice everything else.   He doesn't know that he uncovered my hiding place.  However, the presents have all been moved now.  

I usually set his alarm when he takes a nap so he doesn't sleep too long.  Today, I set it and it went off, but he never came downstairs.  I went up a few minutes later - the alarm was off and he was still sleeping.  He confirmed that he still wanted to sleep so he just turned it off.  We'll see if he remembers this when he is still awake at 10 PM this evening and has to get up at 6:30 AM tomorrow!  

End of Summer and Back to School

Ryan saw his first movie, Planes, on August 25th.  He seemed to like it.  Michael; however, was very upset when the lead character got sabotaged by the bad guys.  He looked at me and said (as he was fighting back the tears): "I did NOT want to see this movie and I am NOT watching it at home."  Although, now two weeks later, he says he will watch it.  

We made a trip to Erie Labor Day weekend.  Made it to the beach, zoo, and waldameer.  Ryan enjoyed dragging himself in the sand at the beach and going in the water.   We also were able to fit in some bowling games on a rainy afternoon.  

We survived our first week of Kindergarten and Extended Day.  Michael transitioned to a new school with new kids and a new routine.   So far he seems to be okay with it all.  Just a little tired by the end of the day.   Ian has a new route to work as he has to do to separate drop offs, so he is getting up a little earlier these days.  I have a new routine at the end of the day as I have to be sure to leave by a certain time as I have to pick Michael up at 3:30.  And let's not forget Ryan, he has moved to a new room - the two year old room with Ms. Ikeva.  He seems to really like his new room as he keeps telling us "I go to new room." 

A random note on Michael.  When he wants to remember something for the next day he says it aloud to himself.   Tonight as I was walking out of his room, he told me that he was going to say something to himself.  So, I was still listening and I heard him say "I have to remember to make a box for my magazines tomorrow." 

Day 6

Finally on the last day of vacation, everyone slept until 8 AM! After eating breakfast and packing up we headed to Bronners.  We looked at Chirstmas ornaments and decorations for two hours.  The boys enjoyed Christmas cookies (frosted sugar cookies) in the snack shop.  We had lunch at McDonalds and began the six hour drive home.  We had to stop three times for bathroom breaks, but we got home around 7:30. Our vacation is over.

Day 5

Of course we were up at 7 AM again. It was our last day at the Great Wolf Lodge, so after packing the car we went to water park at 9:30 AM. We stayed for a little over two hours. We did the water slides, crossed the lily pads (well some of us fell in), and stood under the giant water bucket. Ian and Michale went on a double tube down one water slide, when Ian lifted Michael out of the tube at the end of the ride, Ian tunred to let Michael out, but his weight caused him to go backwards, the tube flipped over the both of them and Ian's glasses fell off! Fortunately they both were okay and the lifeguard knew where the glasses were.   We ate lunch at the Grand Traverse Pie Company - well, Ryan didn't eat he fell asleep on the floor. The rest of us enjoyed lunch and dessert (pie and a cookie). We drove three hours to Frankenmuth - three of us slept most of the way.  We walked around Frankenmuth and got stuck in a major rainstorm. Finally the rain let up and we did some more shopping and ate a chicken dinner at Zhenders. It was a late bedtime again.

Day 4

Today (after our usual 7 AM wake up) we did the Wolf walk (with Wiley the Wolf) through the lobby and made origami wolves.  Then we drove back to Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes and rode our bikes to the small village of Glen Haven.  We saw several old rescue boats, a former coast guard station, a blacksmith, and a general store.  The blacksmith made Michael a little hook to take home.  We had a picnic lunch by Lake Michigan.  Michael and a seagull battled - Michael would try to chase him away but he would keep coming back.  Ryan decided he wanted to go into the lake, so we let them both walk in the water a little past their ankles.  They both had fun throwing rocks into the water.  The water was remarkably  clear.  Of course, the morning plans took longer than expected so Ryan fell asleep on the return bike ride and car ride.  We decided to stop at Moomers for ice cream and then a winery to sample some local wines.  When we returned to the hotel.  We did bowling at the Ten Paw Lanes and painted banks at the Cub Club.  We ate dinner at the Camp Critter restaurant in the hotel.  Afterwards, I went shopping and Ian took the boys to the arcade and story time - this night with Oliver the raccoon.

Day 2 and 3

On day 2 we met friends at the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids.  It was nice catching up with friends but the highlight of the zoo visit was the chimpanzees.  There were 5 of them and all but 4 were pretty docile.  The one that wasn't came right up to the window and swung on the ropes for us.  He showed us how he moves along the ropes and then can position himself in a reclined position on one rope. Then he peed for us and scratched his butt.  Then he ate whatever it was he found in his butt.  It was quite the entertainment.  We had lunch and then went to see Joe Platte's new house.  Around 2 PM we began our trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City. The boys slept the whole way.  We checked in around 4 and decide to take our bikes out that evening for a quick ride along the Traverse Bay.  Afterwards we had dinner at North Peek (a local brewery).  It was another late night for the boys and they were still up at 7 AM the next day.

On day 3 we drove to Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore Park.  After a quick visit at the visitor center, we drove the Pierce Stocking scenic drive.  We got out several times and enjoyed several scenic overlooks.  We then climbed the sand dunes.  Ian carried Ryan in the back pack carrier.  They only made it up one level.  Michael and I made it up to a second level, but still couldn't see anything. The dunes just seemed to continue forever.  And climbing up a hill of sand is hard work, so it wasn't likely that we were going to see anything but sand.  We did have fun coming back down though.  Michael ran down the dunes and Ian and I each had one of Ryan's hands.  At one point Ryan's knees were bent and we were just dragging him down the dunes.  We drove to the town of Glen Arbor for lunch.  We picked a relatively popular place (Art's Tavern) and had to wait awhile for a table and our food.  We finally ate a little after two.  Everyone fell asleep on the way back to the hotel.  We decided to spend the afternoon at the water park in the hotel.  Michael enjoyed using his new swimming skills and going down the water slides.  Ryan  was not as happy with the water park.  We enjoyed pizza delivery in our room and Ryan was in bed by 8.  Michael and I went to the story time were we saw Rachel the raccoon and the forest characters come to life.  Of course, everyone was still up at 7 AM for day 4.

Day 1

We left our house at 6:15 AM with the hope that kids would fall back asleep, but that didn't happen.  We made three stops during the 6 hour drive (one for breakfast and two for potty breaks).  We arrived in Portland at 1:30 PM.  We visited with the Platte's for the rest of the day and caught up on everyone's doings.  The kids looked for money in the sawdust.  Michael found $2.94 and Ryan found $1.92. So they made out pretty good.  We got to our Grand Rapids hotel around 9 (after missing the turn). And had very wound up kids despite the lack of sleep.  Finally they were asleep by 10 PM, only to be up for day 2 at 7 AM.  And although we had the bed rails Ryan fell out of the bed twice.

Ryan Pees on the Potty

Ryan peed and pooped on the potty last night.  He had to poop, so Ian told him to sit on it (he was already naked).  So, a little pee came out and he had pooped.  Of course, he didn't do anything today.  Given that Michael wasn't potty trained until 3 and 3 months, I don't expect much from Ryan.

Ryan did baffle me today though as he asked me where the Elf was.  The only elf I could think that he was talking about was the elf on the shelf that we hide at Christmas time.    I said "you mean the elf that would hide?" I asked him where the elf was and he said the kitchen and the Christmas tree.  So, I guess he was talking about the elf.  I don't know what prompted him to remember that.

NO-AAAAH

Ryan has a lovely habit of whining the word "No".  It sounds like "NO - AAAAAH".  This evening he was in a particularly grumpy mood before dinner.   After dinner, we figured the mood had continued so we were all picking on him saying "NO - AAAAH".  Ryan responded: "No, I happy now."

Last week we were downtown at the Regatta and walking by the Point State Park fountain.  The mist from the fountain was blowing in the wind and Ryan said "I be all wet." 

That Ryan Funny....

I picked up Ryan on Friday and found out that he no longer uses pacifiers at school.  Apparently, he has never used one since he has been in his new room (so since January).  The little stinker always told me that he uses one though.  I would ask him "Does Ryan use beppies at school?"  "Yes" would be his answer.  And then I'd go through his list of friends and he would tell me that they don't use them either.  Who knew he was lying to me! 

On Saturday we were in the car and Michael was making him laugh.  Then Ryan said "Ah, that Mawkel funny." 

Two nights ago when we were giving him his bath, Ian told him to hand him his wash cloth, and Ryan said "one minute". 

He is putting many more words together and making sentences.  Of course, none are grammatically correct.  Some things he likes to say:

"I play this one."
"I got it"
"I coming"
"I too"
"Read this one"
"I do it"

Of course, he also tries to mimic everything Michael says even though he really doesn't know what he is saying.  

More Head Bumps

We had two head bumps this past weekend.  Ryan smacked his head against a wall on Friday afternoon.  Fortunately, he let me keep ice on it and it didn't swell that much.  The next day he told me: "no do again bang head on wall".

Later Saturday evening, Michael was running down the driveway and he wiped out.  Major bump on his forehead and a cut on his knee.  I kept ice on that bump too, but it was a bad goose egg. Both wounds were covered with band-aids.  We just took them off tonight.  The cut on his knee is scabbed over and the scrapes on his head are mostly gone, but he still has a bit of a bump on his head.

These boys don't have much luck with their heads!

Michael's Fight

You should see the other guy..... an innocent blue laundry basket that happened to be in the way of a hard landing.  

Michael Loves....

Dreary spring day.... just got hit with 5 inches of snow the night before, snow still coming down and skies are grey.  We decided to go to Phipps hoping that seeing some spring flowers will brighten up the gloominess of this winter season.   We come out of the Fort Pitt Tunnel and the skies are still grey and snow is still spitting on the windshield, Michael announces "I love this!".  I said "What do you love?"  He said "I love this world."  Then he went on to list the many things he loves about Pittsburgh:  the rivers, the boats, the bridges, the buildings, the people walking around, riding our bikes, the trees, etc.  It was interesting that he saw all these amazing things and I was thinking of ways to escape the terrible weather.  

Cooker

Michael was going to play "cooker" this morning (chef in the play kitchen) but then he went to play with blocks instead.  I asked him why he was not playing cooker and he said that he was going to play but the food was not on sale. 

Ryan's Two Year Well Visit

Ryan had his well visit this morning.  He had to get one shot, the hepititis A booster shot.   Otherwise, he checks out fine.  His stats are not too different from Michael.  Ryan's are first, Michaels are second.  

Weight: 30 lbs / 30 lbs 8 oz
Height: 34.25 in / 34.75 in
Head: 50 cm / 49.5 cm

What did Daddy say?

Michael told Ian that he remembered awhile ago that Ian said he was going to die after Christmas.  Ian was sure he did not say that, so the two of them tried to figure out what was said.  Ian brought it up at the dinner table to get my memory of the event.  Ian thought maybe he said that he was going to die from all the food he ate.  I suggested that maybe we talked about somebody that had died recently.  But neither of those thoughts really seemed to make sense.  But then it clicked in my brain and I remembered that Ian said he was going to DIET after Christmas!

Michael in Underwear!

Michael may be done with diapers at night as well! He overheard at Ryan's birthday party that our 2 1/2 year old girl guest was not wearing diapers at night, so he was on a mission to wear underwear at night. He asked us daily if he could wear under wear at night. Finally after being dry for 3 nights in a row we agreed. Friday night he leaked a little in his underwear during his sleep, but he caught it and called Ian in. Saturday night he went to the bathroom by himself at 6 AM! Ian was already awake and heard someone walking around and then he noticed the light went on in the bathroom. We were stunned that he did that all by himself. Let's just hope every night continues to be as successful.

Today, during nap he insisted that he wasn't tired, but we told him that he had to stay in his room for an hour. He called down to us every 10 minutes for the first 30 minutes. At one point we told him 25 more minutes. We didn't hear anything else... finally after the hour was up I went upstairs and this is what I found - he was out cold.