A boy and his truck

Originally uploaded by flowmug

Here is a very delayed pic of our Christmas tree (notice the ornaments are scarce and positioned quite high) and one of Ryan's presents from Santa. He loves firetrucks and can't miss out on any that travel by our front window. Since there is a fire station 2 blocks away, we are often racing to the window with any hint of a siren sound. Good times.

Also, Ryan is freakishly strong for his size (much like Dan).

Cincinnati

We were in Cincinnati 3 weekends ago for some good ol' family fun with Sharis' side of the family (sorry for the tardy post).

On Saturday afternoon, Sharis' cousin's wife had a baby shower. I don't have pictures of this event but the baby is due any minute now.

In the evening, Sharis' other cousin Lorrie and her generous family hosted Sharis' Dad's side of the family for a wedding shower for Sharis' cousin Corinne and her fiance Alan.


As is usually the case with Sharis' family, there were many laughs (Paula and Brian) and (Marla and Paula)...



Laurie set up a game for the family to play based on Family Feud. It was guys versus girls ... and guess what, the guys crushed the ladies. Well, maybe we didn't crush them.

Cara and Kevin and Leslie and Jeff go head to head...


Paula and Alex and Kristy and Dave go head to head ...


Lorrie ran the game and Lexie helped do the math and keep score.


Here are the two pregnant ladies - Nicki and Sharis. Nicki's shower was earlier in the day and hopefully we will have some news from her soon. So stay tuned ...

500

Sharis and Dad are absolutly crushing Mom and I in 500. We have been
playing for 3 hours and we just got over 500 (we didn't stop playing
when Sharis and Dad got to 500).

Ryan Stuff

Dan is on me to do more posts and insists that I have funny Ryan stories to tell him at the end of each day. So...this is my attempt. May end here, or I may feel inspired to continue on. Either way, hope you appreciate my efforts ; )
1. We were in bed, bath, and beyond the other day and one of the products we passed was a pillow. The box featured a woman sleeping peacefully on said pillow and when I wheeled Ryan by it he said, "Mama shhhh" with his finger over his mouth in the characteristic shush sign. Considerate little man.
2. One day last week Ryan and I were doing short errands close to home. It was freezing out so I opted to take the car (which is rare) and Ryan ended up doing alot of walking from car to shop to give me a bit of a break in my out-of-shape, pregnant state. He acquired quite a collection of slush on the bottom of his boots which he decided to enjoy once we got back in the car and I (in the driver's seat) no longer had the ability to stop him. He thought this was hilarious and kept "taunting" me with it by calling my attention to look back and then put his boot in his mouth. Gross!
3. Today we started a new round of swimming lessons. Ryan is a little fish in the water and though the youngest, I would venture to say at this point he seems to be the best in the class! (Not hard considering there are only 4 in the class).
4. Ryan has found that he loves saying "Ba Ba" (bye bye) to everything and waving. It's the sweetest little sound. I have found that he does much better parting with something that he loves (i.e., elephant, when we go on errands; the Step2 car at My Gym; balls) if he is afforded this small expression of departure.

18 Months

This is post 501 (I forgot to mention the 500 post thing on the actual 500th post - but this is just an arbitrary milestone anyway so it doesn't really matter). What started out on November 14, 2006 as a way "... to find updates, pictures, stories, laughs and tears" has pretty much held it's purpose. The blog has fulfilled our wishes as a way to keep those not around Ryan all the time informed in addition to documenting his every move - when we have the time to post to the blog of course. We were very blessed on July 19, 2007 with a very good little boy who makes us laugh every day.

Ryan just completed his 18th month of life on Monday. Time sure has flown by. He is growing like a weed. Sharis took him to the doctor yesterday and he is 33.25 in. tall (78%) and 24 lb. 7 oz. (30%)- which isn't actually all that big for a 1.5 yr. old - but relative to his small size, he seems to be getting really big. He can now reach a lot of things on the kitchen table. He can't quite reach our high counters yet but that is not for lack of trying. He can reach our doorknobs and loves to open and close doors. He can't quite turn a doorknob yet but he observes us doing it and continues to master it.

Ryan at 1.5 years ...


The doctor has cleared him for ALL foods now so I need to make him a peanut butter and honey sandwich - nuts and honey were his last remaining "no no's." He hasn't REALLY LIVED until he has had a peanut butter and honey sandwich.

The doctor also told us that he recommends Ryan not watch ANY TV. He pointed to a bunch of research that shows it isn't good for kids because it stifles their creativity, shortens their attention span and might even be a cause for ADHD (I might need Sharis to verify some of these things when she wakes up). This isn't going to be too difficult for us as he doesn't watch any TV anyway. Although the doctor said he would suggest Ryan not watch any screen with high refresh rates - including computer screens. He loves to climb into my lap and check out the 3 computer screens in my office. He even made his own sign for computer which involves him moving his index finger up and down like you do when you click a mouse.

In other Ryan happenings, he can't get enough of the washer. He made up a sign for that as well which involves him sticking his elbows out and rotating back and forth like you would if you were rotating a hula hoop. He asks all the time to see the washer and cries when we say the washer isn't going right now. We are guilty of finding clothes to wash though just so he can see the washer go.

He still isn't talking all that much. We try to get him to tell us what things are but he can't physically make the sounds yet.

Bedtime Routine

Ryan plays a little game every night before he goes to bed now. I don't know where he got it from but he loves it. Just before we sit down to give him his bottle, he runs to the rug by our front door. He lays down and starts giggling at us. I pick him up by his ankles and carry him into his room for his bottle - laughing all the way. I don't know why, but loves it.

New Year's Eve

We had a pretty low key New Year's Eve. We barely made it to midnight. We had a few friends over and Paul and Courtney brought over their new little one, Molly.





Of course, Molly was the main attraction. Everyone spent as much time with her as they could ...








Mom and her baby ...


Proud Papa ...

Fish Face

Look Familiar?

Christmas at my Parents' ...


Christmas at Sharis' Parents' ...

Spending Time with Uncle Kyle

A Father and His Son

Photogenic Family

This is Sharis' sister Marla and her family.





Ryan snuck in for one ...

Family Picture

Paula wanted a family picture when we were all home. It was very difficult (understandably) to get Andrew to look at the camera. So here are a couple where he was looking:





Paula was screwing around a little bit during the pictures. When I was a kid, I had to pay $.25 for every picture I screwed up. So Paula, you owe me $.75.

Darth Gary

The 2 Boys

The boys are getting to a point where they can finally interact. They had a ton of fun together over the holidays.

High School Get Together

Sharis went to visit a bunch of her high school friends over the holiday. A lot of them have kids so it was a zoo (at least that is what I heard; I wasn't able to make it). They did manage to get them all to sit in one spot for a half a second to get a picture.

The Boys' Toys

Twirling Frosty snow globe ...


Balls ...






Trucks ...


Xylophone ...


Even the presents themselves ...