Christmases 3-5

Ryan has thoroughly enjoyed all the various Christmas celebrations with family. We spent Christmas Eve with Todd's parents where Ryan received a basketball goal and tunnel. Both were big hits and get to stay at Mimi and Papa's house since they have more space than we do and he will love playing with them when he visits. We were fortunate to be able to celebrate Christmas at home but Ryan surprised us with an explosive diaper (courtesy of the amoxicillin he'd been on) that prompted a shower and lots of cleaning before we made it downstairs to see what Santa left for him. It was nice not to have a schedule and let him play with each toy before moving onto the next item. That evening we headed to Clay Center for our final Christmas celebration with Nana, my siblings and all the cousins. Ryan especially enjoyed playing the piano, playing with the trains, playing with his cousins and hiding things, namely our car keys which prompted a family-wide, house-wide search so we could leave Monday morning (thankfully, they were located in Maggie's boot).

Ryan is feeling much better after having the "new school crud" and continues to get more and more talkative. Each day he says new words that surprise us and with more words come fewer meltdowns over miscommunication which is a blessing for us. We're finally headed to the lake this weekend after our longest hiatus since we got the place nearly four years ago. We can't wait and will be excited to ring in the New Year in a low-key, yet very fun weekend at the Ozarks.

modeling Olivia's boots

excitedly checking out his new Wonder Pets video

Yeah, it's my own basketball goal;
and I do a really good job of tackling it, too.


Checking out my new bath/pool toys on Christmas morning.

And playing with my new car toy, too.

Getting piano lessons from Maggie.

Melting down during Nana's Christmas picture.

My awesome new hat.

Christmas #2

This past weekend we traveled to Clifton to celebrate Christmas with my Dad and Marcia and all of our families. There were 11 little kids and they had a ball playing together; the older cousins were especially good helping with all the little cousins! It was nice seeing everyone again and we all enjoyed the weekend together.

Checking out his new set of power tools from Popo and Grandma.

Looking like they're up to trouble,

(L to R) Olivia, Isaac, Ryan, Finley, Tessa, Jon and Jack.

Ryan, Tessa and Parker getting cozy with Grandma to watch a show.

Erin brought a ginger bread house craft project for the kids to do

and the older cousins each helped a younger cousin. It was pretty cute

to see them all working together and a great project.

We stopped at Cabela's on the way home and had a fun visit.

Between feeding fish, checking out the aquarium, looking at

stuffed animalsand riding the 4-wheeler it was like a

free amusement park for 2-year-olds.

While at some friends' house for dinner we were enjoying the adult meal

while Ryan was watching a show. However, we heard some noise and

discovered that Ryan tried to wear a decorative glitter Christmas tree

as a hat, but it was too big and slid down over him trapping his arms.

All he could do was teeter around with not just a cone head,

but an entire cone upper body. It was pretty hysterical and

the best part is he had glitter on him for the next day and a half.

Here's my little sous chef assisting me making dog treats.

I figured we had a pretty undiscriminating audience so

it didn't really matter how they turned out. He saw me

tap the measuring cup on the bowl after I poured out the flour

so when it was his turn to scoop the flour and oats

he flamboyantly, loudly and proudly smacked the

metal measuring cup on the metal bowl

then smiled at the loud bang he made.

Thanksgiving, New School, Christmas #1

We've had an eventful past couple weeks. Thanksgiving brought a nice, slow weekend at home. We enjoyed a good Thanksgiving meal with Todd's parents, seeing the Plaza Lighting, hosting our first "Friendsgiving Dinner," and watching the KU v. MU game in Lawrence with Grant, Kristen, Olivia and Jack. Ryan ate up the extra attention from Mom & Dad and Papa & Mimi over the long weekend and had a ball playing with his cousins in Lawrence.

On November 29th, Ryan started in the 2-year-old room at Calvary Lutheran Early Education Center, which is just 2 blocks from our house. It was an adjustment to go from the small home day care he was at before to a room full of kids his age, toys galore and a new routine but he did pretty well. He loves playing with his classmates and his favorite toy is the playhouse in the room. He has also taken to wearing his coat all day as it's become a security object for him so he looks a little goofy but if it makes him feel more at ease, so be it. It's amazing to see that just after a handful of days with other kids his age, he's already become more verbal. He's talking more, putting words together more often and is very interested in counting. He of course got a runny nose and the crud after being around so many new kids, but so far we've been able to fend off a fever or serious infection.

This past weekend, Todd's sister Ali was in town from San Antonio for an early Christmas celebration and to help Todd celebrate his birthday. We had a good time together and Ryan loved getting to see his Aunt Ali. When she tried to sit down, he'd grab her hand, say "up," and lead her to their next activity. Unfortunatley, Ryan gave his "crud" to Aunt Ali over the weekend and now Todd is under the weather as well.

with Aunt Ali at Christmas #1

playing with some of his first Christmas toys

his first day of preschool; we told Callie to sit so he did, too

playing at Grant and Kristen's house in Lawrence; he repeatedly
asked to be lifted up to the goal so he could make a basket
and by repeatedly, I mean after the first 50 times,
I'd kick the ball away to give my back a rest
while he excitedly ran after it and brought it back

"I feel like I'm falling for Fall..."

Those of you with toddlers who watch Nick Jr. will now have Moose's "I feel like I'm falling for Fall" song in your head. You're welcome:) Moose A. Moose is Ryan's favorite TV character and we've heard this song a fair bit the past month. We love Fall though and have made the most out of it with one trip to the lake this month and more weekends at home in KC. This past weekend we took advantage of the gorgeous weather with a trip to the zoo. Todd and I were fascinated by the new polar bear exhibit and, while Ryan did notice the animals, I think he had more fun running freely about the zoo. Next Monday, Ryan switches from a home day care he's been at since 6 months to the preschool two blocks away from our house. We visited today and he did okay, so we'll be interested to see how it goes when he starts full time next week.

Happy Halloween

I insist on dressing Ryan and Callie up together for Halloween so last year he was a monkey and she was a banana. This year, Ryan seemed much less willing to wear any sort of head wear or any other sort of strange contraptions so he went as a Royals player and Callie was the perfect Slugger mascot. We went to the Goff's house for Halloween along with the Walter's and some others and the little boys were a super cute little bunch of trick or treaters. Ryan didn't fully understand the concept but he followed the big boys around pretty well.

Despite the fact Ryan is getting more molars in and has also reached the stage of terrible two tantrums, we've had a good past couple weeks. He says new words everyday and loves to identify his farm animals each night when he and Daddy read together. Some words require significant interpretation, whereas others like "cake" and "bite" (which he was quick to say last night) come out conveniently clear. He also reached in to Kelli's fruit bowl, took out an apple and started eating it skin and all which was insanely cute and great because I've got way better things to do with my time than peel apples. And the cutest of all is watching him get a ride from Henry on Henry's battery-operated four-wheeler. He's quick to hop on, holds on tight and is smiles the whole time. He's so interested in watching Henry and trying to do what he does, and Henry is a great role model for him. It's so fun to see them finally be able to play together.

Ryan continues to be a very physical child and has started to do butt bounces on the ground. Sometimes he does it for fun and sometimes it's what he does with a tantrum. It seems like it would hurt but the diaper must provide just the right amount of padding to carry on with such ridiculousness.

Our child care provider took a couple vacation days so Ryan got to spend some quality time with Papa and Mimi and Popo and Grandma. He got lots of good love and attention and didn't grace them with a single tantrum. And we are extremely thankful to have the help of grandparents!

Tonight Ryan snuggled on the couch with Daddy and

watched part of the World Series. Maybe someday

they'll be cheering on the Royals in late October!

Our trick-or-treating group: Jack Walter in front, then

Hudson Walter, Gage Goff, Ryan and Mason Goff in back.

With cousins Jon, Katie and Maggie

Snuggling with Grandma and Popo

(while eating an apple and giving his "cheese" smile)

This next video was too cute not to post. We read "Red Hat, Green Hat" frequently, but tonight he thought it was funny when Daddy got to the "oops" part.

Cow-wee Dog

Ryan sure does love his dog "Cow-wee," and she is so darn patient, cooperative and tolerant with him it's unbelievable and incredibly endearing. His little mind is growing by leaps and bounds and he surprises us all the time with new things he's learned that we didn't even know he understood. He knows most of the farm animals and says them fairly understandably. His daddy taught him how to count to four and while he hasn't mastered it, he's real interested in counting objects and saying "the next" number. We've tried hide and seek too and while he can't hide (which is a good thing for other reasons), he's so good at the waiting and counting while not looking part which is really cute to watch. The little guy can also spot a Jayhawk like you wouldn't believe and is quick to point them out and say "awk." We're not sure if the syllable represents "rock," "chalk" or "hawk" but we know what he's talking about so it doesn't really matter.

He has a trike from his cousin Jack that he loves practicing riding around inside our garage and in the kitchen. He can kind of reach of the peddles and sometimes tries to figure them out and other times has fun just putting his feet up and letting us push him. Ryan continues to be a really good eater and a great sleeper. After we read books with him, he voluntarily hops down, walks over to his crib and says, "up." He gets more fun everyday and we're really enjoying this stage.

Best Weekend of the Year

We just had what we determined to be the best weekend of the year. Although Ryan spent Friday night with Mimi and Papa while Todd and I went to the American Royal, we were able to go to the park and play with him before saying goodbye for the night. We had a fantastic night at the Royal with our friends and Ryan must have had a ball too because he slept in until 9:15 the next morning.

Saturday we loaded up with the Koons and headed to Weston for the Applefest. It's such a quaint town and the festival is a great family activity. Ryan and Henry had fun playing in the park with all the other kids and Henry even painted a pumpkin and rode a pony. The dads got to enjoy some good Irish music at O'Malley's, and we ran into our friends the Whites who announced they're expecting! We finished up the day hanging out at the Koons, laying low and enjoying Todd's famous chili.

Sunday we slept in, ate our weight in pancakes and bacon, did some yard work, took a nap, went to the park, cooked a great dinner, then watched a movie. It was the perfect weekend; lots of family time, fun with friends, beautiful weather and good relaxation.

Ryan and Henry in Weston at the Applefest

We had to do some tree climbing at Loose Park on Sunday afternoon.

Papa introduced him to trees and it's no shock that our little monkey

took right to it. He still needs lots of help but I love watching him try

and seeing the thrill on his face when he gets up there.

Plaza Art Fair

Our favorite weekend of the year... the Plaza Art Fair! We just spent a great weekend strolling the streets of the Plaza, checking out really interesting, but totally out-of-our-price-range art, grazing on good food and drink, seeing lots of friends and having a wonderful time. As much as we love it, I think Callie likes it more because she gets so much attention and can't walk a few feet without getting petted by friendly strangers. Ryan was old enough to enjoy the Art Fair this year and had lots of fun playing with his red balloon, stomping in puddles, petting other dogs and dancing to the music. When I say dancing, what I really mean is running around like a mad man while a good band is playing but stopping to clap when they finish a song.

This weekend we also picked up a great passed-down toy from his other cousin Jon, a battery-operated Jeep. He's tall enough to reach the pedal but doesn't understand how it works so instead of driving it, he's content just sitting behind the wheel pretending to drive it, and getting in and out of it repeatedly.

He's a sweet, spirited little guy these days. He's a typical, physical little boy who loves to climb and has no fear which is a challenging combination from a parental standpoint. This weekend he was demonstrating his newest talent, jumping. At least he only jumps in place and hasn't yet endeavored to jump off things down to the ground

he loved his red balloon at the Art Fair

trying out his new ride

look at the picture on the wall behind him;

someone looks like his daddy

Fun with Friends & Family

I've been a little behind on posting, but it's not for lack of content. We went to the lake last weekend and stopped in Cole Camp with the Koons on our way through for their local fair. They close off their main street for the carnival rides and food booths and have a great little beer garden with a stage an authentic German music. We had a great afternoon and Ryan loved following Henry's lead. Henry was especially helpful and a good sharer; he let Ryan join him on a couple rides, won him a prize and let him eat his ice cream, popcorn and cotton candy. The weather was beautiful and we made the most of our lake trip since it's our last one for a few weeks.

Our friend Therese was in town from San Fran so she and several friends came over Friday to hang out. While we enjoyed a great night on the porch having drinks and getting caught up. There were some older kids here that night and Ryan was very interested in them and wouldn't leave their sides.

Saturday he got to see his cousins and lots of other kids at my sister's 40th birthday party. He had a ball playing with balloons, eating ice out of the drink buckets and getting into everything humanly possible. He got to spend the night with Popo and Grandma Marcia while I joined Todd in Lawrence for a big event he had earlier in the evening. Since we were in Lawrence, we went to Grant and Kristen's for brunch and the kids did lots of playing. Ryan loved all the different toys at their house and because they're so generous, we left with a car full of them to add to our collection. Jack is the best sharer of any kid I've ever known and picked out a book, clothes and other special things to pass onto Ryan. He especially took to their basketball goal and insisted on being picked up so that he could shoot a basket. He would have done it all day long if we had had the energy to continue. He also became quite attached to a small dog that wiggles and makes noise, didn't want to give it up and hasn't put it down since we got home.

Riding with his buddy Henry

Getting a ride from Aunt Kelli

Grandpa Ouchy

My Grandpa Ouchy passed away last Sunday so we spent several days in Clay Center over Labor Day weekend. He lived 97 good years, didn't fight any illnesses and everyone got a chance to see him at the hospital so it was as good a passing as one could have. My cousin Cassie and her family from Denver were back and her little boy Ethan is 8 months older than Ryan. They had a fun time playing together and Ethan is such a good talker we hope that Ryan learned how great it can be to "use your words." The stairs at my mom's house are shorter and there's a place to hold onto so he became very independent at going up and down them by himself. He loved climbing up the slide and going back down and did agreat job; not falling once. There was tons of food which we all enjoyed, and I think he ate his weight in grapes.

Callie went with us, too and got tons of attention, especially from my Uncle Doug, Aunt Mary, and the kiddos of course. My niece Olivia and nephew Jack even taught her how to jump over obstacles on a course.

To answer a good question from Ann, this is Grandpa Ouchy got his name. When my sister was learning to talk my grandma had a broken leg so she called her Grandma Ouchy. By default, he became Grandpa Ouchy and since Michelle is the oldest of the grandkids that's what we all called the two of them.

Peek-a-boo

Playing with my cousin Cassie's son, Ethan

This slide provided hours of fun for the little boys

Callie and Ryan with cousins Olivia and Jack

Ryan was the happiest we've ever seen him

when Jack and Olivia arrived and started playing with him

Harrison & Clifford

With Tom, Amy and Harrison Seymour

We had a wonderful time at the lake last weekend with the Seymours and are so glad they could join us. Harrison is such a sweet, smiley little guy and it's going to be especially fun when he's a little older and can play with Ryan. He had his first baby swim in the pool this weekend and we all enjoyed getting caught up with one another.

Todd and I celebrated our 8th anniversary this week so Mimi and Papa brought Ryan down to the Clifford the Big Red Dog exhibit by my office so we could spend some time with him before he spent the evening at their house while we enjoyed an adult dinner and night out. He really loved climbing on all the toys and playing with everything. Ryan especially likes putting shapes into the matching holes and his favorite by far was the dog house which had shape holes and shaped objects. He's find shapes elsewhere in the exhibit and promptly take them back to the dog house and place them in their matching hole.

He had his 18 mo. appointment this last week and was 34.5 inches tall and 27 lb, 11 oz. He's proportionate so he doesn't seem oddly big to us, until we went to the Clifford exhibit and met 3 other kids within one month in age and he was seriously a giant in comparison. It made him look so old.

sitting at the counter like a big boy at the Clifford "kitchen"

After he tooks notes from the older girl on how it was done,
he took a stab at playing server/chef

his favorite part of the whole exhibit

loving on Daddy

I'm growing up

Last week Todd mentioned that Ryan seemed taller. Because it was so gradual I hadn't noticed but he was absolutely right. It's not much, just enough that he can now reach onto the counters and take things off. He can also reach door knobs now and easily turned, unlatched and pulled one open last weekend.

Since Mimi and Papa don't have to report to school this August for the first time in decades they're devoting their full educational expertise to one lucky little guy. They took him to a play group and story time this week and he loved the special outings. Ryan loves his Papa and insisted on sitting on his lap during story time; mind you, Steve was the only man in the room amongst young moms, nannies, and Jane of course. I don't know who enjoyed story time more, Steve or Ryan:)

Below is our little guy following Callie's lead and very proud of his newest skill. We're oh so proud, too.

Feeling Much Better

Little Rye Guy had a bout with strep throat in early August and is feeling much better now. We were very grateful that Steve and Jane live so close and are both retired now because they were able and very willing to watch him while he was sick (since he couldn't go to child care and I don't have PTO built up yet). We have been doing lots of playing indoors during the week and swimming on the weekends to stay cool.

Our little boy turns one and half later this month and its hard to believe he's grown up so fast. We love every minute though and are really enjoying his fun spirit now that he's mobile and verbal. He loves to crawl up into chairs by himself and will play chase if he's in the mood.

Trying to be a big boy like Isaac while getting a little love from Caroline.

He makes wedging into tight places look so easy.

While we don't encourage crawling inside the end table,

it's far better than the dishwasher, dryer and under the sink -

all places he's attempted to get into.

July Pictures

I started a new job at Children's Mercy Hospital a couple weeks ago and have been preoccupied so I apologize for the lack of posts this month. The wonderful thing is, I only have a 20 minute commute and am able to spend more time with Todd and Ryan every morning and after work. I'm loving my new job and that it keeps me closer to home.

Ryan continues to be an active little guy with a sweet side and an ornery side, it just depends on the moment. He's doing a lot more babbling and trying to say words but we're still a ways from talking. He amazes us though with the words that do come out that we didn't realize he knew. We've been doing a lot of swimming and he thinks it's fun to put his face in the water for a second which is great. This last weekend he actually did a little kicking so we're glad that he's learning some basics and there's still a couple months of water time left this season.

Every night before bed, he gets a huge burst of energy and runs around the house like a naked mad man. His favorite thing of late, is to "crash" Daddy's clothes hanging in the closet. So long as they don't get a yellow shower, it's hilarious to watch.

just enjoying bath time

loving on Papa and Mimi

this is the ornery look

crashing Daddy's clothes

wearing Papa's shoe - he has a bit of a shoe fetish at the moment

playing IN the toy ottoman rather than WITH the toys