New Babies and First Lake Swim

We've been keeping busier than normal so I've fallen a little behind on our posts so sorry for lumping so much together. Several friends welcomed new babies recently so we visited them all last week. Monday we met Harrison Seymour, Tom and Amy's precious little boy. He's such a happy baby and Tom and Amy are wonderful new parents! Wednesday we met Emily Fitzgerald, Matt and Katie's new little girl. She is adorable and her big sister Abby is taking great to her new role. Thursday we saw Anna Collins, Zach and Meghan's little girl. She has a head full of hair like her big brother Charlie and is a little doll. Collins's got a new swing set which Ryan was more than happy to help break in and he had a ball following Charlie around and playing with all his toys.

We then headed to the lake to celebrate Father's Day and had a great weekend. Our little monkey figured out how to crawl up on the couch and also over the ottoman. Since blocking the living room opening with the ottoman was our way of containing him, we're now in trouble. After lots of playing hard, he did relax to watch his favorite cartoon, Jack's Big Music Show, and found a great pillow in Callie. They were both so incredibly cute laying together!


While we've been going boating for months and Todd and I have gotten in the water, we were waiting to let Ryan swim until the water got warm to make sure it was a good experience for him that he'd want to repeat. As the picture communicates, he absolutely loved it and was a little fish. Luckily, he likes his life jacket and has a positive association with it so we will take full advantage of that until he changes his mind.

About a month ago, Ryan started the phase where he doesn't want to leave Todd or me and takes about 10 minutes to warm up to everyone and everywhere else. It makes day care drop off difficult and requires us to plan ahead more but it's a phase and I'll enjoy our little guy wanting to be near us while it lasts.

Doo Dads

We went to a local shopping area tonight to hear the children's band The Doo Dads with the Fitzgeralds who are expecting their second baby tomorrow! We had a fun evening and apparently it was the place to be because we also ran into the Gingriches, Cromwells, Walters and Allens. There are decorative fountains that kids can play in, and no shock, Ryan was quick to explore the water. He progressively got closer and more wet until he finally fully immersed himself and got soaked. Fortunately babies are even cuter when they're naked so he spent the rest of the evening in his diaper.

I'm taking some extra time off this summer and Ryan and I have been enjoying a couple mornings a week together which is special for both of us. We usually visit Loose Park and this week we visited a storytime at the local library which was a first for us. A certain somebody was a little rough with the other kids so we'll be doing more group activities in an effort to work on sharing, playing nicely with others and getting out of his comfort zone. He continues to amaze us and his new thing is needing to push buttons. Each time we go between the car and the house, he insists on pushing the garage door opener, then wants to turn the lights on and off and press the buttons on the security pad. You also have to watch him in, and near, the car because he'll crawl into the front seat to play with the steering wheel and push and turn all the buttons and knobs. He is 100% little boy!

Testing out the fountains before getting completely soaked.

Just chilling on the blanket with Abby Fitzgerald after a hard night of playing.

We ran into the Walters and Ryan kept playing with Jack's feet.




He couldn't stop giggling and flapping his arms he was so excited.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had beautiful weather at the lake and enjoyed a nice long weekend together. Ryan took a shot at coloring and he did pretty well at handling the crayons, but did a fantastic job of putting the crayons and water colors in his mouth. Luckily they're all non-toxic so it was safe while adorable, and we were able to just hose him off afterwards.

While on a Wal-Mart trip for flowers I spotted the toy that I always wanted as a kid, so I gave in and bought the Cozy Coupe for Ryan. He had a ball getting in and out, and in and out, and driving around occasionally, and I loved watching him have fun.

Unfortunately, he had terrible diaper rash; multiple types of rashes that weren't responding to heavy duty prescription cream. We resorted to letting him air out with naked time until that resulted in a major clean-up effort, so we put him in big boy underwear to help him air out but catch any business. It worked very well and oh did he look cute running around in big boy pants. Fortunately he's on the mend after a very long week so he's much more comfortable now.

Todd and I stayed at the lake for a vacation all week so Ryan had a great stay with Papa and Mimi full of spoiling galore.

Ryan got some great paints for his birthday from Jack & Olivia.
They're egg-shaped so they are the perfect for little ones just learning to grip.

His first masterpiece.

Sporting his temporary big boy underpants while getting in his new ride.

Ryan likes to double-fist his food and enjoys being a "piece of naked"
(as cousin Jon would call it) so naked, outdoor watermelon time
was quite the treat for the little guy.