October 2011

We've had a great month with lots of fun experiences for Ryan. We hit the pumpkin patch in Lawrence and his favorite part by far was the tractor ride so we made multiple trips back and forth from the barn to the patch o' pumpkins. And not quick trips I might add. At the lake last weekend we went hiking at Ha Ha Tonka State Park. It's one of our favorite places and Ryan was old enough to do lots of exploring and rock climbing/jumping this time around. We also went to Charlie's birthday party, had a couple play dates, went to the Renaissance Festival and got the best toy ever... a train table! He's totally taken to trains so Todd picked up a table on Craig's List and it has been a great addition to the house.

He didn't understand what Halloween was so I took him to Target to pick out his costume and he chose Buzz Lightyear. We then did a trick-or-treating trial run at the lake last weekend so he could understand what was going to take place Monday and after he got candy at the first of the three houses, he took off in a dead sprint for the next one. We joined the Koons and Allen families to trick-or-treat and he had a ball following the bigger boys around. Henry is always so good, helpful and patient with him and Ryan just eagerly follows his every move.

His favorite things as of late are:

- Thomas and Friends

- Buzz and Woody

- Cars

- Clifford the Big Red Dog

- dinosaurs

- snuggling with Daddy in the morning

- using tools and the vacuum

- collecting rocks (and sneaking them into his pockets)

- getting Mickey stickers when he's good and putting them on his back

- sleeping on the floor instead of in his toddler bed

He weighed 34 pounds when he just got his flu shot and has started toddler PE/sports at school and actually tries to step while throwing - it's pretty cute. He's said some funny things lately but the best was while I was carrying him during a recent hiking trip.

Mommy: [feeling a rumbling on my arm] "Ryan, did you toot?"

Ryan: "No!"

Mommy: "Are you sure?"

Ryan: "Yes. I tooted and peed!"

Every time we come down the hill into our lake house Ryan exclaims, "There it is, there's the lake, I found it!" Well, when he woke up last weekend it was very foggy and when he looked outside he got this concerned look on his face and asked, "Where'd the lake go? I can't find it."

Ryan's school pictures - we were so excited to see that he actually

cooperated for not just one, but two pictures. He looks so grown up:(

Buzz, Woody and Mommy

at the castle ruins up on the bluffs at Ha Ha Tonka State Park

playing on the big rocks under the natural bridge

Callie was so happy to go hiking and got to do lots of exploring outside the last couple weekends at the lake.

Ryan driving the boat one last time before we winterized it.

It's Henry the Eighth at the Ren Fest

Now that our basement is finally finished, the train table has a new home

out of our living room and downstairs!

With Abby, Jake and Cade at Charlie's birthday party. Every picture I have includes a large pile of children on the bounce house. They had so much stinking fun!

taking the easy way out at the Pumpkin Patch

Four Fairs in Four Weeks

Following Labor Day, we've visited a fair every weekend and "go to fairs this weekend?" has become part of Ryan's vocabulary. First we visited the Cole Camp Fair, which is a great little street fair in old historic Cole Camp on our way to the lake. There were lots of kid-friendly rides and he went with Henry which made it even more fun (see previous post).

The following weekend we took him into Laurie for a haircut and discovered a parade ready to begin as part of their Hillbilly Fair. I'm sad to say it was his first parade, but once he discovered it involved fire engines and candy he was sold. Unfortunately we weren't planning on being outside and it was cold and rainy. But his blanket from school was still in the car and he insisted on frog boots as usual, so he was equipped for the weather even if he was a little goofy looking. The Hillbilly Fair takes place in the town park and while there were only a few rides he was big enough for, they had more activities for the little kids at the playground including pony rides and train rides. He absolutely loved the train and would have ridden it all afternoon if we would have let him. The fire trucks were on display so we stopped by multiple times and he got personal tours of the inside, the cab and every compartment. He proudly wore his fire fighter helmet the rest of the weekend:)

When we were back in Kansas City for Jane's 60th birthday, it was also the Plaza Art Fair and the Waldo Family Festival in our neighborhood. He had very little appreciation for the art down at the Plaza, however the huge inflatable rocket ship at the family festival in Waldo was a huge hit and he's still talking about it.

This past weekend, we went to the Weston Applefest and met up with our friends the Whites and their new baby girl. They had several old cars and tractors in the parade which he thought were pretty great, and he found every comparison to the Cars characters that could possibly be made.

We've had a lot of fun the past several weeks and have been loving this weather. We've been walking up to the local school playground most evenings and he was so wound up Sunday that we had him ride his trike. He rode 7 blocks and made us carry him the last two, then ran around and played his little heart out. We thought it would wear him out but no such luck. I swear this kid has a bottomless pit of energy.

Waiting for the Hillbilly parade to start - sweet outfit:)

who knew they had toddler ferris wheels?

The nice train engineer let Ryan get in the driver's seat. He loved it and even snuck back in later when the "engineer" had his back to the driver's seat.

Personally testing every tool and mechanism inside the fire truck.

All tuckered out after a long weekend of fun at the fair. We realized he was pretty quiet back there within a few minutes of leaving the lake and looked back to see him fast asleep with his applesauce still in his mouth.

Some pictures from the summer that I found on Todd's phone.

Napping with Pop Pop. Well, at least one of them is asleep.

He was riding up front with Uncle Jeppy and the lull of the boat's engine was more than his tired little self could take, so he racked out on Jeff for more than 30 minutes.

Outside the Target where we shop, the model train organization has set up a display in the old New York & Company store. There are large amazing models set up and it's a great treat for good behavior during our Target excursions. Despite the incredible displays that include a replica of the Western Auto building, he always gravitates to the tiny little Thomas one on the floor. It just goes in a circle but he could watch it for hours.

Cole Camp Fair

Last weekend we went to the lake with Kelli and Henry and stopped at the Cole Camp Fair on our way there. The boys had a ball riding the rides together, going in the play houses and checking out the fire engine. Once we got to the lake, they helped me wash Callie, swam in the lake, did lots of jet skiing and saw a few rainbows. It was a great weekend and tonight on our way home when I asked Ryan who we were going to see at home he said, "Daddy, Callie dog" then optimistically added, "and Henry!" I had to break it to him that Henry was not his live in playmate but it was cute none the less.

He's starting to say some real funny things like at the grocery store tonight. I was buying bananas and he really, really wanted me to get a red banana. I couldn't figure out why then part way through the grocery store he asked if he could eat the "chocolate banana."

Happy Half Birthday Ryan

Happy 2 and half years Ryan! He was actually sick for probably two weeks but we didn't realize it and we thought when he told us "my ear hurts, the bumble bee stung it," it was him recounting the bee sting but turns out he really did have an ear infection in addition to a sinus infection that we mistakenly missed. We feel really bad to have let him go so long but he didn't show any of the normal symptoms but instead just began acting up. We had some very challenging moments with our little sweetie so when we finally figured out he was sick, we were relieved to see his behavior do a 180 once the antibiotics kicked in.

His newest things of late are Toy Story and Thomas the Train. Not that his love for Cars wavers at all, he's just opening up his heart to make room for Buzz, Woody and Thomas. He's also become exceedingly adept at certain tasks and will fill a water bottle by himself and almost get the top on, he's been insisting on buckling his own seat belt for several months and he loves any sort of activity that involves fitting items together, manipulation and construction. I suspect we have a little engineer on our hands:) More often than not though, he's running. Running down the sidewalk, doing laps around our house or sprinting down the hallway at school. Some kids have a volume knob. Ryan just has an on/off switch.

Today marks his 2 1/2 birthday. He's roughly 36 inches tall, 31 pounds and tons of spirit. His preschool was closed for inservice earlier this month so we spent some quality time together including a trip to Worlds of Fun. The little stinker loved the big kid rides and "faster" was the key phrase of the day.

Fun with Friends

July has been good to us and the lake was a great way to get cool and bear the heat. The Fitzgerald family joined us a couple weeks ago with their daughter Abby who's 7 months older than Ryan and Emily who just turned 1. They're such fun, easy-going kids and Ryan and Abby had a ball playing together all weekend. We got the tube out and took each of the kids for a ride with mom or dad. Little Miss Emily had the most fun of all of them and they all got A's for being adventurous, having fun and doing a great job of following directions while they tubed. The weekend did get off to a rocky start when we were out front taking Callie potty and a bumble bee stung Ryan on the ear. He immediately screamed and wouldn't let go of it and it took a good 15 minutes for him to calm down but he eventually did and distractions helped. His ear swelled up huge (he looked like half a Dumbo) but fortunately we learned he's not allergic to bee stings.

Back in KC he had a fun night hanging out with Henry while Kelli and I caught up. Henry is so good with him and showed him how everything worked then they watched Cars together which was pretty cute. Our friends Ryan and Missi who we usually get to see at the lake just moved back to Lee's Summit so we visited their new house while the boys rough housed in the back yard.

It's already a lot of fun watching Ryan grow up together with Jake and Cade Riggin, Henry Koons, Charlie Collins and Abby Fitzgerald, and it's only getting more memorable.

Abby and Ryan with Todd. If you look closely,

you'll see his swollen ear from the bee sting.

Ryan and Charlie heading out for a boat ride.

Sweet wardrobe Ryan - Royals jersey, jorts and frog boots.

Ryan, Jake and Cade wrestling at the Riggin's new house.

Ryan and Henry chillin' on the couch.

Ryan using the ladder himself on his way to go down the

water slide again (which he kept referring to as a waterfall)

Lake Boys

We're very fortunate the Collins and the Riggins live close by at the lake so our families get to see each other on the weekends. Here's a photo of the four boys last weekend and another old picture that was taken two years ago.

L to R: Charlie Collins (3y9m), Jake Riggin (almost 5),

Cade Riggin (3y8m), Ryan (2y5m)

Jake Riggin (almost 3), Cade Riggin (1y7m),

Ryan (4m), Charlie Collins (1y8m)

Last weekend I tested Ryan on the kayak with me and he did a good job of sitting still so I think we'll give that a shot next time we're down. Rather than jumping in the pool by himself, he tried to jump in onto his floatie. He made it once and the other times he looked like he was on a wipeout reality show. He gave it a good shot though and it was pretty entertaining to watch.

Oh, and Ryan said the cutest thing this week. He sat down to the table to eat his snack, picked up the remote and said, "I watch Royals game." I'm sorry I missed getting it on video because it was ridiculously cute. Unfortunately it was 5:30 and there wasn't a single game on TV. He happily watched Nascar instead but got all upset and yelled, "it's gone!" when they went to commercial.

Worth the Wait

Since our last post, we got the pictures from Ryan's 2-year photo shoot (which we got around to at 27 months, but hey, we were late with the newborn and 1-year pictures, too so at least they're evenly spaced:). Ryan was in a bit of mood that night and finally began to show his true spirit after Todd and I started playing him and our friend Mark (www.markjacksonphotography.com) did a great job of going with the flow and getting some sweet pictures that capture his true personality at this age. Several of our favorite pictures are below and the first one is the famous Ryan Sandwich which he asks for quite often; and with that cute little face and those blond locks, we could never say no.

Ryan's been in the water several times this summer, but turned into a little fearless fish over the Fourth of July weekend. The combination of playing with older kids and wearing a different style of life jacket allowed him to jump right in (literally) and naturally start to kick and use his arms. On Saturday morning the big kids were jumping off the dock so he joined in climbing up the ladder, then walking around the slip and jumping in the water to us. Sometimes he latches on for a free ride and other times he pushes away saying "get back" so he can swim on his own. On Monday, we visited the Varone's lake house where there was a water slide which he immediately got on and went down by himself, then went down another 20-30 times. I wish I was kidding but I'm not. It was an exhausting weekend. He's very capable but he's still only two so every time he got out so did one of us to follow behind him and make sure he was safe. He has way more energy than we do, however, when we got in the car to leave the Varone's that afternoon, he fell asleep 2 minutes into the ride, with a Wheat Thin in his mouth. We tried to get a picture but our laughing woke him up long enough to take the Wheat Thin out and immediately rack back out.

Since we had 4 1/2 days at the lake together over the Fourth, we decided to officially potty train. He's not a pro yet, but he's doing really well and is in regular underwear when he's awake. He's starting to tell us when he needs to go which is great that he's making the connection, but he's stubborn and doesn't want to try unless it's on his terms. He's actually far more successful with #2's and has been going on the potty since the 2nd day of training without any accidents. He has less control when it comes to peeing and we still have 1 or 2 accidents a day but he's getting better.

We're not sure what happened to our little baby, but now there's a toilet-using, dock-jumping little man running around our house. He just gets more and more fun everyday!

No photos for a reason

The last week has three main highlights, two of which you don't want to see pictures of, and one of which we can't get a picture of by ourselves.

1) Our sweet little monkey made good on his likeness by flinging poo all over his "bedroom" at the lake while he was supposed to be napping. Yes, this is the moment other moms have warned me about. Todd came within 15 feet of his door and smelled the unwelcome and oh-so-identifiable odor of baby poop and we opened up the door to find a naked little guy who didn't like the feel of the poopy diaper he was wearing so he took matters into his own hands - in a most unpleasant way. Team Abplanalp went into action with Dad swiftly taking a poopy toddler to the bath tub to hose down every square inch of that cute little guy while I was on poop removal detail from the carpet, bedding, walls, door and frog boots. All that being said, it could have been much worse.

2) After 5 years of driving to and from the lake in deer county, we finally had a literal run-in with one. Not pleasant, but like the poop flinging, it could have been much worse. Fortunately we were able to remove part of the bumper and drive on home preventing our family (including a toddler and a dog) along with a car load of belongings from being stuck on the highway an hour from home at 9pm on a Sunday night.

3) The only thing that IS picture worthy is a Ryan-sandwich, but it involves the whole family so we haven't gotten a picture of it yet. It's just a basic big bear hug between Mom and Dad with Ryan in the middle but he can't get enough of them and we lovingly oblige with as many as he asks for. Tonight we had his 2 year photos taken and I think Mark may have gotten some visual evidence of the Ryan-sandwich so eventually we'll have pictures to share.

Lake & Wichita

We've had some great weekends at the lake this past month. Our friends the Seymours visited and Ryan got to enjoy some good playing with Harrison who just turned one. He's also been able to play with Jake and Cade Riggin pretty regularly at the lake, and we're excited they're moving to Lee's Summit so they'll be closer during the weeks.

While Todd had a guys' weekend at the lake, Ryan and I visited my aunt and uncle, cousins and their kiddos in Wichita. I always loved our play weekends together when we were kids and I'm glad that we're able to do the same with our children now. It was a nice low-key weekend and the kids had a great time playing together, especially when we went swimming.

Ryan continues to become more independent and has taken an interest in pottying like a big boy and he went poop twice in potty at school on Friday so we've officially begun the early stages of potty training. He's also staying up later these days and mimicking older kids. While at Aunt Sally's in Wichita, he hopped on the Bell's old bike with training wheels and cruised down the driveway, made the turn at the bottom then came to a rest in the yard. Considering that was his first time on a bike, I think we're going to get a balance bike so he can work on that part of riding. Also, last week cousin Katie babysat Ryan for the first time and did fantastic. She's a natural and Ryan loved his afternoon with her.

At Frankie and Louie's at the Lake of the Ozarks.

The ornery look on his face is classic Ryan.

Being silly with Daddy.

Playing bubbles with his second cousins in Wichita.

(Parker, Ryan, Bell and Tyler - Carter and Graham were out of range)

Riding Bell's bike at Aunt Sally's:

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