Weekend in KC

We decided to stay in town this weekend and made the most of our time here with friends. Friday our child care was closed so Ryan and I had a good day going to Target, Chick Fil-A and swimming at Matt Ross Center. The last time we went to the pool over Christmas he could stand but not walk so it was fun to see him traipse through the water and move about this time. It was also his first outing to eat fast food and play in a "play place." He didn't think anything special of the chicken nuggets but loved crawling up and down the jungle gym at the play area. He's always been a climber so we've taught him how to get down off things on his tummy and he does it correctly almost everytime now. It's amazing to watch him just scoot right off our bed, land on his feet and take off, given that the bed is as tall as he is. That night we joined the Jacksons and Mudd sisters at Tanner's to watch KU clinch the Big 12 championship. They were very accommodating to the fact we brought a baby to a bar, and we're glad we got to hang out with them and see a great game.

At Tanner's with Lindsey Jackson and Melissa Mudd

Saturday, we went to the Brookside St. Patty's Day Warm-up Parade. Ryan didn't seem to notice there was a parade going on but Todd and I enjoyed ourselves and saw several friends there. Afterwards, our friends (and neighbors) the Marcanos, who have a 3 month-old, came over and we had a nice, lazy evening just hanging out.

Not worry, they didn't see anything in appropriate to get those beads.

Since we're not home too often on the weekends, Sunday was our day to clean the house, get the porch cleaned up to use again and run errands. Nothing exciting, but necessary none-the-less.

Monday we had dinner over at the Cromwells and Callie got to join us. Their kids are 4 and 6 and were eager to give Callie and Ryan lots of attention. They're expecting a baby sibling (who they've lovingly named Baby Woo Woo) in September so they were especially helpful with Baby Ryan and he had a ball trying to keep up with them. Ryan has also become an even bigger fan of Callie these days and will pet her if you ask him to. He'll of course then dive on her and stick his little pointers in her eyes, but it starts out sweet and cute.

Thank goodness for Isaac who kept a helpful eye on Ryan
as he tried to get into everything at their house and
put anything within reach into his mouth.

Caroline loving on Callie

Playing with Friends

Last weekend brought several opportunities for Ryan to play with friends. We enjoyed a gorgeous weekend at the lake and took advantage of the weather by having a camp fire and playing outside. Riggins were at the lake so we watched the KU v. MU game and had dinner together while Ryan, Cade and Jake played.

playing with Grandpa Steve's radio control truck

Sunday we returned to KC to meet up with a group of friends from Todd's Washburn Rural and KU days. The Wanamakers were in town so we met up with them, the Gingriches and Seymours for brunch at the Gingrich's new home in Olathe. The kids played hard and made the most of their time together as did we.

Caroline Wanamaker (18 mo.), Ryan (12 mo.), Jasper Gingrich (4), Emerson Gingrich (2)

After brunch, we headed to Hudson Walter's 3rd birthday party at Little Monkey Bizness. Ryan's never been to a play place like that so it was interesting to watch him check everything out. He didn't think much of the bouncy house but loved climbing on everything and going down the kiddy slides. It was so cute to see him sitting in a big boy chair and eating cake. He's usually one of the youngest ones at get togethers, but tries so hard to keep up and loves watching the big kids.

playing with Ben Allen at the birthday party

Going down the slide head first - how else would it be done?

1st Birthday Party

Playing with his cousins Saturday night:

Olivia, Maggie, Katie, Ryan, Jack, Jon

Our little monkey is officially one and had a great party celebrating with friends and family this weekend. He had a fun night playing with his cousins Saturday night while the adults enjoyed a rare dinner out. Then Sunday, we got together at Waldo Pizza for some tasty food, adorable gifts and a good time.

Unfortunately I had a bit of a faux paux and let the birthday boy get to his candle as I was blowing it out so the cake-eating began with a loud, long cry. Once he got a taste of the frosting, all was better and he dug in.

Kelli Koons got adorable monkey cupcakes for us which were wonderful - so good that her nephew had 4! Ryan received many nice gifts including a mini ride-on jet ski. After a good, long nap, we had a wonderful evening at home trying out all his fun new toys.

We can't believe how grown up Ryan is becoming and love the little guy more and more every day. He's such a wonderful addition to our family, and we feel very fortunate to have such a sweet, fun-loving little boy. We look forward to all the memories to come in the year ahead!

Energizer Bunny

We had a great weekend at the lake with our friends the Collinses whose little boy Charlie is 2 and the Riggins whose boys Jake and Cade are 3 1/2 and 2. Needless to say, the little boys did lots of playing and it was fun for us to watch Ryan try to keep up with them.

Ryan is on the go 110% of the time and is an active, adventurous little guy who is discoving his independence. I won't lie, he is exhausting, but it's so fun to see him come into his personality and explore the world around him hands-on.

Playing with his favorite toy; he'll spend 10 minutes putting the little ball into the helicopter. For the little boy that won't sit still, this is miraculous, making it our favorite toy as well.

Our fearless, little monkey who loves to climb.
His "dismount" needs some serious work though.

Why play with one of the hundred of toys in the room
when you could carry around a chair twice your size?

Playing with Cade at the lake. He was so good and patient
with Ryan teaching him how to share and never got
frustrated when Ryan would steal things from him.

San Antonio

loving getting zerberts from Kelli while
we watched the KU game with Koons

with Markus and Ali in San Antonio

Todd's sister Allison turned 30 this past weekend so we visited her in San Antonio to help celebrate. We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed getting to meet her boyfriend and friends. Friday night we went to hear her friend Reuben's band, then Saturday we enjoyed a nice day sight-seeing followed by an amazing beer tasting by her boyfriend Markus who is a very accomplished home-brewer.

While we had a great weekend in San Antonio, Ryan had a great weekend back in KC with Grandma and Grandpa A. He learned to play fetch with Callie and started standing up without holding onto anything. He's growing up so fast; it's hard to believe he turns one next week.

"No" means "go right ahead"

Ryan is growing up so fast, and now that he's walking it's amazing to see how interested he is in the world around him. He's always on the go, always exploring, always putting things in his mouth and always crashing into something. The more exploratory he becomes, the more we are working on "no," or "stop" or "ah, ah" like we did with the dog so he learns he can't play in the fireplace, get in the toilet or walk down the stairs forward-facing. "No" seems to have little effect on this boy. If my family members don't read this entry, I can say that I have no idea where he gets this obstinate behavior. He really is fun though, and we've enjoyed more quality time playing with him lately.

Please disregard the bruises on his forehead in the pictures. They're from the usual spills he takes, he's just been taking more lately. Needless to say, we'll be waiting to take his one-year-old pictures until they clear up:)

he loves playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house
and this soccer ball was a huge hit

playing with Tupperware at the Super Bowl party