Fun April

My apologies for not posting in a while; wish I had a good excuse but I don't. We've been enjoying catching up with friends and taking advantage of the warmer weather this month.

We finally got to catch up with our friends Zach and Claire White who are expecting their first baby in a couple weeks. Ryan absolutely loved Zach and played with him in the yard nonstop until dinner time. It was sweet to watch the soon-to-be parents with Ryan and it's incredibly obvious they're going to be fun, wonderful parents to Baby White. We also visited our friends the Seymour's in Lawrence and were thrilled to see their little guy Harrison who is almost one and has grown up so much since we last saw them. There were very cute moments from both outings but I failed to capture them on camera. Sorry. Here are some good pics from the rest of our activities though.

Ryan has refused to swing this spring after "unlearning" how to swing over the winter and falling out of the swing back in February. So, we made major progress this month when he voluntarily swung himself at the Varone's house while we were over for dinner. (He got away from us while getting changed into his pj's and naked babies are so cute, so we let it go. Can you blame us?) We had a fun night dining with the Varones, Garretts and Prossers and the big kids did a great job looking after our little Ry Guy. The next week, he even let Zach push him in the swing when Whites came over for dinner so fortunately he's starting to overcome his fear.

While at Melissa and Russ' new house, Ryan found a tree in the back yard that was just his size for climbing.

He wore himself out running around Melissa's back yard playing with the dogs and climbing trees so he racked out on Daddy's lap.

We visited cousins Jack and Olivia, Uncle Grant and Aunt Kristen in Lawrence and Ryan had so much fun with them as always. We got to see Jack's soccer game and when we returned to their house, Jack had an amazing surprise for Ryan... his John Deere tractor! Needless to say, it's a huge hit with Ryan. Jack is such a sweet and generous little guy; he reminds me of his dad when he used to take his savings to buy things for everyone else. I don't have pictures, but earlier in the month, I got to see Olivia do her solo at her dance competition in KC and could not have been more proud. She is talented beyond her years and had so much fun performing.

We took a trip to Deanna Rose Farmstead and were joined by Zach and Charlie Collins. The little boys are so cute together and had fun petting the baby goats and watching Todd catch a fish.

This was the first goat Ryan saw and enjoyed petting.

This was the second goat he saw, and he let the goat eat right out of his hand with no hesitation at all. I think he would have fed him all day if we'd more quarters, time and arm strength.

After several rainy days, we decided to visit The Nelson for an indoor activity. Ryan was still stroller-bound the last time we visited so this time it was primarily an experiment with some art involved. He did surprisingly well and broke nothing so I think we'll venture back again for a little longer visit.

This is Ryan's preschool class during their Easter party. I heard one kid say, "Happy Birthday Easter." Hey, there were cookies and cupcakes and they're only two-years-old; seemed like a reasonable assumption to me. His class also participated in the school's program a couple weeks ago. They sequestered the two-year-olds in a separate room until it was show time, led them directly up on stage, the teachers sang a few songs and the kids spent all five minutes looking for their parents in the audience, trying to go to their parents, and in our case, being bribed with a sucker to go back up on stage and finish "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."

First Big Boat Ride of the Season

We've really enjoyed the last week and took full advantage of the gorgeous weather this weekend. While we've taken Steve's little fishing boat out several times since it doesn't have to be de-winterized, this was our first weekend to get the Crownline out and it was worth the wait. Ryan was a champ on the boat and was much more cooperative than last season. He did great at getting his sea legs on but was a little apprehensive about the wind. He hardly sat still and moved from one spot to another but seemed to really enjoy it. We were butting up nap time and he literally fell asleep while sitting on Todd's lap driving the boat. It was precious. He also wore his sunglasses which he wouldn't do last year so that was a good sign.

We wrapped up the evening having a fire on the shore of the lake. The water level is really down so it was fun to have it someplace that's usually under water. Ryan joined us for an hour or so and had a ball throwing rocks in the lake which is a favorite past time of ours. The best was when he sat on our lap and just stared at the stars. Needless to say, we've been loving this stage. He can finally talk, is incredibly interested in the world around him and is willing to snuggle us.

The other highlights from the weekend included when he woke up at 7 this morning so we told him it wasn't morning yet and we needed to back to sleep to see if by chance he would, and he did. We let him come in our bed and he happily snuggled up with us, didn't question our trick and fell asleep with us until 9. It was wonderful to get the extra rest but it was also a treat to snuggle with him since that's something that he hasn't done before. Lastly, our little Einstein was eating pizza and dipping it into blue cheese because he's into dipping everything these days. He poked his finger in it then looked at it and said "lotion" so he quickly rubbed it on the other hand then rubbed the hand full of blue cheese on his tummy like we do with lotion at bath time. Just we think he's incredibly bright he does something like rub blue cheese on his belly. He gives us good laughs.

Ryan didn't get to join us at Opening Day but he still cheered on the Royals.

Ryan has several riding toys but all are a little too big or too small for him

so when he discovered this trike at Charlie Collins's house and it

fit him perfectly, he was thrilled to actually ride a trike around.

Cars and Friends

The past few weeks we've been enjoying the nicer weather, trips to the lake and catching up with friends. Unfortunately, Ryan also got influenza A this month - despite having had a flu shot - but Todd also got strep and Callie got very sick all at the same time, so we just went ahead and got it all out of our system and now we're feeling good.

After being busy recluses the past couple months, we're getting caught up with friends and saw the Gingriches and the Fitzgeralds last week. Abby Fitz and Ryan had a ball playing together and she's a great sharer and very well-behaved so she sets a stellar example for Ryan who is rocking the whining stage right now. My mom also came for a visit so Ryan got in some good Nana time while Todd and I celebrated St. Patty's with our friends.

This morning a coworker mentioned that there was a Cars exhibit outside our office at Crown Center today and sure enough, the Cars 2 promotion was in town with life-size Lightning McQueen, Mater and a new car on display for 6 hours only. Needless to say, I took off early, picked Ryan up and took him to visit the Cars. He was very surprised to see them life-sized, only tried to bust past the fence once, loved the Mack semi that transported them (even though it wasn't painted like the Mack character) and unfortunately was adamant that I not take his picture.

Even though he doesn't look like me, I know he's my child because after eating individual Dorito's off my plate, he took the entire bag, said "thank you" and took them into his tent.

playing with Pop Pops old tractors,

some of which belonged to Ryan's great grandfather

Ryan and Abby Fitzgerald modeling their monkey pj's

playing in his tent with Daddy (prior to stealing the bag of Dorito's)

visiting the Cars exhibit at Crown Center

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Ryan has started to sing and his rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is slightly intelligible but ridiculously cute. Other precious things he's said lately:

• As he was helping make pancakes, he spilled Bisquick all over the counter and the chair he was standing on and promptly said, "it's snowing.
• Todd's family and my brother's family are big Jayhawk fans and have taught Ryan to love KU. In preparation for the KU v. MU game this weekend, I wore my Missouri sweatshirt and drew a tiger paw on the white board. Trying my best to get Ryan to say Tiger a couple times to offset all the Jayhawk references, I pointed to the white board and asked him what it was. That little stinker replied, "Blue's Clues."
• When Pop Pop told Ryan he had to use the restroom, Ryan took his hand and led him to the bathroom while announcing, "Pop Pop go potty like a big boy."

We're getting back into regular lake trips. At the end of February the Collins and Riggins were down, too so all our little boys had fun playing together. We tried to go bowling and the other boys did great but Ryan was having a hay day full of two-year-old tantrums that pushed daddy and me to the edge of our patience. At least he looked adorable in his little bowling shoes. That was redeeming. This last weekend we took the boat out! Pop Pop let Ryan drive as the fishing boat is the perfect size for him. He took the job very seriously and even discovered the throttle. We can't wait to return next weekend.

Ryan had his 24 month appointment and measured 35 3/4 inches tall and 29.5 pounds so basically he's 3 feet and 30 pounds. He's grown an inch and a half since the last visit but not gained any weight. He's starting to stretch out and also starting to exercise some independence. We love this stage and are having so much fun with our little guy. He keeps us on our toes and makes us laugh daily.

for the record, I was looking ahead watching the road

and was holding this up pointing it at the backseat:)

Happy 2nd Birthday Ryan

Ryan turns two on the 23rd so we celebrated his birthday this weekend. We had cupcakes and pizza with family followed by a slumber party with the cousins. Ryan got a tent for his birthday so the boys built a great fort with it and played all evening until we settled down to watch his favortie movie, Cars, before bed. Although the little stinker skipped the majority of his nap on Saturday he had so much fun that he stayed up with his cousins until 10 Saturday night. He received lots of nice gifts but the Mack truck and Lightning McQueen car took the cake. He hasn't stopped playing with them since he opened them.

We're back again!

The Abplanalp Family has fallen behind the last month as the new business picked up for Todd and my big gala I've been planning all year was this Saturday (we raised just over $1 million so it was a huge success!!!!), but we're finally back to more normalcy again! This past month Ryan has been a total trooper. As we both worked more and I was gone for several evenings he comes and goes from our house, his pre-school and Mimi & Papa's house like a champ. This past week, he and Daddy have been spending lots of quality time together and have become bestest of buds. In fact all week when we'd get ready in the morning and I'd try to take him with me to the room where I primp and he plays, he would starting crying saying, "I want Daddy." Like most kids, he's been more of a Mama's boy as a baby so it's special for Todd that he's growing up more now and is becoming a Daddy's boy.

I'll post pictures next week after his birthday party, but in the mean time the update since last month is that he's been healthy and his speech has completely taken off. He will repeat anything you ask him too and he has more words of his own than we realize; he surprises us with new ones everyday. He has especially taken to the movie Cars and cereal bars and constantly asks for both all day long. That's the other thing, he must be going through a growth spurt because the child is absolutely ravenous. He would eat all day if you'd let him. We'll have pizza and he'll eat nearly as much as we do. I don't know where it goes but he's a bottomless pit and he must need it so we keep it coming.

Since it's been so crazy here the last few weeks (and he's only two and will have no memory of the party), we're keeping his birthday very low key and just doing cake and ice cream with family next weekend and letting him have a slumber party with his older cousins who he adores. There should be fun pictures to come next week after the party.