Ryan's Friend

Ryan has his first *real* friend. I emphasize real because he has lots of kids that he plays with, but Brian is the first boy that's the same age. Brian lives in our neighborhood and has been over a couple of times to play, but the boys were still at an age where they just played near each other without really interacting. Now, they really interact and play together and actually seem to enjoy each other's company. Today was a great opportunity for them to really get to know each other better because I babysat Brian from 8-5 today while his mom worked. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that even AJ enjoyed playing right along with them. He sure is growing up fast! OH, and yes.....having a Brian and a Ryan all day can get a little confusing. The funny thing is that Ryan can't say Brian--it just sounds like when he says his own name (wy-an).

They did a little bit of everything today! We played outside for about an hour--Brian really loves to swing. The chased each other on bikes--that was very cute to watch. They played a little ball tossing game. Then we came inside for a snack. After snack we painted a little and then played play-doh. Play-doh was a lot of fun because Ryan made a "cake". He put 2 shape cutters on top of the cake for candles. I was about to eat my cake when he screamed "WAIT!". Then he used a little plastic play-doh knife to "light" the candles. I blew out the candles and they sang Happy Birthday to me. Well, Brian sang--Ryan's not quite there yet, although I think days like today will help get him there sooner rather than later. We then took turns having Ryan, Brian, and AJ being the birthday boy. We cleaned up the paint and play-doh and went back outside for more bike riding, swinging, ball playing, etc. It was finally time for lunch. Ryan and Brian helped me make PB&J sandwiches and then had a picnic on the deck. After lunch they watched Franklin before heading up for naps. All 3 of them had a good, long nap. After nap we played outside until Stacy, Brian's mom, came to get him. He was an absolute pleasure to have around, but I was still absolutely exhausted by the end of the day.

It's kind of neat now learning how to raise boys after having 2 girls. When the girls were this age, they would spend all their time playing dress-up and making up all sorts of princess games together. I think they were much more able to entertain themselves when friends came over because of all these make-believe games that I just didn't really fit into. Boys certainly don't play dress-up and they just seem to use their imaginations a lot less. I'm guessing it's because boys tend to prefer being completely engaged in active play and actually *doing* something rather than spend all their time in an imaginary world. I just found it very interesting and so much fun adjusting to a completely new way of "playing".

Here's Brian and Ryan playing a ball game together.

Having a mid-morning snack

Picnic lunch on the deck