Mermaid and Merboy

The other day Paige and Ryan were outside playing with Lindsey (our neighbor). Paige came running in the house and yelled "mom, come quick.......and bring the camera". I had to laugh at the camera part. At least I knew it was nothing serious.

Paige and Lindsey had made a "mermaid tail" for Ryan and they were so proud of their work! Here's Ryan's tail. He often has his bike helmet on because he says it hurts when I take it off. So, once it goes on it stays on until he's done.

After Ryan was done, they made a tail for Paige.

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

Cute picture of AJ "relaxing"

Ryan, AJ, and I were outside (always outside these days) killing a little time before naptime. I gave AJ a few pushes in the swing and then kicked the ball for Bailey to chase a few times. While I was playing fetch with the dog I glanced over to see AJ laid back with his arms behind his head. Of course, I had to run in and get my camera!! It's always cute to see the little ones doing things to emulate adults. :) He stayed like that a long time-even through me running in the house to get the camera. I thought for sure he'd be done by the time I got back.....but, I guess he was really comfortable.

I'll probably be putting up lots of outdoor pictures for a while. These two boys LOVE to be outside and they are almost always happy out there. In fact, I think I'm going to grow a garden this year. Since I'll be spending most of my days out there anyway, I might as well do something productive part of the time. I think Ryan and AJ would enjoy "helping" and the girls are already working on their very own flower garden. They planted a bunch of summer-blooming bulbs this past weekend. I'm looking forward to the day they start blooming and seeing the kids' excitement!

So frustrated with myself!

This afternoon I got 3 really great pictures of Ryan hitting a baseball (wiffle ball, actually). But, I accidentally deleted them from the camera's card before saving them to the computer's hard drive. They are GONE forever......and I'm soooo sad!! We were all outside playing this afternoon and Ryan found the big plastic bat in the garage and wanted to try hitting. He looked like such a "natural" that I ran in and got the camera. It's like he instinctively knew to bend his knees when he held the bat up. I also thought it was interesting how he would hold the bat straight up in front of him and then pulled the bat backwards as he prepared to actually hit the ball. He missed the first few times and then made solid contact with the ball causing the ball to hit me right smack in the face (thank goodness it was only a wiffle ball). It was a great hit and everyone especially enjoyed seeing mom take a shot to the nose! I then asked Lindsey (one of the little girls who lives next door) to pitch the ball while I took pictures. I actually had a great picture of him making contact with the ball.....but it's gone now. :( Of course, I know I'll be working my behind off trying to recreate those pictures. I just don't know if they'll be as good or as "spontaneous".

If I ever manage to get pictures even half as good, I'll be sure to post them here.

Some of pictures of the kids playing outside

We've had some beautiful weather recently and the kids fully enjoyed it. Ryan is now riding a "big boy bicycle" with only a little help from me. He looks so grown up on his bike now! AJ loves to ride his little battery-operated "4-wheeler" that Mimmi (my mom) sent him last year. He looks so proud riding around on it! Kaeli and Paige seem to prefer their razor scooters over their bikes this year. So, here are the pics:

Paige riding around on her scooter

Kaeli on her scooter

Kaeli and Paige being nice to each other

AJ looking so proud on his little "4-wheeler"

AJ's telling me he has his "hat" on.

Ryan looking so big riding on his big bike

Here is his "big smile" to go with his "big bike". I couldn't get him to do a normal smile for me....it was very funny. There are more of his big smile in the album.
He's had enough pictures and is ready to ride. Here he is saying "doh way MOM!" while shooing me with his hand for added emphasis.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Steve and I are celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary. I can't believe it's been 9 years already. I know many people say marriage is very hard work, but I have rarely felt that to be the case for us. I feel very fortunate to have married someone than I can truly say is also my best friend. I knew he was the one because from the beginning we could sit with a bottle of wine (or beer) and just talk and laugh and contemplate the world's problems into the wee hours of morning. It's like we never ran out of new and interesting things to talk about. We still do that sometimes....but not usually into the wee hours of morning anymore. The kids would have a thing or two to say about that part of it. But, I do still love talking to him and I love that he always knows how to make me laugh.

We're not doing much to celebrate tonight, but I think we'll get out this weekend for at least a little while. Next year we hope to plan something big for our 10th anniversary. Hopefully we'll actually follow through with that plan.

AND!! Congratulations to Jason, Valerie, Abigail, and Emily on the newest addition to their family! My brother and his wife just had their 3rd baby and 1st SON this morning. Welcome to the world Cason Daniel Lake!

Ryan is really funny!

Ever since Ryan started talking he's been showing us that he has one amazing little personality. He LOVES to joke around and "tend" (pretend). It's hard to believe that not that many months ago I was very worried that he didn't do any pretend play. Something happened about 3 months ago (right after he started preschool) that caused him to "wake up". I just don't know how else to put it--he just suddenly started showing a real awareness about everything around him and even became incredibly interested in everything. He started off by just saying "dat?". I remember it so well because I was so thrilled that he had actually finally asked a question. That one question quickly turned into constant questioning and many other question words followed. Yes, we are definitely now in the "why" stage.

Even his speech therapist is just thrilled and amazed to see his little personality emerge. Lately, she is always writing cute little stories about what he did or said at school in his "communication log" (a little book that we use for corresponding). I am so glad we have this book--it will be a wonderful keepsake. It's already been great for seeing his progress. The first entries are all about him learning a new sign or attempting to say a new word. Now, his book is full of 3 and 4 word phrases that he says completely spontaneously. AMAZING!

Ok, now here's what really prompted me to write an entry all about Ryan. Tonight I cooked a whole roasted chicken for dinner. When I took the chicken out of the oven he was soooooo excited! He started jumping around and waving at the chicken and saying "bahk-bahk" (the chicken sound). It was very entertaining to see how excited he was about the chicken and to watch him try to "communicate" with the chicken. After a few minutes he looked at me and said "why talk not?" He was wondering why the chicken was talking back to him. His facial expression was actual more funny that the question. He was very serious and seemed very confused about why this chicken he had waited so long to talk wasn't responding. I told him "the chicken isn't alive, we're going to eat it". Of course, that led to many "why's" and me trying to answer each why question in a way that he might understand. Finally, after one of his questions I just said "Ryan, he doesn't even have a head anymore". He stopped suddenly and looked at me with even more confusion and said "bahk not see!!!" with a great deal of incredulity. Again, the expression on his face was too cute. This back and forth banter about the chicken went on for a while. I finally decided I even needed a picture of this moment (which I will add to this when I can) because I know one of these days I will miss these little conversations with him (and forget them if I don't write them down). And, since I knew I had to write about it, I wanted a picture of what he looked like in hopes that one of these days I can picture his wonderful little expression throughout the exchange.

Another cute little Ryan story. He often takes a fish oil supplement, but he can't swallow it whole. He chews it and then swallows the "shell" afterwards. Let me stop here to say I can't imagine how gross that would be, but he doesn't seem to mind. Tonight he was actually "joking" with me. He was pretending like he couldn't swallow it and kept making a swallowing motion and saying "me not (swallow motion)". I kept saying "well, spit it out then". Finally, after going through this a few times I realized he was just playing around. He had already swallowed it and just wanted to joke a little.

I can't even describe how happy I am to be able to have conversations with him now. Every night we read books before bedtime. I have so much FUN! talking to him about the books afterwards. I know that when the girls were this age I took those moments for granted because they had been talking for a long time and talked non-stop. With Ryan, I feel like I've been waiting for this day for ages and I can't get enough of it! He still has trouble with longer words and he can be difficult to understand, but he's REALLY talking now!!

Here's Ryan "waving" at the chicken

Day at Pullen Park with Grandpa and Grammy

While in NC during spring break we spent a morning at Pullen Park. It is such a great park and is right next to the campus of NC State University. Along with 3 large swing/play areas there is plenty of open grassy areas for picnics or just running around. Two of the kids' favorite attractions are the train and the carousel. The train goes through a dark tunnel and around the park (and over a duck pond). I really enjoyed our picnic. The kids played ball, rolled down a grassy hill, played with bubbles and just had an overall great time. We had beautiful weather for our day at the park.

Me (Bridget) and AJ on the swing.

Ryan giving Grandpa a kiss. Of course, Ryan couldn't resist looking at me when he saw the camera.

Grandpa and Ryan in the background. Paige, AJ, and Grammy in the front. We were on our way over to the picnic area.

Steve and Paige

Paige showing off her silly side
Paige and Ryan and concentrating on blowing bubbles while AJ shows off some of his signs. In this picture he's doing the sign for caterpillar. He loves Signing Time videos and has started using the caterpillar sign to tell me when he wants to watch the video. There's a caterpillar song on one of the videos that he just LOVES!

Grandpa blowing bubbles with the kids

Kaeli showing off her beautiful smile

Our future pro quarterback in action :)

Click here to view ALL pictures taken at Pullen Park.

A Rare Photo

I think the last picture of all 6 of us was AJ's Baptism over a year ago! I think it would be too much to hope for to have all 4 of the kids looking at the camera, so having only one looking down seems pretty good. Then, of course, there's Kaeli with her hair in her eyes. I'm looking forward to the day she gets tired of having her hair always in her face, but until then I am just learning to accept it. This picture was taken at Pullen Park in Raleigh, NC on March 27.

Brothers!!

About 15 minutes ago I was changing Ryan's diaper. AJ was sitting right next to us and pulling wipes out of the box. I decided he had pulled out enough and closed the top of the box. For those that have been around him you know he can throw some amazing temper tantrums. He proceeded to have one of those tantrums. During his tantrum he took a heavy sippy cup FULL of milk and threw it right at Ryan's face. When the cup hit I heard a little crack sound and knew it had really hurt Ryan. I picked up a screaming AJ and took him to his crib upstairs.....I was so angry with him and he's still too young to understand discipline. At least he couldn't do any further damage to anyone or anything in his crib while I took care of Ryan. The cup must have hit directly on top of the bridge of Ryan's nose and, by the looks of it, the bottom edge of the cup is what hit him. His nose immediately swelled up and turned purple. I think there is a chance it may have broken, but there's nothing that can be done. It just frustrates me so much that all of this was just because AJ wasn't allowed to pull wipes out of the box indefinitely! I know his determination and persistence will serve him well in life, but right now it's just driving me crazy!

But, I'm pretty sure this will not be the last injury inflicted on one brother by the other. Steve and I already predict there will be some monumental battles between these boys.