Random Cuteness

Playing Grandma's piano:




Our little "trainiac" modeling his railroad crossing T:




Interesting choice of attire:




We just returned from a week at the beach, and hopefully will get those pictures posted soon!

Summer '09 Portraits

Ryan's Daycare Carnival

Cotton candy, a balloon penguin, a bounce house, and a steam engine painted on his cheek.... What more could Ryan want?

"Emmy Wedding"

Last weekend, we attended my cousin Emily's wedding. Ryan had a blast, and is still talking about "Emmy wedding." A few days after the wedding, we were looking through a catalog of Halloween costumes, and as soon as I turned to a page which showed a little girl in a bride costume, Ryan jumped up and exclaimed, "Emmy!!!!!"

The bridal limo was an antique firetruck, which the boys enjoyed checking out.





Although the DJ didn't play the Thomas and Friends theme, Ryan spent a lot of time on the dance floor.











Ryan also got to spend lots of time playing with his cousins, including a game of checkers with Dylan.



He also tried out Dylan's scooter.



Our last big event of the summer will be a week at the beach with Ryan's grandparents, aunt, uncle, and 2 cousins. Ryan is so excited about it that Rob and I have to spell out the B-word when we talk about it, or he (Ryan, that is) has a big tantrum because he wants to go NOW. We'll be taking lots of pictures -- check back in a week or so!

Ryan's hockey attire is similar to his pizza-making attire. (He's not in pain -- that's just his new exaggerated smile when he poses for pictures!)




Ryan's newly painted train table. It used to be all unfinished wood, so when Ryan first saw it the morning after I painted it, he said "I can't see my table." :-)




My mom and I on our recent 3-day trip to California for a friend's wedding. I missed Ryan (who stayed home with Rob), but enjoyed having enough "me" time to read 1 1/2 books in a single weekend. I'm rarely able to read that much in an entire month.

The Naked Pizza Chef

Ryan's favorite food is pizza, and when I saw pictures on Beth's blog recently of her 2-year-old son Brady having a blast making pizza, I thought it would be a fun Sunday afternoon activity for Ryan and me. Ryan had been running around the house all day wearing nothing but his Thomas undies and saw no reason to get dressed for the event.

This morning, I woke up around 4 a.m. and discovered Ryan sleeping at the foot of our bed. He has always slept in his own room, but lately has started asking to sleep with us, which we have only allowed if there is a thunderstorm. Last night, he apparently climbed up in our bed while we were asleep. When the sun came up, we were amused to see that he had brought all of his bedtime essentials with him: teddy bear, stuffed Thomas, Penguins pillow, cup of water, spare pacifier (in his hand), the airplane book he's been sleeping with for the past week, and his new "soaker" ball that he can't wait to take to the pool. :-)

July pictures

Ryan chasing bubbles on a *cold* July day. (The weather this summer has been very un-summer-like).




Ryan with his new big wheel trike. His feet don't quite reach the pedals yet. He loves the flag.




On July 9, we celebrated 2 years as a family! We wanted to take Ryan out for a fun outdoor activity like the zoo or an amusement park but had to postpone due to unpleasant weather, so we went out for Italian ices and to "Bunna-Mona" (Barnes and Noble, where Ryan loves to play with the Thomas trains and look at train books), then spent the evening reading books at home.



We are so proud of our sweet little boy, and can't believe he's going to be 3 years old in 3 months!

July 4th weekend

We spent July 4th weekend with Grandma and Grandpa R, who Ryan has become very attached to lately. He asks where they are all the time, and couldn't wait to go visit them. On the way, we met up with Ryan's cousins (who were on their way home from Grandma and Grandpa's) for lunch at Arby's, where the 3 boys tailgated in Grandpa's car. We spent Saturday at a summer fair, where Ryan enjoyed riding the horse-drawn carousel. Naturally, the weekend also involved lots of corn on the cob and a trip to our favorite ice cream store.