Classics Never Die

Zach and his friends are outside playing hide and seek. I was looking out the window, watching Zach's friend chase him across the yard, thinking back fondly on the games of hide and seek I played as a child. Just as the smile broke out on my face and I started to think, 'Hey, these kids aren't that different from me and my friends when we were young.' I was proven all too right when I heard the chorus of 'Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah' break out. Of course *I* would never utter such foul words. No, I was more a fan of "Nanny, nanny, boo-boo." In all seriousness how do these nonsensical "sayings" get from one generation to the next?

I Think He Likes It

On the way to gymnastics this morning Ryan had a several sudden bursts of enthusiasm. "Nastics," he would shout and clap his hands,"YAY!" All this with no prompting at all from me. I was singing along to the radio. I told him when we were leaving that we were going to gymnastics. I'm thinking he was excited to go!

Child at Heart?

Does it say something about me that I really want the Cinderella DVD that just came out? Does it say more that I don't want it for the kids, but for me? I also have an extensive collection of Disney movies(mostly VHS unfortunately) from when I was single. I think I own more Disney movies than all the others combined. Although my classic movie collection is nothing to be scoffed at. I love me some Singin in the Rain and It's a Wonderful Life.

Flowers and Tylenol Sinus...What a Man

I guess I spoke too soon when I said I was feeling good. I have this awful sinus thing so I called Jay and asked him to pick up dinner. He brought me Panera-mmmmm, Sprite(my favorite sick drink), Tylenol Sinus, saline spray and flowers. It's nice to be loved:-)

Belly Bean Update

Things are good in pregnancyland. I'm feeling good these days and I'm still not big enough to have problems with that. I believe this is what they call the second trimester honeymoon period. I have been feeling lots of kicks and wiggles lately. They are getting stronger, so I am noticing them more during the day. I used to only be able to feel them in the morning and at night when things are quiet and I was relaxing. Those are still the favored times for Belly Bean(Thanks for the new nickname, Mari!) to have a party in there, but there is a little more activity during the busier times now.

Last night while Ryan was sitting in my lap Belly Bean gave a big kick right where he was leaning. I was sure he could feel it. I tried having him put his hand on my tummy, but no more kicks:-( When he put his hand on my belly he did say "baby." I was pretty doubtful that he understood anything about mommy's growing belly, but he surprises me all the time.

Zach has been saying "Goodnight, baby" to my belly for a while now. He likes to give it a kiss and lean his head on it.

Jay has been talking to the new bean too. BB recently developed ear bones and can distinguish sounds now. Daddy's voice will be nice and familiar when BB makes the big appearance.

We have an ultrasound scheduled for October 6, so hopefully I will be able to stop avoiding pronouns soon!

Bigger Than Life Sesame Street

Saturday we went to see Sesame Street Live. There was lots to look at. Ryan seemed fascinated by everything even before the show.

Daddy and Ryan at the show


I didn't take any more pictures of Ryan after the show started, but he really liked it. He loved seeing some of his favorite characters bigger than life. He also liked all the Elmo spinning lights in the audience.

Sesame Street Live


True to Sesame Street form the show had a lesson. Eat right, sleep enough, and use good hygiene and you can be Super too!

Helping Grover find his superness


The show was a little bit long for my toddler's attention span(I'm really glad we didn't go to the 7PM show!), but all in all it was really fun and we all had a good time. I never realized before I had kids of my own how much fun it is to watch them have fun. :-)
It must have made an impression because he is still talking about it today!

Gymnastics was AWESOME!

I'm so glad I signed Ryan up for his gymnastics class! It was awesome! They had great stuff to do there. The best thing about the class is that they are learning real skills. They are doing it in a fun way, but they are definitely learning gymnastics. They are jumping on the trampoline, hanging and swinging on uneven bars, touching toes to the bar, stretching and doing forward rolls. He is the youngest in his class. Most (I think all but one) of the other kids had already done a session. That was a bit daunting at first. The other kids seemed to be so advanced. The teacher reassured me that the skills were very individualized and Ryan would get there. Ryan did seem to be picking things up pretty quickly, so I felt better by the end of the class.
The teacher was really great. She has been at the same gymnastics center for 28 years and has 2 kids that have gone through the program. She was great with the kids and really understood when Ryan wasn't comfortable with her at first. By the middle of the class he was running up to her to do forward rolls with her because she didn't push, but was open when he approached her. By the end of class he even let her put him into a backward roll. He had so much fun. I had fun just watching him. I can't wait until next Thursday!

Cub Scouts Here We Come

Zach is officially a Cub Scout, a Wolf to be exact. He goes to his first pack meeting tomorrow. We went to a sort of introduction meeting last week. He had a good time making a marshmallow and candy person while we listened to the Cub Master. Tomorrow we find out what den he will be in. Maybe since Uncle TJ, our very own Eagle Scout, is moving closer he will be able to help Zach earn some badges! :-) Don't think I didn't do some bragging on you at the meeting, Uncle TJ;-)

Too Much Sesame Street?

A sign that my child may be watching too much Sesame Street... He narrates what he is doing as if he is explaining it to Dorothy.

For those of you without a child in the Sesame Street set- Dorothy is Elmo's fish. Elmo talks to Dorothy. In "Elmo's World" Dorothy is very curious about the things Elmo is thinking about that day. She often has questions of how "you" would do something. Different kids come in and show Dorothy how they do things, like put on shoes for example.

It has happened a couple times. Like this morning Ryan says, "See, Dorty, I buckle." Loosely translated this is, 'See Dorothy, this is how I buckle [myself in my booster chair].' "First, I..." as he pulls all the belts out and snaps them together. "See, Dorty, that's how I buckle."

How cute is that?! It makes me laugh out loud. The first time I realized what he was doing a couple days ago I was amazed. Toddler's minds work in such great ways!

Pop

WOW...my perfect little innie has become an outtie in record time :o(
It took way longer to pop out last time I was pregnant.

Pop

Coincidence

I thought of a weird coincidence last night. Erin R, from Callie's Blog and best friend Erin, from Tale of a Baby Human are both visiting Florida right now. Wouldn't it be weird if they ran into each other?! I suppose it's relatively impossible since even if they were both at Disney World they may not cross paths since it's so big. And I'm not even sure Erin R is going to visit Disney. It did cross my mind that this is a very small world...they already have the same name;-) They both have toddlers too, so they might be more likely to visit the same attractions.

This is Just Funny

Go check out the entry entitled "Good Intentions"(posted on Sept 16) at Crayons, Playdoh and Wax. I'm going to be laughing for days! I would link you directly to the post, but the picture doesn't show up. Don't forget to look at the picture.

Hot and Tired

This morning I took the boys to a corn maze near our house. We also bought some mums for the front garden and a couple spooky pumpkins to paint. After we loaded our goodies in the car we hit the maze. It started off well. I let Zach be the leader. After a few times choosing where to go Ryan showed interest in which direction we should take. So Zach and Ryan took turns choosing which way to go. After about half an hour it started getting pretty hot. Ryan decided his legs no longer worked. Smart mommy brought her new sling. Yea, that lasted about 15 minutes. He wanted out of the sling, but still didn't want to walk. By now it had been about an hour since we started the maze. We were all getting hot and tired, so we found a wide place in the maze. We sat down and had a little snack and some drinks. After our break I knew we needed to finish soon. Ryan was getting tired and was starting to fuss. I decided I'd better take over the directions when I thought it necessary. I still let Zach make some choices, but when I really felt like we should go a certain way I just went that way, no stopping to ask which way he thought was best. After about 15 minutes we found the exit and not a moment too soon. My legs were beginning to feel like rubber and we were all sweaty. We never found 3 of the stations that have raised pictures that you use to rub a picture on your paper. Zach didn't even ask to go back and find them(that's how I knew he was really wiped). Last year we didn't find one and he wanted to go back and look for it. We ended up getting lost when we went back in(sad, huh). This year he didn't even flinch. He just headed for the car and asked for more to water. Did I mention that it was hot...really hot! I checked the thermometer when we got in the car. It said 91*, but the heat index had to be higher than that and very little breeze got through that corn. I'm glad we did it and we did have fun, but I am very thankful to be in the air conditioning now.

Taste Buds

I used to think that Ryan had my taste buds. He likes all the things I liked as a kid and doesn't like the stuff I didn't like. This theory was thoroughly disproved this afternoon at lunch when Ryan asked for broccoli after he finished his yogurt. Not only did he ask for broccoli, but he wouldn't give up when I told him the broccoli was all gone. He finally settled for green beans. Now while I will eat both broccoli and green beans and I do make them for dinner I don't actually like either one. I only eat them because I know they are good for me. I will actually be pleased if Ryan gets Jay's sense of taste. He likes way more kinds of food than I do. It will be much easier to feed a kid that isn't as picky as I was.

Playground Pals

We met Erin and Ben at a new playground(new to us anyway) this morning. It was a cute little playground kind of in between us. Ryan seemed to like it. He got on a teeter totter for the first time. The new kind that is spring loaded so you can ride it alone or with a friend. It was a good thing he could ride it alone because Ben was not so interested in staying in one place this morning. It's no wonder his mom looks so good...she is on the Chasing Ben Weight Loss Program! She should rent him out- it's better than any gym membership;-) Sadly, no pictures. I even brought my camera, but I didn't get it out. Ryan and I did have lots of fun even if we don't have the pictures to prove it:-)
In the car on the way home I asked Ryan if he had fun this morning. He said, "Yah! Freind Ben and a playground!" There was this obvious joy, even a sort of laughter, as he said it. Very sweet:-)

'I Crying' to 'All Better'

Toddlers say the cutest things. Ryan is no exception. Lately he has taken to telling me "I crying" when he is crying. As if he is explaining something I don't know. Since he has explained the situation I then know that I need to ask what's wrong. He tells me, "Bonk head" and points to a place on his head while leaning in for a kiss. I give his hurt a kiss and he smiles, "All better" and runs off to play. This system of boo-boo control works well for us most of the time, but apparently the kiss only lasts until he notices the boo-boo again. Right now he has a skinned knee. When he sees his boo-boo he says, "I have boo-boo." Then he either comes to me for a kiss or bends in half and kisses it himself(quite a sight to see). He then proclaims it 'all better'(again) and goes about his playing.

Ryan's 2nd Birthday Pictures

I will be happy when I use up these Picture People prints I got suckered into getting the first time I went there. I will really be happy to try some other picture studios. I think Ryan is just not a fan of the loud, in-your-face stuff they do to try to get kids to laugh. There were a few good shots that I did end up getting(two were free and one I payed for).

Ryan is 2 


Happy Birthday from Pooh!


airplane 

Gymnastics

Zach and Ryan both start gymnastics in 2 weeks. Zach's will be at his school which will be fun because he will be able to hang out with kids he knows or meet new kids from around here. Ryan's is going to be at a gymnastics center about 10 minutes from here. We went today to sign up. The lady showed me the room where they have class. It was awesome. I nearly started jumping up and down I was so excited. Ryan is going to have so much fun! It will be the first formal class he takes like this. I hope he does well with it. It's a mommy and me class, so I think that will make him feel more comfortable. I can't wait to start. I'm about jumping out of my chair right now thinking about it!

We Have Movement

I'm about 90% sure that Baby Boo wants me to know s/he is in there. I felt little bloops in the middle of last night and again this morning in the exact same place. It seems a little far left from where I imagined it would be, but I'm pretty sure it's Boo. I guess I should be more sure this being my second time and all, but I'm never more than 95% sure of anything;-)
I called Jay this morning to make sure he was the first to know. He knew even before I told him. I guess he knows me well.

Exciting Appointments

I made a few exiting appointments in the past 2 days.

1) Ultrasound- October 6 (19 1/2 weeks)
2) Ryan's two year old pictures- Monday morning
3) hair cut for me- Tuesday evening (maybe not exciting to you, but rare and exciting for me!)
4) teacher conference- okay so we have not actually made this one yet, but we will tonight at back to school night and it will be on November 3

I'm beginning to see how busy I will be with 3 kids! It's going to be crazy when they are all in sports and other activities!

The Big News

So I've been given permission to share the big news with the world(even if the whole world doesn't care, this is huge for me!) My brother is moving about an hour and a half away from us! This will be the first time he has been within driving distance of where I live in 6 years. I'm very excited. I hope we get to see him lots and lots:-) We can't wait to see you, Uncle TJ!

Warm Fuzzy Uterus

When I read my pregnancy calendar today it gave me warm fuzzies.

Development
At any time, you will begin to feel fetal movement as your baby's bones harden, and she starts a big growth spurt. Your baby has plenty of room: At this point, she could fit in the palm of your hand. This is a great time to be a fetus. At any given time, she might be playing with the umbilical cord (which she's now able to grasp), putting her thumb in her mouth, or kicking at the amniotic sac.

I can imagine this little baby that fits in my palm playing little games with the umbilical cord. It's just sweet to picture all that fun going on in my uterus:-)

Birthday Pictures

I know I said I would post pictures of Ryan's birthday party and did not come through on that. You can see pictures of Ryan's party on my August 2005 Album. There are not many other pictures in that album for one of two reasons- 1) We did a computer switch in August and all the pictures from earlier than that date are in the other computer and/or 2) I did not take many pictures in August because I felt icky for most of the month. Someday I will check the computer for pictures, but not today.

Let there be one

I've pretty much decided that I am going to only blog on this blog now. I'll leave the pregnancy blog up so I can still have my previous entries. Mostly because I can't figure out how to easily integrate those posts into this blog without a lot of work and without losing comments. Hope everyone is having a good holiday weekend.

Parking Lot

Ryan is now offering vallet service at the piano parking lot.
Piano Parking Lot 

Cookie's New Image

Cookie Monster with dreads singing rapping about "Healthy Food"? I'm not sure what to think about this. It's a bit like The Count dressing as a clown and singing the alphabet song. On the surface there is nothing bad about the ABCs or clowns, but somehow it just seems wrong.

Beautiful Day

After my check up this morning Ryan and I played outside. It wasn't too hot yet. It was just beautiful. Everything was still, the birds were chirping and the sun was shining. We played with the sand box, the castle slide and the we did sidewalk chalk. It's so fun to watch him play. He was drawing with his "colors" and singing away. I love it when a day starts out this well:-)
Chalk 

Creative with chalk