How are you almost 2?

(from 2/26/11  - so many things are different already)

Dylan,

I have not written you a letter in a long time but it is not for lack of things to say about you.   I really don't even know where to start to describe how good you are, how cute you are or how completely hilarious you are.   You continue to be the happiest kid I have ever seen - you never cry and have a great personality.  But man, do you have a mind of your own and have a bad temper when you don't get your way.   You have fully mastered the pouty face, furrowed brow included.  If we say here, you say there.  If we say up, you say down and laugh at us.

For the past few months, you have been talking much more and you are really starting to pick up a lot of words now.   You call milk "muk" and ask for it all day long - you even recently started saying "peas" for please. You can name every Thomas train, just by looking at their faces - your favorites are Es (Thomas), Percy and Mighty Mac, but we all make you say "ofiler" all the time because it is so cute (his name is really oliver).   You have even been telling knock knock jokes lately because Ryan has been obsessed with them.   You always tell the whole joke though and it is always the same "Knock knock, who dere, percy - hahahahahaaha". lol.

Besides playing with trains, you spend a lot of your free time following Ryan around, trying to copy whatever he does or play with whatever he is playing.   He is your "ya-yi" and you are always looking for him.  You love playing hide and seek with him but you are not very good - as soon as he says "Dylan, are you over here?", you came out from wherever you are and say "no, here".   Your favorite hiding spot?

If we let you, you would eat ALL DAY LONG.  About 2 months ago, you figured out how to open the refrigerator and there has been more than one occasion when you have snuck in to the kitchen and come back with the jar of pickles, a stack of cheese, or a juice box declaring "me dillie, op. (open)"  You can also reach up to the counter and your favorite things to grab from there are "ips" (chips), "cesill" (cereal), and fruit (your favorite fruits are strawberries and blueberries although you eat it all).  If we need you to sit still for a minute (for example during a haircut), I just need to give you a treat and you are good to go.

You are amazingly strong.  The other day, we put you in your crib for "time out".   By the time Daddy walked back from your room and sat down,  you somehow managed to get out of your crib (first time you ever did that) and came out, looked at us and smiled and just sat down like nothing happened.   You have not climbed out since then, but I am guessing it wont be long.  You also have an unbelievable arm, both righty and lefty although we think you are a lefty - I think Daddy is hoping so you can be a hot commodity pitcher someday. You even seem interested in sports, lol.

 You sleep with a blankie, which until last week, you called your bic: now it is your blankie.  You take it out of your crib with you every morning, you look for it whenever you have milk, and sleep with it every night, but if you dont have it, you never cry for it.  You only cry about not having it when you see Ryan touching it.

You are almost 2 and I really don't know where the time went.  You are so cuddly and kissable - every morning before Ryan wakes up, you sit and let me hug you for a bit and I am dreading the day that you don't want to do that anymore.  For now though, I will cherish it: that and your sweet smell when you wake up, that you always say "mornin" when we take you out of the crib and that you start every single day smiling.  Without a doubt, it helps me start my day out the same way - Smiling

I love you so much

mommy

Ryan - Five Friday Funnies

Ryan,

Man, have you turned out to be a funny boy.  You are creative, imaginative and a true negotiator.  Every day, you make me laugh .  I could listen you play with your superheros for hours - you boss them around, come up with amazing adventures for them, and you make almost of the bad guys be good.  You are super talkative, just like your mama - we could be in the car for hours and you never stop talking.  I have not written a Friday Funnies in a long time so here are some to kick off the weekend:

1.   You did something bad the other day and I knew it the second I walked in the house because you were waiting for me at the door with a pouty face and a sad voice.  I asked you what was the matter and you said nothing so I said "Maybe I should ask Elizabeth."  Your response?  "Elizabeth, can I talk to you for a minute?"  You whispered in her ear and I asked what you talking about.  Your said "Oh, nothing.  Just talking about what we are going to do tomorrow"  (you asked her not to tell me what you did)

2.  We went to Woodbury Commons the other day and Grandma met us. When Grandma left to go home, she told us she was going to one more store and she went one way and we went the other. When we passed the store Grandma went in, you asked if we could go in and see if she was still there.   I said ok and you walked right in and up to the saleswoman and you said "Excuse miss, but did you see my friend?  Her name is Grandma and this is her favorite store"

3.  You were looking for a bag that had trains in it.  You knew exactly what the bag looked like, exactly what was in it and exactly where you left it.   Daddy said that maybe you were mistaken and that you left at Grandmas and you turned right around and said "I left it right here.  I don't believe a bag can walk and a bag doesn't have legs so it can not be at Grandmas and I am very upset about this"

4.  Your favorite expressions lately are "Are you for real?",  "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?", and "This is going to knock your socks off".

5. You are able to unlock the apartment door by yourself and you know you are not supposed to open it for strangers but you let our neighbor in the other day while I was in the bathroom so I told you that from now on, you are only allowed to open the door for mommy or daddy unless it is a real emergency and that if anyone knocks at the door and we don't hear, you have to come tell us.  Without hesitation you said "Well, what if I am at Grandma and Papa's house and they are in the attic with Michael and there is glass up there and Max is at the door with a present for me.  Can I open the door then?"

I love you funny boy

xoxoxoxo

Stew Leonards

I remember going to Stew Leonard's in Connecticut as a kid and thinking it was the greatest place - there were free samples everywhere, the fruits and vegetables always looked so bright and fresh and I loved the layout which was more like a maze than a traditional row-by-row supermarket.  Also, there was plenty of entertainment there from the dancing Chiquita Banana to the mooing cow and other animated characters.

 A few years ago (looked it up and it really wasn't a few years, it was 12! yikes), they built a new Stew's in Yonkers and sometimes on Tuesdays, Jay takes the boys.  When we pass it on the highway, Ryan always recognizes the building and begs to go in.

 

When the boys go, they have always come back with tales of their adventure but I had yet to go with them.  We went yesterday and it was hilarious!!!  Both kids hopped on the cart until Ryan said "we only use this cart to get to the right one"

"What are you talking about, the right one?"  I asked and Ryan looked at me like I was a total dope.  "Mommy, we use the same cart every time.  The special one - OOOHHHH THERE IT IS!! Hurry Hurry" and off he jumped to get it.

The kids essentially have the store memorized and Ryan would tell me, "mommy, when you go around this corner you are not going to believe it.  There is a talking banana! (boat that makes noise, a flippy thing, etc).  With each station we came to, Ryan would press the button to activate the mechanical singing cow, boat whatever and Dylan would yell "me dillie press, me dillie press" until he got his turn.   I have never seen kids laugh so hard at the supermarket and I am so happy I had my camera in the diaper bag.

Ryan did ham it up a bit once he saw the camera but Dylan was laughing like that everytime and Ryan was pretty close.  As we were paying, Dylan started screaming about a train - that is nothing new as Dylan talks about trains ALL.THE.TIME. but I didn't know why he was talking about it.  Then I realized that there were tracks above my head and Dylan must have remembered it from last time since the train was all they way on the other end of the store.

As we walked out, Ryan asked Jay "Daddy how many ice creams do we get this time?" - we got one which Ryan was very disappointed about.  Little does he realize that you get a free ice cream for every $100 you spend so he had to share with Dylan this time, even though last time they each got their own.  I had a great time shopping with Jay and the boys and I hope I get to go with them again next time.  I may even have to get my own ice cream :-)

Sometimes......

it is really hard to leave the house in the morning.   Today was one of those days - I just wanted to play with the kids for longer. From the minute they woke up, they were both super cuddly and giggly, alternating between jumping on my bed and jumping on grandma.  Then Dylan decided to put on a "hat" and so did Ryan and the two of them were running around cracking up laughing.   The only way we could get a picture was to line them up for a race - of course, as soon as I said "ready, set", Dylan would take off running yelling "GO!!"

 I mean really, who would want to leave this and go to work??

Time to play the computer

There is a Thomas and Friends website on the computer and to say Dylan loves it would be an understatement.   If we stay over Grandma and Papa's house, Dylan will walk in to the computer room as soon as he wakes up and will get in the chair, try to turn the computer on and will say "es, es (Thomas)" until the site comes up.  He could watch the videos and play the games on the site for hours.  He makes Grandma print pages and pages of Thomas pictures and likes to go through and point to each train and name them.  Dylan has a fit when it is time to stop playing and often tries to run back to the room to climb in the chair himself and try to play more.   As a result, we have to try to remember to keep the door for the computer room closed.  Occasionally we forget.

This is how we found Dylan one day - typing away, trying to figure out how to get on the Thomas site, no doubt.   Guess he though the glasses might help him but he might have had better luck if he put them on the right way. 

New York Botanical Garden

Guest Blogger - Daddy (from January 5th)

Today, I got to join Ryan on his first school bus field trip - What a great way to kick off the New Year and get back in to the swing of things!  It was hard to say who was more excited about the trip - Ryan, me or Nicole.  It was pretty cool watching Ryan climb in to the school bus (I know, very cliche) - he looked like such a big kid.

Ryan's buddy for the day was Rowan and the two boys had a blast on the bus ride.  

Our destination was the Botanical Gardens, a place we often talked about visiting but never did.   There was a special train show at the Gardens that was ending the following week, so the trip was perfectly timed.  My instructions from Nicole for that morning were easy - bring gloves, a hat, and take lots and lots of pictures!  When we got off the bus, we were greeted by the tour guide and as she explained the plan for the day, Ryan said "Do you think I could go see some of the trains now?"

  As we walked through the park to get to the train exhibit, Ryan and his buddies were sure to stop by every pit stop just to check things out.  We were definitely lucky that the weather was great - it was one of the nicest days so far this winter.

The gardens were more impressive than I thought they would be - even during the offseason, there were still plenty of exhibits and activities for the class and other visitors.  This spot was one of our favorites because the "hungry little caterpillar" was one of the many bedtime books we would read to the boys and this critter looks just like him.

Before we were able to view the train display, the tour guide had us camp out by this Christmas tree to be sure that no kid would be left behind.  Of course this was the perfect opportunity to TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES.  As a group of some 20 -25 kids lined up, all the parents snapped photos like amateur paparazzi - clearly I wasn't the only one with instructions that morning.  It was great to stand there and watch all the kids laughing and just goofing around.

The indoor exhibit was unbelievable- the attention to detail in each display was really incredible. Perhaps the most impressive to the displays were the Statue of Liberty and the model of Ellis Island, - both are made of leaves, sticks and natural plants found on the grounds of the Botanical Gardens.

To say that the exhibit hall was crowded would be an understatement.  I tried to lead the way and act as crowd control so that the kids could get close to the action.  I am not sure if Ryan or I really knew what to expect from the gardens that day, but once we saw the trains and could hear their bells and whistles we felt right at home. 

Everything that was on display in the exhibit was all natural (with the exception of the trains of course).  If you look carefully, you can see a Subway car cross this bridge overhead as we made our way downtown.

With the help of Ryan pointing the way you can almost make out the Number 1 of the Thomas tank engine train.   Percy, Oliver, Mighty Mac, Emily, Gordon, Bulgy, and the other really useful engines did not make the trek from Sodor.

This picture alone all but guarantees that Nicole and I will be planning a trip next year with both boys.  Ryan was so excited throughout the day and would keep saying "I am having great havior"

What a Motley Crew...

The next picture is somewhat ridiculous however 1. Nicole picked the pictures she wanted me to write about, 2.  I took it because I had a picture quota to meet and 3.  I thought that this would be a bizarre family photo if we were all made out of cookies. 

p.s. Nicole does have a red purse that looks just like that one.

After the kids were all jazzed up from the train exhibit,  it was time to learn about plants and the differences between ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and something else - I am not sure and I was not paying attention.  The class was very interactive: each student was given a piece of each spice and was told to crush them using a regular mortar and pestle.

Finally, after a very full morning, it was time to head back to the bus and back to school.  It was a great day and I hope I get to go on another field trip soon.  As for writing on this blog, this may be my one and only guest blogger entry. I will leave the writing to Nicole.

How brothers should be....

On Saturday, we took the boys to a place called Leapin Lizards in Port Chester.   Aunt Carrie and Mom took Ryan last year and recently Ryan has been talking about it a lot.  Leapin Lizards is an indoor playground with tunnels, mazes, ball pits and other foam obstacles that the kids can run, climb, bounce and slide through.  It is hard to explain how big the place was but the picture below is about 1/3 of the size.

I knew Ryan would have a blast from the minute we walked in the door.  While we were registering and the kids were taking their shoes off, Dylan was screaming "Me Dillie go, me dillie go" but I was worried that he wouldn't be able to climb some of the things or would be too little.   Well, Dylan needed very little help and when he did, Ryan said "Mommy, don't worry.  I will help him" and help him he did.

For the next hour that we were there, the boys were practically inseparable.  Ryan followed Dylan.  Dylan followed Ryan.  And in the few times they were separated, Ryan would come out and search for Dylan and as soon as he found him would yell "there he is" and take off saying "Dillie, here I come".  At other times, Dylan would be looking for Ryan yelling "Ya Yi, Ya Yi".  (that's what he calls him).  Jay and I had the best time watching the two of them having the best time, not just because they loved playing there, but more because they loved playing there together.

I am amazed every day by the things that Dylan can do.  I remember thinking that Ryan did things that were not normal for his age - he was always wanting to play with the big kids at the park and tried to copy anything they did.  Dylan does the same with Ryan (hence the booboo on his chin) and is ridiculously strong and fearless.  The video below amazes me for two reasons: that Dylan could do what he did by himself and that Ryan waited for him, cheering him on the entire time.    

The kids spent a lot of time in the ball pit and of course, as soon as Ryan dove in head first, Dylan did the same.   They were both rolling around cracking up laughing and I was amazed that not once did they throw balls at each other ( I was sure one of them would end up crying)

We all had a great day at Leapin Lizards and it is quite possible that Jay and I had more fun than the kids.  I don't know if I ever saw them get along so well and it really was fantastic to watch them play together. As I stood there listening to them laugh, I just kept thinking "this is exactly how it should be - 2 boys, brothers, best friends forever"