Summer is here!!!!

Summer may not officially start until June 20th but it sure felt like summer this past weekend. Temperatures reached into the high 90s and luckily for us, the park near our house decided to turn on the sprinklers early - Yippee!! We started our day Saturday at 5:30 in the morning when Ryan woke up and would not go back to sleep. By 8:00, it was already in the high 80s. I was desperate for ice coffee (and more sleep but I knew I wouldn't get that) so we went to Dunkin Donuts. I figured Ryan could play in the park while I sat and drank the coffee and woke up a bit. Little did I know that the park doesn't open until 9 so we sat in the shade, sang songs and played games until the man came to open the gate.

We were in the park for about an hour and were about to leave when the park worker turned on the sprinkler. Ryan only got a chance to go in the sprinkler once last summer:

(picture is from July 2007) and he couldn't even walk then so I was interested to see if he liked it now. He LOVED it. As soon as they turned it on, Ryan ran right over to the sprinkler and started running back and forth through the water. Only problem was, he was not wearing a bathing suit and had on his sneakers so I told him we would have to go home and change our clothes and shoes. Ryan threw a FIT!!! I had to carry him out of the park, while he screamed and kicked and I kept telling him we would come right back. As soon as we got home though, he ended up taking a nap so the sprinkler would have to wait. When Ryan woke up from his nap, we met Uncle Michael and Jasmine and had lunch at a street fair. Ryan even did a good job sharing!

After the street fair, Ryan and I went back to the park and he finally got his chance in the sprinkler.

I didn't know that it was possible to have a belly like that and still have your ribs show. I was too busy laughing to take too many pictures but we went back to the park Tuesday afternoon with Daddy and got some good ones then.

I am so glad that the nice weather is finally here and am excited for all of the fun things we get to do with Ryan this summer. I know that we are going to have a great summer and we hope you do too!!

Froggy

In Feb. of 2006, Jay and I got Ryan a big stuffed frog for Valentine's Day. Really, I convinced Jay that Ryan would love it so we should get it, but I really only wanted to buy because I had this picture in mind. Since then, Ryan has never once looked at it. Until last week. Ryan is now obsessed with the frog and has taken to dragging it all over the apartment, which probably led to froggy's injury.

The only way I could get Ryan to stop pulling the stuffing out of the frog and throwing it all over the living room was to tell him not to touch it because it was Froggy's booboo. I should have not been lazy and should have just sewn up the hole right then, but since Ryan would not let go of the frog and kept hugging it and kissing the hole, I decided the best "temporary" solution would be to try and band-aid it. I am not sure why I still have not sewn it yet, but it is probably because I am still lazy and because watching Ryan try to put on the band-aid is totally adorable.

For about a week, Ryan changed the frog's bandaid everyday and since I am running out of band-aids and have moved from the large ones to the ones that I think are meant for corns and blisters, I guess I better get sewing soon. Lucky for me (and my bandaid stash), Ryan seems to be losing interest in the frog again. Actually, that's a lie. Truthfully, Ryan hasn't lost interest but I have have been hiding frog each night because Ryan started throwing the frog over the crib rail at bed time and having a tantrum until I gave in and said froggy could sleep with him.

Our routine became: Ryan covered froggy, I covered Ryan and they both went to bed. Each night, after Ryan fell asleep, I would sneak in to take the frog out of the crib (and take pictures - yes, crazy. I know). When Ryan started calling for "boggy" in the morning instead of me, I started hiding the frog. If only stuffed frogs could get up and play with little boys at 5:30 in the morning....

20 months - Letter to Ryan

Dear Ryan,
The past 20 months have been so great - you make me and Daddy so happy everyday, and everyone else around you too. I was looking at some of the pictures I have taken of you over the past month (219 to be exact) and I can't believe what a big boy you are. Daddy and I still come in your room every night after you are asleep to look at you and make sure you are ok and we can't believe that soon you will not fit in that crib anymore, although I am not sure if it is because you are getting so tall or because you keep adding more stuffed animals to your bed buddy collection.
You have gotten much more talkative this month and you seem to really be trying to communicate to us what you want (usually Goldfish, a DVD - Elmo or Thomas, or "baby", the pacifier that I need to just throw away). A few new things you started saying this month: "Ha Ro" (hello), "I know" even though you don't use it the right way, Peka (peacock), turtle, Michael (instead of Cccch, which I think Michael might miss). You say all of them in the cutest way though, in this sing-song voice and they always make me smile.

On the food front, we discovered this month that you do like ice cream after all, but only Vanilla-based ice cream (just like me)

You also like Marino italian ices, although I think we should have started off with Lemon instead of Cherry.

Your favorite snack of all this month: "Pitchies". At first, we had no idea what you were asking for until you began leading us by the hand to the kitchen where you would point to the Goldfish box and make fish faces. Coincidentally, you also call Uncle Richie "Pitchie" which may have led to our confusion.

Lately, you have been getting up around 5:15 in the morning and start calling for me. As soon as I come and get you, you ask for Daddy too but he is usually already gone to work. Then I bring you in our room and beg you to lie down with me and go back to sleep. Sometimes you do. Other days, you try to pry my eyes open (literally) so you can show me your coloring book, finger-painted picture on daddy's "nightstand", bills, or anything else you can reach from the bed. Then something usually falls, you say "uh oh" and our day begins. I get you some milk and put on a video that you pick, you get out your chair (and bring it to the same spot every time) and you eat some Cheerios while I take the quickest shower possible while still getting clean.

I almost always find you just like this. Every so often though, the curtain will rip open mid-shower and after having a small heart attack thinking I am about to be killed by a robber who will then steal you, I realize that you are just coming in to make sure I scrub my feet and to show me what you found in my pocketbook. I then try to figure out how you got my bag off the table and unzipped. And for the record, in case I did not make it clear the other day, you can not have fruit snacks at 6 in the morning even if you bring them and your chair (which you brought when I told you we only eat sitting down) with you in to the bathroom while I am showering.....Ok, fine, I admit it, you did say "Peas?" so I gave in and let you eat them. I give in every time you say please. Hopefully I will get over that before you want a car. You do say please fairly frequently though, and I am proud of you for being so "polite", but when I say "now you say thank you", you are not supposed to say "welcome".

Your current loves this month: you love being tickled but not nearly as much as I love listening to you laugh while I tickle you. You love the movie Cars, your Best of Elmo DVD, and anything about Thomas the Tank Engine. You love making parades with your cars, especially on the arms of the couch and I love the way you move them around the edges.

Your favorite color is no longer blue: it is "lellow" - everything is now yellow. Your favorite hiding spot is behind the door in your room, and you peek out the crack of the door to see when we are coming. You hide there at least once a day. You love dancing/spinning and I really can't wait to see you dance at Erika and Richie's wedding next month.

You are really not good at sharing, especially food and your cars. Grandma told me the other day "When the kid borrowed Ryan's car at the park today, Ryan's veins were bulging out of his neck as he screamed 'back, back' at the kid". Your idea of sharing food is giving someone the piece you already have in your mouth instead of a new piece. This week, you do seem to be sharing food more and you even gave me a finger-nail size piece of tortilla chip the other day. Cars and toys, forget it. Let's work on that for next month, ok? Despite not wanting to share, you are the friendliest child I have ever met. You say hello to everyone we pass in the street, knock on the neighbors door everyday (without prompting from me) to say hello, and tell stories to anyone who might get in the elevator with us.

You will be 20 months old tomorrow and I am not sure why I am getting so sappy about it. I guess when I see you lately I realize you are more of a boy than a baby. But you know what, you will always be MY baby so please don't grow up too fast.

I love you always,

Mommy

Memorial Day 2008: Going to the Zoo

5 Things I learned on our trip to the zoo:

1. Ryan is still more impressed by the subway, which we took to get to the zoo, then he is with the animals at the zoo.
2. We are never going to get to the Children's Zoo. I am so excited for Ryan to see everything in the Children's Zoo since we loved it as kids, but Ryan is always asleep by the time we get there and misses it. Next time, we will have to go there first I guess.

3. Taking a toddler on the monorail may seem like fun, especially if your child loves trains. It is not. NOT. AT. ALL. Ryan would not sit still and hardly paid attention to the animals we passed.

4. It is possible to get matching shirts and hats for your ENTIRE family at the zoo. (thanks mom) Picture to follow So what if you will get beat up for wearing them all on the same day?

5. Ryan is almost 3 feet tall. He may not "measure up" to the lion in height, but his roar is almost as loud.

Yankees vs. Mariners (and Ryan vs. the Concession Stand)

The weather in New York was beautiful this weekend so we decided to take Ryan to the Yankees game with us on Sunday. I took him once last year and he was pretty good about sitting still and even took a nap for half of the game. Not this time. While I am glad that we took him, Ryan did not want to sit still, did not care AT ALL about the game, and was only interested in eating. When I say that Ryan literally ate throughout the whole game, I don't think that I am exaggerating that much. First, he ate some fruit salad that I brought with us. Then he ate some pretzel:

After that, he had some peanuts (which he had never eaten before) and if we let him, I think that he would have eaten the whole bag, shells and all. Then he ate some apples which he gave 2"Thumbs up":

Next, he ate some potato chips and after that, we went for a walk, mainly because it was only the 3rd inning at this point and I was concerned that we/the stadium would eventually run out of snacks for Ryan. We made friends with a nice lady at the concession stand and went there about 5 times over the next three innings to get Ryan ice (he now pronounces it eyesh). He loves ice!

During the game, Ryan also ate some ice cream, which I had to help him finish, a polly-o string cheese, and some fruit snacks. At least he got some exercise though when he participated in the wave with Uncle Michael and Jasmine:

Overall, it was a great day. They Yankees were losing 5-2 until the 8th inning when they scored 4 runs. Final Score: Yankees 6, Mariners 5, just as Jasmine predicted.

Memorial Day Weekend 2008 - Saturday

What a fun weekend!!! The weather was great all weekend so we spent a lot of time outside doing a lot of fun things. On Saturday, Jay and I took Ryan to Rye Playland with Omi and Poppy. I remember going to Rye Playland as a kid (it used to be a reward trip at the end of the year with school) and while I have not been there in years, I think that it is perfect for kids because they have a pretty big kiddie ride section. Ryan loved all of the rides we took him on and I still can't believe that none of them were scary for him. Some of the highlights of the day:

The first ride we went on was the carousel. Ryan has been on one before and loves them. He couldn't wait for his turn but started crying and screaming "off off" before the ride started. I think that he saw another ride across the way going really fast and got nervous, but as soon as the ride started, he was fine and cracked up laughing the whole time and waved to Jay every time we went by.


Next, Jay and Poppy took Ryan on the Ferris Wheel and Jay swore that he will not take Ryan on it again.


The ride started off ok and Ryan sat down once the ride started moving but because of the start-stop motion of the ride as people get on and off, Ryan wanted to keep standing up on the seat to see what was going on.

I think Jay probably held on to Ryan as tight as possible without physically hurting him so he would not fall out. As Omi and I watched them go by, we really couldn't see Ryan. Sometimes, we saw his little hand sticking up over the top, but I really had a good laugh when I saw this:

They were stopped at the time (about to get off), and Ryan was not as close to the door as he appears (which pushed in, not out and Jay was holding his arms)

After the ferris wheel, we played a few games and Jay was the hero when he won Ryan a prize:

Elmo has slept with Ryan every night since Saturday and Ryan brought him almost everywhere we went this weekend.

Omi took Ryan on the train which was probably his favorite ride since he is obsessed with trains.

My favorite part of the day though was the Demolition Derby ride. When we got on line, we didn't realize how fast the ride went and to describe it, it basically was pretty fast moving cars that seemed like they would collide and at the last second, you would veer apart from each other. Ryan laughed the whole time and loved the way we were getting jerked around.

The funniest part about the ride though is that adults are only allowed to ride in the back so only one of us could go and Jay was nice enough to let me go. As he was getting off the line, the lady behind us told Jay (yes told, not asked) to go on with her son because she had too many kids and not enough adults.

Ryan didn't understand why Jay was sitting with other kids and not us and kept screaming "Daddy daddy" until the ride started. (then he kept laughing)

I love this last picture of Ryan (on the Himalaya) but it made me sad a little bit too: He looks like such a big boy and while I had so much fun going on the rides with him, soon he won't need us to go with him anymore. I hope that he will still want to go on some with us because I sure do love a good roller coaster!

Are you sleeping or singing?

From almost the time Ryan was born, he has been "singing" himself to sleep. He used to do it any time he was falling asleep. Then he did it only in the car and when he was falling asleep for a nap. Now, he usually only does it in the car when he is tired. It makes me laugh every time and before Ryan stops doing it, I wanted to catch it on video. Finally, I got a chance to get it:

and to answer any questions: no, I was not driving while I took the video; yes, he is always that loud; yes Ryan did fall asleep soon after I turned the camera off; and yes, I am still laughing about it.