Erika and Richie's wedding

After months of anticipation, Erika and Richie's wedding finally came and it was a perfect day. They could not have asked for better weather and the day went off without a hitch, except for maybe the excitement at hair and make-up place which ended with all of us getting our make up done for free (wonder who asked for that?). Erika looked absolutely beautiful and Richie so handsome and it was obvious to everyone how happy they are together.

While I was helping Erika get ready and taking pictures, Jay had the task of getting Ryan ready for his very important role as Ring Bearer. I felt bad that Jay would have to get Ryan in his tux alone while getting himself ready at the same time, but Ryan looked so adorable (and Jay very handsome)when they came downstairs that I started to cry (I cried pretty much the entire day, especially during my speech).

Ryan hardly fussed with his tuxedo and participated in pictures with the groomsmen much longer than I thought he would. I think that it definitely helped that he got to stay in between Uncle Michael and Richie most of the time - I guess logically, you would keep the three most handsome Bridal Party members together anyway, right?



I was very nervous about how Ryan would do in his function of ring bearer and I could not have been more proud of how good he was. For the ceremony, Ryan and I walked down the aisle together and I am happy to say that he did not throw the pillow or scream. He seemed a little bit nervous but man, did he look cute!!

When we got to the end of the aisle, Ryan sat with Jay and did not make a peep for the whole ceremony (so glad we had his pacifier) which was beautiful. Once Erika and Richie said their "I Do"s and were announced as husband and wife to all of our cheers, we took a few more pictures and then it was time for the party to begin!!

During cocktail hour, we had some time to relax in a private room with the rest of the party which was perfect because I worried Ryan would not eat much with so many distractions around him. Boy, was I wrong. He ate more than anyone else in the room and we discovered that he likes spanakopita - I think that Ryan ate 10 of them and sat down in a chair right next to where the server was standing so that he could take more whenever he wanted.

As soon as the reception began and the music started, Ryan could not wait to get on the dance floor, maybe to burn off all the food he ate, and he gave everyone quite the show

After his first act, everyone clapped which only encouraged him to continue. When he received no applause the second time, he clapped for himself until everyone joined in. When it was well past Ryan's bed time, we brought him upstairs to the babysitter so that we could continue to celebrate with the bride and groom and dance the night away. I guess we were having too much fun dancing though because I don't have any pictures of Jay and I dancing together. I do have plenty of favorites from the day though:

We had such a great time at the wedding and can't believe it is already over. Congratulations to Erika and Richie and wishing you a lifetime of love and happiness.

21 months - Letter to Ryan

Dear Ryan,

You continue to be more and more talkative and get funnier by the day. Here are some of your current favorite things/funny things you do (and some pictures that are totally unrelated but are thrown in just because you are cute):

Favorite bedtime song: Edelweiss, from the Sound of Music. I am not sure why/when I started singing this to you (some time in late May maybe) and every night you beg me to sing you "ice". As soon as I am finished, you say "none, none" and hold up one finger, meaning "one more time, please". "None" started because before I read you your last book before bedtime, I usually hold up one finger and say "Ryan one more book", and you would hold up one finger and say "two". Quite the little bargainer you are trying to become. Recently though, I guess knowing you are getting one more only, you say "none". Your other favorite song of the month: If your happy and you know it. Your favorite "happy" things to do are: clap your hands, give thumbs up, say hooray (which is everyone's favorite to hear/watch), and wiggle your arms.

Favorite Yankee: "Je-Ta". It is ok that you don't know your name, as long as you know that your favorite Yankee is Jeter, you are good to go. Now, we need to start working on the Jets chant. It is almost football season after all.

Favorite saying: "I dit" You want to do everything by yourself and don't want help and say "I dit" (i'll do it) to let me know that. You say it ALL THE TIME.

Favorite food of the month: Waffles with applesauce on them. Daddy says that the only reason you have them with applesauce is because I hate syrup and refuse to give it to you (or give you dry waffles) and I guess that is true. Sorry that I made you a waffle weirdo! You love them so much that one day grandma was over and didn't know what you were saying and you kept pointing to the oven (I cook them in there) and then the freezer until grandma figured it out.

On the not cute or funny front: As time goes on, you have gotten wilder and more daring. This month marked our first (and hopefully last) trip with you to the emergency room (June 11). It was 6:45 a.m. and you were standing on the toilet seat, playing with the light switch and pulled your arm away and fell when I tried to get you down. You banged your head on the back of the toilet paper holder and started crying immediately. I picked you up and was hugging you to calm you down and then realized there was blood all over the back of your head. I was trying VERY hard not to panic (was not successful) but you were so strong and brave, calmed down very quickly and began playing with your cars again within minutes, your hair still matted down with blood. When Elizabeth came, I told her what happened and told her you got a booboo and I started crying - you saw me crying and came over, gave me a hug and then pointed to the scab I still had on my foot from when I dropped a chair on it a month before and you said "Booboo", seemingly worried about me and not understanding how worried I was about you. I decided that we should go to the hospital, just to be on the safe side. The doctor cleaned out the cut and said that he didn't think you needed stitches, but did give me a pamphlet about what to watch out for after an infant head injury. #1 on the list: Drowsiness. Yeah, thanks Doc, now that you see my child is about to take a nap, let me know to watch out for drowsiness. So then, I spent the rest of the day at work calling Elizabeth every hour asking such valuable questions like " Does he seem normal?", "Is he breathing?" "Are his eyes tracking properly?" I am surprised that she didn't tell me to stop calling to ask such stupid questions (another reason I love Elizabeth) but each time I called, she told me that you were fine and your head wasn't bothering you at all. After work, Daddy and I met you and Elizabeth outside and after Elizabeth left, the three of us walked home together. When we got closer to your house, you asked to get out of the stroller so we let you get out to play since you spent most of the day inside taking it easy (well, that is what you were supposed to be doing). Of course, you had to run, not walk and despite my screaming at you to stop and walk, you kept laughing and running and eventually tripped and fell. As I was about to start crying again for the 100th time of the day that you were again hurt, I watched you get up, brush the dirt off your knees which were then all scraped up, heard you laugh, and off you were again, running down the path. You are 100% boy, so amazingly tough and fearless- Part of me feels that it is fantastic that you are so tough and not a cry-baby at all, but at other times it worries me because you are so daring and have no fear and I am afraid that you will keep getting hurt. I wonder sometimes if as time goes on and daddy and I have more experience being parents, if we will worry less about you getting hurt. I am pretty sure the answer is no and that the type of worrying will just change.

I love you forever and will worry always,

your mommy

Lucky Strike

Grandma, Grandpa, Jay, Jasmine, Michael, Ryan and I tried to go to the Botanical Gardens today. We got all the way to the Bronx before it started to rain so we decided instead to head to the Palisades Mall to go to the New Lucky Strike Bowling Alley there. It was a very cool place and it was also Ryan's first experience with bowling. In addition to the main bowling section, they also has a kids bowling area. For a dollar, you could bowl a full 10 frame game on a short lane (bumpers included although I didn't figure that out until the 5th frame) and the balls were a little bit bigger than balls you would use in Skeeball. Like all big kid things he does, Ryan loved it.

As soon as our game ran out, he tried to take the balls off another kid's lane and Grandma let him of course. He even tried to roll a regular bowling ball when we started playing

- too bad he doesn't understand "taking turns" -- guess we need to work on that along with sharing!!

Fridays

I love Fridays. Doesn't everyone? One of my favorite things about Fridays is that Ryan and Grandma walk me to the bus. I love having the extra few minutes with my mom and Ryan and I love seeing Ryan get so excited when the bus comes (and of course showing off how cute Ryan is to anyone on the street, at the bus stop, on the bus etc.). Of course, seeing Grandma chase Ryan down the street is pretty funny too.


Worst thing about Fridays: Getting on the bus - I mean, who wouldn't want to stay and play with these two all day?

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