A Walk Around the Block

The weather here in Rhode Island is starting to consistently look and feel like SPRING! Yipppeeee!

Ryan wants to go outside ANY chance he can get. It's gotten tough to keep up with him though! He doesn't understand that he can't run into the street, and I'm having a hard time keeping up with him in my current "swollen" state, as Ric puts it.

So today, I lined up all the garbage cans, recycling barrels and lawn chairs to block Ryan's access from the back yard to the front. It looks a little silly now, but it's better than chasing him! :) I'll be sure to post pictures of the official "barricade" tomorrow.

But...there are times we venture into the front, and actually walk around the block! How do we do it? Well, holding his hand is pretty much out of the question because that doesn't last long. He just pulls away and changes directions on a whim whenever he sees a rock or stick on the ground. A friend from church recommended a harness that she found at Target. It looks like a little puppy backpack with a LONG tail!

Yep - we have a leash for this kid! Cruel? Maybe...but better safe than sorry I say! I don't really care about the strange looks I get from people, I know that my son is safe. (And when I get the chance, I'll be yelling at the neighbors to slow down while driving!) At least he's cute when he wears it! (Promise....pictures tomorrow!)

Doll Suicide...

...it was bound to happen. One of Ryan's dolls has had enough and decided to end it all!

We have a cat door that goes out to our garage - Ryan's newest "thing" is to see how many toys he can push through the door before we catch him. I walked in the other day and saw this.

It looked like one of his dolls had thrown himself out the door! Too funny! :)

Life when I was younger vs. now

I was telling Marni the other night about how much life for me (us) is different now compared to when I was younger and single. Life before consisted of getting ready at 9pm to go out and visit the clubs or play a gig and staying out to the early hours of the morning.

Now, we get ready at 9pm to call it a night, clean up a few things around the house and get to bed by 10pm with the intent of sleeping through the night. Ahhh...the circle of life!

What was it we talked about?

Ric and I had the RARE opportunity to go out to dinner tonight - WITHOUT Ryan! He stayed home and played with GiGi (that's what he calls my friend Mariann, his adopted grandmother.)

Once we were seated and ordered our meals, there was a strange awkward silence. We both looked at each other and laughed. We couldn't remember what we would talk about before we had Ryan! Has that ever happened to you?

We did enjoy the "down time." Once you have kids, there's really no such thing as "down time" anymore, is there?! :)

New England accent already?

Ryan sits himself down in his chair with a car, spelled C-A-R. As he's playing with it we hear...


Mom: What do you have there Ryan?

Ryan: Cah

Mom: What is it?

Ryan: Cah




Don't you just love this face? (Notice that the bucket isn't too far away!)

Bucket Head

For the longest time, Ryan didn't like anything on his head. He's always pulled off the winter hats and such that we put on him to go outside in the cold. But lately, he's fond of his bucket.

He'll put it on his head and walk around like it's "normal" to have a bucket on your head. Of course, he's very considerate too...he tries to get Ric and I to put it on our heads too.

By the way, he's sitting in the little red rocking chair that I had when I was little! (My mom held on to it until I had my own child!)

Overheard at breakfast...

Dad: Do you want toast for breakfast?

Ryan: Na

Dad: Do you want yogurt?

Ryan: Na

Dad: Do you want a million dollars?

Ryan: Na

Hmmm....I hope he's not speaking for all of us!

Who knew....

...that Red Vines are covered with RED DYE? Hmmm...for some reason I thought that the licorice was red through and through!











Take a look at Ryan's sock - of course he had to take his slimy red-dyed hands and put them all over EVERYTHING!


At least it was a great Photo - Op! :)

All this before 9 AM?

One of the reasons I wanted to put this blog together was to remember the moments that happen every day...that are too good to be true!

Ryan just started climbing up on things last week (March 23rd to be exact) and we've learned very quickly that we're in REAL trouble if we don't watch his every move! For instance...this is what happened today - all before 9:00 am!

After watching "Kid Songs" and having his jelly toast, it was time for sticky-boy to have a bath. Ric and I have started to S-P-E-L-L the word B-A-T-H because Ryan has a one track mind when it comes to getting in the tub! Once we sign or mention a bath, he makes a B-Line to the tub! Of course....not today! He's got to practice his climbing first!

He hoists himself up onto the ottoman, which I had conveniently left by the chest that also doubles as a table (dumb mommy!) and climbs right up on to the chest to explore what's usually out of reach!

"Look what I did mom!" Ryan smiles with his 'oh-so-proud' grin!

"Great," I think to myself, "just one more thing to watch out for!" (Of course I have to grab the camera to preserve this for posterity! Right?)

Once he decides to stand and start jumping around, it's time for some intervention. I scoop him up and head towards the tub. Thank goodness for a short attention span! Once he saw that running water, he forgot about climbing practice. (Or so I thought...)

I fill the tub, throw some toys in, and tell Ryan to follow me into his room so that we can strip him, get rid of the stinky diaper, and dunk him in the tub. Not wanting to wait, Ryan dives HEAD FIRST into the tub, WITH his PJ's still on, legs flailing in the air!

MOM TO THE RESCUE! The look on his face was priceless when I pulled him out, sputtering and coughing. "Why did you let me do that mom?" When of course, I didn't do a thing!

Anyway...we finally get down to business and have a bath. (I say WE because I usually get wet too!) Once he's done, I scoop him up in his towel and dry him off as much as I can. He doesn't like being dried off, he'd rather RUN through the house NAKED as fast as he can instead. He eventually dries off that way, doesn't he? So I let him go....

...and where does he go? You guessed it! Right up on to the ottoman, his little bum looking so cute as he climbs, and he sits down on the chest again - "I have to practice, mom, how am I going to get better at this if I don't?"

Well....not 10 seconds later, he decides to PEE all over the chest...with the same look on his face..."Why did you let me do that mom?" *sigh* Now where did I put that diaper? :)

All I can do is laugh, these experiences are priceless!

What took so long???

So I was thinking the other day that I needed to update our website with new pictures of Ryan. And then I had a "bright idea" - why not convert our website into a "blog?" Blogs are so easy to update and maintain...and with the little time we all have right now, that's the best way to keep up with everything!

Just like scrapbooking, I'm going to start from where we are right now. But, I'll include past happenings as well - before I forget them! :)

So here we are....welcome to our newly designed website! Yippeeee!