Thomas Live at the Fox

This past Saturday, June 27th, we went to see "Thomas Live, A Circus comes to Town" at the Fox in downtown Atlanta. Ryker was really nervous. He loves Thomas and trains in general, but real trains scare him. I think he thought we were going to ride on the Thomas train or that they were going to be close to him, but it is more of a theatrical show. I bought tickets way up in the balcony in case he didn't do well. It really worked out well for us. We had great seats, right in the center, it wasn't too crowded and Ryker was far enough away from the big trains so he was comfortable. When we got there we had to buy some Thomas stuff, of course they have it all out in the lobby as soon as you walk in. He wanted a Thomas watch, keychain and Thomas light up thing (which of course has broken now, 1 day later). We got him his "prizes" and proceeded to make our way to our seats. I noticed an elevator sign and knew our seats were way up, so we hopped on the elevator. It was really cool. It was an old-timey elevator, the kind where you have to manually open the door with the fence type door also covering. There was a very nice elderly man who was working the elevator. It was huge too. Ryker thought it was fun. The show was really great. He did really well sitting for 90 minutes, I was suprised. It was a very special event for us as a family to share together. We had a great time and it was good bonding for us. He is just so special, J and I want to be able to give him all the good memories we can and allow him to experience as much as we can afford. It was a great day!

Getting Smarter!!!

Ryker just amazes J and I. Everyday he has a new saying or a new way of doing things. Today he and I were snuggling on the sofa. He proceeded to tell me that I could have his blankie, pacifier and Thomas keychain. Then he said, "Mommy now you can have me!" It was the cutest thing. He cuddled up to me and gave me a hug and a kiss, my heart melted.

We have been doing really well with brushing teeth lately and he asked if he could spit, I guess he watches us, so he wanted to spit. J lifted him up and let him spit in the sink. After he spit he said, " that was disgusting". J and I cracked up!

We've been listening to country music lately and Ryker really enjoys it. His favorite song at the moment is She's Country by Jason Aldean. Everytime we get in the Tahoe he says, " I want to hear Country loud Mommy". I'll play it and then he wants to hear it over and over. He will sing sometimes, just the chorus. It goes, "She's Country, shoot, with her cowboy boots and her down home roots", but Ryker says, "Country, shoot, with cowboy boots and bad girl roots". It cracks us up.

He keeps us on our toes and he amazes us everyday. He is such a special child and Jason and I are so blessed that he is ours!

Catching up

2009 has been a busy year already! Ryker is doing great. He has an incredible vocabulary for a 2.5 year old. He shocks me and J everyday with his knowledge. One of his new phrase is, "I have an idea", then he will tell you what he wants to do. He likes to use this if he wakes up in the middle of the night and his idea is always, "wanna go downstairs and play?" He is also really into racing and playing hide-in-go-seek. He keeps J and I running around the house, which is good exercise, but can make you dizzy. He actually understands the concept of counting while playing hide-in-seek. He will lean against the wall and count to 10, then say, "ready or not here I come", it's adorable. The funny thing is if J or I count so Ryker can hide, he ends up just standing there looking at us, then he growls at you to "scare" you - too funny.

Ryker is beginning to learn how to share, and this is a hard lesson for him. Since he is not in daycare and he isn't around other kids everyday, when the opportunity arises where he has to share, he gets kind of upset. He is spending some time with Kellen at Mamina's house, which is usually where he gets upset when needing to share. We're working on it, but we still have a ways to go. He has a big heart, he just doesn't quite understand yet.

We haven't begun potty training yet, but we're close. We bought a Ryker potty a month or so ago and he was thrilled. He wanted to sit on it all the time for the first week, then he was over it. He is getting to the point where he tells us as soon as he pee-pees, etc., so we're going to start the training and hope he will be trained by summer. We'll keep you posted on his progress.

We are also about to move Ryker into his own Big Boy bed! He is getting a full size bed for his bedroom within the next weekend or two (compliments of Mamina and Papa) and we are really looking forward to this. I think this will be a great change for him and a big step towards being a big boy. Wow, I can't believe how fast time has gone by!

We took Ryker to the Yellow River Game Ranch recently to see all the animals. Mamina and Papa went with us. Ryker really enjoyed the animals, but he was kind of freaked out if they got close to him, especially the chickens and ducks. At the Game Ranch they have a bunny area where you can get into the fence and pet the bunnies. Ryker and I went in and I was expecting that he would like it. We were standing near the fence and a bunny came hopping over to Ryker. He started to freak out and turned to his Papa and said, " Papa help me! Help me!" Papa picked him up over the fence and Ryker was fine then. It was really funny but I wanted him to get over his fear, so we put him back in the bunny area with me. He finally got up enough nerve to pet one of the bunnies. I was so proud of him and he thought is was "really awesome".

Halloween

Last night was Halloween and Ryker had a great time! He was dressed up as a Train Engineer, and he looked adorable! He wasn't real excited about the hat or bandanna, but he got used to it after wearing it for a while. Mamina and Pa came over to go Trick-or-Treat with us, which was a lot of fun. We went to about 4 houses, then Ryker was done. He was scared of people in masks so we couldn't go to far. Mamina and Pa gave Ryker a little goodie bag and in the bag there was a pen that would light up when you hit the Pumpkin on the end of the pen. Ryker thought this was the coolest thing. When we went to our neighbors house to Trick-or-Treat, Ryker proceeded to walk in their house and show them his "pumpkin patch pen". They got a kick out of him. Jason, Lisa and Vince came over later and we let the boys play for a bit before we put them down for bed. We had a great time. Check out the pictures of our little Engineer.

Go DAWGS!!!!

This evening Ryker and I were sitting on our front porch having a snack. We have a GA Bulldog on our front porch, that Ryker likes to talk to and feed. He was trying to feed the cement Bulldog some french fries. Luckily I was able to stop him before he tried to wipe ketchup on the Bulldog, as this would not be too easy to get off. Anyway, he was "petting" the Bulldog when he decided to "ride" the Dawg. He said, "Look Mommy ride a horsey", then he said, "No ride a doggie." I grabbed the camera and this is what I got.....

He is the funniest kid! He keeps us laughing all the time.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch today with Jason, Lisa and Vince. Ryker was nervous when we first got there because he didn't like all the scary decorations, but he warmed up quickly. They had an area with a lot of little jumpy things (made for 2 kids) and it was perfect for Ryker and Vince. We bought tickets to the Jumpy Land and let them play for a while. They were jumping around and wrestling with each other, it was really cute! Then we went on a hunt for our pumpkin. We bought a really big pumpkin to carve and Ryker picked out 2 little pumpkins for himself. We probably let his pumpkins stay inside so he can play with them until Halloween. He really liked the pumpkin patch. He has really been into "punkins" this year so he had lots of fun checking out all the cool Halloween stuff.

On another note, last week was his 2 year doctor appointment. He did excellent and we didn't have to get any shots! He weighs 30 lbs even and is 36.5" tall. He is in the 70th percentile on weight and the 91st percentile in height. We have been concerned lately because he has not been eating well, but the doctor told us that he is growing well and on track with everything so not to worry, it's a 2 year old thing. When she was looking in Ryker's mouth she gave Ryker 2 of the wooden sticks to hold so he wouldn't grab hers and when she gave them to him and said, "Thank You". The doctor turned to me and said she had never had a 2 year old tell her Thank You without being told to do so. I was so proud!

Vacation and other new stuff

Sorry it has been such a long time since I have posted, but we have been so busy! We went on vacation the week of September 20th and we had a great time! Ryker is such a little water bug. He loved the pool and wanted to have his floaties on with no one holding him. He did very well with the floaties and he just swam around on his own. We were suprised at how well he swam on his own. As for the ocean - he loved it! Again he wanted to go into the ocean without anyone holding him. We did not put his floaties on him in the ocean, and we did hold on to his hands while in the ocean to keep him from getting hung up in the current. He thought the waves were fun and we spent a good amount of time in the ocean. The weather was beautiful and the ocean was crystal clear. There were some huge Jelly Fish, but they were few and far between and you could see them so it didn't deter our fun in the ocean. He also enjoyed playing in the sand, which he calls "playing sandals". He and Da and Papa made tunnels for his trains and spent time just digging in the sand. He also had a blast with Madison and Kellen. Madison is his buddy and she is really good with him. She swam with him and also helped make castles and tunnels in the sand. Kellen wasn't too keen on the pool or the beach, but he and Ryker played a lot inside with all the toys. We all had a great time at the beach!

After we got home from the beach we went straight to see the new baby in the family - Brennan Marie Lowe (Stephen and Stephanie's daughter). Ryker didn't want too much to do with her, but he did come over to her from time to time to show her the trains he was playing with. A couple days after our first visit with Brennan, Ryker and I went back to bring dinner and he was again not too interested, until we left. When we were saying goodbye Ryker looked over a Stephanie who was holding Brennan and he said, "come on baby Brennan". He wanted her to go home with us, it was really cute! Of course I asked him if he was ready for a baby sister and he said, "OK Mom", but he says OK Mom to almost everything. Don't get excited, there is no baby sister planned for the immediate future, but we'll see what happens down the road.

Once again Ryker is just excelling at everything. He loves to sing and he sings pretty darn good for a 2 year old. We sing in bed at night and he just sings anytime he feels like it, which I love. He also loves books. He got a lot of new books for his Birthday and we read about 6-7 books a night before he goes to bed. I think some of it is to keep from going to bed, but he is really into every book, so we keep reading. He is talking a lot more too. Just this morning I came down the stairs and he said, "Hi Mom, what's up?" - OMG my 2 year old is turning 12!! He is almost too smart for his own good. He likes to give "family hugs" which Jason and I love. He puts one arm around Jason and one around me and we have a "family hug". After we hug he pushes mine and Jason's faces together to make us kiss. He does this about 2 or 3 times and laughs. It's so cute and something we do almost every night. He is still into Thomas the Train, almost more so now than before. We bought him a new train yesterday (Gordon) and he was going crazy. We were in Wal-Mart and he was going, "Look, Gordon!" to everyone we passed. He is so funny and animated, it makes giving him gifts so much fun. Speaking of gifts, Aunt Tracy, Madison and Brett came over last weekend to give him his Birthday present. They gave him a deluxe box of Mr. Potato Head (it contains 3 potato heads of different sizes and all the accessories you can think of). When he opened it, he laid on the floor and cried for Thomas. We thought it was so funny. Of course after Madison started playing with the Potato Heads, he started to get into them and now he really likes them.

Monday we got out our Halloween decorations and put them in the foyer to make sure everything was working. Ryker really liked them and he kept saying, "Punkin, Punkin". He also likes this little "spooky tree" we got from the Hallmark store last year. It sings a little Halloween song, but he's still a little spooked by stuffed animals that move, so he won't touch the tree, but he likes to stand away from it and watch it sing and dance.

Each day he continues to make us laugh, fill our hearts with love and shocks us with new sayings and ideas. He is such a special little boy.