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.