Chanticleer Garden

Cousins

Corina kept putting the washcloth on Ryan's head and he kept taking it off. Lots of fun:)
Ryan and Corina playing in her crib before bed.

Our niece, Corina, had her 2nd birthday party on Sunday. We went down to Baltimore on Saturday. We met some friends for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (YUMMY!) in the Inner Harbor and walked around for a little bit. Then we went to Matt's brother's house and hung out with them. Matt's sister came in from Boston too. We had some delicious (though very expensive at $69/doz) crabs. Then Corina's party was Sunday. We hung out before the party, then drove home after the party. On Monday we had a relaxing day at home and then dinner over at my grandparents house. Overall, a great weekend!

Daddy Time

It seems that Ryan doesn't always get a lot of Daddy Time, but Matt had 6 days off in a row, so they got to spend a lot of time together which both of them enjoyed.

Mowing and stuff

Ryan's great aunt Cathy got him this cool bubble mower. He loves pushing it around the yard.
This reminded me of a person feeding a baby animal for some reason.
Don't know what Ryan was doing with his arm in this picture, but I thought it was cute.
Ryan was helping me push Daddy in the hammock.
Ryan LOVES splashing in water, unfortunately to include Sasha's water bowl...

A boy and his dog

Ryan and Sasha have so much fun playing together. They both do a good job of being gentle too. We have told Ryan that he needs to be "nice" when he pets Sasha, so he will pet her and say "niy" (rhymes with hi). He will do the same thing to me - pet my hair and say "niy". Very cute. Anyway, I was glad to catch this on video. It might sound like Ryan is unhappy, but really he is laughing hysterically, and my mom and I are laughing in the background. The video isn't as good as it is in person, but it is pretty cute:)

Ryan at 15 months

Ryan turned 15 months on May 9th. We went to the doctor for his well-baby appointment on the 12th. He weighs 20 lbs 5.5oz, still a skinny guy at about the 5% and 31 1/4 inches, which is between the 25-50%. He got 3 shots and the doctor said he is done with shots for a few years now, phew!

Ryan is walking around everywhere. He is learning to run, which is funny to watch:) He says lots of different things, though I am not sure how understandable he is to those that aren't around him all the time. He says - Mama, Dada, Dog, Ball, More, No, Pop, and a few others that I can't think of off the top of my head. We swear sometimes that he can say aligator, but it is ok if you don't believe me:) He is a very cheerful boy most of the time, though he is working on a few teeth right now, so he is grumpy sometimes. He is a great sleeper most of the time, though he wouldn't nap to save my life yesterday. He did sleep till 9:45 two different mornings last week. He loves to be outside. He is starting to throw temper tantrums sometimes when he doesn't get what he wants, which I think is TOTALLY overrated (and I know it is only going to get worse). We tried putting his food on a plate a few times today (instead of right on the highchair tray) and were amazed that he didn't try to throw the plate. We have been trying to work on a fork a little bit, but he mostly likes to hold the fork and eat with his hands. Oh well, in due time. Basically, Ryan is doing great and I am loving being a mom (even when Ryan wants his Grammy more than he wants me, which is pretty much anytime she is home).

We were so busy for a few weeks with trips here and there, that it has felt pretty uneventful to just hang out at home lately. We don't have any trips planned, but do hope to get some visits to friends scheduled soon:)

Dirt

Ryan playing with his friend Ryan in our backyard.

Painting with Grammy

Grammy has this really cool paper that I can paint with water on and it turns a pretty darker version of the paper. Then it dries and we get to do it all over again - I love it!

I know a lot of my clothes are still too big, but come on Mom...

At first Ryan thought it was kind of fun to wear my sweatshirt, but then he changed his mind...

Playing in the dirt with Grammy

Emptying the toy bin

Ryan felt the need to throw almost every toy out of his toy bin in search of the perfect toy to play with... You can see one of his cars in mid-air by his leg.

"If I tilt the toy bin over, I can reach into it while I sit down. I think I will throw some more toys out..."

Outside

You may notice that most of the pictures of Ryan lately have been taken outside. He wants to be outside, ALL the time. He loves sticks, dandelions and mulch. Hopefully the weather will keep getting nicer so we can enjoy the time outside. We will need to check out more of the local parks too.

Matt's news

After months of waiting, the paperwork has finally gone through for Matt to be in the Atlantic City Air National Guard F-16 unit! He was offered the job back in October, but as is standard with the goverment, it seemed as though there was one delay after another in getting everything processed. So, now he just has to go get sworn in. Initially he was told he would need to wear his Service Dress for this, which was not a good thing to hear because it is in the storage unit with the rest of our household goods (picture a 4 bedroom house jammed into a little storage unit). It was going to be next to impossible to find. Luckily they told him he can just wear a suit since he is technically a civilian right now. So, eventually he will be off to a TX course to get retrained in flying the F-16 which will be 3 or 4 months long. No idea when that will be or where, but needless to say, Matt is THRILLED at the prospect of flying "pointy jets" again!