Two year checkup

Disclaimer - This is going to be full of bragging about how big and smart Ryan is getting. If you are not a VIP member of the Ryan McDowell fan club there is no need to read further :)

Ryan had his 2 year checkup today. We dropped Reid off at daycare and Ryan got to have his first "special breakfast" with mom solo. I like to take the boys to McDonald's for pancakes on dr apopointment days, first days of school, etc. Ryan has joined Reid and I before but had never had his own special breakfast - he did really good!

The appointment went well. He told everyone that asked that he was "Two" with his little head nod. He had a bit of a tantrum when they tried to weigh him and see how tall he was but he soon got over that and had a great appointment.

The developmental questions that he knew were naming 4 animals (horse, dog, cat and bird) and a man (which he called daddy), 8 body parts, 2 to 3 word sentences and a few others. His three questions that he was unable to do were stack 8 blocks, jump with 2 feet, and put on clothing objects by himself. The doctor said that he was developmentally around 2 yrs, 7 months and is close to 3 years in language. He's really started talking a lot in the last month!

He read the dr a jungle book that he got yesterday from our daycare provider for his birthday. He knew the monkey, tiger, giraffe, elephant, bird, and animals. The dr commented that he must have read that book a lot and was surprised to hear that he just got it yesterday! He also took turns playing with his new helicopter toy that Grandma Linda got him - saying "your turn" and "Ryan's turn" over and over. The dr commented that this meant he was obviously not autistic.

Ryan was 29 lbs (50 - 75th %); 75th percentile in height (forget the inches - I'll edit and add later), and 50th % in head circumference. That's all the bragging I have for today. We're certainly proud of how much of a "big boy" he's becoming (and a bit sad too)... I'll post pics from his b-day party and 4th of July weekend soon as well!

Waste Not... Want Not

Ryan doesn't waste... but he does want another apple.

Russ took this picture last night of Ryan's apple (left) to show what he does to his apples. He refuses to bite them from the side - he starts at one end - top or bottom and just works his way down... core and all. I tried to grab some of the seeds but I have no idea where some of them went - but we have a pretty good guess. If we try to correct him or take the apple he just pulls back and says "My apple." "My" and "Mine" are his two favorite words!

Nana... Mess

This is a few months old but I couldn't figure out how to upload the video. Thanks Jack and Bella (ok, their mommy) for teaching me :)
I was busy cleaning one day and couldn't get Ryan to stay in the kitchen with his banana so I sat him on the island to eat it. I walked out to see that he had made a complete mess - so of course I hollered for Russ to grab the camera - he shot a great video of it... As you can see, his speech is really picking up - he can say nana, mess and NO. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyDKFaabFNk

Ryan in a dress

Can you tell I don't have a whole lot going on at what's left of my job right now :) I've been meaning to stick these pictures on here for a long time. Everyone always asks me where Ryan's blonde hair comes from and I've honestly never had an idea. WELL... Cheri is getting married in August and I've been scanning in pics of her and Jerry growing up for a video... and wouldn't you know - she looked exactly like Ryan. That's right - he doesn't look like her, she looks like him. Because I am convinced that she looked like a boy until late into grade school - sorry Cheri :) Anyway, attached are two pictures of Cheri from Aug. '77 and Sept. '77 (18 months old) and pics of Ryan from July '07 (12 months), Jan '08 and Feb '08 (18 months old) - don't they look alike?

These are Aunt Cheri...

And these are Ryan...

Mommy guilt

Most of my best friends know (cause most of my best friends are working moms)... that I struggle with that thing called "mommy guilt." You want a successful career but always second guess whether you're being a good mom. When you take time to do more with your family, you wonder if it's at the risk of your career. Yep, it's inevitable so you just balance life and deal with it. We all manage through it and we all have better days than others.

So, onto my story. The other night I had to help Reid fill out his evaluation for school. Here's how he responded.

1. What do you like best about school? everything

2. What do you like least about school? nothing

3. I wish my teacher ________lived with me_____

Yep, we have a true teacher's pet in the making :)

Then, daycare was closed today so I took Reid into school. As we walk in his classroom there is a large sign outside their class that they made for Mother's day. Each student wrote something nice about their mom. Reid said "I love her and I play with her a lot when she's not working."

Pictures attached - cause of course I had to capture that moment - after I called all my "working mom" friends laughing :)

Easter

It seems like every year it gets colder and colder on Easter. This Easter certainly didn't disappoint in that department. Russ was fighting a cold and decided to stay home while I took the boys up to Holton for the town Easter Egg Hunt and a hunt and egg coloring at Grandpa and Grandma Sharp's. Ryan cried during the town Easter Egg Hunt. His hands were cold and he didn't want to be there. Reid did great.
Later that day, we did a hunt at granpa and grandma's house and then colored some eggs. On Sunday morning the boys were delighted to find out that the Easter Bunny had visited and they got a little candy, a few toys and new lawn chairs that they loved.

... And more snow...

This has been like the never ending winter! I'm so sick of the cold, the snow and the viruses that seem to be plaguing our house this year :( Courtney came up for President's Day weekend so we could go wedding dress shopping with Cheri. The boys were excited to see her - Ryan now has down his version of how to say "courtney." Reid looked forward to her coming all week long. Her visit seemed short but we did get to take the boys to play at Monkey Business, a new indoor playground. Here are pictures of us letting the boys use their shovels from Grandma Cella outside... but don't be fooled - we didn't stay long. They did about 3 minutes of shoveling and we called it quits - it's just so darn cold and they just got over being sick... AGAIN!