The age of the ipod

While every parent knows their child will grow up more technologically savvy than they are, no parent expects them to begin before their second birthday! But, with the help of crazy Aunt Erin, Ryebread is already on his way to enjoying the wireless world.

Christmas!

This is Ryan's second Christmas - and now that he's almost two (eek!), he is able to enjoy the season much more than he did last year. He knows who Santa is and that only good boys and girls get gifts. Because he's been SO good this year, he got a lot of great gifts! Some of his favorites this year were a tool set (he tries to fix everything), a red wagon, and a big elmo book!Here are some highlights of the day.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow (and snow, and snow...)

SNOW! We've been living in Delaware for 3 1/2 years now and we FINALLY got a good snow storm. Daddy was bummed it didn't happen during the week (snow day!), but mommy was just thrilled it happened at all. Last year when it snowed, we tried taking Ryan outside but he was too cold and didn't want anything to do it with it. So we weren't sure how he'd react this year.

He seemed excited though - all day Saturday he'd look out the window and come running over and excitedly shout, "SNOW!" And as the snow kept piling up, we kept getting updates from Rye - "SNOW!" When all was said and done we got well over a foot of snow (somewhere between 13 and 17 inches, depending on which report you followed). Since it was too windy and snowy on Saturday during the storm, we thought it'd be best to wait until Sunday to venture out and enjoy the fluffy white stuff.

Ryan had a ball! He got nervous if he stepped off a path and into a deep part (it was nearly as tall as him!), but as long as he could see his feet, he was happy. He pushed his lawn mower around (though, clearly, there was no grass to cut) and even tried to help clear aways some of the snow from the sidewalk.

Bailey had a blast too! It was up to his chest in some areas of the yard, but he just frolicked around like a deer - leaping through the snow from one side of the yard to the other.

After all the fun, Rye and Mommy went inside to warm up and dry off and sip hot (warm) chocolate! It was the first time Ryebread ever had it and I don't think he was that impressed. He liked (loved) the marshmallows, but only drank about half of his cup of cocoa. All in all - the 2009 snowstorm was a great success at the Bachman house!

LEGOS!

Ryan, like any normal little boy, LOVES Legos! This makes daddy extra happy, because even though he's an adult, Daddy is still a little kid at heart and likes playing with Legos too. Fortunately, we had the biggest snow storm in over a decade this weekend! So since it was too cold, windy and snowy to head out on Saturday, it gave them the perfect opportunity to enjoy some time playing with Legos (and for Ryan to continue working on that smile...not so good today...haha).

The smile is improving

Ryan is getting better and better at the smile on command. He also is more and more interested in checking out his pictures immediately after we take them. Such a ham!

Crazy Kid Hair!

Most of the time, Ryebread's hair is nice and primped...nothing fancy, just combed straight, sometimes with a part. But every now and then after bath time, Daddy gets silly and spikes Ryan's hair as high as he can, which Rye finds hysterical.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The holiday season is in full swing, which means Christmas is right around the corner!!

A free Sunday afternoon with nothing to do meant it was a great opportunity to make some Ryebread friendly, Christmas-oriented crafts. So we opted for Christmas Trees! We made them out of sugar cones, icing and mini M&M's.

The good thing was, everything was edible, so we didn't have to worry about Rye accidentally putting something in his mouth that wasn't good for him. The bad thing was, once Rye realized the decorations were edible...he wasn't too into continuing the craft and was much more focused on chomping on the M&M's. Sigh...

Falling into Autumn

Ryebread LOVES being outside - but as the weather keeps getting colder, it gets more and more difficult to enjoy the great outdoors. We decided to enjoy it while we could, though, and spent some time the other night playing in the leaves. Daddy made a nice big pile for Ryan to jump into. At first he wasn't sure what to make of it and was a little nervous about going in so deep that he couldn't see his feet, but after Daddy showed him how much fun playing in the leaves could be, Ryan was hooked!

Daddy even let Rye bury him in a big pile of leaves, which Ryan thought was pretty silly.

Future Lawyer or CEO? You decide

Though we just had professional pictures taken of Ryebread, his school was doing portraits as well, so we thought we'd at least see how they turned out. Thank goodness we did! If nothing else, the pictures provide a good laugh. We've never seen such a serious face on such a little person.

Then he did his best "George Constanza" pose

Finally, a class shot. About three of the kids were screaming and most were beyond irritated. Ryan (on the right) was inching his way away from the group to go do some serious thinking. :)

Farewell to Aunt Sherry

In what seems like a cruel game of repetition, Ryebread attended his third funeral in the past year this weekend. This time for his strong, beautiful and loving great Aunt Sherry.

At 19 months old, Rye is not one to be quiet or sit still for very long. But he managed to join mommy and daddy for a moment of rememberance with Aunt Sherry aside her casket and bid her farewell in true Ryebread fashion - he blew her a kiss.

Below is a picture of Aunt Sherry and Ryan when he was barely one month old. As with the many other people in her life, Sherry loved Ryan completely and showered him with attention and praise whenever she could.

Though he may not remember her, he will know who she was and how much she cared for him.

"Smile" vs. "Say Cheese"

The effect of what can happen when you ask Ryebread to "smile."

The effect of what can happen when you ask him to "say cheese!"

Ryebread is a lion! Oh my!

Since Ryebread has his "roar" down perfectly to describe the sound of any ferocious animal (lions, bears, alligators...), we thought dressing him up as a lion would be perfect! First chance for his costume was the fall festival at GNB. When we first tried the outfit on him last night, he was running around, roaring and giggling, but this morning - he was just too tired to get excited for the picture. So here's what a subdued lion cub looks like.

Carving Pumpkins!

Rye is old enough this year to be an active participant in the carving of the pumpkin! Daddy decided to be very creative and carve Elmo into the pumpkin (he even gave him fangs!). Since Rye couldn't help with the carving, he offered his services in the form of scooping out the goo and picking out the pumpkin seeds so Mommy could roast them. Mmmm.

He was a little concerned about sticking his hand into the pumpkin at first, so we eased him into the process by letting him play with the "lid."

Eventually, armed with an ice cream scooper, he was elbow deep in pumpkin guts and loving every minute of it.

So much so, that he had pumpkin seeds everywhere! Including in his hair. Eww. :)

In the end, though, Daddy and Rye had an awesome Halloween Elmo pumpkin.

Movin' on up

Ryebread is growing and maturing at lightening speed, which is a good thing and a sad thing all in one. But with a little sister coming closer each day, we think it's important to begin some transitions sooner rather than later.

After an exciting day on a field trip, we decided to keep the excitement going by transitioning Rye from a crib into a toddler bed. We also got rid of the rocking chair and replaced it with big boy furniture! A table and chairs just for him to color and play with toys whenever he wants.

We're hoping these changes will make Ryan feel like his room is his own personal fun space.

Mommy and Daddy were a little nervous with the toddler bed - both for fear of falling out and for fear he wouldn't stay in when it was time for bed. But Rye has been a trooper. Only fell out once during the first night (and went right back to bed with very few tears) and has been very good about staying in when it's time for bed.

The first nap time on Saturday was the most trying. It took about an hour for him to finally lay down and go to sleep, but nap times on the weekends are never much fun to begin with - and already today's nap was much, much better.

A few pictures of Rye's big boy room - shared with pride and slight apprehension as our little peanut continues growing up right before our eyes.

PUNKINS!

The whole Bachman clan took the day off for Ryebread's first field trip. Destination - Milbourne Orchards. They have all sorts of fruit trees/patches - apple, peach, blueberry and raspberry. They have a petting farm with goats, pigs, cows and other four-legged friends and they do hay (straw) rides and bonfires and anything else related to autumn fun.

Our first stop was the hay ride. Rye actually did really well (he's usually not so keen on moving objects that don't have him strapped into a car seat) and was taking in the scenery, playing with the straw and at one point realized there was a really big tractor pulling us along (you'll see the look of surprise below).

Then it was onto the petting farm. Rye got to oink with some pigs and cluck with some hens and even got to pet a baby goat and feed some of the bigger goats. He had a blast with the animals and had a sound for every one of them.

Finally, we got to pick apples (Ryebread and Daddy searched out the biggest apples they could find) and pumpkins to take home. Although, Rye tried to snag one of the bigger pumpkins, it was a little to heavy.

All in all, it was a great first field trip.

Say Cheese!

Ryan's first "smile" on command...a little weak, but still cute.