Family Visit!

We went to visit TJ, Eileen and our niece Grace this weekend. Grace is about 6 weeks younger than Ryan (though they are about the same size!) and have only had a chance to hang out a few times over the past year. This was the best visit. They're both mobile and vocal so it was as entertaining for us to watch as I'm sure it was for them! They got along really well and spent some time wrestling and yelling at each other. If I can figure out how to steal TJs video uploads from facebook, I'll add those to the post. SO CUTE! In the meantime, enjoy some visuals.

The latest hair gel?

It seems our little Ryebread is picking up on the latest trend - all natural. Bailey was kind enough to use Rye's head as a napkin and the end result - hair gel! :) Who knew...

A lazy Saturday

Gotta love the weekends. We all stayed in PJs until around noon :) Ryan enjoyed some quality time with his favorite three-sided box. I don't think he realizes he can get out when he's in there. He always tries to climb out one of the tall sides.

He showed off his awesome walking skills. He can pick himself up to a standing position now without holding on to anything - which means he also now walks way more than he crawls. He's even gotten better with walking on the kitchen floor in non-grippy socks or PJs! Skills, I tell ya...

He's officially a ham when the camera is around. I think he gets that from his mother :)

The weather was nice enough today that Ryan got to enjoy the great outdoors for a change. The yard is too muddy (and he's still a little wobbly), so we hung out on the deck, but at least he got to take in the scenery and breath some fresh air!

Bathtime with Books!

Though we think Rye might have said daddy a few times (and meant it), I'm not convinced (or I'm in denial, whichever). I think his first word is going to be book. He has a ton of them, which means there is always one within reach. Whether it's time to go to bed and we're reading him a story, or he's hanging out in his room and pulls ten or so off of his bookshelf to browse through, or he's getting his diaper changes and needs to be distracted, or his taking a bath...taking a bath?! Yep. Ryebread even has a book for the bathtub and he LOVES it.

It's a book about colors and numbers - what could be better?

He gets so excited when he's done reading, he splashes all over the place!

Real Food Revolution!

It's official - no more jars for Ryebread! It was a combination of our desire to switch him to solids and his desire to not eat liquified sweet potatoes (who could blame him?). We've also cut out his evening bottle - which has eliminated the morning ritual of stripping him and his bed down (even the "super mega" diapers were no match for Rye's bladder!).

So the end result - messy meal times.

We had stuffed peppers the other night and Rye gobbled them up (well, what made it into his mouth, anyway). We haven't been able to get him to appreciate utensils, but all in due time, I'm sure.

The City of Brotherly Love

We took a trip to philly this weekend - the car show was in town and the boys had never seen the liberty bell (Rye is excused, but Nate went three decades without seeing it...tsk, tsk). Thank goodness we had nice weather - near 60 in February!

In true Ryan fashion, he was a champ. He did some walking around, hung out in the stroller, and took a few rides on Daddy's shoulders. All with a smile on his face! He even got to sit in a few cars - a Cooper Mini (for you, Uncle Mike!) and an Acura (where he slobbered on the steering wheel - oops!).

After several hours of car gazing, we headed over to the Liberty Bell. Ryan got to feel the wind in his hair for the first time this year on the way there. I'm glad the boys got to experience the Bell together - it's a pretty cool piece of history.

There will be blood...

Well we had our first (and second!) experience with blood yesterday. First, Ryan was getting his groove on at his table when he lost his footing (he was straddling Nate) and hit his mouth on the edge - split his gums a bit and he started bleeding. The good news, neither of us fainted and even better - Nate transformed into super dad and got a ice cube wrapped in a washcloth for Rye to suck on. All was well again.

Fast forward a couple hours. We had gone out to BJs and came home with a new toy for Rye - a cardboard box. Nate and Rye were using the box for a round of peek a boo and Rye got too close to the edge and got a paper cut on his nose. Bring on the blood again...

We decided that was enough excitement for one night. After that it was PJs, bottle and bedtime.

Our little man has his first battle wounds.

Ear Infections

If ear infections are the worst we have to deal with, I'll certainly take them. It doesn't make them any more fun, though. Between enticing Ryan with awful medicine and attacking him with the bulb syringe, it's no wonder he is so happy when we get to daycare.

"Finally people who will just let me play with toys and give me food!"