Look Who's 1 Month Old!

Tyler turned 1 month old last week! I can't believe it has been one month already! He has fit into our family seamlessly. Tyler is a wonderful baby! He has such a laid back and sweet demeanor. He loves to cuddle on your chest, which is one of my favorite things! I still cannot tell if he looks like Ryan. He has certain expressions that remind me exactly of Ryan but he is definitely his own little person.

Look Who's 2!

Ryan had great fun on his 2nd birthday! The day of his birthday we celebrated by going to Choo Choo Johnny's restaurant. The restaurant is train themed. The meals are delivered by train and there are model trains throughout the restaurant. There is an extensive model train, running through a city and mountains, that the kids can start and stop by pushing a big red button. Ryan seemed to have the time of his life. It was so much fun watching his excitement. We sat by the motorized train, which was a big mistake! He wouldn't get off the ride! When the train delivering our food came by for the first time, Ryan yelled, "Come back train!" He has never been more vocal in public than he was at the restaurant.

Here is the train delivering Ryan's birthday ice cream...


Ryan riding the train and pointing out all the other trains in the restaurant...


We had a family birthday party on Saturday night with a firetruck theme. Again, he had the time of his life. He couldn't stop jumping up and down! We feel blessed to be able to surround Ryan with such loving people.

Halloween 2010

We had a fun Halloween season this year. We took Ryan to a pumpkin or monkin (as Ryan would say it) patch while Tyler stayed home with Nana and Boppa. He had a terrific time. We rode on a hayrack ride, train, jumped on the huge air pillow, and picked out pumpkins for the family. It was a beautiful day and it was great to spend some one on one time with Ryan since the previous 2 weeks were so busy with a new Tyler to the home.





We also had lots of fun on Halloween! Ryan was Grover for Halloween and he did not like wearing the costume. We have been working for weeks to get him to wear his costume. Luckily, on the day of Halloween he was excited to wear Grover and even wanted to give him a kiss. We made Ryan's costume and it turned out cute but many people thought we was Cookie Monster...I was so disappointed. It was the eyes on the costume that made it seem like Cookie Monster. Tyler was our little skeleton. My girlfriend, Kim, sent us her Bert and Ernie costumes that Marc and I wore during trick-or-treating. We were quite the group! Ryan didn't quite grasp the trick-or-treating concept but he had a great time handing out candy at the house. I don't think he realized that every house was handing out candy because when he saw kids across the street, he would yell out "Candy here!" It was so much fun to see the joy in him!

Our New Addition

We welcomed Tyler Jackson O'Neal into our family on Saturday October 9th! He has been a pleasant baby! He has been sleeping well...so well, in fact, that I have to set an alarm to wake us up to feed him at night. Tyler has survived his first week at home with his big brother. Ryan is an excellent big brother. He was shocked for the first hour we were all home but warmed up quickly. Now, he cannot keep his hands and kisses off Tyler. Ryan wants to sit in the car seat or chair with (or on) Tyler, he is constantly kissing Tyler's head or hands or feet and he wants to help with everything from changing diapers to carrying the baby to comforting the baby.

Baby Tyler...


An excited big brother Ryan...


All my boys...

My Muscle Man with Listening Ears

One of the attributes I love about Ryan is that he is so independent. He wants to do everything and I mean everything on his own. Lately though we have had a little trouble listening to what needs to be done and what is asked of us. We have been working on "turning on" our listening ears. The way it works is that I look Ryan in the eyes and ask him to turn on his listening ears. He proceeds to place his fingertips on his forehead or face and tell me his listening ears are on. I can then give him his directions and he will immediately do what is asked of him. I'm not sure how he found the button on his face to turn on his listening ears but I hope it continues working for a long time to come.


Ryan has also learned to show us his muscles. I'm pretty sure he learned this one from daddy :)

Rock the Block!

We had our block party this past weekend. It was themed Rock the Block! We had a great time, especially Ryan! Our block party is a big deal...we have a visit from the fire department, inflatables, crafts, bike decorating with a parade, a DJ, a talent show, food and drinks. Ryan participated in all of the above. Here are some pictures from our afternoon...
Climbing in the fire engine...


Jumping in the inflatable...


Bike decorating with balloons...


Dancing in the talent show to Rockin' in the USA...

"Ig Tractors" (Big tractors)

This past weekend we went to the Quad Cities for the Bix Festival. While we were there we had the chance to visit the John Deere Tractor Museum. The museum lets everyone climb in the tractors. Ryan had a blast! He ran from tractor to tractor and kept saying "Ig tractors" (translated - big tractors). I had more that one person stop me and say they had never seen a boy so excited. Here are some pictures of our trip to the tractor museum.