Monkey See, Monkey Do

Ryan is a huge help around the house. Actually, if he starts to become a little unruly and you ask him to help with a project, his attitude changes tremendously for the better. He wants to help with whatever project Marc is working on. I thought I would post some pictures of Marc and Ryan working around the house recently.

Working on the basement...


Mowing the "yawn"...


Vacuuming the house...

"Dang gone it" 7 months old

Here is Ryan at dinner last night after spilling somepin' on his shirt. He said "Dang gone it, somepin on my shirt" without any prompting. I had to get him to repeat it on camera because it was so funny. He has a look of hesitation on the video, as if he shouldn't be saying the phrase.


Tyler is now 7 months old. He is such a happy baby, full of smiles. We are still working on the sleeping thing. He will take 2 short naps a day...well, short by my standards, only 1 1/2 hours long. He still wakes up in the night but it is a quick visit. He has his two bottom teeth and is in the process of getting the two top teeth. At this time he grinds his teeth together, which is like nails on a chalkboard to me. When Tyler is upset, Ryan soothes him by singing the ABC's. When Ryan starts singing, Tyler calms down immediately. Ryan continues to be a fantastic big brother. It has been fun to see the boys interacting with one another more and more each day.

7 Month Picture:

Easter

We had a great Easter weekend! Yesterday we dyed eggs. This year we chose to dye eggs in the bathtub to reduce the mess in the kitchen. It worked great! Ryan had fun coloring the eggs. Grandpa Bill came for the day on Sunday. We all went to church, had an Easter egg hunt, ate a big meal and played outside (the sun was finally out!). The Easter bunny left Ryan a scavenger hunt to find his eggs. He had to follow the clues inside each egg to lead him to the next egg. His Easter basket was waiting for him at the end! It was fun and relaxing weekend!

Dying eggs...


Easter egg hunt...We lost Ryan's hot wheels truck last weekend and he kept telling us the Easter bunny would bring him a new one. The Easter bunny heard his requests as he found a truck in this egg.


Boys with their Easter baskets and Ryan's new big wheel...


Ryan (saying "Cheeeeeese") and Tyler, who is always smiling...

Super Nanny

Last weekend we took a trip to Kansas to visit my grandma, aka Nanny to me and Super Nanny to Ryan. It was her 92nd birthday and my family all gets together to celebrate. We drove our NEW VAN 10 hours to Kansas on Thursday, spent Friday and Saturday there and came home Sunday. Yes, I said NEW VAN! As a side note, we bought a new Honda Odyssey about a month ago. I love it! Anyways, the boys were great travelers! We had a great visit with my grandma and saw alot of family. My grandma met Tyler for the first time. I think she really enjoyed hanging out with the boys. It was nice to get another 4 generation picture with my grandma, my dad, me and my boys. We were also able to hang out with my cousin and her kids. Hannah is 3 and Grant is 2 weeks younger than Tyler. The kids had lots of fun playing together. Here are some pics from our weekend...

Super Nanny with me, Tyler and Ryan...Ryan is saying, "Cheeeeeese!"


Hannah, Grant, Ryan and Tyler...


Four Generations...

It is almost impossible to get Ryan and Tyler (and my grandma) looking at the camera at the same time :)

Tyler is 4 Months Old

I can't believe Tyler is already 4 months old. His personality is really starting to shine. He now weighs 14 pounds 11 ounces. He smiles and laughs all the time. Tyler loves his brother...he is constantly turning his head to watch Ryan (or else he is protecting himself and making sure nothing is flying at him). Ryan has been helping Tyler learn to roll over. Ryan saw me practicing this movement with Tyler and a couple days later I heard Ryan cheering, "Yeah, Tyler rolled over!" from the other room. Come to find out, Ryan had helped Tyler roll over, which means he pushed him from his back to his tummy!

Tyler's likes:
-people
-Ryan
-looking at himself in the mirror
-sitting up (in the bumbo seat)
-sleeping and lying on his belly

Tyler's dislikes:
-loud noises (hard to avoid in the house with Ryan)

Tyler, protecting himself :)

Blizzard 2011

The 3rd largest blizzard recorded in Chicago came roaring through this week. I think we got somewhere around 20 inches of snow! Both of the clinics that Marc and I work for were shut down so we had a snow day! Marc worked really hard cleaning off our driveway and sidewalks. All of the neighbors were outside helping one another because it was difficult to clear your driveway by yourself. Marc then spent the rest of the day building a snow fort. The fort has 2 entrances - the entrance that you see in the pictures and one at the end of a 8 foot tunnel on the right. I was comissioned to make a flag for the fort. Unfortunately, Ryan was sick so he could not play outside nor did he want to play outside. At the end of the day he asked to put on his snow pants and go outside so we were able to get a few pictures.

Marc snowblowing the sidewalk...


Marc with his fort...


The ROLOMOTO fort flag...


Ryan with the snow...


Playing in the snow fort...

My Boys

Just thought I would share some recent videos of my boys. We have been having alot of fun as of late. We are all healthy...Tyler is very alert and happy as he interacts with everyone, especially his brother...and Ryan seems to grow everyday as he continues to learn new words and use full sentences.

Tyler is 3 1/2 months old now. He is such a patient and happy boy. I had to lay down the law and do some sleep training with him last week. He was only sleeping for short 30minute naps during the day and sometimes waking up every couple hours at night. I like my sleep and my boys need to like their sleep too. It is never fun to let him cry but we worked for one week on a schedule and by day 4 he was sleeping for 1 1/2 or 2 hours twice a day for his naps, getting up once a night and sleeping in until 7am without any crying! He is now sleeping much better and he is even happier and practicing his words, smiles and giggles whenever he is awake! It is so much fun to see his face light up when he catches us looking at him. Here is a short clip of Tyler this morning talking to me...


Ryan is always full of energy but I wouldn't have it any other way! He continues to amaze us with his vocabulary and sentences. Some of my favorite Ryan phrases are, "No thank you please," "Mommy/Daddy doin'?" and he uses the word 'no' in place of 'don't,' such as "No get me," when he and Marc are chasing one another around the house. He has nothing but love for his brother and always wants to be near Tyler. "Where go Tyler go?" is his first question when he wakes up every morning and after his nap. Tyler must be facing Ryan at every meal time and if not we hear, "Can't see Tyler!" or "Tyler can't see me!" When we go somewhere at night in the car, he wants the light on in the van so he can see Tyler. One of our favorite recent pasttimes is dancing to a CD given to Ryan by our friends the Larsons. There is a song on it called 'Silly Dance Contest,' which is his favorite. Here is a clip of Ryan (and me!) dancing to the Silly Dance Contest...


My boys, yes all 3 of them, like to play ball - any kind of ball - in the house...football, baseball, tennis, basketball. Here is a clip of the boys playing football, even Tyler :)