Friday, April 30, 2010

Already Another Month Older!

Since Ryan turns 7 months in a couple days, I decided I better get this one taken care of...FAST!
Going back a couple months to March, when Ryan was 5 months old...
  • He was rolling all over the place.  He rolled from his back to his tummy right after turning 4 months old, so he had been getting better and better at it throughout his 5th month.
  • He learned how to escape from the Bumbo.  Then we tried the Bebe Pod.  That lasted like 2 whole days and he escaped from that too!  So we went on to something with a strap to hold his little booty in place!  Thanks for saving the day once again Auntie!
  • He was becoming eager to go places.  Once Ryan learned how much he enjoyed tummy time, he starting working right away to pull himself up onto all fours.  By the time he turned 5 months, he was able to tuck his little knees up under his tummy and was working on the arm strength to push himself up!
  • He started to enjoy spending time in the Johnny Jump Up.  Thankfully, it was able to occupy him the day I was decorating Kayden's Spiderman cake.  He hung out, played, and jumped his little heart out while I worked.
  • He discovered his feet.  He's really not interested in putting his toes in his mouth (either that or he can't because his little chubby legs won't allow it), but once in a while he'll play with them and pull off his socks.
  • He learned to work his vibrating car seat pull toys.  And once he got it, he didn't let go.  He would pull it over and over and over.  It was so great to watch the excitement in his eyes as he realized what he was doing!  Priceless!  (He's 4 1/2 months in this video.)
  • He started to show great interest in food.  I decided not to officially start Ryan on solids until he was 6 months old.  But this kid LOVES food and gets rather beside himself when there's any in sight.  So up until that "official" day, I just fed him tastes of things here and there.  There really wasn't anything he'd turn down.
  • I love my Mum Mums!
  • He started to show a great attachment to his Mommy.  He began to get very excited to see me come into sight and started to lean out of someone's arms to come to me.  He also started reaching his little hands out to touch my face and try to get my glasses!
Then six months rolled around...
  • He decided he was going to get the hang of the whole crawling thing!  Just after turning 5 months old, Ryan was scooting himself around the floor.  Most often he scooted backwards, making himself very frustrated when trying to get something just out of reach in front of him!  By the end of the first week in March (he was just over 5 months old), he finally got up on all fours and was rocking forward and back.  At this point he was able to get to the toys he so badly wanted by lunging forward and then getting back up on all fours until he made success!  He worked so hard and his persistance paid off.  On April 2 (the day he turned 6 months), he was crawling!  He is one extremely happy, crawling baby these days!
  • He learned to sit up.  This came right along with the crawling.  Within a couple weeks of learning these new skills, he could go from crawling to sitting and back to crawling again.
  • He loves bath time with the big kids.  Putting a baby in the bath with older siblings could potentially be a nerve racking experience.  So, I probably wouldn't do it under normal cicumstances.  However, we have made this a multi-purpose seat, and it works wonders!  He loves to splash and kick his little legs in the water.  He doesn't even cry when Tyler splashes water in his eyes or Allison pours a waterfall over his little head!

And a few more cute pictures because I just can't resist...
This was a facial expression he practiced for a couple days.   It cracked me up, and I'm glad I snapped a picture of it since it was so short lived!

And here's the laughing video I promised to fix.  He's 4 1/2 months in this one also.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Feeling Behind

I'm behind on posts. At least 10 of them. All for the purpose of journaling and documenting what's going on in our lives. When I get overwhelmed thinking about how many posts I need to catch up on, I type up all the cute things I've heard Tyler and Allison say. It somehow makes me feel better. So here's the latest...

Quotes by Allison:
"Mommy, can you fix me some dinner? My tummy has a headache!"

"Quit playing with my hair. It's not a toyeeeee!"

Conversations with Tyler:

While discussing Easter...
Me: Tyler, what if it's raining on Easter? The Easter Bunny might not be able to deliver our baskets.
Tyler: Well, he can just wear a rain coat.
Me: But then all our goodies will get wet.
Tyler: No they won't! The Easter Bunny wraps them up in plastic. Like that other time, renember?!
(Yes, he does say 'renember.' I think it's adorable.)

One day when Tyler was outside with Pawpaw, who's smoking a cigarette....

Tyler: Pawpaw! You shouldn't smoke. It's bad for your heart!
Some time passes and Pawpaw lights another cigarette.
Tyler(pointing his finger): Pawpaw! Now I'm really mad! I need you to stop smoking! I told you smoking is bad for your heart! I'm tired of asking you to stop!

And then later after Tyler had asked Pawpaw 100+ questions about all his tools and equipment...

Pawpaw: You're wearing me out, son.
Tyler: Why?
Pawpaw: Because you're asking so many questions.
Tyler: I have to ask a lot of questions because I don't know what any of this stuff is!

Friday, April 2, 2010

Half a Year!

So unbelievable. Ryan is 6 months old today!

We are headed out of town this weekend, so his official post will have to wait until I get back. And I'll have to double up again since I totally missed his 5 month post. How does a month go by so quickly?!
AND I realized that my You Tube video didn't even work (I chose the wrong settings). Why didn't anyone tell me??? Anyway, I'll take care of that when I get back too.
Here are a couple more pictures of Ryan taken after his nap today. He's such a happy boy!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

What's Better than 100 Percent?

According to Tyler, 90-100-90-100% is!
Here's a couple ways he's used his new phrase this week:

Me: Tyler, do you like the Apple Cinnamon Cheerios I bought?
Tyler: Yes! I 90-100-90-100% LOVE 'em!

Daddy: Tyler, did you have a good day?
Tyler: 90-100-90-100% YES!

Monday, March 29, 2010

Yet Another Cake

My nephew, Kayden, is obsessed with Spiderman. Therefore, it was no surprise that he wanted a Spiderman cake for his birthday party. Vanessa wanted the reduced sugar chocolate cake and cream cheese frosting again, and requested a smaller cake so there would be minimal leftovers.
This is what I came up with. I was very pleased with how it turned out, especially since I was trying a new technique with the design on this cake. Kayden LOVED it!

I was going to put a link to the other cakes I've made (assuming those who haven't already seen them would be interested in the first place), but then I happened to think that if you want to see them you can just click "cakes" on the list of labels below. The only cake I haven't posted a picture of is the one I made for my brother-in-law's 30th birthday party. It was my first attempt using fondant, and didn't turn out just as I had envisioned. And this is totally random, but speaking of fondant, did you know that the Cadbury Creme Eggs are filled with a creamy fondant?

It's a Girl Thing

Since I have been blessed with both boys and a girl, I am able to see on a dialy basis how differently they play. Play time is so magical for a child. When I think back to when I was a child, some of my most vivid memories are about my playtime. Children learn through their play and it's so important for their developmental growth. I just love to watch my children play, and in doing so I've noticed a few things about each gender.
Things I've noticed about how boys play:
  • they never tire of pretending to be vicious creatures (mostly T-Rex around our house)
  • any and everything can be raced like a car (sound effects are ALWAYS included)
  • taking things apart is intriguing (super glue has become my best friend)
  • they tirelessly climb, jump, run, tackle, crash, and roll around the clock

Things I've noticed about how girls play:

  • they live by make-believe and fairytales (dreams really do come true you know)
  • there is no such thing as too many purses, too much jewelry, or more than enough dolls (and all the accessories to go with them)
  • playing dress-up and accessorizing is a daily necessity (and everything MUST coordinate)
  • they sing, dance, skip, twirl, and admire themselves in the mirror all throughout the day

I'm sure you're wondering what my point to this post is. So I apologize for getting a bit off track. One of the cutest things Allison does when she plays is fill and store things in bags and containers of all sorts. When I saw her collection of items she had been working on last night and today, I just had to document it.

Of course she has an endless supply of purses that she fills with make-up, jewelry, and other little trinkets...


But she also fills buckets...


baskets...


Ziploc bags...


cups and bowls...


even old party favor bags...


Then she neatly lines it all up to admire her work.

SO cute to me. It's like a little window into a piece of her brain!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Happy St. Patrick's Day

...from my little leprechauns!


Isn't that the cutest little leprechaun face you've ever seen?!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Tholkes for the fun St. Patrick's Day box of goodies!