Category: Ryan

First Pair of Crocs and Sandals

Post author By A Mama's Blog
Post date April 4, 2007
3 Comments on First Pair of Crocs and Sandals

I love Crocs! I bought my first pair a few years ago, and I would wear them all the time if I could. They are so comfortable. They were the only pair of shoes I could wear towards the end of my pregnancy with Cole, when my feet started to swell.

I have wanted to get Ryan a pair since last year, but his feet were too small, and at that time the smallest size kid Crocs that was made was size 8/9. Now they the smallest size is 4/5, but I knew Ryan would be able to wear a pair this spring. He likes trying mine on, and in the summer, when Joe has his pair out, he likes to wear Dad’s Crocs.

Last week Ryan had gone about 4 days, of not having any potty accidents, and was doing so well, with stopping what he was doing, to go potty. I told him for a special treat, we would go pick out his first pair of Crocs.

He was really excited, and the store we went to, didn’t have the color I wanted for him- sea blue. We tried on a navy pair, and Ryan said he didn’t like that color. I asked him what color he liked, and after looking around, he took a fuchsia pink pair off the rack.

As much as we try to not do the boy and girl stereotypes, I was not going to let him run around in a pair of hot pink shoes all summer. So I told him that color was more for girls, and asked him if he liked a different color. He then picked out lime green ones, and that was that. Here are a couple of pictures of him showing off his new shoes.

He really likes them, and can put them on, and take them off himself. He likes wearing them around the house too.

Not to be left out, we tried a pair of the 4/5 size on Cole, but they just fell off his foot. He is too little for them yet, but next year, he will have his first pair of Crocs too. I did order him these soft-soled sandals from Shoo Shoos, since he is probably just weeks away from walking, and will need something to protect his little feet this summer. He wore them for the first time out yesterday, and did really well with them. He even got a compliment on how cute they looked. (I forgot to take a picture of Cole in his sandals, but I am sure I’ll have lots of pictures of him in the near future with them on.) So now my little boys are all set for their summer shoes. 🙂

Parenting Ryan School

Preschool

After procrastinating for a few months on enrolling Ryan in preschool, I finally mailed off his enrollment forms for him to attend a preschool for their fall and winter schedule.

The place we decided on, isn’t a “typical” preschool. It is on a farm, just outside our city limits. It is actually just one street over in the country from where Joe’s parents live-you can see their house from the school. The school is a working farm with just about every animal you can imagine. When we took a tour, a goat just had a kid (the night before) and Ryan got to hold it. The children help on the farm with the animals and various other chores.

There is a “schoolhouse” which is a converted chicken house. There are only 8 children in each class with one teacher, and an assistant, so the ratio is 4:1, which is nice. They do have some of the structured activities, like sitting in a circle for stories, and doing arts and crafts which correspond to events happening on the farm. But most of the time is spent outdoors, experiencing the farm, which in itself is a unique experience, which will teach Ryan about nature, science, biology, botany, weather, and the circle-of-life.

Ryan will be going for a half day session, one day a week, and I have to say that I am excited for him to start, but a little sad as well. This really means my “baby” really isn’t a baby anymore, but a little boy. The other day he told me he wanted to go to school on a yellow school bus, and in my heart I know it is time for him to start venturing out in the world away from me, in his own little way. It feels like we have reached a milestone, but one of those good milestones, where I know he is really ready to go, and I know the timing is right for him (but it still a little bittersweet for me!)

The school allows parents to stay during the session as long as they want (or as long as the child needs you to stay), but I have a feeling when the times come, Ryan will be fine.

We really like the idea of Ryan being able to be around a working farm, animals, and other children. We feel that he is progressing very well with the “basics” like his ABC’s, counting, and he is starting to recognize words and memorize stories. He is even starting to sound out some words, on his own.

The socialization is very important to us, and I think this experience will get him used to being around other children, help him learn about working in a group, being in a school structure, while most important- still having fun.

A big bonus too, is one of his friends for sure, (a boy, 1 month younger than him) will also be going during the same time, and another one of his friends (a girl, 6 months younger) may be in the same session as well, so it will be great he will already have a friend or two whom he knows, and he will hopefully be able to build on those friendships, and make new ones.

I am excited for Ryan, and know he will love it. I can’t wait to hear him tell me about his day on the farm, when he starts attending.

Activities Cole Parenting Ryan

Sunshine at Last

The weather is finally warming up around here, and it has been SO nice. Last week we met a friend, her daughter is six months younger than Ryan, and her son is two months older than Cole, for a walk and picnic at a park. Ryan and H. had a lot of fun running around and playing in the warm weather, and we enjoyed the sunshine as well.

We have discovered that Cole doesn’t like the grass. Every time we try to put him on it, he cries, and gets a really freaked out look on his face. So I have resorted to putting him in a cardboard box, so he can be outside too. He won’t crawl off of it.

Today he sat in his box, while Ryan played, and I went in and out of the house, doing laundry. I managed to snap this picture of him in the box- 🙂

A few minutes later it dawned on me that I could put his exerciser out, and he really liked that. I heard Ryan singing to him, after Cole had been outside for about 10 minutes, and I walked by the door and saw this:

That really touched my heart. Sometimes it seems like all I do all day is tell Ryan, “no,” and “be nice to Cole.” It was nice to see that Ryan can be sweet to Cole as well, and makes me wonder how many other tender moments like this I have missed seeing.

In other news, we are really busy, trying to figure out what kind of car we want, and then we have to narrow it down and go do some test drives.

We finally got our taxes done yesterday (doing a happy dance,) AND we get a pretty good refund back. (doing another happy dance.) BUT now we will probably end up spending it on the replacement car- (no more happy dances.)

I also have a lot of work, from my job that I am trying to organize, so if I don’t blog that much this week, that is why, or else I am trying to enjoy the nice weather while it lasts.

Family & Friends Parenting Ryan

Goin’ To Grandma’s

Well, it was bound to happen- my little Ryan got a taste for spending the night at Grandma’s, and is no longer satisfied sleeping at home- he wants to spend the night at Grandma’s now-in his words, “I need to stay all night and all day at Grandma’s-Mom, Dad, and Baby Cole need to go home.”

He really wanted to spend the night on Wednesday night, but that didn’t work out for Grandma, so we decided on tonight, and since Wednesday, Ryan has been continually asking, “Is it Friday night?” Today was the day, and at breakfast he told me, “I am going to spend the night with Grandma tonight.” He just knew- then he proceeded to ask if his cousins were going to be there. When I told him no, he got a BIG smile on his face- (sorry cousins). I asked him if he got more attention from Grandma when he was there all by himself, and with another big grin he said, “Oh yeah!” I guess he knows a good thing when he has it. 🙂

I insisted he take a nap before Grandma came to get him this afternoon. He wants to sleep on the couch for his naps, and he doesn’t get up- surprisingly, he falls right asleep. But today he couldn’t fall asleep- (I wonder why?) He finally got up to use the potty and called me down for a wipe. After we were done he said, “I am going to go sleep in my nest.” I just said “ok,” because I wasn’t too sure what he was talking about.

He climbed back on the couch, and sat up, with his head leaning up against the couch, and put blankets all around his feet and torso. “I’m in my nest, Mommy, just like Big Bird.” Ahh… He looked pretty uncomfortable, and I asked him if he wanted to lie down in his nest, and he told me no. So I went back upstairs, and let him fall asleep in his nest.

Finally, it was time to get up, and Grandma came. She had a big surprise for Ryan, and he was just thrilled beyond words- here is a picture of it- (of course Cole had to get in on the action too)

Grandma bought Ryan his very own suitcase! He kept telling us to hurry and pack him up. Joe transferred his stuff from an Old Navy bag into his suitcase, and he was out the door, no looking back, like a world traveler.

I couldn’t help but think one day he really will be out the door, not just for a night at Grandma’s, but for good. It makes me sad to think about that now, and I hope when the time comes it will be easier to contemplate, but somehow I doubt it.

When are we really ready to ever let our children out the door for good? They can leave our house, into their own world, but I have a feeling their presence will never be gone, and I will not be able to wait until they “come back home,” for a visit, whether it is for a few hours, or a weekend, etc.

I think that is one of the astonishing things about children- they change your lives so completely and inside out- and once they do, you can never imagine, nor do you want to, your life without them. It is never the same again, and it is comforting to know that is how it is supposed to be.

Activities Cole Family & Friends Parenting Ryan Work

Vacation (again) / Open House / Work

Post author By A Mama's Blog
Post date March 12, 2007
3 Comments on Vacation (again) / Open House / Work

Joe is on vacation again, having to use up some time before he looses it. I don’t know how we missed all these days- it sure would have been nice to have had some extra time after Cole was born, but it is a nice and surprising break.

If I don’t get to blog much this week, that is why. 🙂After having a few rough nights with Cole, Joe took Ryan out this morning, and Cole and I took a long nap. He has gotten 4 front teeth this weekend, and has been miserable. He slept about 3 hours total yesterday, so he is just wiped out! He had a fever this morning, but just woke up from a nap, and seems like he is feeling better, so I hope tonight is better.

We all slept in on Sunday. We almost went to the zoo, and after asking Ryan what he wanted to do, he kept saying he wanted to go see Grandma (Joe’s mom). We aim to please, so we went out there for lunch, but Grandma wasn’t home. Grandpa was, and while Ryan was eating lunch, he kept looking out the window to see if she was coming home.

After lunch, Ryan and Grandpa, went outside and started messing around- Grandpa let Ryan sit in his truck and “drive,” so Joe and I took Cole on a long walk on a walking trail.

When we got back, Cole had fallen asleep, and Ryan was crashed out on the couch, so we hung out for a while. Grandma came home, so Ryan got to see her, and sit on her lap. Then we went and got pizza. It was a fun and relaxing day.

I like this “vacation at home,” it is fun not to have to be in the regular routine. I read in the paper that a local restaurant that we like is having a free entree night, so we are going to go get some yummy free noodle / rice bowls tonight. Can’t beat that!

We do have to do our taxes this week, but with Turbo Tax, we are optimistic it won’t be too “taxing” (pardon the pun), and then we are going to do some work on seeing what kind of mortgage we qualify for, etc.

We have needed a bigger place since Ryan was born, but for various reasons (maybe a future post?) we have stuck around in our current place- but now are getting really serious about moving.

We went to a few open houses on Saturday in a neighborhood we are now 99% sure we want to live in, and there was a house that we fell in love with. It would be ideal for us, so we are going to finish our taxes and then proceed with seeing if this will work out.

We want to keep our current house (it is a duplex) for retirement income, so it gets kind of intimidating thinking about having two mortgages, but we have done some work with paying down the mortgage over the last few years, so we have been working towards this, but it is exciting, fun, and a little nerve-wracking to finally be at this point.

We don’t want to get to excited yet, but it is nice to know that we have at least decided on a neighborhood, and if this house we like sells, there will be another one. We are in a good position in that we don’t have to sell our house- we can just sit and wait for something that we really want, and then go for it. It seems like it always works out this way though- when you aren’t totally ready, that is when you find something you like, so all we can do is just go from here.

Finally, after not having an outside (paying) job since February 2005, I start my first day tomorrow, at a very, very, part time job. It is bookkeeping for a mom that just moved back to our area who has her own sling / baby carrier business. It will be a few hours, every other week for now, but that is just perfect for me. It is very flexible so that is big plus, and I will be able to come in whenever it works for me, including weekends, so this is a great chance for me to get some mental stimulation, (not that the boys don’t stimulate me, but I mean some business stimulation), take a small step back into the working world, while still being able to keep the ideals that are very important to Joe and I with raising our children.

Joe will be able to stay with the boys if I go in on the weekends, or I can leave them for the few hours with their Grandma. I am excited, and eventually I would like to continue to build my bookkeeping business, but for now, this is a step in that direction.