Cheeseheads

Now that Ry is talking up a storm, it looks like I'm going to be on here every 5 minutes posting what he says. I'm sure most of what he blurts out is only cute to me, but I just want to write it down for posterity.

So I just put him to bed. Phil has been away and I told Ry that when he wakes up tomorrow, Daddy will be back. He said, "Mommy, I want to go on a business trip with my Daddy. We'll go to Madison Wisconsin together."

Breaking News On The Walking Front

This is short, but you'll get the point. Cole is walking! Well, walking while holding onto something, but walking.

The best part of this short clip just may be Ry's helmet cameo. I'm entertained by the fact that he's walking around wearing a helmet inside. I also think it's funny that he just has to be involved in everything at all times. Wonder where he gets that from?!

No Big Deal

We had swim class #2 tonight. I had been reminding Ry nightly that swim day was coming up. When I would mention his class, he'd say "No big deal to dunk my head...no big deal Mommy." (Obvious translation alert: He doesn't like to dunk his head under the water, so we tell him it's not a big deal).

When we got to the pool, Ry ran up to his teacher and said "Look Mommy, it's Rebecca!" He was seriously gazing up at her with this tender love and affection. Ry is officially in love with Rebecca.

So they did the same old same old. Kick, jump, splash, dunk. At the end, I asked Ry what he thought of everything. He said "Mommy, I was scared when I dunked my head. But it's no big deal."

His interpretation seemed pretty logical to me!

When Did Ry Grow Up?

So yes, I did concede and allow Ry to wear the shirt with a muscle-bearing man saying "Call A Vet Because These Puppies Are Sick!"

It's during these moments that I pause to reflect on the fact that (a) I'm not always going to win, (b) It's just a school picture, and (c) My husband is a little off his rocker for purchasing said shirt in the first place.

Moral of the story, his school pic came back and all worked out in the end. It turns out that sitting by a babbling brook and a pussy willow tree brings out the best in an almost-3-year-old!

I think it's very high school graduation...he just needs to be holding a rose and/or fake diploma to truly look the part.

What's The Big Whoop?

I had a new show on Thursday with Whoopi Goldberg. She was a lot of fun to work with and the best part...everything sold out!!

Pool Party

Ry had his first swimming class tonight. It was a hit! The cute moments were as follows:

• His teacher went to each kid (there were 5 of them) and introduced herself. Her name is Becca. Ry gasped and said "My mommy's name is Rebecca!"
• She asked "What's your name?" and he said "R-Y-A-N"
• When Becca left Ry and went to meet the other kids, she had a little shadow. Ry followed her around the pool deck the rest of the time and was gazing up at her with adoration in his eyes. I think he was very impressed that she had the same name as Mom
• He did great in the pool...they kicked, pushed off, jumped in from the deck, floated on their backs, and dunked under the water

One thing we need to work on...when we got back to the locker room we had to walk past the showers. He kept saying (very loudly), "What are all those ladies dooooin'?!?" I had to teach him the first lesson of locker rooms -- keep your eyes to yourself and don't worry about what other people are up to!

Hair You Go

I learned a very valuable lesson with one of Ry's previous haircuts...use scissors only! Ry got his hair cut last week at a shmancy kid's salon where he sat on a motorcycle and watched a Thomas DVD during his cut. Needless to say, after I saw the price tag I cancelled Cole's appointment and recruited Dad for the job.

So today was Cole's turn...after a few tears and a lot of wrestling, we came out with this. He looks like a little man!

I tried my best to get a picture of the 2 of them together. Unfortunately, Squirmy Baby + Restless Toddler = I'll take what I can get. Ry pics to come later, here is Cole:

Giggle

Score: Ry 1, Mom 0

Today is picture day at school. My vision was matching plaid Polo shirts (ala the vest theme of 2007). I know this is ridiculous and nerdy, but I figured I would try to do cute things like this while they're too young to protest.

It is now clear to me that the days of not protesting are over. Ry INSISTED on wearing the new shirt that he bought with Dad yesterday. And when I say insisted -- those of you with a stubborn toddler knows what that entails!

For the record, Cole looked adorable in his plaid Polo shirt. He even let me slick down his hair and clean his face (unlike his brother, of course).

Stay tuned for the results!!

Little Rascal

Cole is trying hard to keep up with his big bro. He's a tiny troublemaker, but is always smiling so we can never be upset with him!

Saturday Morning Antics

Aesop Jr.

One of my new favorite things to do with Ry is make up stories. It's sort of our own version of Mad-Libs...I tell a story and stop every now and then for him to fill in the blank. It's a fascinating way of watching his mind work!! Here was one of our stories tonight (it went on and on and on...these are just some parts I remember):

Once upon a time there was a little boy named LIGHTNING MCQUEEN. He was walking down the street and ran into his favorite friend, A ZEBRA. They decided to go for a walk together, so they went to THE SHOE STORE. When they were at the shoe store they saw 3 SOCKS.

After shopping at the shoe store they were starving, so they went out for lunch. Lightning McQueen ate CHEEZ-ITS and Zebra ate THE SOCKS.

When they ate all their lunch, they went TO THE CIRCLE STORE (that's what Ry calls Target). The first thing they saw was LOTS AND LOTS OF CLOTHES. They bought some clothes -- Lightning McQueen got a shirt with LIGHTNING MCQUEEN ON IT and Zebra got a shirt with A ZEBRA ON IT.

They were tired so they went home and CLIMBED A TREE AND WENT TO BED.

passed.out

I was in the middle of talking with Ry today...I turned my head for a second and when I looked back I saw this. I guess he needed a longer nap!

Phil's Old House

Bob Villa has nothing on Phil Kerper. He had the week off and has been feverishly working on updating the kitchen and upstairs bathroom.

To add to the suspense, here are the "befores". Stay tuned for the dramatic and breathtaking after shots.

Ode To Cole...A Haiku

The teething baby
Needs Orajel and kisses
Why not born with teeth?????????????????

Splish Splash They Were Takin' A Bath

I Caaaaan't Beeeeeelieve Yoooooou!

I'm Hit!!!!

(In Maniacal Tone): Muah ha ha!!!

Bath

Morning Thoughts With Ry

Mom: What do you want to wear today Ry?
Ry: Einsteins shirt! (A shirt with Leo on it, a charcater from the cartoon Little Einsteins)
Mom: Great, we've got a mission! (They say that on the show) What should our mission be?
Ry: To party!

Random

Applause, please

Ah, the little things. So Cole is now clapping, which is really cute. I know, this is big BIG excitement! Here's a quick video with some apologies in advance:
1. The shaking is me clapping so he'll imitate me
2. He get so pumped up about the event that he pukes at the end. Sorry about that.

More Pancakes Please

Ry thinks that the higher his voice goes the more likely we are to do something for him...

Mysterio Predicts...Your Baby Will Eat Manhattan

Our good friends Sue & Dave and Melissa & Jim also had babies last year. Melissa bought everyone these Mysterio shirts for everyone -- the concept is you buy the shirt and it comes sealed. You open it and Mysterio tells you what your baby is going to be when he/she grows up.

They all wore them around the same age (a few months I think)...which one of these things is not like the other?!

Morning

This is one of those mornings that I arrive at work and take a deep breath and say...thank goodness I'm here.

Phil works 3 12-hour shifts a week. This is wonderful because it means that he's home with the boys 4 days out of the week. The downside of this is on the days he works, he leaves the house at 5:30 am and doesn't get home until 8:30 pm (because he works in Philly).

This means that Mom is on duty 24/7...essentially 2 full time jobs (at least that's how it feels :-). I know it sounds like I'm complaining...really I'm not...I'm just venting. Mostly because of my morning:

• Wake up at 6:30 am and look at the clock. I usually wake up at 5:30. Must not have set the alarm correctly and now I'm guaranteed to have a bad hair day
• Lie in bed for a minute going through my closet in my head. Hear Cole stirring in my crib which means he's not making it to his usual 7 am wakeup call
• Throw on some clothes and brush my teeth. Hair in ponytail
• Get Cole up and go into Ry's room. He opens his eyes and starts crying
• In the car on the way to school, Ry's granola bar breaks in half and this launches him into a total panic and is crying & screaming "Mommy fix it!!!!" Have to pull over and explain to him I cannot put the granola bar back together
• Pull into school. Get Ry out of the car and put him on the sidewalk. Apparently the Granola Bar Incident of 2008 was still on his mind and he throws himself on the ground for tantrum (#1)
• It rained this morning so said tantrum occured inside a puddle
• When I went to put Ry on the sidewalk, I dropped the bag with their daycare stuff so there are bottles and baby food rolling around the ground. One went under a car and I'm on my hands & knees fishing it out (remember it rained...I'm wearing cute jeans...they're now soaked)
• Get Cole out of car. Ry refuses to stand up and walk so I'm forced to do a time-out in the parking lot. This begins a tantrum (#2)
• Finally get him inside and throw him in a chair in the lobby for another time-out. I bring Cole to his classroom and leave Ry there. Parents dropping off their kids are giving him the look of (a) I'm so glad that's not my kid and (b) What mother would just leave a hysterical child to cry alone in the daycare lobby?!
• Finally scoop him up and bring to classroom. His pants are soaked (please refer back to tantrum #1) so I have to replace them. Apparently I haven't updated his extra clothes in awhile and need to squeeze him into pants that are 2 sizes too small. This doesn't fly and he launches into tantrum (#3)
• Get him into a chair for breakfast. Teacher puts a muffin and peaches in front of him. The little bugger looks up at me and says "Ry Ry's happy now."

Need I say more?

Where Does The Time Go?!

I was looking for something on my computer today and found a bunch of old Ry pics...these are from right before we moved into the new house so they're just about a year old. It's so crazy how quickly things change!

New Baby

Liz & George had their baby...George III was born on New Years Eve!

Family Reunion

4 years ago we were very sad to say goodbye to our cousins Patty, Steve, Lissy & Nelly when they moved to Florida. Phil grew up with about 500 cousins within a 1-block radius, so it's been hard to have some people move away. Also, we used to spend Christmas Day at their house and haven't felt the same about the holidays since they left.

The girls came up to visit and everyone got together today for a post-Christmas / pre-New Years extravaganza. We learned...

• Adrienne is majoring in nursing. Following in her big cuz's footsteps?
• Lorraine can go to the bathroom without getting stuck inside (last time we were at Karen's house she had "an incident")
• Ry can be sick all day and not eat anything but still manage to get down a huge slice of cake
• You need to make sure your Will & Testament are up to date when crossing Grant & the Boulevard
• And most importantly...the Brogans are thinking about moving back in 2 years! It's a Christmas miracle!

Whoa, Check It Out!

That's pretty much what Ry said with every present he opened on Christmas morning. We've decided to light candles on Hannukah and save the present opening for Christmas...this was the first year Ry has really understood what was happening so it was fun to watch.

We had a great weekend visiting different friends and family. Going from place to place can sometimes seem chaotic, but looking back on the past few days we feel very lucky to have shared the season with everyone! We've started some new traditions (you feeding us next year on Christmas Eve Langans? :-) and kept up with some old ones.

It's sad to look at our beautiful tree and know the holiday season is over, but we're excited for new beginnings in 2008!

Cousins Party

We went to Grammy and Poppy's house on Sunday to hang with all of the Aunts, Uncles, and cousins. After a delicious holiday feast of pizza and cheesesteaks, we retired to the Living Room for present opening. It was a madhouse of wrapping paper and ribbon, and when the dust settled Ry had new puzzles, Cole had paper in his mouth, and Aunt Lori had a new bottle of vodka. A good time had by all.

It Started Out So Well

Our holiday card was a quick shoot. We lured Ry to the chair with promises of chocolate...Cole of course is always smiling so he was easy...and poor Sam just sat there and prayed for it to be over. The first shots were great...then it was all down hill from there.

Cole Is Crawling (Sort Of)

He's been trying for weeks and we think the time has finally come. Up until now the usual routine has been:
(1) Get into sitting position
(2) Get onto hands & knees
(3) Rock back and forth for a little bit
(4) Cry because he realizes he's not going anywhere
(5) Back to sitting position

This plan has sometimes backfired i.e. the other night when he was found in his crib sitting up with his thumb in his mouth (fast asleep).

We think he's crossed the threshold...time to hide the valuables!

Thursday

Bec threw a Holiday Party at our home for all the QVC TV Sales Managers. For some reason when I got home, all the beer was gone!!

GO QVC!!!

Nothing Left To Do But Smile, Smile, Smile

When the boys are home for the day with Dad anything can happen...