4th of July

I'm the one in the middle ;-) Trayvin is on the left with his mom, Bobbie, then daddy and I, and to the right is Dalen and his dad Travis. My mom and Dalen's mommy were taking the pictures. Trayvin's dad was helping his cousins move into their new house.

I suppose the 4th of July festivities are fun. Though it rained through the cookout mommy and daddy hosted. It didn't matter though, I have cool parents who let me play in the rain and get covered from hair to toes in sand. Boy, those older kids sure know how to use a shovel.

I have to say that the fire in the sky was pretty weird. Mom and dad taught me when to say new words like, "wow" and "cool". At first I thought the fire was hot, so I had to blow it out. After I realized the fire was continuing way past my bedtime, I rolled over on dad and went to sleep. There was some big ones at the end that daddy tried to wake me up for, but I had to sleep so I could wake up bright and early to play with Trayvin on Sunday. Silly parents.

:-)

Exciting!

Monday evening I ordered two potty seats for Rylan. They are both Spong.ebob, which he loves. One is soft padded that I plan to keep here, and the other one folds up for easy traveling. Hopefully this will offer some more encouragement! They will be here in the next 1-2 weeks.

Then last night, I ordered 3 cloth training pants from a WAHM. I want to try them out before we get into too much $$. My MIL said that she would make some for Rylan and also show me how to do it at the same time. I think that will be awesome, and I can get SB fabric. Of all the cartoon characters, he had to fall for, SB! =) Actually, years ago, Joe and I would watch SB on the weekend mornings before the VH1 top 20 countdown came on. Long before Rylan was thought of. So, I guess it's just fate that he would be into SB now. I can't remember the last time I watched the top 20 countdown.

I'm not sure how long before the training pants arrive.. I'm awaiting an email. I put Rylan in a pair of cloth trainers (made by ger.ber- they're more like extra padded underwear) yesterday and he peed without telling anyone. But it was definitely uncomfortable, because he was waddlilng around, walking very funny.

He has not had much to do with the potty the past few days. He screams and cries when I try to sit him on it. He had a diaper rash on Monday, so I think that has something to do with it. Plus, he has not been sleeping well at all lately. I think it's growth spurt time, with teething added on top! Poor guy.


We are having a great summer together! Stopping at the park, having lunch with Daddy, playing in the yard, coloring our street and porch with sidewalk chalk, running through the sprinklers, going on morning walks with friends, gardening, and so much more!


I almost forgot to mention that Rylan is 20 months old today!!!

Potty Business

Physical signs

Is coordinated enough to walk, and even run, steadily. CHECK

Urinates a fair amount at one time. MOSTLY

Has regular, well-formed bowel movements at relatively predictable times. GETTING THERE

Has "dry" periods of at least three or four hours, which shows that his bladder muscles are developed enough to hold urine. CHECK

Behavioral signs

Can sit down quietly in one position for two to five minutes. CHECK

Can pull his pants up and down. CHECK, though I didn't know this until recently

Dislikes the feeling of wearing a wet or dirty diaper. NOT SURE, he has been telling us "pee" or "poop" for a week now.

Shows interest in others' bathroom habits (wants to watch you go to the bathroom or wear underwear). SHOWS SOME INTERESTS

Gives a physical or verbal sign when he's having a bowel movement such as grunting, squatting, or telling you. CHECK

Demonstrates a desire for independence. CHECK, though he does like our help

Takes pride in his accomplishments. DOUBLE CHECK =)

Isn't resistant to learning to use the toilet. This is the one I'm not sure about. He will sit on the potty for a few minutes once or twice a day, but only win HE wants to...

Is in a generally cooperative stage, not a negative or contrary one. DEPENDS on his mood. =)

Cognitive signs

Can follow simple instructions, such as "go get the toy." CHECK

Understands the value of putting things where they belong. I don't think we have this one down yet.

Has words for urine and stool. CHECK

Understands the physical signals that mean he has to go and can tell you before it happens or even hold it until he has time to get to the potty. He generally tells us afterward.


He will be 20 months old on Wednesday, so it is still early for complete and total potty training. Or I guess so.... What do you think? I am ordering material to make cloth diapers, as I see pu.ll up.s as a waste of time and money. Am I doing any damage by continuing now and should wait another month or two? Surely it's not hurting, right? I am going to continue trying to encourage use of the potty.

This is hard stuff. I thought with me being home this summer, we could get it done in a timely fashion. I know he's very close, but maybe just not quite ready.

Any thoughts?

Closeness

I absolutely love this photo! My boys (yes, that's ketchup) are both deep in thought, and at the same time, enjoying each others' touch.

Not strep

Upper respiratory infection.

Whew.


27.4 pounds, btw.

A Tale of Two Birthdays

My friend Trayvin turned two last week. My friend Cru turned one this weekend. Each had birthday parties on Saturday, and I went and played with both of them. Poor Trayvin was sick, so we didn't take too many pictures (so he wouldn't feel even worse). It must be rough turning two. We had a barbeque and cake and ice cream (Superman!) and a good time (well, except for Trayvin, who had strep). Come to think of it, now I don't feel so well either.

Cru's first birthday party was fun, too. He had a luau and we went swimming.

Dad was letting me swim on my own. I'm a natural, of course, but I still think Mom wanted to strangle him.

So for Mom's sake, I tried to drown Dad. You know, just a little.

Feel my waves of fury!

FURY!

Here's my friend Cru. Turning one must be rough too, I have trouble remembering that far back. Sometimes he looks like his dad (but that's okay).

We had a sack race. I would have won, but Dad held be back so I didn't make the older kids look bad.

Cru was happier when we finally decided to have cake.

I played some cornhole. I don't see what the big deal is.

It's not very hard.

I am a piñata jedi master. Again, Dad held me back here. Two or three more whacks and I'd have had that penguin (Dad's note: Yes, he probably would have. Too bad he was first in line.).

Now that was a busy weekend. A barbeque with friends at my house on Friday, two birthday parties on Saturday, visiting with my grandparents a little, and then wrapping it all up with having my friend over again Sunday night for dinner. It's no wonder I'm worn out.

Dad's note: Trayvin is doing much better now after seeing a doctor. Rylan is going this morning to get tested. He ran a temperature all night and into this morning (and all those other wonderful signs of illness). It doesn't seem too serious, but knowing that Trayvin had strep and stayed at our house Friday night, we're not going to take any chances. He's a trooper (and so is his mom; I think she's under the weather but sticking right with it). Uncle Vinnie is helping Angie take Rylan in this morning, and I hope everything goes well. I'll keep you posted.

Playing in the yard

Ranger Joe here. Rylan and his Mom have been enjoying the few days it hasn't rained outside, playing in the dirt, the sand, the grass, and having parties.

Shoveling is serious work.

This is usually the view we get of Rylan.

He's helping fix the concrete.

Sometimes, I think he's posing for his future record deal.

I think Mom mentioned strawberries.

Some things require a closer inspection.

I like this picture.

Believe it or not, he still smiles; as seen in this rare photographic evidence.

Eating sand. Because that's what it's for, right?

See Grandma? That's a real tear. Mom made me eat sand.

All that sand needs washing down.

He had some friends over (Melody and Dave here) and they really liked his swingset.

Trayvin (just had a birthday, 2!) and Rylan working.

Chuck and Lisa (she's the one on the left) posing for Angie.

Rylan and Trayvin running from me, for some reason or other, or no reason at all; which of course are the best ones.

In all, I think Rylan and his Mom are enjoying their summer of fun.

My vacation

Hi everybody. I've been a busy boy, so I'm just now getting to showing you some more pictures from my vacation.

The ride down was all right.

Dad wouldn't let me run through the waves like they do on baywatch.

Woah. That's some serious surf.

Mom's pretty fun sometimes, you know?

I'll bet whoever broke all these shells is in a lot of trouble!

I made Dad carry the pink bucket.

I set up camp for Mom and Dad in case they got tired.

That water tastes funny.

We rolled around a boardwalk and then ate some fudge. Personally, I don't know why everyone doesn't eat more fudge.

My eyepatch wouldn't fit, so I couldn't make a very good pirate. Bummarrr.

This is me at normal speed.

Dad doesn't understand basic sandcastle construction. I had to wreck his every time to show him he was doing it wrong.

For some reason, they made me pick up those broken shells. I told you, I didn't do it!

They tried to kill me.

There's a warm spot right here.

See? More proof of my impending doom.

It's all right, because I got to pick out the messiest doughnut the next morning. I think they were trying to make up to me for the waterslides.

Rylan's Log Cabin

Here is Ry's log cabin as it was yesterday evening around 7. Joe was able to finish the roof last night after Rylan and I were asleep. I do not have "completed" photos yet. The logs are from our pine trees. During a winter storm, a whole bunch of branches fell, creating one heck of a mess. The weather was too nasty for immediate clean-up. Joe has been wanting to build Rylan a tree/play house of some sort since he was in utero! It's very cute, and Rylan was quite entertained with it last night. I will let Joe show him the finished project tonight.

Wonder how much cooler it will be complete with a roof? :-)

Beach Va-Ca!

Just a few pics to document our beach trip. This was Rylan's first time to see the ocean and he had a blast! Not much time to write now. Today is our 6th anniversary, so we are going out for lunch and maybe a movie. It's nice to be home, but I am missing the salty air already.