Rainy Afternoon Activities

It's been storming here most afternoons so we've had to come up with some things to do in the house. Mornings seem to fly by and we typically only do outings in the morning before nap so sometimes our afternoons drag a little while waiting for Tyler to get home.

Since Rilyn has gotten into pretend play the whole family has had the experience of being her little playmates.  This last time Ryder got to join in....good thing he had no idea and was just happy to have some new stuff to chew on.

Rilyn is very much into spinning right now and acting girly.  She LOVES to wear dresses and gets excited to put them on.  

Since both kids are now interested in helping me cook it's a little more difficult.  Ryder is no longer content just sitting in his high chair but wants to be where the action is.   No bake snacks are the perfect thing because they are pretty simple and we don't have to warm up the house.  Plus I can throw him in the sling and do most of what needs to be done with one hand and/or Rilyn's help.

Another favorite past-time is of course dancing.  We have to turn on music at least once a day and get our groove on!  Ryder was being very snuggly during this particular dance session so I had to take advantage!

And when it is nice enough to go outside we have a great shady spot next to the swing set to set up our very tiny pool and lounge with some snacks.

2 1/2 years old!!!

Rilyn turned 2 1/2 yesterday, which means today she is officially closer to 3 than 2.  I'm not sure how that can be because 3 is like little girl age and 2 is still toddler and there is no way my baby let alone my toddler is somehow moving into kid stage!!  I still wish I could stop time and let her just stay little forever!

Rilyn is really a fun and loving kid.  She still likes to give big hugs and kisses to everyone on a regular basis and her new favorite saying is, "my (fill in the blank with whomever) is here today!"  "see me""
Or, "(fill in the blank with whomever) is happy to see me today."  She absolutely loves her people!

She is playing a lot of pretend right now as seen in the last post.  Besides doctor she likes to cook with her kitchen, play on her swing set, play with her babies, ride on her lady bug bike, read books, and go for outings.  She also likes doing more craft projects but still has a pretty limited attention span.  She is really into counting and singing right now and she is usually doing one or the other while playing with other things.  She just figured out how to count to 10 and is pretty proud.  She doesn't love to color or draw but really likes cutting.  She still loves to help cook.  She helps me around the house most days and is definitely my little shadow.

Rilyn still takes a nap in the afternoon anywhere from 1 to 2 1/2 hours.  She goes to sleep at night at about 7:30 and comes in our room about 2 AM and then is usually trying to get up about 5:45 or 6.  Her new favorite routine in the morning is getting up to help Tyler get dressed (yep she is convinced he could not get ready in the morning without her) and then getting to watch a show on TV.  Right now it is either Animal Babies or DocMcstuffins.

Rilyn is still a great eater and will at least try almost everything.  There are very few things she doesn't like.  Her favorites right now are cheese and crackers, pizza, cucumbers, grapes, muffins (we make a lot of homemade muffins), and yogurt.

She can dress her self mostly but puts most things on backwards.  She can also undress herself but still needs help getting her shirt off.  She brushes her teeth and would do it all by herself if we let her.  Goes potty pretty much by herself and still wears a pull-up to nap and bed.  She is dry almost every nap and we could probably not put one on her but I would rather be safe than sorry!

I love spending time with her.  She is saying and doing new things everyday and is really a happy girl.  She shares love with everyone she meets and brings so much joy to my days.  She is still super stubborn and we have some great temper tantrums, but I love her strong spirit.

Everyday with her is a blessing and I am so blessed to be her mommy! Or should I say mom since that is what she is calling me know...seriously I thought I would be mommy for at least a few more years!!

Doc Rilyn

Rilyn's newest and most favorite pretend play activity is doctor.  She has created her own little doctor bag complete with a stethoscope, medicine dropper, band-aids, thermometer, and an otoscope.  Oh and of course the most important her needle for giving us all lots of shots.

The last two days all of us, including the dogs and every baby doll in the house, has been seen by Dr. Rilyn numerous times and after our shots we "feel better."

All doctors give you love after their done...right??

Ryder at 11 months

I can not believe that we only have 1 more month of this boy being under a year!  Seriously it feels like we just brought him home.  I'm already missing that newborn snuggle time....I don't think that ever gets old.  Of course now we have a moving, cruising, vocal boy that might give his mommy 1 - 2 minutes of snuggles if he is hurt.  Bring on the bruises...just kidding...obviously....

Tricks:  Ryder is just getting faster and more agile with his crawling and standing.  He will let go of his support for a couple seconds but is getting braver every day.  He is also cruising furniture albeit cautiously.  He is also starting to push anything that will move around the house.  Apparently rearranging is in order.  He loves balls, drawers, cabinets, his new swing set, and shoes.

He is repeating a lot of what we say and has been saying hi since 10 months I just forgot to put it in that post.  He repeats mama, dada, and papa.  Also once when I opened the car door he said "hi mama."  Tyler heard it too so it wasn't just crazy mom ears.

He is also amazing at screaming.  No joke this kid has the highest pitched screech ever and let's just say going out to eat is quite embarrassing.

He has also stopped taking the pacifier completely and prefers his thumb.  It's going to be awesome to have to kids going to kindergarten sucking their thumbs...o'well.

Eating:  He is getting less and less picky.  I guess when you don't have a choice you get what you get.  I really try not to give him other more preferred foods if he doesn't eat what we are having although I must admit it's much harder than I thought it would be.  With Rilyn we didn't have to worry since she ate everything in sight, and I know he isn't going to starve (I try not to let my mothering hormones tell me otherwise) but every time he doesn't eat I want to just give him some crackers or fruit.  So far though I haven't caved too much.

He is really slowing down with nursing and went to 3 and now 2 times a day (actually as I post this a few days after his 11 month date he is officially not nursing...bring on the tears for me.  Seriously my kids wean way to early!)  

Sleeping: He is still sleeping great and napping good too.  He is definitely phasing out the morning nap, which is really convenient for Rilyn and I but I'm just hoping it's not too early.  He will nap really long in the afternoon 3 - 4 hours if he skips that morning nap so hopefully he is getting the sleep he needs.

Ryder has been in a much better mood this past month.  He is full of smiles and vocalizes tons.  He loves being mobile and exploring the world.  He is such a sweetheart full of kisses.  He does bite and scratch on occasion and we are working on that.  He does it for attention but Rilyn doesn't quite understand that and we are having some sibling quarrels.

Can't wait to celebrate his 1st full year of life next month (again break out the mommy tears).

As you can tell from these pictures he wanted nothing to do with sitting still for any amount of time.  Thankfully Grandma Decker was here so she helped me hold him in position long enough to snap a couple.

Trixie the Chicken Herder

Trixie has had nothing to do with the chickens since we got them but apparently on the 4th when we had company she had to show off her herding skills....

Zoo and Garden of the Gods

While my parents were here we had to do a little sight seeing so we went to the zoo and Garden of the Gods.

We love being so close to so many great attractions!  

Garden of the Gods was beautiful.  I had never been there before and am excited to go back and hike around.  It's also free which is a huge plus!  The man that donated the land gave it to the city of Colorado Springs under the condition that it remained free for all children to enjoy!