Silly Bands...or is it Silly Bandz?

Crazy Hat Day!

Cousins!

This weekend Ryan's Aunt Lynn and cousins Colin, Alec and Lizzie came for a visit. I had been keeping it a secret from Ryan, and was planning to just surprise him with their arrival on Saturday morning but he somehow outsmarted me (the first time of many, I'm sure!) When i picked him up at school on Friday afternoon, and asked him what he wanted to do this weekend, he replied "My cousins are coming tomorrow!" No idea how he knew but there went the surprise! Saturday morning when he woke up, his first question was "Are my cousins here yet?" He loves his cousins! They arrived shortly after we woke up, and the kids have been playing and having fun non stop since their arrival. On Sunday we all ventured to the aquarium, and the kids had a great time seeing all the fish and water creatures. We even found a spot where we could watch the dolphin show from under the water (for free and staying dry!) and the kids really enjoyed that. It amazes me each time we get together with the cousins, the kids fall back into playing together as if no time has passed since they last saw each other. Ryan is so lucky to have cousins who love him so much, and help to take great care of him! I know he will be talking about their visit for weeks after they leave :)

Colin leading Ryan into the aquarium

Cape May Weekend

This past weekend we were invited, along with the Cardwells and Scott and Annette, to Megan Ruhnos' parents' beach house in Cape May, NJ. We have all been talking about doing a weekend like this for a few years, and everyone's schedules finally coincided and we found a weekend that worked. We had an absolute blast!! Ryan had the time of his life playing with Anna (3 1/2) - They were inseparable BFFs from the minute we arrived. They both have very active imaginations and some of the things they did while we were there - Went to the movies, took their "baby" (toy telephone) to the Dr. and Dentist, had a dance party (ok, we joined them on that one too!), and "went to sleep" together in the bottom bunk bed (don't worry, we kept a close eye on them :)) It was great to be at a house where there were other kids, we didn't have to worry about entertaining Ryan all weekend because he and Anna played so well together. In fact, sometimes we lost track of them altogether :) We had plenty of relaxing time with our friends, beach time, and of course lots of good food and drink! Charlie Ruhno (9 months) is a cutie pie as well, he really just wanted to be one on the older kids and play with Ryan and Anna, but they weren't interested in him very much! Friday night we caught Anna sneaking chips into the room where they were playing, and found her and Ryan eating chips in bed together. "It's just our goodnight snack," explained Anna. Thanks to the Ruhnos for a great weekend and we hope to see everyone again soon!The Goodnight Snack

Priorities

Ryan will be 3 in October and is potty trained, which means he will soon be moving up to the next classroom at daycare, "The 3's." This room is not totally unfamiliar to him, as it is the room I usually drop him off at in the mornings until his teachers arrive, and he refers to it as "The Big Kids room." Last week his teachers informed me that they have been trying to bring him to The 3's at the end of each day, for an hour or so, to begin getting him acclimated. I was very surprised to hear that he screamed and cried and protested so much that they decided to just try again another day. This happened 2 or 3 days in a row and they mentioned it to me so we can start preparing him for the move at home, as he will be moving next month. That afternoon in the car, I started prepping him for the move, asking him why he cried, etc. He told me he didn't want to go to the Big Kids room. We talked about it a little more, I explained what a big deal it is, how lucky he is to be moving up, and all the fun things they do in that room. He thought about it for a few minutes, and then said to me very seriously "Do they have freeze pops in there?" It's all about the important things to a 2 (almost 3!) year old!