Rainy Saturday

On Saturday, the weather here in VA was absolutely horrible. We attempted to take Ryan to the play area at Fair Oaks Mall. Apparently every other parent in the area had the same idea and the place was a mad house. So, we were forced to make due with what we have at home.

We played with one of his favorite balls. Ball, by the way is one of the few words that he says that is very recognizable these days. Not quite sure what the fish face is for though.


Playing inside with Mommy and Daddy can't be all bad if we can manage smiles like this...


He decided to surf the net for a little while. This is his laptop. The goal here is to keep him from pulling the keys off ours. If you notice that some of my posts lack the letters "j" and "s" that's why.


But when its all over, Ryan will let us know. This is the universal sign for "all done", "i've had enough" or "look at this awesome mess i just made."

Ryan's Home Gets Remodeled

Well, after a little over a year I thought that the blog could use a make over. The way is was laid out before created too much dead space on the sides so we're going with something a little different here.

I also made a change to the post below this one. Instead of a few pictures I was able to drop in the whole gallery as a slide show.

I hope you all enjoy the new look. We'll see how the slide shows work out too. I love the idea of showing more pictures, but don't want you all to wait forever for the page to load. Let me know what you think!!!

Over the River and Through the Woods

So I just got home from a business trip so I can get back to updating the blog. Sunday was actually a big milestone for us. We left Ryan overnight for the first time. He had a sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa while Lisa and I enjoyed a night away. We spent the days in the mountains and on Skyline Drive and spent the night at L'Auberge Provencale. It is where we got married 4 1/2 years and we love it there. Even though the "blue room" where we had our reception is now yellow, the art work is still there and the food is still phenomenal.

Ryan had an awesome time with his grandparents and I got to take a ton of pictures of things other than him. We definitely missed him, though.

The pictures below have nothing to do with Ryan, so you are free to skip over them :)

Doggie Fall Fest

Sometimes the last minute ideas turn out to be the best times. Courteney, James and Kelly called us at the last minute this morning to join them at the local SPCA Fall Festival. The truth is, their Great Dane, Logan, is the defending champion in the Largest Dog Competition. I think they wanted us there to cheer him on as he went for the repeat win. Sure enough, he won in a landslide. There was a Rottie and a malamut that gave up as soon as they saw Logan. So, congrats to the two time defending champion!!

I decided to enter Igor in his first competition ever - Smallest Dog. He didn't win, but held his own. At 10 inches high he was an inch taller than the winner. I think I he got robbed though as the title went to a 10 week old puppy.


If you check out Kelly's Blog - here - you'll see how much she enjoyed the moon bounce. Ryan was the exact opposite. Partially b/c it was nap time and partially due to the handful of teeth all trying to make their way in to his mouth at once.

See the new one on the bottom? There's a matching one on the top too.

On the other hand, Ryan and Kelly had a great time together as always. First they had to size each other up a bit. Keep in mind that Kelly is 7 months older than Ryan.


Then they moved on to giving each other hugs. All four parents simultaneously said "awww, how cute."


And it was very cute, until Ryan turned into a linebacker taking poor Kelly to the ground.


A few tears later she was right back up. I does look like Ryan tried to apologize.


Thanks for inviting us, guys!!

XXII

Many of you may know that I have a fairly large fascination (or obsession) with the number 22. To be honest though, it's not without good reason:

- I was born on the 22nd of December
- I graduated from high school and performed in Carnegie Hall for the last time on June 1, 1996 (6+1+9+6 = 22)
- I graduated from college on the 22nd of May at the age of 22 while name name appeared on page 22 of the commencement program
- At this point, you may be wondering what (if anything) this has to do with the blog and/or Ryan. Well, his birthday is August 7, 2007. So - 8+7+7 = 22.

Throw in the whole Dallas Cowboys/Emmitt Smith thing and you've got my favorite number in the world. As such, we buy just about any piece of clothing with the #22 on it for Ryan (thank you Lisa :)





By the way - check out the picture of him with the balloon in the Fall Festival post - that's also a 22 on his hoodie.

We've All Been There

If you live in NoVA and have a young child then chances are that you've been to, are planning to go to, or are purposely not going to Cox Farm.

We took Ryan there on Columbus Day since I had the day off. Slides, animals, a corn maze (sorry, Cornundrum) - you name it, they've got it.

I really can't believe how grown up Ryan is starting to look in pictures.


I told you - he loves to get right down to eye level with animals...
The slides were definitely a big hit...

Fall Festivals

Every weekend it seems as though there's another festival, street fair, harvest fair or jubilee. This past one was no exception.

We went over to Fairfax for their version of an autumn celebration.

It was too crowded for Ryan to participate in his favorite activity - aimlessly wandering outside - so we had to settle for balloons and a fireman's hat.

Run to the Hills

The zoo has its conservation research center in Front Royal and once a year they open it up to the public...So, being the animal folks that we are, we made the trip. The leaves are just starting to change colors - another couple weeks and it will really be beautiful. For those of you who watch Lost, the CRC reminded me of a village not unlike where the Others live - in the middle of nowhere, dorms, labs, random animals and eerily quiet.




Ryan loved the wide open spaces and Mommy pointed out all of the endangered animals.

Weekend Round Up

With another weekend (and a long one at that) almost upon us, I wanted share a few photos from this past weekend. Otherwise I'll just end up even further behind.

In milestone new, we flipped Ryan around to be front facing. We held out as long as possible but his poor legs were getting too scrunched up facing the back. While he was clearly sick of me taking his picture, he is much happier with the new view...



Once we got him situated we went down to old town Manassas for their Fall Jubilee. Not the greatest event in the world, but nice weather helped out...

14 Months

My little buddy turned 14 months old today. He and Mommy were outside with the dog when I got home. So what is a typical trip outside for Ryan?

Always looking for and usually finding airplanes. Living near a busy municipal airport definitely helps.




He pulls this move to get down to eye level with animals. He here was trying to move in on our neighbor's dog.


Like any little boy, he looks for mischief to get in to, or any little thing that may interesting.

Party Til the Sun Comes Up

Being the kind child that he is, Ryan decided that 5 a.m. would be a good time to wake up on Saturday morning. Being the kind husband that I am :) I "volunteered" to get up with him. I occasionally get to see Ryan in the morning before work so I am not too familiar with Lisa's routine, but here's how it goes down when Daddy's in charge.

Step One - Make sure that the pajama bottoms are woefully mismatched to the top. ( A space scene doesn't go with cars and trucks?)


Step Two - Find some cartoons as soon as possible.


But what about breakfast, Daddy? Mommy makes me sit in that high chair thing...


Ryan, meet Step Three - Eat Breakfast Wherever you want. If that means while watching TV, go right ahead.


A few hours later, the sun poked over the horizon, Mommy woke up and our day got started. I did enjoy a nice nap with the boy later that afternoon though :)

Bubbles After Breakfast

Ice Cream and Doggie Doors

On Saturday we all went over to Nicole's parents' house to celebrate her birthday. They had toys ready for Ryan and everything. They even had a high chair. This picture is typical of our house at dinner time - just swap out Duncan with Igor.

Of course being in an new location meant that Ryan had lots of exploring to do. One of the most exciting things he found was the dog door. We were secretly hoping he would try to crawl through it but this is as far as he went.

When he cake was served he brilliantly positioned himself right between his mom and his aunt.

The strategy paid off as they both took turns feeding him dessert.