Last Time as a Trio

On what turned out to be our final weekend as a family of three, we took Ryan to an open house at one of the Alpaca farms near our house. We were really lucky when we got there as we had the place pretty much to ourselves.

Before even getting to the alpacas, Ryan fell in love with the two Great Pyrenees dogs used for herding.

But really, how can you resist these cute furballs...



Once Ryan got a hold of the feed bucket, he was the most popular guy on the farm...





This is definitely one of the perks of living far out in the suburbs. Can't wait til Evan is old enough to enjoy it too.

Oops

So I picked these up from the store the night before Lisa went into labor. Needless to say it is a little outdated now :) That means that we won't be getting a Christmas Card out the door this year. But i wanted you all to get a look at it anyway.

We are heading into Christmas as a family of 4 and are really thrilled. So while we are at it, here is another quick look at Evan. Many more pictures to come, I promise.

Brothers

A bond that will last a lifetime began today. After a little bit of uncertainty, Ryan is infatuated by his little brother. We are going to need to work on cuddling "gently" and that Evan is not a pillow. But I really think that Evan has a great teacher looking out for him.

Need a New Name

Ryan's Home on the Web has a new resident. Evan William Zolandz arrived this morning at 11:06, weighed in at 8 lbs 9 oz and is 19 1/2 inches long. Lisa was absolutely amazing (and continues to be) and the baby is doing great.

First Snow of the Year

While most "good" parents took their kids outside in the middle of the snow storm last weekend, we waited for the wind and snow to die down and went out the next day. Ryan didn't seem to notice the difference since his main goal was simply to eat as much of the snow as possible.

Maybe next time we will try to catch it as it falls.

Sleigh? Nope. Firetruck it is.

If you ask Ryan, Santa has no reindeer, no sleigh, no flying. His standard mode of transportation? Firetruck. That's the most common way Ryan has seen the jolly old man get around.

He arrived in Somerville while we were in NJ for Thanksgiving. It's been almost 15 years since I've lived there but it was really fun to bring Ryan up there for a good small town tree lighting.

After we got back to VA, Santa made his rounds through our development. on a sleigh? No chance. This time his firetruck was preceded by an ambulance - another of Ryan's favorite vehicles.

Relaxing on the Porch

We were up in New Jersey for Thanksgiving last weekend. My parents' house has a great screened in porch where Ryan loves to watch the world go by.

Once that is done, its time to kick back and relax on the couch. You'd never know that this kid was fighting a nasty cold and cough...

The Barber Shop

I know there was a great deal of discussion surrounding the trimming of Ryan's curls. And, as you may recall, it was until after his second birthday that scissors touched his locks. Well, we took the next step a couple weeks ago and went to the barber shop with him. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. We went with grandpa and Ryan sat in my lap while grandpa's hair was cut. I thought that at a minimum, he would insist in staying in my lap for his trim. But, as you can see, he sat by himself and had the time of his life. It only took 2 lollipops :)

Ready for baby brother

We are in the final stages of preparation for the new arrival. One of Lisa's friends gave us a bassinet so that we can have an extra place for him to sleep. Of course, Ryan had to test drive it to make sure it is suitable for his kid brother.



I definitely think he fit into a bassinet a bit better when he was two months old, as opposed to two years old:)

A Few Free Moments

It has been a while since I had the chance to just shoot Ryan for no good reason. Saturday afternoon the lighting in the kitchen was right and I wanted to distract him from the fact that he had just busted his lip open :)

It took a little convincing, but I was finally able to get a bit of a chuckle out of him...



I've been taking tons of pictures of him for as long as he's been around. He's just now starting to talk about "Daddy camera", and with a little prodding, will actually look at the lens, instead of being more interested in seeing his picture on the back.


As for this one - laughing, singing - i am not sure. whatever it was certainly amused him at the time.

More Tricks Than Treats

I would love to tell you that Ryan looked fantastic in his fireman costume, that he loved trick or treating and that halloween is now his favorite holiday. I could tell you all of that, but none of it would be true. Our strong willed child instead opted for a firetruck shirt, romping in the leaves and visiting 1.5 houses.

We went over to Uncle Mike's house for the evening. To date, Uncle Mike is most famous to Ryan for breaking the doors off a matchbox ambulance 25 years ago when we were kids. Him and his girls had fantastic costumes. Catherine dressed as Hermione, Anna as Cinderella and my brother as some professor from Harry Potter whose name escapes me.




You would think that all of this dressing up would inspire Ryan to join in, but his Parmentier stubborness and the massive collection of Thomas trains kept him occupied for a while.





After a little bit of convincing and one of Grandma's cookies, Ryan did agree to put on his boots and head outside. He stomped in the leaves and went "flying" with grandma and grandpa...





There were two attempts at trick-or-treating. In the first aborted attempt, Ryan made it half way to the door. On the second try, Grandma got him all the way to the house to get his candy!! Another day in the life of Ryan.