Holiday Cheer

It seems like we have done alot this month to help get our family into the Christmas spirit. We went to our town's tree lighting ceremony and took pictures with Santa. We also took a family picture in front of the beautiful Christmas tree.


We went to pick out a Christmas tree, decorated it, then took pictures of our babies in front of the tree.


We went to cousin Savannah's holiday band concert. Ryan sat for over an hour enjoying the music and hamming it up for the camera.






We then went to Disneyland with Grandma, Aunt Wendi, and cousins, Savannah and Ben. We stayed for 7 hours which is the longest time Ryan and I have spent at Disneyland. It was so much fun, but so tiring.


Ryan waving to the bear in the parade, and Ryan with his favorite cousin, Savannah. I think he likes her better than he likes us! :)


We went with our friends, The Garcia Family, on a holiday train ride and took more pictures with Santa.


Ryan was not too sure about Santa so I stayed close by while Daddy took some pictures. Ryan would not make eye contact with Santa. I was thankful that Santa gave Ryan a candy cane otherwise I'm not sure what he would have done, maybe clawed his way out of Santa's arms??


This was a nice picture of the three of us until I decided to take the red eye out 3 times. This did some strange things to the picture. My poor Ryan has scary vampire lips, and I have weird marks on my face. Sorry Ryan mommy needs camera help!








The Roy Family wishes you a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, safe, and prosperous new year!

Orlando

Earlier this month we took a trip to Orlando. We rented a house and stayed with our friends, the Jardims. For the most part, Ryan did well on the flight. On the way there he played with cars and trains, ate, and watched his Caillou DVD.

While in Florida, we went to Sea World, Wonder Works, and Gatorland. We didn't do the Disney thing. It is far too expensive and Ryan won't remember it anyway. Many people told us it was similar to Disneyland, so we'll wait and take him to Disneyworld when he is old enough to apprecite it.


Here are some of our Sea World pictures:











The second day of our trip, it rained. We went to an indoor "amusement park" called Wonder Works. It has many interactive exhibits and is similar to the Discovery Science Center in Orange County. Ryan loved playing with the giant bubbles, making music by running on the giant piano, and just touching everything. Although I think Daddy had more fun then Ryan. Several times I turned around to look for him and he was nowhere to be found. Clearly this place could entertain all ages! Here are some of our favorite shots from Wonder Works:




By far the best place we visited was Gatorland! It was everything I expected it to be and more. It is a 110 acres of swampland filled with alligators. You walk across wooden bridges with alligators swimming beneath. They wrestle gators, they let you sit on a live gator and take a photo and they string pieces of meat on wires and the gators come out of the water to snatch the meat. It was amazing to see, a bit eerie and dangerous, but exciting and educational as well. Here are some pictures of our adventure at Gatorland:






After four days it was time to say goodbye to Orlando and the Jardim Family.







And with that we were back on a jet plane headed west. It was an exhausting trip, but we had lots of fun! Ryan slept 2 hours of the 5 hour flight!
Thank you Jardim Family, we had a blast, see you next year!

Daddy's Birthday

This year for Daddy's birthday, we went to Disneyland. This was what he chose to do on his special day. We arrived shortly after noon and stopped at the first ride we saw without a line. It just so happened to be Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. It seemed like a fun ride, the 3 of us in a car together going this way and that through the crazy streets of London. Or not! Ryan whined and cried through the entire ride. It was far too dark and scary for our little guy. OOPS! We then went on something more child friendly, something we knew he liked, the carousel. Or not! He was absolutely terrified and cried as we went round and round.

After this, I was feeling a bit discouraged. Daddy's special day was not going as planned. I had repeatedly told him how much fun Ryan had at Disneyland, and it would be such a fun day for all of us. Our last ride had to be better. We went on It's a Small World which had just been decorated for Christmas. Finally something Ryan liked. He had a great time on this ride, tapping his foot to the music and looking around at all there was to see. I couldn't resist taking one final picture before we left, my happy boys and the Christmas tree! Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Good Morning!

Just the other morning when Ryan woke up, he did his normal thing. He started talking and singing and was generally happy. I let him stay in his crib and just listened to him sing in the monitor. I finally decided it was time to go and get him. To my surprise, I walked in to find my once clothed toddler, holding his pjs in his hand. He had fully undressed himself in minutes while I thought he was just singing away. It was an awfully cold morning, so it was probably not the smartest thing he could've done! Apparently I do not have to teach him how to unzip zippers, looks like he figured that out all by himself!

Chores

Since Ryan is 21 months old, what better time than now to have him start doing some chores around the house. Some of his favorite chores include unloading groceries when we return from the store, unloading the dishwasher, and putting laundry into and taking it out of the dryer. He is such a good helper! Here are a few pictures of Ryan doing his chores.

Some Forgotten Halloween Pictures

I suppose later is better than not at all. This Halloween was the first year we carved pumpkins as a family. Usually I carve pumpkins while Ryan sleeps and Sanjay is out. We started a new tradition this year that I hope we have for years to come.


Daddy and Ryan dressed as golfers this year.



Ryan and his friend GG walked around the Halloween festival hand in hand.

Mr. Independent

Lately Ryan is reminding me what a big boy he is. I can no longer carry him anywhere. If I try to carry him, for instance, in a crowded parking lot, he screams,"Down!" repeatedly until I give in and put him down. Running errands has become a total nightmare because Ryan does not want to ride in the basket anymore, he wants to walk. And, don't even think about putting him in the stroller! Last week I wanted to quickly browse the Nordstrom sale. I put Ryan in the stroller. As he screamed, I calmly tried to tell him I would let him out of the stroller in a few minutes and proceeded to walk toward the store. Ryan was screaming, crying, and thrashing about and even managed to take both arms out of the stroller seatbelt. I tried another pep talk before we entered the store. I did not want to be "that mom." I mean seriously, who takes a screaming kid into the mall to shop for themselves! How selfish can one be? For whatever reason he was calm enough for me to wheel him into the store. I pointed out every interesting color, shape and person I could find. This lasted about 5 minutes. Before I knew it, I was taking him out of the stroller and letting him walk.

Ryan is also very good at letting me know when he is ready to eat. He will now climb into his highchair unassisted. It is usually a race between the two of us. I am trying to stop him from climbing, and he is laughing and climbing as fast as he can before I can get to him. This scares me to death because I'm afraid the highchair will tip over, or that he will fall onto the hardwood floors.

In addition to being very independent, he has been talking up a storm. Here are some of his most recent funny phrases: Man running (when he saw 2 joggers), open door (when I put him in his room so I could throw some laundry in the wash), Thank you Daddy/Mommy (a million times a day he says this), Sorry Mommy/Daddy (after being in time out), help,help (whenever he feels like he can't do something on his own), pillow Caillou(when he wants to watch his favorite tv show and wants me to put the pillow at the end of my bed for him to lean against). He also now calls himself Ryan and not Ry Ry anymore, he can count to ten by himself, can name each body part, and is starting to tell me what colors things are. Although for a few weeks everything was yellow.
Me:"Ryan, what color is the bird?" Ryan:"Uh, yeyoh," Me: "No, silly, the bird is black, not yellow," Me: "Ryan, what color is the sky?" Ryan: "Uh, yeyoh," Me: No, silly, the sky is blue, not yellow," Please note that, yes, he says "Uh" as if he is thinking about it before he actually gives his response. He is getting a little better at recognizing colors, and not everything is yellow this week. It is crazy to think in 3 short months our little guy will be 2. Although everyday he is acting more and more like a 2 year old. Some days that is a good thing and some days it is not!

Spotlight Family of the Month

We were chosen as the Spotlight Family of the Month at Ryan's class. Here is the article that was sent to all families that attend classes at Wondernation.











MEET A WONDERNATION FAMILY

November's Highlight on a Wondernation Family Experience takes us to Tracy Roy and her son, Ryan.

When asked about their experience at Wondernation, Tracy shared the following:

Ryan began attending Music & Sign Language class at Wondernation when he was six months old. We could tell immediately that Ryan was very passionate about music. Additionally, by the time Ryan was eleven months old, he was signing things such as: More, Milk, Please, and All Done to name just a few. Soon after, he began talking, as well as signing the things he would learn in class. Now at 20 months old, he is extremely verbal.

Through the Music & Sign Language class, Ryan has developed a love for music and often sings many of the songs from class at home. Ryan has also met many wonderful friends and looks forward to coming to class to play with them. The teachers at Wondernation are very friendly, energetic, and great with Ryan. He especially loves Jocelyn! We love bringing Ryan to Wondernation where we are always greeted warmly and know that each time we come to class, Ryan will have an opportunity to further develop his language skills

October

This month has flown by! Earlier this month we went to the aquarium with our friends. Of course I do not have a picture from inside the aquarium, just the car ride there. I don't know how I forgot to take out my camera! Here were a couple of my favorite shots.





We also went to the pumpkin patch twice. The first trip was to a farm that has acres of pumpkins and fresh vegetables for you to pick. They also have wagon rides, a petting zoo and so much more. It was just the three of us; Daddy, Mommy and Ryan. Ryan was especially moody and refused to smile the entire time we were there. We made the best out of it. He looks thrilled doesn't he!?!? For the record the pumpkin is not smashing his leg, he is just giving the stink face.




The following day Ryan and I went to a pumpkin patch closer to home. This time, we met friends there. This was a much better experience then the day before. Now that's more like it!




Finally, Halloween is fast approaching. The kids were asked to dress in their costumes for class today. Here is our little Tiger!



A couple of other highlights this month were Mommy went on a girls' trip and Daddy took care of Ryan for three days all by himself. I am happy to report that Daddy, Ryan and Lucy (the dog) were alive and well when I returned home. They were all well fed, the house was not a disaster, and Daddy managed to take Ryan on a playdate to the zoo and to class. Lastly, Mommy ran her second half marathon this month. Ryan and Daddy were at the finish line to cheer her on! Go Mommy!