Ryan Starts Soccer

Ryan started AYSO soccer this year and is having a blast. We love watching him play. He gets this look in his eyes and he means business. He runs as fast as his little legs will take him because he loves to get the ball and score goals. The season did not start out like this. The first game he ran off the field and said he was too tired to run anymore. He had been running around with the rest of his team looking like a giant swarm of bees. He never really touched the ball, fell down a few times and just didn't have a clue as to what was going on. Having played soccer for twenty-something years, I was heartbroken. I looked at Sanjay, and I knew he was thinking the same thing. How could we (2 former soccer players) NOT have a soccer playing son? He had been in soccer class since he was 2, loved kicking the ball with us outside and running around like crazy, so what was going on? It almost became a joke with the other parents on the sidelines. Our child ran around like crazy, never touched the ball and was exhausted. Something had to change. I thought I would be that parent that never bribed my child. I was wrong. I knew Ryan just needed a little motivation to get in the game and play like we knew he could. Before each game we told him he could have frozen yogurt from his favorite yogurt place if he played hard and tried to score goals. That was all we had to say to him. Ryan played each game post bribe aggressively and scored goals in most games. There were a few games where he didn't score goals and when we told him how great he played and how proud we were of him for giving it his all, he would frown and say," I wanted to score a goal!" It was not because of the yogurt, but just because he loved the feeling of scoring. After each goal that he scored he would smile at us and pump his fist in the air. It was very cute. Needless to say, he is very excited for spring soccer.

Father/ Son Bonding

Football is big in our house. Most weekends you will find Sanjay watching football. Most of the time, Ryan is right there next to him watching. UCLA football is even bigger in our house. This year we decided to get season tickets again. Since Regan will not sit in one place for longer than a few minutes, Sanjay takes Ryan to each home game. Ryan really looks forward to the games. I'm not sure if it is the actual game that he likes or if it's the hot dogs, kettle corn, ice cream, and marching band. Nontheless, I'm happy that they are able to have this time together.

Halloween 2012

This year for Halloween Ryan dressed up as a policeman and Regan dressed as Snow White. They wore their costumes to my workout class, to the library for story time, to the Halloween frolic in town, and to trick or treat. I did not think Regan was going to dress up this year. Initially I bought her a bumble bee costume. When I tried to put it on her, she screamed, cried, and threw a tantrum. She kept saying, "Regan no want it!" I thought maybe it was too small. I returned the costume, took a few days to rethink it and decided she would be Snow White. I ordered her costume online and when it came I enthusiastically pulled it out of the box telling her what a pretty dress it was. She was not impressed. I tried to put it on her and she screamed, cried, and threw a tantrum screaming, "Regan no want it!" I thought for sure she would not end up in a costume this year. When the day finally arrived for her to wear the costume, she said," Regan pretty dress and put it on with no tears. I was shocked, but kept telling her that is was a very pretty dress. She loved it! Each time throughout the day when I would take it off and put it back on her, she never cried. She just kept talking about her pretty dress. Ryan loved his costume from the second I bought it for him. He would put it on whenever he could. He had a great time trick or treating and would run from house to house yelling, "Come on Daddy!" Regan and I walked a bit slower, but Ryan would wait at each house for Regan to come to the door with him. When we were finished trick or treating we came home to hand out candy. Ryan wanted to be in charge of handing out the candy to everyone who came to the door. He would get so excited when he saw kids walking to our door. He was very serious about his "job" and would make sure to give each child 2 big pieces or 3 small pieces of candy. At the end of the night I asked him what he liked better; trick or treating or handing out candy? His answer, handing out candy. That's my sweet boy!

Ryan's First Day of Preschool

Ryan started his second and final year of preschool on Sept 5. He has a longer day at school this year than last. He starts at 9:30 and gets picked up at 2:30, three days a week. I thought he would love school this year, just like last year. He did summer camp this past summer with this teacher and he has lots of friends in his class. Boy, was I wrong! I dropped him off on the first day, took lots of pictures, went inside with him, took more pictures, gave him a hug and kiss and left. When I picked him up that day he said he cried at school. He told me he missed me and that the day was too long. I thought it would be a one time thing and the more he went to school, the better he would be. It is actually quite the opposite. From the moment he wakes up on a school day he asks if he is going to school. If the answer is yes, he will whine and cry until we get to school. Once we get to school he has a full-fledged breakdown sobbing saying he doesn't want to go. Each day I hand him to the teacher as he grasps onto me for dear life. I hug and kiss him and leave. It is a horrible way to start the day, and I feel terrible leaving him. I know he is better after I leave but hearing your child cry and prying him off of you is never a great feeling. When I pick him up from school he is excited to see me, and will always say that he had a great time. I'm hoping it will get better soon, but we are about a month into school and it is still the same. Ugh!

Regan is 22 months old!

The past month has been filled with many new sentences and many new emotions. Regan loves to talk about herself in the third person. She says things like," Regan hair, Regan pretty dress, Regan blanket." She also loves saying,"Mommy, Daddy Ryan, Regan, Lucy." When she walks into a room she always says,"Hello," and waves with a straight arm and only her little fingers moving. She loves to run, prefers Mommy right now and will never let Mommy and Ryan go anywhere together without her. She has become a very picky eater and likes to eat pasta, pizza, blueberries, freeze dried bananas, pumpkin pancakes, cheese, chicken (sometimes), salmon, and crackers. It is pretty frustrating that she won't eat what we eat, but I keep trying to feed her everything. If I give her a fork and spoon to use, she will give anything a try. Usually after a bite she hands me her bowl and says, "Don't want it." Regan has also been adjusting to having her brother back in school. It has been difficult for her, and on the first day of school she cried because we left him at school. She is also becoming increasingly difficult, or shall I say, strong willed. She wants what she wants, when she wants it. If she doesn't get it, there is a huge meltdown to follow. I am talking about banging her head on the floor until she has a red mark, putting her fingers down her throat to make herself throw up, throwing anything that is in her reach, and screaming at the top of her lungs. This started a few months ago, but is getting worse the closer she gets to 2. I usually make sure she is in a safe place and give her space to tantrum. And, yes, sometimes this happens when we are out in public. I am THAT mom with THAT child! Regan has a big personality with two very strong moods, very happy or very grumpy. She reminds me of myself more and more each day. It is frightening. She is a smart girl and can say all the letters of the alphabet, can count to 20 and knows most animals and the sounds that they make. She likes to look at books alone, but has a hard time sitting still so I can read a story to her. I see some similarities between her and Ryan, but for the most part they are very different.

Regan is 20 and then 21 months old!

These last few months have been so busy that I haven't been able to sit and write. Regan is such a little girl these days. Hard to believe my baby is almost 2! She has quite a personality and is a bit of a wild child. She has a very sly smile that she shows us when she knows she is doing something she isn't supposed to do. Because of her brother and his obsession with his blanket, she too now has the same obsession. Her's is worse than Ryan's because we have to take her blanket everywhere. We have a car blanket and a bedtime blanket. Bedtime blanket must stay in Regan's room. Car blanket goes everywhere else; the car, the house, family's house, the stroller. Some of the cute and funny things she says are: Hold you, Mama- when she wants to be picked up, Where are you Mama?- when she can't find me, Mommy, up, up, up- when she wants to get out of the stroller or high chair, she calls fire engines- dire dingin, instead of saying Grandma, she calls my mom guppy, she constantly says please, thank you, and bless you, she can count to 20, but won't do it if you ask her too, just when she wants to, and she loves singing loud.

Ryan's Last Few Days of School

We almost made it through the year without Ryan getting in trouble at school. He had 2 days left, just 2 days. I guess he could not help himself. He tried to hide it from me, but just like me, he could not keep it a secret. Slowly, the story came out. We were having lunch after school and Ryan said, "Mommy, I cried at school today." This never happens, so I was a little worried and started asking questions about his day. Finally, the truth came out. He said the class was at their tables eating snacks. He was sitting next to a friend who was stacking her snack cups. Ryan knocked down her snack cups and that made the girl upset. He was told to sit at a table and eat his snack by himself. That is the ultimate punishment for Ryan. He was so upset that he told me that he cried and wanted me. It made me sad to hear that he was upset, but I explained to him why it wasn't okay for him to do that and that his teachers did the right thing in putting him at a table by himself. His response,"But, Mommy, she was playing at the table during snack time. Remember, we don't play when we are at the table, we eat." I guess he really does listen when I talk.

Regan is 19 months old!

Things we learned about Regan this month: At her late 18 month well baby check up, she is only in the 25th percentile for weight. We were sure she was in the 95th, because she is quite heavy. She is just a solid girl, like her mama. We also found out she is between the 93rd and 95th percentile for height. Who knew she was so tall?!? She finishes every statement/ phrase/ sentence with Mama; airplane Mama, doggy Mama, water Mama, Bless you Mama. It is really cute. I have to get it on video. She is not very fond of the pool. We went swimming at a friend's house and for the first 30 minutes of our hour and a half stay, she screamed and cried in the pool. I'm hoping the more we go the more comfortable she'll be. She does not want to try to eat from a fork or spoon. She only wants to pick up food from her tray with her fingers and feed herself. If you try to feed her with a fork or spoon, she will throw a major fit. We will revisit spoons and forks in a few days. We signed up for My Gym and went consistently for four weeks. She hated it, every second of it! She is not a fan of climbing, does not want to hang, and does not want to share a swing with anyone. Her favorite part of class was when it was over. She did enjoy the final class when they brought out musical instruments and also when she could swing on a swing alone. Regan loves the park. She likes to go up the stairs and slide down the slide, over and over and over again. When she gets sleepy, she wants to go on the swings and will sit in there as long as we let her. I think she would stay all day if it were possible. Regan loves Lucy. She tries to chase her and pet her. Poor Lucy runs away, but sometimes she will stay for some love. Regan will pet her, and Lucy licks her. This makes Regan squeal. Regan will sit in Lucy's bed whenever she can and look at books. Sadly, the books don't get picked up, and Lucy ends up sleeping with books in her bed.

Regan is 18 Months old!

Regan is 18 months old. She surprises me with how much she knows. She is just a little sponge and takes in everything. I like to ask her to point to her various body parts because I didn't realize how much she already knows. I think with Ryan we would sit and go over the names of everything. With Regan there seems to be limited time, but, she knows them. Regan still loves to dance and my favorite thing to do is turn on the music and tell her, "Regan, dancing time." She will then dance and laugh. It is great entertainment. Another thing Regan loves to do is say, "Thank you." Any time you give her something she always says thank you. Of course it sounds like daa du. Anytime one of us sneezes, Regan is the first to say, " Bless you." Although she can't quite distinguish between a cough and a sneeze so most times she will bless you after a cough too. Regan loves looking for airplanes when we drop Ryan off at school. She also loves to look for helicopters and dogs when she sits in the stroller during my workout. If she spots either of these, she will yell doggy or a muffled Regan version of the word helicopter until I acknowledge that I, too, have seen them. We have also been experiencing some crazy tantrums. She will throw herself on the floor and scream, tense her body until she is shaking, or just run around screaming. Do not make the mistake of picking her up when she is having a tantrum. We have to give her space and when she is done she will come over soaked with sweat and a tear stained face looking for some love. Regan has been talking so much these days and moving very quickly. I have to be on my toes when we are outside because she will take off in a flash. She loves playing with other kids, but is obsessed with her brother. He is her favorite! Whenever she wakes up from her nap before him she asks,"Where's Ry-Ry?" In the morning when she wakes up, the first thing she says is, "Where's Ry-Ry?" She really loves him and he loves her too.

Stopping To Smell the Roses

As a stay-at-home mom, I feel very blessed to spend so much time with my kids. I quickly realized that, yes, I am present everyday all day, but am I really? I find myself busy with groceries, cleaning, errands, volunteering at Ryan's school, working out (so I don't go crazy), but how much time am I really spending with them? Last Saturday Sanjay went golfing for the day, so it felt like a weekday/workday to me. I kept thinking what am I going to do with the kids all day? How am I going to tire them out so they will nap? Where should we go? Come Saturday morning I thought, 'What the heck, we are not going anywhere.' 5 days a week we are rushing around to get out of the house, so why today? Why not have a lazy day and let the kids play and wear pajamas all day. I gave Ryan some tv time and went and sat with Regan in her room. While in there I learned some things about her in a few short minutes. Some things I already knew; that she loves books, that she loves being in her room, she loves to get her blanket out of her crib, she loves to sing her favorite songs from music class and some things I did not know; that she grabs the books and makes the sound of the animals in the books, that she can count to five with sounds and not actual numbers, (she tries to imitate what I sound like when I read counting books to her, but she doesn't know her numbers yet so it just comes out with sounds) that she knows the letter A, although I don't know how she knows it, and that she likes to just sit on my lap, and she will clean up her toys. I started to feel really guilty that our weekdays are so busy that we just don't take the time to just hang out and play. I really make an effort to spend alone time with Ryan whether it is reading, playing games or just talking because I feel like he remembers what it was like before Regan and how much time he used to have with our undivided attention. I guess I thought Regan loves being with Ryan and with other kids so we just go, go, go when Ryan is in school so she can be with other kids. What I failed to realize is that sometimes she likes to just be alone with me. When she is alone with me she cuddles more, she will sit on my lap and want to read a book, she loves to laugh and likes to be tickled. I realize that both kids need me, not just in the, they need me to provide them with their basic needs way, but they really need me to carve out some time in my busy days to spend time with each of them individually. I almost feel horrible even saying that I don't have that much time with them separately, but that is the reality when you have more than one child. I can definitely say in spending more time with each of them alone, they seem happier, but I think I am the one who is really happy!

Regan is 17 months old!

Regan is 17 months old. The highlight this month is Regan says no. She says it all the time! Any question you ask her, the answer is no. The best part, 2 days ago I asked her if she wanted something to eat. She crossed her arms and yelled,"NO!" She is showing some major attitude! Another thing Regan has started doing is yelling at the dinner table. If she wants more food, she screams,"MORE,MORE,MORE," until we give her food. She will also yell,"WATER, WATER, WATER," which really comes out 'wawer.' Ryan gets very upset when she yells at the table. He says she is hurting his ears and will either yell back at her or cover his ears and whine. I am trying to be patient with her and tell her to say, "More, please," before giving her more food. I try to do the same with the water. Needless to say, dinnertime has not been enjoyable for the last few weeks. Regan's little personality is starting to come out more and more. I think she may be my stubborn, challenging, but very loving little girl!

Regan is 16 Months Old

Regan is 16 months old. She now has 9 teeth. She loves to hear her own voice. She repeats any word that Ryan says. Some new things she does are she says thank you (and sometimes will sign it at the same time) and is obsessed with her water bottle and calls it "wawer." My favorite thing that she does now is she sings. When she is sitting in the car, just the 2 of us, or when she is playing by herself I hear her trying to sing some of her favorite tunes. Some of the songs I have heard her try to sing are Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, ABCs, and for those of you familiar with the Music Together program, she sings Trot Ol' Joe and Me, You, We from that class. She also will finish any of the songs that we sing, if she recognizes it. If I sing the first verse to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, she'll mumble the next verse and then laugh at her accomplishment. She is a smart little cookie. We are also finding out what a tough little girl she is. She takes some nasty spills and tumbles and most times won't cry. If she does cry, it is usually just for a minute and then she is up and ready to play again.

Ryan is 4 years old!!

And just like that, Ryan turned 4! We celebrated Ryan's 4th birthday with about 24 of Ryan's closest friends and classmates at a local place that has bounce houses, slides, ziplines and all things that will exhaust children. Ryan had a blast! We saw him at the start of the party and again at the end. He was so busy playing with his friends. Ryan is still as sweet as ever. The older he gets, the more sensitive he is becoming. He is also becoming more cuddly and likes to get lots of hugs and kisses. When he is melting down he will say," I just need a hug!" Sometimes that makes things all better. Ryan is very outgoing and independent. At his parent/teacher conference, his teacher told us she wished she had a class full of students like Ryan. She said he is eager to participate in class and is amazed at how smart he is. He also continues to amaze us everyday. He loves to try to read "harder" books that Mommy and Daddy read aloud to him. I must say I am impressed with how well he reads these books. At home I have been focusing on sight words with him. He is currently on the second grade sight word list. I also found a great phonics website that Ryan has been using, and he is able to sound out words that he doesn't know when reading. He also loves to write and will spend time practicing his letters and writing his name. For Valentine's Day he wrote his name on his Valentine cards for his 24 classmates. He was really proud of himself. I was really proud of him too. We just finished up another session of swim class. In this particular class the kids have to swim in the small pool where their feet can touch the bottom and the big pool, where their feet cannot touch. Ryan is having a rough time in the big pool. To his credit, the big pool is a bit colder than the small pool, and it bothers him that he cannot touch his feet to the bottom. His swim instructor has been so patient with him and will, most times, carry him on her back just to keep him from crying while in the big pool. He is getting braver as of recent. At his last class he was able to kick off the wall and swim underwater to the teacher. Hopefully, Ryan will be as brave as he was last class when class starts again. Here are some pictures from Ryan's 4th birthday.

Christmas 2011

Christmas came and went with the blink of an eye. Ryan tried so hard to behave before Christmas because he knew 'Santa was watching,' that it backfired on us, and we had breakdown after breakdown and lots of timeout time. It was exhausting. Every night as I put him to bed he would tell me,"Mommy, I was naughty today. I'm sorry, I'm not going to be naughty tomorrow." The next day the same behavior would rear it's ugly head followed by time out and another evening of promises. It's hard to be 3 and behave when there is so much to look forward to. Aside from that, this was Regan's first Christmas where I felt like she actually 'got it.' She opened up some presents and actually played with the toys inside instead of being entertained by the wrapping paper and boxes.

Ryan reminding me how he stands with Santa. He had to wear this shirt many times before Christmas to convince me that it was true.

Santa picture #1

Santa picture #2, not so successful

Picking out our tree at the Christmas tree lot

Ryan's picture in our local paper. We walked in the Holiday parade and he was lucky enough to have his picture taken and published in the paper.

All smiles on Christmas morning.

Regan is 15 months and a few days old!

Regan turned 15 months old on the 5th. She is quite a steady walker now and loves to walk away from me as fast as her little feet will take her. She is not very fond of being held these days and will wiggle her way out of my arms. She just wants to walk on her own.

Her vocabulary is expanding everyday. She clearly says, Hi Daddy, Hi Ryan, milk, cheese, book, please (peez), oh baby, oh blanket, pretty and touchdown complete with her hands in the air (thanks to Daddy).

Regan will repeat anything you ask her to, so Ryan loves to tell her to say things. Of course he says things like,"Regan say pack n play," "Regan say motorcycle." He will never ask her to say easy one syllable words, it must be a complex word. It is pretty funny to listen to her try to say these words.

Some other noteworthy details: Regan's eighth tooth came in this month, she loves to dance when she hears music, peek a boo is still a favorite game of hers, she loves to run to her Daddy and give him kisses and snuggle with Ryan in our bed each morning.

Regan is 14 Months Old!

Regan turned 14 months old yesterday. She really made my day. She said, "Mommy," twice. This is a very big deal because she does not call me anything. I'm not quite sure why, but all she says is Daddy, Daddy, Daddy. She gets very excited when she sees me, but doesn't say anything, so for her to finally call me Mommy, not once but twice was a huge deal.

Regan also took 6 steps by herself yesterday, twice. I knew she was on her way to walking, but was very surprised when I took her to the park today and she took off walking, all by herself! Now when I pick her up, she just wants to walk. It is the cutest thing! I know my life just got way more interesting, but what a great couple of milestones!

Some Late Fall Pictures

Halloween 2011, the fireman and ladybug


Hanging out in the stroller for Mommy's workout












Family picture on Thanksgiving



I like this one too!











The cousins