The Big Boy Bed

We ordered the big boy bed, the mattress and the bedding. It arrived on a Saturday and Sanjay put it together before Ryan's nap time. I assumed it would sit empty while Ryan napped in the crib. Boy was I wrong! Ryan quickly decided he wanted to nap in the big boy bed and took a two hour nap there. For one full week he has happily napped and slept each night in the big boy bed. After naptime and in the morning when Ryan wakes up, he will talk and lay in his bed. He will not get out, he will not come to our room. He waits patiently for me to come and get him up. He can easily climb out of his bed, but he chooses to wait for me. I know it is not supposed to be this easy. I'm not sure why it has been this easy. We have been so lucky! I know we have plenty of challenges ahead of us, but we are so thankful that this was an easy transition and not a battle.

Two and a Half

Today, Ryan is two and a half years old. I cannot believe how quickly my little boy is growing up. I have to say that 2 is my favorite age, so far. I'm sure I have said this every time we hit another milestone. I love how independent Ryan is, how verbal he is, how kind and sweet he is, and how funny he is. I find myself laughing with him so much these days. Some of the things that come out of his little mouth are comical.

After each night of sleep or after every nap, I always ask Ryan, "How did you sleep?" To which he will always respond, "Very well." What two year old talks like that? It never gets old and since I find it so amusing, I constantly ask. Sanjay and I also ask Ryan if he had a good time on the way home from a playdate or a trip to our parents' houses, or after a visit with friends. It never fails he will always say, "Yes, we do again." Then we will tell him,"Yes," and he will say, "Another day." It is almost like having a conversation with an adult. Lately, Ryan has been saying to both Sanjay and me, "This is the best day ever!" I took him to the library to check out books and he said, "Mommy, this is the best day ever!" It is really cute, but I know he is just repeating what he heard on one of his favorite tv shows. Although I would like to think that he really believes that it is the best day, I have my doubts that he really knows what that means.

Sometimes I forget that he is only two and a half because the things he says sound like what a big kid would say. Just the other day we had to wait around for a plumber to come to the house. With no indication of when they would show up, we were house bound for a good portion of the day. Only four hours into our very long day, Ryan and I were not seeing eye to eye. We both needed to go outside and get some fresh air. He was throwing a major temper tantrum so I told him we would go to my favorite coffee shop and get some coffee for mommy. This cheered him up a bit and once the tears stopped he told me, "Mommy, I'm having a rough day." It was the cutest thing. Of course I told him that I, too was having a rough day. When I got him strapped into his carseat he looked up at me with his large, sad puppy dog eyes and asked, " Mommy, you love me?" I felt really awful that he asked me that because I always want him to know that I do and never to question that. I scooped him up out of his seat, hugged him and told him that I loved him very much. Even when I am having a rough day, I will always love him no matter what.

Since we are approximately 13 short weeks from the birth of Ryan's baby brother or sister, we are spending a lot of time talking with Ryan about having a sibling. He keeps saying what a big helper he is going to be. I know he will be very helpful, but I can't help feeling like he is still the baby and needs so much of our time and attention. It will be a huge adjustment for all of us and even though I feel like we are preparing for it, I just think when reality hits we will all spend many months adjusting to the changes.

With only a short time left with Ryan as an only child I have had the grand freak out about him not being potty trained and still sleeping in a crib. We bought a big boy potty for Ryan a few months ago, but he is showing little to no interest in it. He will sit there occasionally and read books, he will talk about going to the bathroom, but nothing ever happens on the "big boy potty." I have since decided that stressing myself out about it is not helping anyone. It will probably cause Ryan more anxiety so I have backed off. I will ask him if he wants to use it, if he does, great, if not, no big deal. I keep reminding myself that he will not be the child in kindergarten wearing diapers. There will come a day when he will want to do it, so until then we will just follow his lead.

My other struggle is the crib. I am not ready to let Ryan out of the crib. He takes 2-3 hour naps every day and sleeps 10-12 hours peacefully each night in there. My thought: Why ruin a good thing? Eventually the baby will need the crib, but not right away. We have ordered a toddler bed and some very cool fire truck sheets. My hope is by putting the bed in the room, he will want to sleep in it at some point. Yet another thing I have chosen to not get worked up about right now.

I can't believe that we have six months before our little guy turns three. He constantly amazes me with what he knows. I always hear him singing songs that I don't recognize, songs that he picks up from his preschool class. He is now really interested in flash cards and learning the letters of the alphabet. He can recognize 20 of the 26 letters in the alphabet. When we are out running errands he will tell me what letters he sees and then will ask me what a sign says. He has a crazy thirst for knowledge and cannot get enough of books, music, and art. The past two and a half years have gone by so quickly, I wish I could slow down the clock just a bit. Since I cannot, we are just trying to enjoy each moment we have, the good and even the not so good.

Where Has Summer Gone?

I cannot believe summer is almost over. It flew by so quickly. We have been pretty busy! Here are just a couple things that we have done lately.

We finally had a couple days of sun this summer and headed to the beach. Ryan loved the water, but did not like the fact that the sand would not come off of his hands.




On a random Sunday we were out and Ryan wanted to "drive the car." So, I let him. Clearly it made his day!













A few days ago Ryan got another haircut. It is a little shorter than I like it, but who knew how quickly a boy's hair would grow. Hopefully this cut can last him a few months. It definitely makes him look older. Does he look like a big brother yet??? Well, in a few months, hard to believe, my baby will be a big brother.

I Love Trucks!

Ryan, like most little boys his age, LOVES trucks. He especially loves fire trucks. Every time we leave the house he asks,"Are the fire engines out?" Which translates to, "Mommy/Daddy wherever we are going, you must drive by the fire station and see if the trucks are out in the driveway." Thankfully, a good amount of the time, they are out, and it is so exciting to drive by and look at the big red trucks, that is if you are a two year old boy!

Each year our city holds a public service day in which they close down our main street and park the city's fire engines and police vehicles on the main street. In addition to that the fire department barbecues for the public, the police department gives K9 demonstrations, fingerprints children, and are just out and about to mingle with people from the community. We took Ryan knowing that he would love seeing the fire engines. The best part, from a two year old boy's perspective, was that he got a really cool fire hat and could sit and "drive" any public service vehicle that he chose. This was such a fun event for him, but it was so much fun for us to watch his face light up as he sat in each fire truck. Here are some of our favorite pictures from that day.

Our New Hobby

For Mother's Day, Sanjay bought me a beach cruiser. I had been asking for a bike because I thought it would be a fun way for the three of us to get out and exercise together. We try to ride two or three times a week, and Ryan really enjoys it. Every time we pull the car in the garage he yells, "My bike, my bike!" He will then explain what the plan will be for the evening. He'll say," We eat dinner, play cars with Daddy, and go ride bikes." Ryan is right, after dinner we will ride bikes and have been averaging about 18 miles a week. I'm trying to get a lot of use out of the bike because in a few months I may be too uncomfortable to ride. I keep reminding myself that this is the last time the three of us will be able to spend this time together, so we are enjoying every moment.

Naptime Poop

Many of my friends have told me that their toddlers (who are the same age as Ryan) have started to give up their naps. If I'm being completely honest, I look forward to naptime every day! I can use the down time and Ryan can use the rest. Last week we had two days where we went through our normal morning routines, classes, and trying to tire Ryan out. When it was time for nap, I put him down and listened to him talk on the monitor for almost two hours. He was not getting tired, and I feared that this could be the start of giving up the nap. He began to whine, so I thought oh well, might as well let him get up. I walked in his room to find him standing up in his crib. The first thing he said to me was, "Mommy, I need a wipe!" I know he is obsessed with washing his hands, but at naptime, really? I asked him why, and he pointed to his sheet and said there were "yuckys" in his bed. I looked closely at a brown smeared mark on his sheet and immediately knew it was poop. I asked him if he had pooped, to which he replied, "Yes!" I took him out of the crib, washed his hands, put him in a clean diaper, changed the sheet, and back to bed he went. He napped for an hour after that. When he woke up we had a nice discussion about pooping. I told him, "Ryan, if you go poop while trying to take a nap, you yell to mommy and say I have a poop." "You are not allowed to put your hands in your diaper to touch your poop, that is yucky." Now, all I have to say to him is,"What are the rules about the diaper?" He says," No hands in the diaper!"

I am so relieved that he is not ready to give up his naps. We are VERY lucky that he will still take three hour naps most days. How do I know that he is not ready to give up his afternoon nap? He told me today, "Mommy, I tired, I need to take a nap." I put him in his crib and he was asleep 10 minutes later.

Art Class

Recently, in art class, Ryan has decided to stop painting paper and start painting himself. I think he likes the way the paint feels on his hands, but almost immediately after painting himself, he will say," I need to wash the hands!" I think we spend more time at the sink "washing the hands," than we do creating art.