Thursday, March 27, 2014
Dancing Through the Decades
I just found this photo on our camera - ha! Several weeks ago Myles' school had a "Dancing Through the Decades" school dance. Gilby had to unexpectedly go out of town, but fortunately my mom was able to join us. We were from the sixties, or as Sydney kept saying, "We're the sixties!"
School Pictures
Ryker is in the 1-2 year-old classroom, the Bear Cubs. He transitioned to school so easily, never even crying at drop off. I really like his teachers and he is a happy guy at school. My biggest concern with Ryker was that he would start getting sick all the time being that we started in the middle of a pretty nasty respiratory season, and he had been home with a nanny for his first year and few months. Thankfully, other than a few little colds, he hasn't been sick at all! He eats and sleeps well at school and does fine interacting with the other kiddos. I really like that he is getting some regular socialization with kids his own age and has a few structured "school days" per week.
Sydney is in the Breckenridge preschool classroom. She has predictably not had quite as easy of a transition to school as Ryker, but she is still very happy there, and really talkative and cheerful every evening after school. Sydney is more shy and reserved in public than the boys, and has days where she is still nervous and tearful at drop off. She really likes her teacher, Ms. Katie, but sometimes prefers to hang out more with Ms. Katie than with the other students. She has had a play date with another little girl in her class and is really excited to go to a classmate's birthday party next week. She has also recently been talking about another girl named Addison, who according to Sydney is "quiet just like me." I like the preschool curriculum they use and Sydney is making academic progress. Her identification of letters is coming along as is her handwriting. She likes us to write down all the names of our family members so she can try to copy them. I can see Sydney coming out of her shell more and more since beginning a couple months ago, and think this school experience is really important to help build her confidence in group settings.
So far so good!
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Park Day
Today the kids and I didn't have anywhere to be until 4:00, which is very rare around here. We are in a busy time of our lives with two working parents, school, preschool, daycare, Myles' many appointments and therapies, and activities in between. I love our life and don't mind our on-the-go schedule, but it was such a nice treat to actually have a day where we were not rushing out the door. So, we headed to a new-to-us park this morning to enjoy some outside time. Since I've been lagging on taking updated photos of the kiddos lately, I brought the camera along...
"Mom, I have an eye on Ryker, you go ahead." Thanks little mama.
Growing so quickly.
At almost 17 months, Ryker is so adorable and fun I could just gobble him up. I would love to freeze time for awhile for him to stay at this stage. He is engaging, fun, very communicative, and independent, but not yet at the difficult, tantrum throwing, persistent toddler age. He throws little fits and will cry, roll around on the floor, and occasionally bang his head out of frustration, but it never lasts long. I'm sure there's worse to come, but in the meantime, some of my favorite things right now...
Walk-a-walk-a :: Ryker's expressive language continues to impress us daily. He is a really good imitator of both actions and words, and still repeats most things we say. But what's different from even 6 or so weeks ago is that Ryker independently uses a lot of words to tell us what he wants and to make comments about what is going on around him. He will say "eat" when he is hungry and can identify, with words, a lot of different foods that he wants. He will use words like "up, down, more, done, outside, park, go, book, color, play, please" to make requests. Ryker says, "walk-a-walk-a" when he wants to walk rather than be carried (which is always), and he identifies a lot of animal sounds. His high pitched "cock-a-doodle-doo" is the best!
He listens! :: Ryker can follow many one-step directions (throw something away, get shoes, clean up, come to the table, go up for bath), and actually listens when we ask him to do something! He is humorously mischievous at times, and I'm sure he will test his boundaries in the future, but for now he is so proud when he completes something we ask him to do.
Pre-sleep time :: Ryker LOVES books. Before nap time and bedtime he urgently says, "books," and picks out a couple for us to read to him. His favorites are Big Red Barn, I Went Walking, and Everywhere Babies. When we lay him down in his crib after reading, he likes to have a book with him to flip through before falling asleep, and will look at it again after waking up until we come to get him. Even at night, when it's pitch black in his room, I'll give him a book that he contentedly holds despite not being able to see it! His love of books makes my heart happy.
Cuddles, kisses, and hugs :: Ryker is getting busier and busier exploring his world, but he is still up for cuddle time when he's sleepy. If we ask for a kiss, he'll come over with lips puckered and lean right in. And it melts my heart when he says, "I wuv ooo," right after we tell him we love him.
His overall personality :: I hate to be the endlessly doting mom, but Ryker has such a great personality. He is cautious of new people, but quick to feel comfortable and engage with them. He appreciates a good teasing, adapts to new situations well, and is overall very easy. He does stand his ground with his siblings and will pitch a fit when they (Sydney) take something from him, or if they (Myles) handle him too much. There is a steady stream of sibling quarrels in our house, but at the end of the day, they are all each others best friends.
Walk-a-walk-a :: Ryker's expressive language continues to impress us daily. He is a really good imitator of both actions and words, and still repeats most things we say. But what's different from even 6 or so weeks ago is that Ryker independently uses a lot of words to tell us what he wants and to make comments about what is going on around him. He will say "eat" when he is hungry and can identify, with words, a lot of different foods that he wants. He will use words like "up, down, more, done, outside, park, go, book, color, play, please" to make requests. Ryker says, "walk-a-walk-a" when he wants to walk rather than be carried (which is always), and he identifies a lot of animal sounds. His high pitched "cock-a-doodle-doo" is the best!
He listens! :: Ryker can follow many one-step directions (throw something away, get shoes, clean up, come to the table, go up for bath), and actually listens when we ask him to do something! He is humorously mischievous at times, and I'm sure he will test his boundaries in the future, but for now he is so proud when he completes something we ask him to do.
Pre-sleep time :: Ryker LOVES books. Before nap time and bedtime he urgently says, "books," and picks out a couple for us to read to him. His favorites are Big Red Barn, I Went Walking, and Everywhere Babies. When we lay him down in his crib after reading, he likes to have a book with him to flip through before falling asleep, and will look at it again after waking up until we come to get him. Even at night, when it's pitch black in his room, I'll give him a book that he contentedly holds despite not being able to see it! His love of books makes my heart happy.
Cuddles, kisses, and hugs :: Ryker is getting busier and busier exploring his world, but he is still up for cuddle time when he's sleepy. If we ask for a kiss, he'll come over with lips puckered and lean right in. And it melts my heart when he says, "I wuv ooo," right after we tell him we love him.
His overall personality :: I hate to be the endlessly doting mom, but Ryker has such a great personality. He is cautious of new people, but quick to feel comfortable and engage with them. He appreciates a good teasing, adapts to new situations well, and is overall very easy. He does stand his ground with his siblings and will pitch a fit when they (Sydney) take something from him, or if they (Myles) handle him too much. There is a steady stream of sibling quarrels in our house, but at the end of the day, they are all each others best friends.
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