It’s been far too long since my last post about the boys. My lack of recent blog posts can be a testament to the fact that my two little love bugs are keeping me on my toes these days and our days are busy from sun up to sun down. But I love it! My brain tends to swirl around with things I would love to write about, but usually I can’t stop what I am doing to sit down and actually type. So this particular post might seem unorganized and scattered, but I have about 20 minutes of free time while Ryan is in OT so I am going to give it a shot. Here is a general update of my boys!
Ryan-
4 and a half years old
42 inches tall and 45lbs
Still a blondie with blue/green/gray eyes
-Ryan is my sensitive, dramatic, sweetheart! And when I say this I mean to the extreme. He is VERY sensitive, and VERY dramatic, and SUPER sweet. Everything he does it to the extreme. He can go from the happiest kid on the block, to having the most terrible meltdown I have ever seen in a matter of seconds. His highs are high and the lows are low. But he loves very strongly and he loves everyone!
-Boy this boy is active. From the moment his eyes open until he finally falls asleep at night, he is on the move. There are definitely pros and cons to this. Its great to see him always active and playing and exploring, he still won’t even sit down through a TV show. He runs and swings and jumps and swims and wrestles and plays non stop. BUT there is a time when we wish he was able to sit still and focus on one task for longer than 30 seconds. Independent play is still a work in progress, he likes to play with others. I end most days exhausted from constantly being on the go. I think these are good characteristics for him in the future…. as long as it doesn’t get him in too much trouble at school.
-Ryan is “one smart cookie” as he calls himself. But seriously he is! He is not smart in the “I know all my letters and numbers and can read at a young age way”, all those things require him to sit and practice which is not a strong suit. He is smart in the sense that he asks deep insightful questions, he analyzes everything, he remembers everything, he is intuitive and a problem solver, and he can recall random information about any topic after just briefly hearing about it. He stumps me with tricky questions on a daily basis and I am so glad Google is available so I can get the answers for his questions. He holds very adult like questions with perfect strangers and he is always asking WHY.
-My grandfather Poppy use to call me “yack yack gab a lot” (a nickname which also got passed down to my cousin Jessie and my sister) and I am sure if he was still here with us, he would pass it right along to Ryan. This kid can talk! He can talk to anyone about anything for any length of time. Just this morning he was following the spanish speaking cleaning ladies around the house telling them all about our most recent vacation. He makes friends instantaneously with anyone as soon as he walks in the room. Everyone he meets knows that Mike had poison ivy this spring, and I was away at a wedding for 5 nights, and the rock he is carrying around was part of the Rocky Mountains.
-Up until recently Ryan would really obsess over one thing at a time (like trucks for the past 2 years), but his interests are definitely starting to expand. He really loves all the normal boy things- super heros, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, dinosaurs, trucks, Planes Fire and Rescue, Paw Patrol, riding his bike, swinging on the swings, snakes and bugs (gross), baseball, and pretty much anything that Dad likes- you know because dad is SOOO COOL. The other day when I asked him what is the one thing he still wants to do before summer is over, his answer was “yard work with dad”. Funny kid.
-And just some random things- he is still a pretty good eater, he eats much healthier than the rest of the family. He wakes up around 7am and is in bed around 8 and only naps occasionally. He is always playing pretend. He has huge feet. He is about a size 5, we recently dropped the “T”. He played soccer for the first time this year and like it so we are going to try again this fall. This summer he learned to swim on his own with no bubble. He can jump off the side and swim across the pool by himself. He goes to OT twice a week and speech once a week (more details on that another time). He is extremely sensitive to noise. He still loves to cuddle- its normally a jerky get punched in the back style of cuddling, but he likes to be close. Still allergic to eggs, nuts, and wheat. He is finally 100% overnight potty trained, that took some time. He is a great big brother and he tells me everyday he wants a baby again and this time make it a girl (I”ll do my best Ryan!).
Anyway I think that is about it for now. I am sure I am missing some important characteristics, but that is what comes to mind when I think of my loveable 4 year old!
Patrick
1.5 years old
I acutally have no idea how tall he is or his weight, we are overdue for a doctor check up. But my guess is he is small for his age.
His hair has gotten very blonde, curly and long.
Golden brown eyes- and a great tan lol
Currently wears size 18-24 months
-Patrick is super cute, and he knows it. He smiles at people and gives them a cute little dimple because he knows that people are saying “oh he is so cute”. His hair turned super blonde which surprised us all. He definitely looks like a beach baby this summer.
-For the most part Patrick is easy going. He definitely has his phases where he is whiny and clingy, but overall he is a good happy baby. I do think teething bothers him a lot and recently he has been having some tummy trouble so he is a little off, but generally he returns to his normal personality.
-After giving me a hard time about sleep for so long, he has fallen into a nice routine. He is very easy to put to bed around 6:30-7pm and he sleeps through the night til anytime between 5:30-7am. He still takes two naps, about an hour at 10am and another hour at 2 pm. I would love to consolidate that to one longer mid day nap, but he is fighting the change. It is a huge relief that putting him down is so easy these days. The one wierd thing he still does is cry hysterically every single time he wakes up. He goes from sound asleep to standing and screaming in just a second. He has never woken up with a smile on his face or babbling to himself like most kids do. I hope he grows out of this because its a harsh wake up call for him and the rest of us.
-Patrick is a little slow on speaking. He finally just started saying mama and dada in the last couple weeks. Those are the only words he has. I am going to give it another couple of months and then I will call the early intervention people to see if they are concerned. He communicates very well in other ways- sign language, pointing, doing what we ask, responding to us, etc.- so I don’t think it is a hearing problem or a lack of comprehension, he is just slow to say actual words.
-Right now Patrick loves to books “Moo Bah LA LA LA” and anything else that has fun animal noises. I guess you can say animals are his top interest right now. That and Mickey Mouse. Otherwise Patrick just does and watches whatever his brother is doing or watching.
-He follows in Ryan’s footsteps in the activity department. He loves to be on the move and to climb and slide and run. Although he is a little bit better at sitting and playing by himself and he has much better rhythm when we have dance parties.
-Patrick is iPhone obsessed. He loves to just sit and play on our phones. Normally he is just scrolling through pictures and watching home videos, but he can navigate all the apps and find his PBS kids app or any of the games we have for the kids. His biggest temper tantrums are when we take the phone away. We are definitely trying to go through some iphone detox for him.
-He is also a pretty good eater. He eats a lot of food- a whole lot! He has foods he won’t eat and meals where he is a bit picky, but generally he eats well. We have been on the “everyone eats the same thing for dinner” plan since he was about 1. If either boy doesn’t eat what we make for dinner, they don’t eat. So far its working for us, if they have meals they don’t eat a lot, they always make up for it the next day.
-Patrick adores Ryan. He loves to follow him around, chase him, wrestle with him, and basically copy cat him. Its super cute to see the brother relationship forming so strong already.
Anyway- we are all doing well and the boys are amazing! I love being their mom. It gets hectic and messy and exhausting but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I use to worry about never finding the right man to love, and now I get to love 3 every day! Life is good.
