Secret Life of Little Man

We think Ryan is keeping secrets from us. At home he is our loving, hilarious, carefree little brother.  But at school he is shaping up to be a natural leader. His teacher said whenever he does something, all of his classmates follow. He runs a circle around the playground? They all line up behind him and run a circle. He runs to the fence to shout at the tractor across the street? They all line up at the fence and start shouting. She said he likes to be The Classroom Enforcer, and will repeat any reprimands by the teacher directed at other kids, even if he is across the room, like "No, Carson! We don't hit friends!". She also mentioned his love for pretty girls, confirmed at his preschool Open House when two families stopped us to say their daughters talk about him nonstop. He talks about them, too- when asked who he plays with at school, he says quickly "MAGGIE" and "Madison hit me".

It's no secret that he's going to be an avid talker- his language has exploded into full sentences (mostly commands and repeating your words back as confirmation). He still calls all firetrucks, police cars, and ambulances "woo woos". And lately he loves waiting for the "gibbij truck" on Fridays. He is still obsessed with all the characters from Disney's Cars movie. Sometimes we try to correct his articulation, like "Wa-keen (say "Ma-queen") okay... MA-WA-keen", and "Saddy (say "SaLLy") okay... I said SaDDy". The word "Oh-kaay" is used frequently and adorably. He has developed a love for his Teddy Be-yahs, and sleeps with an average of 3 furry friends every night. He is very strict with them, they must lay down and be covered by the blanket. 

 

Then there is potty training. He has surprised us with unbridled enthusiasm for tackling this new milestone. Every night he demands to "go potty", and he will literally sit on the potty, straining diligently for 20 minutes. The fact that there is no actual pee or poo from this effort doesn't matter, he is so proud of himself when we stand around and clap that it's totally worth it. Mom says she will probably be criticized for putting this picture up, but she never wants to forget this captured moment of awesome commitment to the task.