Ducks and Tackle Hugs

Ryan's technique for feeding the ducks is to yell at them "DUCK! SHET!": Duck Sit.  This approach fits with his Full Speed Ahead philosophy on life and preference for hugging via tackle: Tackle Hugs.  As for me, I am focused more on the funny tooting noises ducks make, and I love Little Man's hugs.

Night Night

Ryan loves to help with the bedtime routine: Night Night. 

Perfect Saturday

This is why we love November. We can run in the park all afternoon, playing our version of soccer, which is basically chasing Dad with the ball,

and teach Ryan the rules of the game, like Don't Sit On The Ball.

Then we get to wind down with a picnic: 

 yummy fresh guacamole

and Ryan's first slider.

Earning Magnets

 
Being a big girl is hard work. You are expected to avoid using bad words like "butt", help clean up your toys, and stay in bed without getting up 100 times at night.      

My parents help me stay on track with my new magnet chart.  I earn magnets every day that I keep up with my responsibilities, like getting dressed in the morning without drama and tears. 

Our toughest issue was going to sleep before 10pm so I'm not this exhausted every day:

The best part of the chart is that I get a nickel for every magnet earned.  Why a nickel and not a penny or even a quarter?  Ask my Dad, he's doing all the math.  At the end of our first month, I saved enough to go to the Disney store and get my new favorite character!

He seems to like living here because we have his book, 

and his fairy friends.

Animals and Cell Phones

We're trying to keep track of Ryan's development these days, but life seems to move at lightning speed with the second child. Plus, our boy moves too fast to catch his best moments on camera! Meanwhile, I will happily take credit for his new vocabulary, since I love reading to him.  

His favorite word is "Uh-Oh".  He's also working on: "oh?" (universal for help, open), "shah" (share/give me that NOW), "down", "bite", "shit" (sit, to Mag and Mox), "mm-bra" (zebra), "raff" (giraffe), "ibbit" (ribbit/frog),.  Here's what we could catch: Animals and Phones.  The best part of this age is how he watches me carefully, then copies everything I do:  Ryan on the Phone.

Meow and Bye Bye

Little Man has become a constant source of entertainment as his language development and word recognition explodes.  He will repeat almost anything we say:  Meow and Sinister Laugh. 

He loves to do grown up things like reading books, brushing his teeth, and taking my babies for a jog through the house:  Bye Bye Kiss.

Nutcracker Tea Party

My teacher at school has gotten us excited about a story called The Nutcracker.  It's about an ugly toy that is secretly a ballet dancing prince from Toyland.

He has a friend named the Sugar Plum Fairy who throws tea parties around the holidays.  It's a great time to take pictures of friends with the iphone,  

practice ballet dancing,

and eat ballet slippers made of icing.

The Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara read the story of the Nutcracker to us, then the real characters came out to surprise us!

My favorite character was the Rat King, but the Snow Queen was pretty cool too.  Mom said she hopes we can make this one of our Girls Days every year.