Spring Day on the Deck

Finally, the weather is getting a bit more spring-like. Burke and I spent a rare afternoon together with Ryan. (Every weekday afternoon, I either work or Burke gives lessons.) We took a nice walk and then sat on the deck for a few minutes while Ryan ate crackers (a favorite). Burke took the opportunity to give Ryan some standing practice.


He kept looking up, pointing, and "talking". I think he was noticing the wind chimes that our upstairs neighbors have on their deck.

Increased Mobility, part 3

He still doesn't crawl on his hands and knees. He may go from his army crawl scoot to walking. Who knows? He's doin' it his own super cute way.

In the first video, he was thinking about pulling up, but then he was distracted by the camera, and gave us a couple adorable smiles.

In the second video, he pulled himself up. Strong baby!

In the second one, the music you hear is Burke playing the guitar. He stopped when he realized I was recording.

In case you were wondering, Burke and I both said "boink" in the second video. That's what Ryan expects us to do when he stretches his sock and then lets it go. It's a funny, baby thing with socks, elasticity, and silly sounding words.

Centennial Olympic Park

After the aquarium, Mary, Ryan and I walked through Centennial Olympic Park, created for the 1996 Olympic Games which were in Atlanta. I've been dying to take Ryan to a playground, but it's been too cold in NY. But in Atlanta, the weather was beautiful so Ryan got to play at a playground for the first time.

He loved scooting through this tube.



Aunt Mary is there to catch him if he tries to hurl himself out of the tube.


Playing peek-a-boo with mama with the little holes in the tube. I love this picture!

Mary arranged for bricks to be placed in the park in honor of her father, Burke Sr., and in memory of her mother, Dorothy (aka Dot).

Georgia Aquarium

On Friday, March 20 Ryan and I went to the Georgia Aquarium with Mary, Joe, and Michelle. (Burke had to work, sadly, and couldn't come with.) It was amazing. It was gigantic and there were tons of people. We didn't even get to see every section and were there at least 3 hours. I'd love to go back sometime.

I don't think I've ever been to an aquarium before. I LOVED it and I really enjoyed watching Ryan watch the fish in the reef section of the aquarium.


He liked watching the fish, but did not want to pose for a picture. He really liked when I laid him back and he could see the little sharks swimming in the the ceiling portion of the room.


One of the three beluga whales they have.


Looking at fish with Aunt Mary.


Ryan in front of the Deepo (the aquarium mascot) display in the gift shop.

Marietta, Georgia

The Nyack High School Chamber Orchestra participated in the National Orchestra Festival in Atlanta, Georgia last week. The orchestra played a piece Burke arranged and their conductor (a friend, colleague of Burke's) asked him to conduct his piece in the competition. It went really well and the group received a Superior Rating.

Ryan and I went with the orchestra. We were upgraded to first class on the way there, which was nice. More room. Besides going to support Burke and the orchestra, we went to visit Burke's Aunt Mary, Joe, and Michelle, who live outside Atlanta.

On Thursday, March 19 we went to Marietta, GA to see where Aunt Mary lives and visit with her family. Joe cooked us delicious steaks for dinner. They have a lovely home. It was so nice to spend time with them.

They have a couple steps between their kitchen and living room. Ryan spent a lot of time climbing up them and then hurling himself head first back down (we helped on the down part). Here's a climbing picture.


Ryan was tentatively poking at the steak. I gave him a couple pieces (first taste of beef). Here he's watching Joe for reassurance that the steak is okay to touch.


Okay, Ryan says, it's fun to grab hunks of beef.


The 3 of us with Joe and Michelle. (Pics of Mary to come.)

Visiting with More Friends

Robyn, Marcy & baby Juliana (8 weeks younger than Ryan) came to Nyack for a visit. They are teacher friends of mine from Brooklyn. It was so nice to visit with them and so wonderful of them to make the long trek to Nyack from the city.

Juliana and Ryan interacted so well. They seemed amused and entertained by each other. We thought it was cute when they both started playing with this toy.


Robyn and Ryan


Me, Ryan, Robyn, Juliana, and Marcy outside the yummy ice cream place.


We thought this game of back-n-forth was pretty hilarious.

Mirror

We have this odd floor to ceiling mirror on one wall of our living room. Ryan likes to play there. Today I think he kissed the baby he saw in the reflection. As you can see, he also had fun playing with the green ball in front of the mirror.

Jumparoo

Ryan's been climbing Burke's guitar case, like a madman. He also is really enjoying standing, propped up against things like the radiator, chairs, and the piano bench. Burke and I wanted to buy him something he could practice pulling up to stand. We figured it could be an early birthday present. I looked online for what I wanted and we took our first trip to Toys R Us. Of course, they didn't have what I had originally wanted, but we found this and Ryan liked it. And most importantly it had the JPMA seal for safety.

I had the camera ready to take the above picture after Ryan heard his favorite noise on the toy, after which he always smiles. Cute smile. Too bad it's blurry.

It's called the Laugh & Learn Jumparoo. I sort of wish we had it earlier because I don't think he'll use it very long. But it's still a good purchase. He can use it to bounce, strengthening his legs for standing.


I had a bit of a hard time taking these pictures. He has learned to associate the camera with the bright flash and automatically starts closing his eyes and scrunching up his face when he sees me beginning to take a picture.


The tomato is the object that makes his favorite noise. Here he lifted the tomato and heard the sound and I got another cute smile.

Visiting with Friends

Sarah, Nathan & Max came up to Nyack to visit yesterday. Max is getting so big. He's a sturdy, active little fellow. He made Ryan cry a couple time with his aggressive social skills. I think this picture was taken right before Max leaned in to grab Ryan's ear or mouth. Ryan soon started batting Max's hand away when it approached. They have very different temperments, so it is interesting to watch. I'm sure they'll be good friends some day soon.


Sarah and Nathan - baby Max in carrier takin' a snooze.


Super cute picture of Max in his fuzzy sweater.


Max checking out Ryan's crib mirror. Do you like Ryan's new face he just invented. I think it's an evolution from scrunchy-nose-sniffy-face. It seems to be a smile. He puts his little teeth together and squints up his eyes more.

It's always good to see Sarah, Nathan and Max. Still can't believe they are indirectly responsible for Ryan (they introduced me and Burke). Also, can't believe we have children.