Grandma & Grandpa Visit NY

My mom and dad arrived on Friday, May 28. We are so glad to have them here!!

Saturday was an especially fun day. Ryan got a tricycle from Grandma & Grandpa. In the evening, we went to have dinner at a place Burke and I had never been to before. It's always fun to try new restaurants. It was right on the Hudson River and the food was quite delicious.

Ryan watching Burke put together the new bike.

Grandpa & Ryan

He really likes the bike. The steering bar is key. We can push him in it, almost like a stroller, which is nice because learning to pedal efficiently is a long way off. He loves being pushed around in it and ringing the bell.

Grandma & Evan - Evan is reaching for the rose petals.

At the Hudson Water Club

This is a random picture of Evan from Sunday. I was testing to see if I liked how he looked in a picture wearing orange. He is going to get his 6 month pictures taken and I am thinking of having him wear an orange outfit. This was a photographic test run. He's lookin' super cute, so I'm putting it on the blog.

Our Little Guys

What do you think? Do they look alike? Everyone has an opinion. From birth, they have looked so different to me. As Evan gets older, I can see that there are some similarities, they are brothers after all, but I can't put my finger on what those similarities are. In any case, they are both adorable to us!

Does this look like a baby who fights sleep with all his might? No...not me, he says.... I'm too cute and smiley.

Strong Legs

Evan has always been strong and active. He loves standing, bouncing, and kicking his legs. Makes diaper changes very challenging. Here's Evan practicing standing with Dada.

Orchestra

Last week was Burke's busy concert week. Concluding the week was the Jimerson String Festival, named in honor of the long-time middle school orchestra teacher (that Burke replaced). It's a very impressive concert. All strings students in the district play - from the 4th grade beginners through the highest level high school chamber orchestra. This was Ryan's third Jimerson concert and Evan's first.

Ryan watching the concert, shortly after we arrived. Eating pretzels. He also brought his Dalmatian puppy along to enjoy the show. 

Ryan could be heard saying "There's Dada" and pointing to Burke as he conducted.

Evan absorbed the new experience. The loud applause startled him at first, but he got used to it.

In this video, Ryan is conducting along with the music for like 3 seconds and then going to collect water bottles left behind by the kids. Then I run back to sleeping Evan's stroller to try to get him away from the noise of the applause.

Major Potty Breakthrough

Guess who went pee pee in the potty for the first time today!! 

Age: 2 years + 1 month + 1 day

I think Ryan was amused by the big fuss I was making. But overall, I think he could care less at this point. I will take it though. It's the beginning of the end of one set of diapers.

New Sounds

In the last couple days, Evan has been figuring out how to put his lips together to make new sounds. First it was just a buzzing, bubbly sound. It's evolved quickly into a "d" sound, where he uses his tongue. He was making these great sounds so I ran to get the camera. When I got back, he was pretty much over it, so I only got a short clip. I was trying to get him to say it. Ryan mimicked me, which caught Evan's attention - THEN Evan made the sounds. This is evident in the video. He LOVES watching Ryan. I am sure he is learning more than we realize from watching his older brother.

Grandpa & Marge

We were so happy to have Grandpa (or G-G-Pa, as Ryan calls him) and Marge visit us in New York for a few days. We went into the city to see Grandpa on Saturday. (While in the city, we had some Rosa Mexicano's guacamole! Delish!) Then they came up to Nyack Sunday through Tuesday.

Evan at the Central Park Zoo. 

Ryan playing in the sand at a Central Park playground. 

On Sunday, Grandpa, Marge, Burke and Ryan went out to eat. I stayed home with a napping Evan. In this photo, Ryan is talking to me on the phone. He's at the restaurant. I'm at home. We were really having a conversation. That's kind of a new thing for him, actively participating in a phone call. He looks like a pro. 

We are always so thankful to be able to spend time with Grandpa and Marge. 

They really enjoyed spending time with the boys!

Tomato Hat

Nana (Burke's mom) made this adorable tomato hat for Ryan. I'm so happy that Evan's gotten to wear it too.

p.s. There's a May 2008 blog post called Little Tomato of a very little Ryan wearing the hat. 

Preview of What's To Come?

We put Evan in Ryan's crib and he was amused by this. He wanted to get in too. (Don't mind Ryan's Christmas pjs in May. To me, if it fits and is appropriate for the weather, it's fine.)

Evan wanted Ryan's dalmatian puppy.

Pulling Ryan's hair. Ryan was a real sport about this, which I appreciate because Evan means no harm and it's one of his favorite things to do right now.

Burke plopped Evan on top of Ryan. For some reason Burke and I found this hilarious. This image probably won't be too funny to us in years to come. But something about a small baby draped over a 2 year old made us laugh. Don't they look like they got caught?

Snack on the Deck

Evan and Ryan enjoying an afternoon snack on our deck on a lovely May day. 

Mother's Day Fun

Burke planned a wonderful Mother's Day.

Me and my little boys. 

(It was not easy to get Ryan to sit still for this picture.)

First I got to sleep in while he watched Evan, fed Ryan and walked Happy with the boys. That walk was not an easy task because it was really windy and he was pushing the unruly double stroller. I got some great gifts - chocolate and Michael Jackson's This Is It DVD. Burke made a perfect-for-me breakfast - cinnamon rolls, bacon, egg & cheese on an English muffin, strawberries with cool whip, and mimosas. Later Evan took an awesome, long nap... so I did too. He took the boys grocery shopping so I could have some alone time. And the finale, for dinner tonight, he's making my favorite - chicken pot stickers. Could I be any luckier today? I wish Mother's Day was every week, or at least bi-monthly. We also had a lot of fun with the boys today. Here are some highlights.

Mama making Evan laugh - one of my favorite things.


Ryan enjoying cool whip. At the end of the video he says "Happy Mother's Day."


Ryan playing with his "oo-ee-oos". That is the sound vehicles with sirens make, so that is what he calls them. He explains that in the video.

My wonderful hubby playing with Evan on his playmat. 

Evan had a great time grabbing at and pulling Burke's hair and ears. It was super cute! 

Rice Cereal

Well, it has begun. Evan is now eating solids. This afternoon he had about 1 oz. of rice cereal mixed with formula. He was giving us signs that he was ready. He seemed to enjoy it, gobbled it right up.

Ryan was processing the whole thing. When Evan was eating, Ryan also wanted to eat. Surprise! It was just about his regular snack time anyway, so he got to eat applesauce while Evan ate his rice cereal. Also, as you listen to the audio, in case you get confused, Ryan calls himself "baby" and Evan "big brother."



I was bummed that my camera died while he was eating. I was able to get 4 cute shots. Luckily, I got this video, which is probably better than photos anyway.

Walking the Dog

CUTE!

Getting So Big

Evan is 5 months now. He's getting so active, doing so many cute things.

Big boy in the bath.

He's starting to show interest in sitting up, so we pulled out the Bumbo chair. It'll take some getting used to, but I'm sure he'll grow to love it.

Evan is just beginning to show interest in remotes. If he's anything like his brother (or most babies, for that matter), he'll be obsessed with remotes and cell phones soon.

One of my FAVORITE things he does lately is play with his little toes. Ryan didn't do that so much, so it's a new sight for me. I just LOVE it. (Also, he likes chewing on and sucking his thumbs.)