DNC Why I love the US!! Capitalism Rocks!!

I was watching coverage on the democratic national convention and ran across this interesting little clip. Enjoy it!

Hansel and Gretel

One day a poor woodscutter abandoned his children in the forest. The hungry children found a house made of candy. A wicked witch lived there and captured them to fatten them up to eat them!!

I am not quite sure if I would be considered the witch or if the doctor is considered the witch in this tale. At Ryan's 12 month appointment I was given a charge to fatten him up in the next 6 weeks. Apparently only gaining one pound in 3 months is a problem. So I now have to ruin his diet and give him all sorts of fatty things (ei. ice cream, butter, cream....all the things the rest of us are supposed to eat sparingly). The doctor was telling me to let him sit in his chair until we are done eating so he has had long enough to eat. Thanks for the advice doc, but the kid does eat, and he eats a lot, usually more than Whitney. He doesn't need teeth because he inhales his food. So after defending my parenting skills, we discovered the challenge was that he does not drink milk. He is not a fan so I was just not giving it to him. I have since learned that he needs 16 oz a day (so said the doc.) So we went cold turkey off of water and juice and went straight to milk. The first day was not hard because he is also getting 3 teeth at once so his gums hurt and all he wanted to do was drink. So I was giving him milk or formula all day. (This did cause a bowel problem the next day!!) Today however, he would very much rather have juice and has chosen not to drink than drink milk. Eventually he will be thirsty enough to drink it. The plus side to the fattening diet is that he will get to 20 lbs faster and will be able to change car seats! Just 3 pounds to go!


Here are some pictures we took recently of the little buddy. I tried to find some that show that I am not starving my kid!! You can totally see his fat rolls.

And the answer is.......

Watermelon. I know it seems crazy but he hates it. We have given him a taste of all the normal foods you give your kids to get them to make an icky face and it hasn't worked. He gobbles up grapefruit and doesn't even flinch at pickles or lemons. He sees us eating the bright juicy fruit and wants some but every time we give it to him this is the face we get. I must admit that I give him a taste every time just to see him pucker! So congratulations to the one person that guessed correctly!!

Ryan the Lion turns 1

I'm having a hard time believing that he is one. I can say all the stuff most parents say but I really think it has to do with the fact that he is the size of a 9 month old not a one year old. Not to mention he is still toothless. (Yes Brad I am going to take him to the dentist.) So a few of my favorite things that he does:
1. awkward sleeping positions. He sleeps with his bum in the air and I find it so cute.
2. Bugging his sister. I am pretty sure he knows what he is doing because he will do it and laugh! I was holding him and she was standing in front of us. He was reaching his feet out so he could kick her head. He was very amused by himself. Lucky for him she didn't feel his little feet mess up her hair.
3. Big slobbery kisses. If they were from anyone else it would not be something I would enjoy, but there is something sweet about his open mouthed attack on my face.
4. Although this one can be a little out of control sometimes, I do love that he wants me over anyone else!!

Here are a few pictures from his party. I think Whitney was more excited than Ryan. She was having a hard time waiting for Tom to come home so we could open presents and eat cake. The funny part about it was that she was with me when I bought his present and helped Grandma pick out the other presents. I believe that 1 year old parties can get a little out of hand. I went to other one year old parties for friends and family and the kid was overwhelmed by a lot of people and had way too many presents to open. (kid crying because mom took away the new toy to give him another present to open which would have been fun to play with but we had to take it away to get to the next one) Not to mention it seemed that the mom couldn't enjoy it because she was worried about the other guests. So we adopted the only grandparents rule when Whit turned one and it has proven a great idea again. Even though it was close to bedtime he was pleasant and we all had a good time.

Why Ryan the Lion?

When Ryan was brand new he had quite the mane. His hair would stand straight up. When he was 2 days old Whitney went with Grandma to the zoo. She came back with a stuffed lion for Ryan because it looked like him. He has been Ryan the Lion ever since. Unfortunately the mane has been cut off, but he is still super duper cute. This was my attempt at a lion cake. I didn't have a lion pan so I did the best I could. Since Whitney said it looked like a lion I figured it couldn't be that bad.



I wasn't quite sure he knew what the spoon was for, he has not used one with success before. Success being defined as getting the food into the mouth not smeared on the tray or launching food across the room. It must have been the motivation of really good cake and ice cream. We will see if this trend continues.

This lion toy was a big hit. It can be pushed or ridden on. He is still too short to ride it, but he loves to push it around and then pull it backward. It is amazing how quickly he understood possession. He pushed it around once then Whitney wanted a turn so she grabbed a hold of the handle. He looked at her and half screamed half growled. It was a very unpleasant noise. I wasn't surprised that he did this when she was trying to play with one of his toys, this is what she does when he takes her toys, or goes into her room, or does anything that, in her opinion, is stepping over the line. Normally he just cries when she takes something away from him, but he knew this was his and was not going to be bullied!



Grandma gave him this wonderful drum. It sings and lights up the ABC's as he hits it. He doesn't know it does this because he hits it so fast that the lights just rapidly change and you can't understand the words. Regardless it is fun to hit and carry around and drop on other things (it makes noise with any sort of contact).

He also received a boat to put in the tub or I am sure as he gets older any container of water. He loves that he can carry around the little people and he can put them in and out of the container. He may get this from watching Whitney pack her bags all the time (whether going to Grandma's or not) or maybe it is just fun to put things in a container and take them out again.

Happy Birthday Little Buddy!!

Biker Babe

For some reason Whitney has always enjoyed motorcycles. She has told me many times that she needs one or at least her dad needs one so she can have rides. Our neighbor happens to have a bike. Whitney saw her drive up the other day. I saw her standing at the edge of the driveway waiting for Lou to turn off the bike. I was distracted and then a few moments later received a call from Lou to come over with my camera. Thanks Lou for making her day!!


At least I know that she will not be the biker babe on the back, she is going to be the cool chick that actually has her own bike (and not one of those pansy mopeds I have been seeing a lot lately!)!