Another Monterey favorite

Here's a picture of Ryan at our other favorite park - the Tot Lot. It's wonderful - we go there at least three times a week. It's a perfect park for an active 2-year old! It has a fun structure to climb on, rubberized ground cover, grass for soccer, a "forest" of trees to explore...and best of all, it's completely fenced in. Ryan loves it because there is so much to play with...I love it because I can visit with my friends, drink a cup of coffee and relax because he can't escape!

Bath time

Check out those rolls!
Caitlin LOVES her baths!

We'll miss the park!

I've been taking my camera everywhere to try and capture Ryan and Caitlin doing the things the love to do in Monterey, so we have pictures we can share with them as the get older.

One of our favorite places is a little park near our house. It's an easy 10 minute walk away, and it has a great play structure for Ryan, it's always deserted and it has a car track. Ryan LOVES driving his cars around the track - he could do this for hours on end.

I know we'll find other parks in RI and WA, but this little park will always be special!

Caitlin is officially rolling from tummy to back!

Caitlin first rolled over on October 6th, but it didn't happen again until Halloween. Today, every time I put her on her tummy, she was flipping over onto her back. She doesn't like being on her tummy - she likes to be on her back where she can grab at her toys.

On a side note, Ryan told me I had a "beautiful belly button" yesterday. His expanding vocabulary results in some very funny comments!

Halloween pictures

I know I haven't posted since before Caitlin's birth, but I figure now is as good of time as any to start up again! I'll try to "retroactively" post some pictures of the summer, but I'm going to start with some Halloween pics.

Ryan went as a cow. We went with some friends to an early toddler trick-or-treat. He loved ringing the doorbell and saying "Trick or Treat." He especially liked doing it once he realized that people were going to give him candy.

Joining us at the "grown-up" table

This weekend, we put Ryan's highchair away and put him in his "big boy" chair at the table. He was quite excited to be sitting with us! We bought him a Dora the Explorer placemat, a new favorite of his, and so far, we haven't had any super messy meals. He keeps his plate and sippy cup on Dora. I know, in time, he'll begin launching his plate like a Frisbee, but for now, I'll enjoy the relatively clean meals!

Bubbles

Ryan has discovered the fabulous world of bubbles!!!! He was trying to blow them himself yesterday, but just ended up drinking a whole bunch of bubble solution - luckily, it was non-toxic and kid-friendly!!

26.2 Miles!

Mike just completed his first marathon - the Big Sur International Marathon - on April 30, 2006. This marathon is one of the toughest races in the United States beginning in the coastal town of Big Sur and ending in Carmel. The entire course is run on Highway 1. Mike completed the course in 4:02:12. He was exhausted, worn out, and hating life immediately following the race, but the next night he was online looking at other marathons scheduled in the next year!! I think he's been bitten by the racing bug! Here's a few pictures - one at the finish line and one following the race. Mike wants me to make it very clear in the finish line picture that although it appears that a woman is beating him, she is part of a relay team, so she had only run 7 miles versus Mike's 26.2!!!!

Driving the van

Ryan loves the minivan almost as much as I do! It's one of his favorite "toys!" He usually starts out in the back of the van, but makes his way to the driver's seat where he drives and plays with the "buttons." When he's "driving," he adds great sound effects too..."Vroom, vroom" and "Beep, beep." He has yet to figure out how to actually honk the horn, but the windshield wipers are usually going when I start the car!

And a side note...you'll notice he still has the same crazy hair! The only time it is laying down is immediately after bathtime! Every morning when I walk into his room, I'm anticipating what kind of crazy 'do he'll be sporting that day!!

Easter 2006

A belated Happy Easter! We had a great day. Ryan enjoyed his Easter basket (while Mike and I enjoyed the candy inside the eggs). I went a bit overboard with the Easter basket, but it's so much fun to buy things for Ryan...and with Easter, I had a great excuse!! Ryan's favorite things from the Easter Bunny included a Sesame Street bath toys set and a new book about Elmo and the Count. He still loves anything Sesame Street!

We went to church and then had a nice Easter dinner potluck with several of our military friends (the families of Ryan's playmates). Ryan had a wonderful time playing with his friends while we enjoyed some yummy food!

Ryan is finally reaching the age where he can play independently for a while - it's soooo nice! I only get concerned when the house gets really quiet...then I can usually find him playing with the toilet, the answering machine, the computer, the microwave or the stereo!

Good Old Days Parade

Every year in Pacific Grove, there is a celebration called, "The Good Old Days." It's a weekend filled with fun events, including a large street fair and a parade. We took Ryan to the parade this year and he loved it. He was in the backpack the entire thing and remained silent and stoic, but I think that was because he was taking it all in. There were fire engines, cars, motorcycles, bands, horses, etc. - all things he's VERY interested in right now.

We spent today at the street fair...until it started to rain. We're really going to miss living in this town - it's got such a small town atmosphere that we really enjoy!

More boots

I've posted before about Ryan and his love for the boots. This morning, he insisted on putting them on over his pajamas. Now, I can't get them off to get him dressed! He is following me around the house with my boots, wanting me to wear them too! Luckily, Elmo's World comes on in 10 minutes so I can distract him long enough to throw some clothes on him!

Ryan's doing great - still an incredibly picky eater and into everything (he's trying to remove the outlet safety plugs as I write), but he is tons of fun!!! He's talking up a storm, repeating just about everything that comes out of our mouths!

For Ellie

As many of you know, my sister, Ellie, is living and working in Japan for a year. She left before I was pregnant and will return after the baby is born. She keeps insisting on seeing a "belly shot!" So, Ellie, here it is! Here's my belly at 26 weeks pregnant!

Big Boy Haircut

Ryan and I spent last week in Seattle visiting friends and family. One of the highlights of the week was Ryan's haircut appointment at The Hair Chair, a children's hair salon. You pay a ridiculous amount of money to have your child sit on a tractor or an airplane, surrounded by toys and books, while the stylist cuts their hair. Since Ryan HATES having his hair cut, I decided to suck it up, pay the money, and hope that the professionals were more successful than I had been at home!

Ryan got to ride in the tractor with a bucket full of cars, but that didn't entice him to behave. He was screaming and crying (with huge crocodile tears) seconds into the cut. He proceeded to cry and thrash throughout the entire appointment. I was sweating profusely by the time he was finished - it was just as stressful for me as for him. He came out of there with a very cute big boy haircut - no more wispy baby hairs. When the crying began, I asked the stylist to cut it short so we could wait several months before attempting another haircut. The saddest (and funniest) part of the whole appointment was that Ryan continued to "drive" the tractor while crying. Poor little guy!

Elmo

Elmo is still a favorite at our house. I brought home a new Elmo book with a small Elmo stuffed animal and Ryan was thrilled. He gathered his new goodies and went and sat in his chair. He spent about 15 minutes hugging and kissing Elmo (or Melmo, as Ryan calls him) and looking at his book. He likes the other Sesame Street characters, but Elmo definitely takes top billing!

I love this picture - his little crossed legs and the serious expression on his face. The next baby already takes after his/her big brother. In the ultrasound, the baby had his/her legs crossed. Ryan crosses his legs all the time - high chair, car seat, stroller, etc.

Best buddies

Ryan and his friend, Sevrin have a long history, and Mike and I have a lot of bizarre coincidences with her parents! The kiddos were born six days apart in the same hospital in San Diego, although we didn't know each other until we reached Monterey. Now, we live a block away from each other, go to the same church, belong to the same playgroups, and all of Sevrin and Ryan's grandparents live in Washington state!

Sevrin is the sweetest little girl. She has suffered from severe separation anxiety from her parents, but in the last couple of weeks, she seems to be appeased, as long as she is with Ryan. She'll follow him around at the playground, doing everything he's doing, calling, "Iyan, Iyan." It's very cute! Ryan and Sevrin spent the morning in the church nursery, and for the first time, Sevrin made it through the entire service!

If arranged marriages were the norm, we found our pick for Ryan!

Ryan and the boots

Ryan's newest favorite pair of shoes are a pair of galoshes from Target. Although they are a couple of sizes too big, he insists on wearing them around the house. We have a basket full of Ryan's shoes and he pulls out the boots and brings them to me and says, "Boots, boots!" When he walks around in them, he looks like he's walking on stilts, stiff-legged and very unsteady.

In this picture, we were playing in the sprinkler and Ryan hijacked his friend's boots. Incidentally, they are the exact same pair that Ryan has. He was teetering around the yard, tripping over his own feet, but still wanting to wear them, undeterred because they look so cool!

Baby McGee at 21 Weeks!

Happy Valentine's Day!! Valentine's Day is a special day in our house - it started as a day with sad memories, but those have been replaced with happy ones. Three years ago, I miscarried my first pregnancy on Valentine's Day when Mike was on deployment. At the time, I thought it would horrible every year to have that reminder on a holiday. Thankfully, exactly one year later, we found out that I was pregnant with Ryan. The sad memories of the previous year were replaced with the excitement and expectation of this new baby.

Today, we added to our happy memories by getting to see Baby #2! I had my ultrasound this morning and things look great. Hopefully you can make out the picture - it's a side profile of the head with two, clenched fists up by its face and a leg off to the left. The baby was very active throughout the whole scan. The tech was moving the wand all over my belly, searching for the little one. We're sticking to a due date of June 26th and still waiting to find out the sex. Only four months longer!!

Bucket head

I know it's completely normal as a parent to think that your child is the smartest kid in the world. Of course, we've felt this way about Ryan since his birth, but recent behavior has called into question our little man's smarts. He's taken up a new hobby - putting a bucket on his and walking around the house. We've had several near misses with table tops and sharp corners, but he seems unrattled by the potential injuries! He continues to walk around the house in the dark - our bucket head!

What is Stroller Strides?

Most of you know that I'm a Stroller Strides instructor, but you may be wondering what that really means! Stroller Strides is a total body workout for moms with kiddos in strollers. The workout lasts 60 minute - which includes cardiovascular fitness, as well as several stops for strength training exercises using resistance tubes. I think that the best thing about Stroller Strides is that not only do you get a fantastic workout, you also have a great support system of other moms. My Stroller Strides buddies are my dearest friends in Monterey!

Here's a picture of the class I taught this morning. I'm in the blue hat; Ryan is in the red stroller. We're doing side step outs at this station - and enjoying a beautiful view of the Monterey Bay!

Ryan's Growing Vocabulary

All of sudden, Ryan is talking! I'm sure he's been trying to articulate words for months, but now, we're starting to understand him. It's awesome! The clearest word he says is, "Elmo," thanks to his new Elmo doll and having Elmo on his diapers. He also says balloon, sun, moon, dog, duck, banana, more, all done, shoes, toes, Big Bird, and baby. You'll notice that two important words are missing from his repertoire - mommy and daddy! He knows who we are, but I guess we're always close enough so he doesn't feel the need to call for us. It's so much fun to see him figure out new words. He's trying to pronounce everything we say, and oftentimes, we carry on full conversations - I think he's convinced that we understand what he's trying to say!

He recently had his 15-month check-up which meant more shots (MMR and Chicken Pox vaccine), but thankfully, he hasn't had a bad reaction. Several of his friends ran very high fevers for several days after receiving the MMR vaccine. He weighed in at 24 1/2 pounds and is not 31 1/2 inches tall - in the 50th percentile for height and weight - and of course, 90th percentile for his large head!! I ask every appointment whether we should be concerned with his head size and the doctor says, it's perfect, lots of room for brains!!

Go Seahawks!

We trained Ryan at an early age to fling his hands up in the air when we say "touch down!" He's picked up on it - and in fact, every time he sees a football game, he throws his hands towards the sky! We were walking through the San Jose airport and his hands were high in the sky. I couldn't figure out what he was doing, but then realized we were walking past a sports bar and he say the monitors inside!

This past weekend during the Seahawks/Redskins game, Ryan didn't disappoint us! This weekend, Mike is heading to Seattle for the NFC Championship game and Ryan and I will be watching from Pacific Grove. I'm sure he'll have his arms ready, so all I have to give him is the cue!

The Wisconsin Wind

We spent last weekend in Wisconsin visiting our friends and their new baby. Luckily, we escaped inclement weather - no snow or ice, but we did discover the bone-chilling wind. We tried to get Ryan outside to run around a little bit, but he was not a happy camper. I was able to snap a quick picture during his three minutes of playing in the backyard, but that's about all the time he spent outside. He was very upset every time the wind picked up.

Ryan is staying true to his San Diego birthplace - he is our little California boy - preferring sunshine and heat to wind and cold!

Road trip

Over the holidays, we decided to drive to Seattle since Mike had a good amount of time off. Well, we actually drove to the Palm Springs area first for a few days, then went to Seattle - a bit ambitious, but we made it. Ryan was a trooper - we discovered he wouldn't sleep in the car - a nightmare at 11pm at night when he's awake and we're in the middle of California looking for a hotel, but he was relatively happy sitting in his car seat for the 20 hour trip. We kept him entertained by introducing new toys and playing the occasionally Elmo DVD. We were even able to make the return trip (14 hours) in one day without too much protest. I think we'll attempt another road trip in the future. Well, we definitely have one on our agenda for next fall when we move to Rhode Island. Hopefully the new baby will follow his/her big brother's lead and be a happy passenger too!

Giraffes in the desert

Before heading to Seattle for the holidays, we went to the Palm Springs area for our first official family vacation. The weather was on the cool side and no diaper-aged children were allowed in the pool, but we still had a great time. We enjoyed eating at some great restaurants, relaxing, and shopping, but the highlight of our trip was a visit to the High Desert Zoo.

Ryan and I had the opportunity to feed a giraffe (one of his favorite animals). The only downside of the day was when Mike was putting Ryan up on his shoulders and he threw Ryan into a native African tree that had gigantic thorns. Luckily, no blood was drawn, but Ryan was continually ducking when he got close to any tree!

Inside the aquarium

One of Ryan's favorite places to visit is the Monterey Bay Aquarium. They have a great area geared towards little ones called the "Splash Zone." It's nice to take him to a place that has activities and displays specifically for his age group. We love taking him there because we can basically let him run around and we know he can't hurt himself!

Here's a picture of Ryan looking at me through the aquarium in the "Coral Crawl."