Baby Papoose

To hear Ryan Say "baby papoose" is adorable! Lilly loves to be a part of the action so I have been using the Baby Bjorn since she was born. Now that she has head control, I have also started using the sling. She loves it and so do I. I can get even more done around the house when she is awake!

Elmo Slippers

Ryan was on his way to Grammy's for a sleep over and wanted to wear his elmo slippers. Yes, he left the house in them.....don't judge.

Sweet Siblings

Ryan and Lillian are becoming good buddies. Ryan is the first to run to her when she cries. He will also sit next to her and talk to her. He likes it when she reaches out to touch him and he will hold her hand often, especially in the car. If Ryan is in the room, Lillian will turn to see him and she always has a smile for him. I love watching them get to know each other and I can't wait until the can interact even more.

Thank goodness Ryan isn't strong enough to pick her up, b/c he always tries.

Look at that smile!

She is so excited and is cooing away at him

Just a cute little picture

Ryan and Daddy playing with Lilly.

Big Mess

"Big Mess" is one of Ryan's favorite things to say and do. Usually it doesn't mean smearing food all over his face though. I think he wanted to get a reaction from us, especially with the yogurt in the last picture. It was hysterical to watch him with the yogurt and we had to hide our laughter from him. I guess taking a picture is having some sort of reaction, but I had to get it on camera.

New Bike

Our sweet neighbor, Andrea, brought over this adorable bike for Ryan this weekend. He is still a little to short to ride it, but he still likes to sit on it and play. I cant wait for him to grow another inch!

Fun Haircut

Teeti and I took Ryan to get his haircut and the stylist gave him a fun mohawk for the day. He loved it. If he sees my hair gel he will ask for another mohawk and will spend some time in front of the mirror admiring himself.

Gorgeous in Green

Super silly smile

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ryan is always willing to help in the kitchen. This is his first time to taste cookie dough. He is a fan.

Latest and Greatest

Lillian is consistently waking once at night to eat. She usually wakes between 4:00 -5:00, giving us a solid 6-7 hours of sleep. When she wakes she only eats for about 10 minutes and goes right back to sleep. Pretty soon we will be moving her up to her crib. She has become the HAPPIEST baby! For all of you that read our blog (thank you, by the way) you know that she was not the happiest baby for the first couple of months. In fact, she was quite a handful, but she has turned a corner, and is pretty amazing. She smiles all of the time. So much, that I can't make eye contact with her while she is nursing otherwise she smiles so much that she stops eating and spits out whatever is in her mouth, making a big mess! She loves to talk and coo, especially at her daddy. She has found her hands and feet and they keep her pretty entertained. If Ryan is around she follows him with her eyes and smiles at him all of the time. She is such a sweet girl and such a joy to have around. She is 3 months old already and has grown out of all her newborn clothes and most of her 0-3 month clothes. She still hates her car seat, but is getting used to it and doesn't cry as much.

Ryan is amazing us every day. He is starting to read. Yes, you read that correctly. I started getting him familiar with letters and what letters certain words start with. That was pretty amazing for us. Then we started writing out words for him to see, now he can read about 10-20 words that we write out for him. It is pretty unreal to watch. He also has his colors, shapes, and some numbers down. His vocabulary has grown by a ton too. I love to listen to him try to make sense of things. Today we were eating left over brisket and he was saying "brisket is yummy" then he would take a bite and say "Ryan brisket bye bye" and laugh. Which, for those who do not speak Ryan, means, "Ryan made the brisket go bye bye". He will surprise us with new words and is a sponge. He repeats so much of what he hears which is forcing us to choose our words very carefully around him. He is also trying to potty train. He knows what the urge to go feels like and will tell us when he has to go. We will sit him on the potty and right before he goes, he gets scared and wants off. Last week at Gymboree we spent the entire time in and out of the bathroom b/c he had to go, but wouldn't go in his diaper or the toilet. I finally left a little early b/c it was getting to be a bit of a problem. I know Ryan, and once he goes just once, that will be the end of diapers for us. I am not pushing the potty training, I am going with his flow though and encouraging him as much as I can. Having 2 in diapers doesn't bother me, and quite honestly, I don't want to deal with public bathrooms all of the time until Lilly is a bit older.

The summer heat is here and we are trying to keep Ryan entertained in the a/c as much as possible. We still get outside play time about once a day, usually in the morning and in the backyard shade. Ella is still staying with us, which has been such a great opportunity for all of us. We love having her here and will be sad (but understanding) when she decides to move out.

4th of July

This year for the 4th our neighborhood festivities were cancelled due to the weather, so we didn't get to see any fireworks. But we did go to our niece's 10th birthday party. It was a pool party. I didn't think Ryan would want to get in the pool, but I was mistaken. I didn't bring his swim suit so we stripped him down to his diaper and in he went. I wish I would have brought my suit so he could really swim, instead of hanging on the stairs. After the pool party, we headed to a friend's house for another party. Ryan and Lilly were great and stayed out much later than their bed time. I didn't bring my camera with me, but here are two pictures that my brother took of the kiddos.