Monday, March 16, 2009

Sunday with Ryan



As anyone could gather from my previous posts, we've been having some problems with Ryan. He is such a sweet and funny little boy, but he is also extremely stubborn and defiant. The last few weeks have been difficult for him and us. I feel that some of his problems stem from wanting attention (and some because he is 2). Luke demands attention and it is hard sometimes to give Ryan the same amount. Ryan also doesn't like to do things at home the way that Luke does (like color or play games), he likes to go places. So on Sunday, we dropped Luke off with Papa (Greg's dad) and took Ryan on the light rail. He loves trains and we have a light rail station near our house so he sees the train almost daily, but we've never taken him on it. He loved it. The plan was to take him downtown to the 16th Street Mall and eat lunch. He didn't care anything about lunch, he wanted to be done so he could get back on the train. We had a good time with him and it was so nice to have some one on one time with him. I hope to take him to the bounce house sometime soon and leave Luke at home. He loves the bounce house more than Luke and I think he would have a great time there without his brother. Below are some pictures from our little adventure.



I had planned to make cookies with Ryan on Saturday, but he chose to go with Greg to the store and Luke was very excited to stay home and make cookies with me. I have food issues (as in I'm very picky about people touching my food and how it is prepared), so I haven't been willing to let them help me cook very often. But I found the perfect cookie recipe that would give the boys the opportunity to poor ingredients into the bowl without having to actually touch any food (because I especially cringe at the idea of eating food prepared by a grubby-handed 2 year old). Luke was able to pour the eggs, sugar, M&Ms, raisins, chocolate chips, and oatmeal into the mixing bowl. He loves to help, so he thought this was great fun.
Things going on:
I'm winning the nap time battle with Ryan. I'm not ready to declare victory yet, but I have had success for almost an entire week. All I am doing is sitting in bed next to him and reading my book while he eventually falls asleep. It usually doesn't take more than 10 minutes and I get a few minutes of reading time in while I'm at it.
Luke is carrying on almost complete conversations with us. In the car today he said, "Mama, I need smarties." (as in the candy) I told him he didn't need smarties and that wasn't the way to ask. He spent the next few minutes perfecting, "Mama, can I please have some smarties." He loves to ask us questions about things and ask for more information.
Luke thinks it is funny to call us mom and dad (and sometimes Greg). I'm just glad that it's not mommy-I've always hated that word. No offense to all of the mommies out there, but it was never an option for me-it reminds me too much of the movie "Mommy Dearest" (no wire hangers!).
Ryan is our little athlete in the making. He made his first real basket today-as in he actually had to throw it in the air and aim for the hoop. However, I don't see him as a basketball star-he has too many short genes in his system-maybe he'll be the next Avery Johnson instead (former Dallas Mavericks coach).
Lastly, a picture of the boys playing in Greg's car. He took them out to help wash my car, but they had a good time playing in his car instead.

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