Are you happy?....... Not Yet

So, I have a rule in my home that I don't deal with cranky children. (This obviously doesn't apply when they are sick or get hurt.) This rule typically comes into effect in the afternoon either on a "no nap" day or if someone wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. The following scene is the last in a series of cranky episodes. I was actually trying to get a video of Casey walking but I got this instead. Watch the door (or the doorknob) in the first part of the video. I told Ryan that he had to go to his room and that he could come out when he was happy.



Now that Casey is 1 year old he is becoming more and more dramatic. You can tell that he wasn't as upset as he sounded by how easily he is snapped out of the crying when Ryan opened the door. He also LOVES to play with doors, which he is doing in the background. But I think my favorite part is when Ryan almost breaks down again. He makes a nice recovery.

Uncharted Territory...

I have never let Casey explore the kitchen until this last week. I didn't want to have to deal with the possibility of him falling over and hitting his head on the tile. Just thinking about that hurts. So, now that he is an AWESOME walker (more about this to come), I feel better about letting him explore. I opened the cupboards that he's allowed in and let him go. At first he kept looking at me like "Is this some kind of trick? Are you just teasing me?" See, he's rather expressionless.

Then after a few minutes, this is the face I get. He was quite excited once he realized that I wasn't going to pull him away, but was still a little hesitant about what to touch.

My one mistake of this new adventure was letting him play in the refrigerator, as you can probably guess he LOVED it, and was quite put out when I made him leave.

It didn't take him long to find one of his favorite things to eat, yogurt!

Now every time he's in the kitchen he goes to the frig and whines, while trying to pull it open. I probably should have known better, but it sure was fun to see how excited he was to be able to explore a little.

Happy Birthday Casey!!!! Part II

Here are the videos from Casey's Birthday Party. I love how well Ryan listens in this first video.

Casey is such a funny little boy. I love the way he eats his cake. I wouldn't have guessed that he would eat his cake in such a way, but I can't say that I was surprised. Uncle Jerry said that his next step will be a Hot Dog eating contest.



I loved how attentive Ryan was while everything was going on with Casey. He was very patient in waiting until Sunday to give Casey his presents. Ryan would have surprised him on Friday night if we would have let him. We actually did the presents first since Casey was getting a little cranky and I was sure Casey would be happy with a cupcake at anytime during the evening. The video proved that.

I'm having trouble loading the last video, maybe it needs to be in a different post. Enjoy these for now.

Happy Birthday Casey!!!!

On Sunday, May 4, my baby boy turned 1 year old. (sniff, sniff) Wow, how time flies. He has been an absolute joy in our lives for this past year and I can't wait to see what he does next. We went into my parent's house for the weekend's festivities. Casey had a pre-party treat enjoying my Mom's famous frosting.

Special thanks to Mom and Jennifer for making, designing, frosting, and decorating Casey's cake. It was a cupcake cake. You put the cupcakes really close together and then frost it like a regular cake, which means more frosting! Yum!

Apparently opening presents is hard work.

Payton was ready and willing to show Casey how to play with the Little People School Bus.

I'm not sure if this face is happy or frustrated, you be the judge, my next post will have the video counterparts.

Again, you be the judge. :)

This is probably the first moment he had to himself since the presents were opened.

Entertaining the kids with fire while waiting for everyone to assemble.

Don't you love his gap-toothed grin!

Checking out his audience, waiting to make his move.

His hands came to his mouth and did not leave until the entire cupcake was consumed.

Apparently it doesn't matter how much dinner and cake you have, there's always room for ice cream. He also mastered using a straw over the weekend.

Stay tuned for the videos!

Ryan, what are you doing?

"I think I may try my hand at quilting."

"Aunt Jenn is so nice to let me quilt."

"Ohh this is getting fun. I actually get to hold the needle all by myself."

"I'm sitting on my new blanket made just for me by my Aunt Jenn. I really like it. So pretty!"

"I'm such a good boy helping Momma do the laundry. I use my finger to make the washer go."

"Now I'm moving on to the dryer. I'm such a good helper. Better than my Daddy."

"Into the basket all the clothes go."

"More fun stuff. I'm dusting the bookshelf. It sure is dusty."

"I've got to dust the rest of the house. This is too much fun."

This post is provided to you by Tyler. Ryan is such a good helper. He does the washing, drying, and dusting. If only he would take out the trash, clean the kitchen floor, and hang up my clothes then I would be set. I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Casey, what are you doing?

Wow, time really flies!! My baby is turning 1 in 9 days!! I don't even think Casey realizes that he's growing. We have a learning/activity table that he keeps trying to crawl under and gets stuck every single time. In the picture below I had just gotten him "unstuck" and grabbed the camera to try to lure him back in for a picture. I didn't succeed (maybe he is learning) but you can tell that it's quite a squeeze.

This happened a few weeks ago, but is still cute so I had to share. Tyler, Ryan and I were in the habit at the time of playing Mario Cart before going to bed. Casey always likes to get in on the action by messing with the cords. Then he crawled over to Tyler and laid down like this, so Tyler starts rubbing his tummy.

He must have been quite comfortable, even though it doesn't look like it. He stayed there for quite a long time.

Casey LOVES to push whatever he can find. In this particular instance it was a package of diapers.

He also pushes chairs, plastic bowls turned upside down, cars, stools turned upside down, and laundry baskets. He tried to push one of my plastic storage tubs, but it has a non-skid bottom. He was not very happy about that.

What a cute expression!

Did he say volcano?

I love it! My little boy is growing up so fast.
Ryan's vocabulary and ability to create sentences are ever increasing. Some of my favorite exchanges as of late are as follows:
1. I'm trying to remember the words to a song from Peter Pan that I hadn't seen in ages and I'm fumbling through it when Ryan turns to me and says "Mommy, you don't know the words to that song." I reply, "You're right, Ryan I don't."
2. Tyler says "Ryan it's time to get ready for bed." Ryan replies, "No thanks Daddy, I'm just playing."
3. Ryan and I have had a reoccurring argument lately that goes something like this:
I say, "I love you."
Ryan says, "No, I love you!"
I say, "No, I love you!"
Ryan says, "No, I love you!"
I say "No, I love you!" Then he throws out, "No, You love me!" and the argument continues.
After having this argument over several days he adds, "No, I love Casey."
4. "Ryan it's time for bed." Ryan relies, "No Daddy, there's plenty of time."
5. I had just finished getting ready for church, I was attending by myself because all of my boys were sick, and I walked out of the bathroom and Ryan says, "Oh Mommy, so pretty." Oh my goodness, so adorable. And, No, Mom, he didn't want anything from me. :)

The following video is by far my favorite, and still makes me laugh. He is only 2 so a lot of the words he pronounces don't come out quite right, usually he's pretty close but this one is coming out of left field. My niece Payton has recently discovered "The Backyardigans," on Nick Jr. and has shared her new found obsession with Ryan (since we are to cheap to even pay for basic cable, go bunny ears!). So, while at my parents over conference weekend Ryan got his first taste of the Backyardigans. I won't say anything more, I don't want to spoil it for you, enjoy. Sorry about the lighting, I didn't notice it until now.