Ralph: Celebrating 3 1/2 years!

Ralph celebrated 3 1/2 years last week which deserves an entry!
Notable quotes in the last few weeks -

"I just want two people to lay on my floor" . . . We still have not broken the bad habit of someone laying on Ralph's floor at bedtime. During the best of nights someone only has to sit/lay on his floor for 3 minutes . .during the worst of nights he'll use nearly every trick in the book to procrastinate going to bed including getting up to go to the bathroom multiple times and coming downstairs to ask someone to come back upstairs.

"I"m going to help you be a good mommy (or daddy)" . . .this new phrase just started in the last few weeks. I try to remind him if he is a good Ralph it is easier for me to be a good mommy.

"I'm never going to get tired of loving you" . . . taken from a book he read at 'school'. It is very sweet to hear him say it.

"When I grow up I'm going to buy a motorcycle. It's going to be green. It'll be a Harley Davidson and I won't tell mommy" . . . he loves seeing motorcycles on the road or sitting in a driveway. The other night we were walking back from Walgreens and he saw a cyclist getting ready to leave a driveway and he starts waving. The guy was nice enough to wave back. I just play along with his fantasy as I have plenty of years to change his mind.

"Have a good day all day everyday" . . .this quote is most often heard at night. Ralph uses it as a form of goodbye as someone tries to leave his room at night.

"The light is green" . . . .as I'm sitting as a red light. Some days Ralph likes to contradict nearly everything I say or do.

"I just want to do what I want when I want" . . . . there is no denying Ralph is very much a 3-year-old. He has figured out he is not always the boss but would like to be. He has absolutely no concept of time - I should be taking lessons from him on enjoying life. Some days he wants to be independent (ie. buckle himself in - see previous sentence of having no concept of time, it takes a while and of course, I finish the job) but other days he wants someone to dress him which saves a a lot of time. He likes to go outside and ride his trike, work on puzzles, flashcards/memory games, and practice letters. He is very inquisitive about how things work.

"That is baby" . .he'll sometimes comment when referring to Henry. Some days I believe Ralph thinks Henry was born to provide him constant entertainment and friendship. While he just wants someone to lay with him at night, he just wants someone to play with him during the day. Sometimes they feed off of each other with their energy. It is fun to watch them play (and cause trouble) together. Their latest 'thing' is to scream when we go through tunnels (ie. under bridges and overpasses) just like riding the train at the zoo. Always pleasant to hear screaming from the back seat.

Even during some of our arguments or when he is throwing a fit on his own I just look at him and think to myself "I can not believe he is mine." There is hardly anything he can do or say that can surprise me though he does catch me off guard sometimes with his insight. What an amazing miracle it is to watch him grow and develop.

Vala's Pumpkin Patch

Thanks to a Groupon this past week the boys and I, along with Grandma & Grandpa ventured to Vala's Pumpkin Patch this morning. We arrived as soon as the gate opened and parked in the 2nd row - if you've ever glanced at Vala's from the interstate near Gretna you now how packed they get! We spent about 3.5 hours there and could have spent more time but Henry was more than ready for a nap.

This was our first visit so it was a bit overwhelming. Ralph was not too interesting in going into the "not-so-spooky" house or anything that was too unknown. He did enjoy the graveyard (mini) golf.

Henry is a little more willing to try new things. He may have tightened his gripe a few times but never insisted we leave an area.

Both boys more than enjoyed the peddle trikes, ducky derby, corn box, the family country crusin' cars (a four seater pedal car - boys sat in front and enjoyed the ride; adults sat in back and did all the work), and feeding the bunnies (mostly because the feed went in a tube and there was no direct contact).

Would we go again next year? Yes, but only if there was a special deal. I still can't imagine paying full price.

A Trip to Iowa . . yes, Iowa!

After our trip to Kansas City in June we started thinking about where our next trip might take us. The trip to Kansas City was just a bit too long for Henry to be in the car so we thought about what might be a little closer and came up with Des Moines. I'm not sure I ever thought I'd actually pick Des Moines as a destination but this trip was all about the kids and it really was a great trip!

Heeding the advice of a few folks we departed on Friday evening, near bedtime, with the hope of the boys sleeping on the way there . . .and continuing to sleep upon arrival. Both boys eventually fell asleep . . .at different times . . and woke up when we arrived due to all the commotion of checking into the hotel, etc.

We ventured out to Boone, Iowa on Saturday morning to take part in a "A Day Out with Thomas" event. We took a 20-25 minute ride on a train that had a Thomas engine front. There were other activities that were part of the event including a tent that housed various Thomas tracks and trains, arts & crafts, and an area to get a tattoo. There was a chance to get a photo with Sir Topham Hatt but there was no way Henry would even consider that . . luckily we found that out before we even started to stand in line (Henry just caught a glimpse of Sir Topham Hatt as I was taking this photo - note expression). When we returned to Des Moines we visited the Science Center of Iowa. There were quite a few areas the boys could enjoy. We completed the day with supper at Chick-Fil-A and swimming back at the hotel. We played a few rounds of Ring Around the Rosy in the pool and finally figured out Henry's been saying "Ring Around the Rosy" for quite a while though when it comes out of Henry's mouth it sounds more like "ringy ringy" and we really had no idea what he was referring to . . .until now.

Sunday's weather wasn't the most cooperative but the misting rain didn't keep us from the Blank Park Zoo. Size-wise I'd say the zoo is a little bigger than the Lincoln Zoo but the exhibits were more spread out and some really got into theming. The Australian exhibit was similar to the Australian Outback - all of the animals in the exhibit were free to roam around the entire exhibit. The sidewalk we walked on ran right through the exhibit meaning one of the many wallabys could rush by us without notice. Luckily the emu kept to himself. The tiger exhibit had a safari theme complete with a front of an old Landcruiser situated up against the plexiglass of the tiger's indoor area. While Mike & Ralph were in the Landcruiser one of the tiger's came in and walked right next to the Landcruiser.

We spent Sunday evening at the Incredible Pizza Company. It's a buffet restaurant and entertainment complex in one. I don't think Ralph could have asked for a better evening - he got to play two rounds of golf AND ride in a go-kart with Mike. He also got to play some video games and ride on some 'kiddie rides'. Henry enjoyed the little carousel best. He also 'drove' a car around a track and played on a indoor play structure.











We took our time making our way back to Lincoln today. It is great to be back home and I think we are vacationed out for a while. We did stay in two hotels this time over the course of the 3 nights. Our room at the first hotel faced the Capitol building in Des Moines. We did not tour it but the outside is beautiful. The boys loved the hotels again - Ralph kept trying to convince he had to exercise since he knows Mike & I do. Henry did have a slight injury in the 2nd hotel as he ran into some wrought iron decoration on the desk. Henry slept in the pack n play again - possibly for the last time. Ralph split his time with Mike & I, sometimes sleeping in the back room with me, and sometimes sleeping in the front room with Mike.

A-plane, A-plane

We ventured out to the Lincoln Air Show this morning. There was some traffic to get to (VIP) parking spot we had but it was nothing compared to what we saw lined up trying to get to the air show as we were leaving. We arrived around 10 am and walked around looking at the various airplanes on display. We had planned to visit early, before it got to overcrowded but also a good idea in case the noise got to be too much for both boys we could make a quick exit without feeling we missed the ground displays.

The air show started at 11 am. Just prior to the 'air' show a school bus took the runway - it was fitted with an engine from a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom fighter jet as well as shot out 80' flames, sending huge clouds of smoke billowing from the tail pipe. The noise of the engine surprised Henry (and us) a litttle. He got a little upset and started to cry a little. . . .not a great start. Luckily we had brought the boys' ear protection muffs - we just were not prepared for the noise yet. (They had received the muffs as Christmas gifts last year . . .Ralph did not like the noise of the riding mower when Grandpa was mowing and it seemed like an appropriate gift at the time. Little did we know how useful they would be almost a year later.)

We watched a Tora demonstration that was interesting and then saw a F-18 Super Hornet that literally took our breath away. We were close to the runaway and I can not begin to describe how LOUD the sound was. The boys did a great job of keeping the muffs on but I know they are not sound proof. Henry did not cry or get upset but did want to be held - surprisingly he didn't clinch me any tighter during the nosier times. The demonstration started at what should have been naptime and Henry kept trying to put his head on my shoulder but the muffs got in the way. We left shortly after the demonstration - found out the Blue Angels were not performing until 3 pm and knew we never would make it that long.

All in all, a fun, quick morning. I asked Ralph later this afternoon if he could hear anything with the muffs on and he said "yeah, the planes were pretty loud. I needed lots of earmuffs."

Henry: Celebrating 21 months!

Photo taken during a game of "Touch your . . ." (head) He is quite good at covering the basics.

Henry loves to be read to. He does not necessarily care about the words but likes to flip through the pages to find Elmo, Abby, Ocar (Oscar minus the 's'), choo-choo, puppy, brown bear, or whatever item he is searching for. Loves to look at books about cars, trucks, trains, and Sesame Street characters.

New, recognizable words (though not phonetically correct) this month include Uncle Larry and blanket. Again, he is more into phrases than single words - I need (fill-in-the-blank - milk, water, snack, more) is often heard. We got him to say urgs (Huskers) a few times on Saturday. We have heard him start to say Love You.

Henry's notable injuries this month include a couple of falls at daycare. The first involved falling on some loose pebbles at daycare and hitting the back of his head on a pebble that was on the sidewalk creating a nice little bleeder. The 2nd involved falling off the slide inside his room at daycare and hitting a window sill right above his eye. While both injuries could have happened to anyone Henry does not know the meaning of 'fear' yet and likes to stand on pieces of furniture he should not and test his limits.

Unfortunately we started daily breathing treatments and singular about 10 days ago - earlier than we planned but Henry started exhibiting a cough during nap/nighttime along with an obvious cold (or allergy?). Trying to keep the cold from settling in his lungs we decided to be proactive and try to keep ahead of the game. The first night we gave him the breathing treatment he woke up a few hours after going to bed and was up for more than 3 hours. We had not had a night like that for months and not knowing if it was a direct correlation to the breathing treatment but not wanting to find out we have opted to give him the breathing treatment in the morning. The morning breathing treatment is working out good as he is still groggy and, I think, enjoys lounging for a bit with me while watching cartoons. We'll find out in a few weeks at the next asthma/allergy appt if this is permissible.

Henry currently has a short attention span for eating. Sometimes we can get him to sit in the chair for a few more minutes by finding something interesting to look at in an ad or book - a few books have been sacrificed with food stains. Sometimes after he thinks he is done eating by himself he'll scoot his plate and milk over in front of me and sit on my lap and eat a little more. Sometimes he'll want down to go play but will come back for bites every so often. He can drink out of straw and a cup but still wears quite a bit when drinking out of a cup. Henry has had one more tooth broke through - upper left canine, I think.

If he wants you to follow him he'll come over, try to grab your hand or wave/motion for you to "come on" with an open palm, bending his fingers in while saying "come on". He will also grab a finger to lead you to where he wants to go.

Fun with Friends

Yesterday we visited the home of some friends from daycare. Leighton is in Ralph's room and Turner is in Henry's room. The boys' had fun visiting their friends outside of daycare and loved the big, fenced-in backyard. Ralph, impressively, ate all of his supper without any prodding while sitting away from the adults and Henry downed a Capri-Sun through a straw like he is a pro. The #1 sign Ralph had a good time - nearly all the way home he cried/whined "Just a few more minutes."

Sneaking a peak inside Memorial Stadium

This morning we ventured down to Memorial Stadium waaaay before the game started. I think its amazing the public is allowed inside Memorial Stadium on game days to watch the band practice. I thought it was a great opportunity for the boys to see the inside as neither one of them will be attending a football game for awhile. It was slightly sprinkling this morning but luckily there was a little window that allowed us to watch the band for bit before it started sprinkling a little more steady making us fair-weather band fans depart the stadium. We also had to get the traditional photo with the Brook Berringer/Tom Osborne bronze and wasn't sure how long the rain was going to stick around.

While inside the stadium Ralph commented about a lot of people coming in. . . you can see from the photos that was quite an understatement. I think he would be overwhelmed if he would see it full of people. Ralph brought his earmuffs (headphones) in case the music was too loud - crazy kid. Henry did dance to the music for a few measures. The band was still warming up while we were there - working on steping, etc. They did start playing more music as we were leaving.

After taking the photo with the bronze we walked to the tailgate spot Mike's cousin has. Ralph was perfectly content to ride in the stroller - Henry had to get out and stretch his legs. The boys had fun at the tailgate playing catch and eating donuts . . .one of the very few places they get donuts. Henry also had fun pretending to drive the RV.