rain rain go away

What do you do when it's wet outside and you have to stay indoors? Make a fort! Doesn't have to be pretty... he's only 2.

Little sisters enjoy it too.

yucky...

that's exactly what Ryne said when he saw this face.

He makes me laugh, she makes me smile.

P.S. I shouldn't have fed her in the her exersaucer, since she wobbles all over, but I was in a hurry. Hey, I never said I was perfect... or did I?

two year and six month checkups

After 2 checkups, 5 vaccinations (for e.k.) and 1 prescription for an ear infection, we are done with dr. appointments for a while. Here are the latest stats on the little ones...
Ryne weighs 29lbs (60%) and is 36in (90%) tall. He has started slimming up a bit, but he is still a solid little boy.

Emma Kate weighs 14lbs (15%) and is 25in (25%) tall. She is such a small baby compared to what Ryne was. At four months old he was bigger than she is now! Her head is even small... 16in. (5%). Looks like she is going to be a petite little girl... and that's ok. ;)

peek-a-boo

Ryne loves his baby sister. I hear him saying "A tate" (= Hey Kate), all the time. I guess he gave up on the Emma part...

impromtu birthday party

We had to travel south for a funeral the weekend Ryne turned two. I cancelled the tractor birthday cake, gave him his gifts early and headed to my parent's house for a few days. I worried about him not having a fun birthday, but it turned out better than I had planned. Ryne has wonderful grandparents who wouldn't let his birthday pass without a party. Mom found him a backyardigans cake (I wrote on it with an icing pen... I was in a hurry), ordered BBQ for dinner, invited some family over and Ryne had himself a great birthday party... he must have wondered what all the fuss was about.

He received lots of great gifts from the partygoers. My parents got him a tricycle... we were all trying to teach him how to ride it. Thanks Gramada & Graddy!

recap...

Lately I have thought about posting, but haven't gotten around to it. I have been a little preoccupied with moving Emma Kate into the nursery, thinking about potty training, putting up the first of three safety gates (ugh) and just trying to find a minute to do something for myself... like brush MY teeth or hair. So today I find myself not putting it off any longer. While Ryne is napping and Emma Kate is swinging (we'll see how long that lasts) I am going to take a few minutes to catch you up on the Paquette household. I know I should be sweeping the kitchen floor and putting away the clothes I just folded, but hey, I still have like 9/10 more hours before my head ever hits the pillow.

the elephant is his favorite... today

We were only going to ride once and then eat lunch, but who could say no to that sweet little face when he politely asked to ride again?

Ok, he basically whined and clung for life to the elephant so I thought we would ride ONCE more. During the second ride the lady running the carousel stopped and started the ride twice for some other whiny kid which made the ride even longer... I was already dizzy from the first ride. Well, at least my (whiny kid) didn't climb off the animal he was riding on and get stuck in the middle of the carousel. It seemed like we were on that thing for 20 minutes! Luckily, Ryne was ready to get off after the second ride.

happy fourth!

After (traveling) last weekend, a birthday party, a funeral and a trip to the emergency room parking lot we've been kind of tired around here. So we decided this 4th of July weekend would be all about relaxing.

Emma Kate wanted to stay in her pajamas all day, but we weren't going to be that relaxed. Who could blame her, they are super soft and oh so cute.

I finally got around to planting flowers in the flowerbed Alan made me last year. Ryne tried to help.

I comtemplated about where to plant each flower... and what to do about all those split ends!

Ryne, wearing one of last year's swim diapers, decided it would be more fun to play with the water hose.

Emma Kate and I stayed cool in the shade.

After nap time we took the kids to Aldridge Gardens for some late afternoon fun.

Emma Kate wanted to nap a little longer.

Alan and Ryne fed the fish, geese and turtles. There were a gazillion turtles eating. I don't have a good picture of the turtles, but there were so many they were practically on top of each other.

We stopped for a little snack.

Then we headed home for pizza, that Ryne thoroughly enjoyed...

and some homemade apple cobbler.

Happy Independence Day!!!

turning two

Ryne turned 2 on June 28th.

He does all the things that two year olds do... counts to 10, says his ABC's, and mimics things we do. He says more words than I can count. One of my favorites to hear him say is fish, which he pronounces "shish". He is putting two and three words together now. He will say "I do" or "here it is". He has now started singing... Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, songs from The Backyardigans, and Stayin Alive. You can't understand every word, but you know which song it is.

In the early evening you will usually find Ryne and Alan outside. Alan bought him his first bat and glove (it's so small) so they could play baseball. We are trying to teach him that the bat and balls stay outside. He has even started watching baseball with Alan. He yells after every pitch... you would think he knew what was going on.

Ryne is officially in his "big boy" bed. At the end of March we turned our guest bedroom into Ryne's new room. He started taking his naps in there, but we didn't "move" him in completely until the first of June. The transition wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. The first night I slept with him for most of the night, but after that he was ok to be on his own. We put up a gate at his door, so he can't wander around during the night and we take it down before he wakes up in the morning. One particular morning when he got up before we did (imagine that) I found him standing at the gate waiting patiently with his pillow in his arms. His twilight turtle (where were these when I was a kid?!), his mp3 player, and his crib blanket have helped him accept his new sleeping arrangement. I don't know how the kid does it, but he will fall asleep with the Bee Gees blaring from his player. When he first got the player (Christmas) he would wake up in the middle of the night turn on the Bee Gees and go right back to sleep. We would hear Staylin Alive at 2 o'clock in the morning! For a while we didn't let him have it in bed, but it looks like he has grown out of that.