Friday, August 22, 2014

What's new with Ryan?

It's been a little while since we posted videos. In fact, I think some of the below videos were taken as long ago as May ... oops!

Ryan (age 2 1/4) is at such a fun age now! He chatters up a storm, and we can understand MOST of what he says. Ian can translate the best. :) Ryan loves asking questions like, "What that funny (s)mell?" (often right after he toots), "What that (s)yound?," "What that?" (while pointing to something), or "What that name?" (pointing to a person or person's picture).

Ryan absolutely LOVES to sing. He loves singing "Old McDonald" during dinner, "Jesus Loves Me" at the grocery store, or any toddler-type song that he hears on a CD. He loves it when our dinnertime prayer is the Johnny Appleseed prayer and will sing loudly and boisterously with us (often a stanza ahead of where the rest of us are). :) He sings his little heart out at the library's Toddler Time. So precious.

In many ways, his little personality and routines are very similar to just a few months ago. He still has a vehicle in each hand most of the day, hoards things (especially in his crib), loves to make acrobatic dismounts from our exercise bike (while swinging  Tarzan-style from the handlebars), gives "the baby" (Momma's tummy) kisses, and attempts to delay bed/nap time by asking for water/one more (s)"yong"/a toy that isn't yet in his crib.

He's doing a great job with potty training! He rarely has accidents any more and, though, he wears diapers at night still, wakes up dry most mornings. The toughest part lately has been that he sometimes wakes up during the night to use the bathroom and then has a hard time falling back to sleep quickly.

He gets very excited when it's time to go pick Ian up from school. Though he asks about Ian at least once during most days, he doesn't seem to really "miss" him. Instead, I think that he appreciates the time to have full reign over all of the toys and have Momma's undivided attention. :)

Ryan knows his colors, can count a few numbers in a row though often starts at six, and knows he's two years old. He loves friends (knows of our small group and church friends by name) and going to Sunday school. He doesn't like being away from us and will say "no nursery" when we go to church. He's still sort of a picky eater (fruit is definitely his favorite food category), and he'd much prefer to drink milk from Momma or Daddy's big cup than from his straw cup.

He loves to fill up his dump truck with rocks, leaves, and mulch; play in the water; or help with any task (including laundry, dishes, or making meals).

He's a sweetheart with a charming, charismatic personality. It's been so fun to watch him learn and grow. We thank God for you, Ryan!

Below are some videos, most of Ryan singing songs or saying rhymes (notice that most of the videos are taken while Ryan is contained in his crib or booster seat ... otherwise, he won't stay in one place long enough :)).

"Johnny Appleseed"

"Jesus Loves Me"

"Old McDonald"

"Monkeys Jumping on the Bed"
"Rockabye Baby"
exercise bike

And, what about Ian? He's lately been obsessed with numbers. He loves noticing the price of gas and how many calories are in the food that we're eating. (Once I told him that calories are how much energy is in food, he wants to know how much energy is in EVERYthing!)  This math teacher tries to introduce "word problems" into most days. One recent day, Ian noted that his cereal had 190 calories while his ice cream that evening had 170 calories. Kim asked which had more (he knew it was cereal) and then how many more. We were so surprised when, after thinking for a few seconds, he said "Two tens," and then when we asked him, "How much is that?" he responded, "Twenty." It made a number-loving momma very proud. :)

He's adjusting to kindergarten well. At dinner the other night, after Matt asked a question, Ian raised his hand to answer. It was so cute! :)

Below, Ian sings part of the "books of the Bible" song from a CD we have. The way he (mis)pronounces some of the books is hilarious. The video was taken right before bed (when he was singing the song anyway), but he's definitely tired and gets very frustrated toward the end of the video. But at least it gives you the idea. :)



2 comments:

amylynn said...

These Ryan songs are so great! Nice to have them forever captured on video. :) Looks like he's officially out of his high chair now too, huh? Love the story of Ian's math skills. Impressive!

Grandma & Grandpa S. said...

Awesome singing by both boys, remembering the Bible books,math calculation well beyond age 5, monkey-swinging, and video-taping by Momma and Daddy!