23 Months

One more month and Ryan will be 2! Maybe I should start thinking about birthday presents, birthday cake, birthday party...or just procrastinate a little longer and hope I find some stellar deals on garage sales!

This month Ryan has shown a few signs of entering the "Terrible Two's" stage. A few times we've experienced what I like to call "Opposite Days." This means he wants the exact opposite of whatever he just said he wanted. So, the play going on Monday night at my house was Act I: Inside vs. Outside. Act II: Upstairs vs. Downstairs  Intermission: An epic battle of Ryan vs. Nika over goldfish  Act III: Bathtub vs. Potty  Act IV: Nigh-Nigh vs. Wake Up.  He will insist "downstairs" and then the minute you start moving down the stairs, he'll scream "no, upstairs!" Rinse, repeat, and drive a mommy insane. We've only had a few episodes of this "no-win" situation, but I'm just fearful it will be in pubic next time! If I were my neighbors, I would probably assume I was torturing my child instead of simply trying to get him to step either inside or outside of the open sliding glass door.

But, sandwiched in between a few of these fits are fun, exciting, memorable moments that make weathering the not-so-fun times all worth it.  Ryan can be so much fun. I love his facial expressions, his coy way of answering a questions "naaah-ooh" or "yee-ah" and his goofy antics. The other day Adam came into the living room to find Ryan had arranged his little chairs for maximum chillaxin.

When asked to say the A,B,C's, he's likely to start with A,B,C,D, Chicka Boom, 'nuff room? and then skip directly to W, X, Y and Z.  His counting is even more selective as he apparently has something against 3, 5, 8 and 9.



He loves to sing all his songs and now goes into "medley mode" where "itsy bitsy" follows "for the Bible tellsy mo" and "coins on the bus go kink kink kink" comes right after "how I vonder vhatchu awr". One thing he does NOT tolerate is me trying to sing with him or help him with the words. Any attempt to join in is met with an insistent "NO MOMMY!" Sometimes I swear he's giving me a sympathetic head shake, like "Oh Mommy, good try, but really, just don't." He catches on to lots of phrases...I've been practicing for a wedding we are singing in, so if you catch Ryan talking about "my angel in the night," he is not having visions...he's just quoting a Michael W. Smith song.

Overall, Ryan's very healthy and active, highly verbal, and loves attention. He is getting into the new school routine and likes going to his new daycare provider's house. He has already cheered at a volleyball game and will be attending his first football game this weekend. We are kind of sad that summer is ending, but will take full advantage of all the Fall activities!  (And maybe get started planning for Ryan's birthday party.)