A Santa Filled Day

After weeks of preparation, we finally took Ryan to see Santa on Saturday. How do you prepare a 2 year old for Santa you ask? Well we started reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" about 3 times a day just after Thanksgiving. Each time Santa's picture would appear in the book, we'd tell Ryan "This is Santa, he says Ho, Ho, Ho". It wasn't long that Ryan would say "Ho, Ho, Ho" whenever he'd see a picture of Santa anywhere, but the name "Santa" didn't stick to his vocabulary. So we told Ryan he was going to meet "Ho, Ho, Ho". Rather than wait in long lines or go somewhere to pay for what may or may not be a good picture of Ryan with Santa (you know, if our full-proof Santa prepations didn't work), we took Ryan to a local bank. We'd been to another bank of this chain in the past and were very impressed with Santa. Here he is reading, what else - "Twas the Night Before Christmas".

Again we were impressed with Santa. He was very patient and did not push Ryan coming to him. No, I am not picking my nose in this picture, but am "shhing" because it was the picture of "The Children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads."

This was as close as we could get without the death grip being applied to my neck.

After seeing Santa in the morning, we did a little Christmas shopping and then boarded the Polar Express! This was Ryan's first time on a train and he did great. He really liked looking out of the window. Unfortunately this was close to nap time and he was fighting a weekend cold, you can tell by the glassiness of Ryan's eyes that he's just a bit off.

Once we arrived at the North Pole (aka Fox Lake), Santa aboarded the train. This, however was after we had to do a standing diaper change for Ryan. The little pill peed through his diaper onto Dean's lap. It was only fair since he did the same thing to me that same morning. Must've been a bad batch of Huggies!

You'd think that maybe seeing Santa that same morning would've prepared Ryan for another visit - nope, not a chance.

Oh well, at least he didn't scream bloody murder. And on a positive note, Santa told both Dean and me that we were on his good list!

Reading a bedtime story

If you have about 2 minutes to spare, you can enjoy the Stoeber Family version of the book "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" It is no exaggeration that this story has probably been read 200 times in our house. So it should be no surprise that Ryan can fill in some of the blanks. Enjoy!

Halloween Week 2010

We had some busy days leading up to Halloween, fun and excitement all around! Our 3 week Halloween class at the Round Lake Area Park District came to a close. I snapped a few pictures of Ryan in his last class.


There were about 5 other kids in the class, but I didn't feel comfortable taking any of their pictures. However, I can always count on Ryan's best friend to strike a pose. So here he is slapping five with his buddy, the trash can.

I still have trouble getting Ryan to touch anything with texture - slime, sand, oats, playdoh, etc. But each week he would scribble a bit with the markers or on the chalkboard. Babysteps, definitely babysteps.

While he can't yet say and count numbers (other than say "Two"), Ryan likes to point and make sounds like he is counting. That's what he's doing here with the pumpkins.

FINALLY, Ryan conquered his fear of climbing up and going down the slide. We also have one about this size in our basement. Everytime I would have to hold his hand to help him climb up and hold his hand to guide him down the slide. However this week, it clicked for him and he's been climbing and sliding more than a game of Chutes and Ladders!

On Thursday, I had a huge playdate from the mom's group here. There were 15 moms, 7 kids under the age of 1 year, and countless toddlers and kids here. I really got into the Halloween theme and served strawberry ghosts, skeleton cookies, witches brew punch, and below is the cracker/veggie/dip graveyard.

Here is part of the upstairs group.

And part of the basement crowd.

I know Ryan is still a bit young to understand Halloween, so rather than spend a bunch of money on a costume, I decided to create something that fits his likes and sometimes his personality. Here is the view from the back, can you guess what he is?

For my little trash (can) loving son, an Oscar the Grouch costume!

Playing, as told by Ryan

Remember me! I'm the new 2 year old. I don't know why people always talk about the Terrible Twos, when there are so many other t-words to describe me: tremendous, terrific, tender, ticklish, toddler, topnotch, troublemaker, tantrum-thrower, and tenacious. Hey, how did those last three descriptions get in there?!!!





I am quite the helper when it comes to being in the kitchen. I know that the oven is hot and I'm not supposed to play there. The refrigerator is cold and I used to be able to play with it until these locks appeared one day. I worked and worked and worked though and was able to "remove" (okay, so Mommy and Daddy say "break") them. But now I want to play at "cold" but I get s"cold"ed everytime I do. I have one cabinet of pots and pans that it's safe I play in and I love to play in the lazy susan. Really, how many bottles of salad dressing do we need? Same with soup? I say more brownie box mixes, cake mixes, and bottles of pancake syrup!



I love to push my dump truck! It even has handles built in. I don't have to stoop over quite so much and boy do I go fast!!! Unfortunately I'm still trying to figure out this balance thing and there's been a time or two when the truck has "dumped", leaving me flat on my diapered derriere. So as a result, sometimes I push it this way.

I got this cool coupe from my friend across the street, Kevin, when he grew out of it. I usually just push it around (it's got a bum wheel), but I recently discovered that the door opens and closes. So lately I've been working on getting in and out of the car. This thing is great! No carseat need! Plus I get to honk the horn as opposed to mommy who is always laying on it.

By now, you've probably all seen pictures of me pushing my John Deere tractor in the yard or on the sidewalk. Well I've also recently discovered that if you push it through these piles of dried brown things on the ground (I think they're called leaves), it makes a crunchy sound! And you can make that same sound by walking through them too! I don't get to make that sound in our yard since daddy hides all the leaves before I can play with them. Thankfully some of the neighbors don't own rakes and have more than their fair share of them!

Mommy is still trying to post the video of me talking. I know all you want to hear what voice is behind this gorgeous face, but it'll have to wait until the website is fixed. This seemed to be an awfully short update for me to report on. Maybe if I practice harder at the good t-words I'll get another chance. But until then, stay tuned - I'll be appearing in my Halloween costume in the next update!

Ryan Speaks

This is the one you've been waiting for - hear Ryan talk!!! Granted he's just repeating words we're asking him to say, but we'll take it. It was recorded on or about his 2nd birthday. Sorry for the angle, the cameradad forgot that you can't do video vertically.

Birthday Bliss

We had a very exciting Columbus Day Weekend here at the Stoeber house. On Sunday, we had a birthday party for Ryan and we continued to celebrate on Monday - his actual birthday. You would think that I could remember to ask any one of the number of people at our house Sunday to take a family picture of us, but no. So instead we did it the old fashioned way. Funny thing is we didn't purposely get Gizmo in the picture. We didn't even know she was on the couch behind us. Thankfully we did though!

Ryan is still in love with trash cans. Our neighborhood has trash pick-up on Monday mornings and he is in absolute heaven pointing each one out when we take our morning walk. So we decided to make him a trash can cake. Using a board constructed with help from our neighbor, John, we stuck an angel food cake in one dowel rod and a pound cake in the other. Waste Management is our garbage company, that explains the WM you see on the back of the trash barrel cake on the right. The yellow lid can cake on the left is for recycling. In-between you'll see cupcakes (as well as tissue tied) white trash bags. While they were no where near as authentic as what the Ace of Cakes or Cake Boss could do, Ryan did say "tash" (translation - trash) when he saw the cake. That alone made the effort worth it.

It was a good thing we had Ryan's party on Sunday, because Saturday was a rough day. He went to bed early and was told to sleep late because there'd be no napping on party day. Did he understand any of this, probably not. This is a picture of Ryan about 45 minutes into his party. As much as he loves Meepa, he's not quick to cuddle him. He was tired.

Not long thereafter, Ryan was found curling up on Cousin Nathan. Poor Nate, Ryan probably weighed a ton! It was cute to see, yet Ryan didn't fall asleep. He got a second wind (maybe the cake had something to do with that) and was a party animal!

Ryan reads the card as I open his Little People, their airplane, and pajamas from Uncle Doug and Aunt Ju-Ju. Grandma Katie looks on.

Getting the Birthday Song sung to him. It didn't scare him, but it's obvious he wasn't quite content with all these people looking at him and saying his name.

Gramma Pat to the rescue! We were so busy serving the other guests that we didn't even give Ryan any cake or ice cream. Thankfully Gramma Pat stepped in to sugar-hype the birthday boy.

Aunt Marcia and Cousin Ava got Ryan some slippers! We needed these as some mornings the floor is cold to walk on.

Thanks again everyone for sharing Ryan's special day with us. We have a video that shows him saying a few of his words. Unfortunately the website wasn't allowing me to upload it. I'll try again soon!

Visiting and Visitors

We've had some fun in August and early September with having people over as well as going to other places. It'd been a long 6 weeks since we'd seen Meema and Meepa and they decided to pay us a visit. Here's Meepa taking Ryan and Gizmo for a walk. I didn't even know that he knew how the stroller worked. Sure Gizmo isn't wearing a leash, nor is Meepa carrying pickup bags, but it's the effort that counts!

Here's Meema visiting with Ryan at his new play table. I forsee many pictures being colored, playdoh being sculpted, and puzzles being done here.

Hey Nana and Grandpa Dale, it took awhile, but Ryan grew into the Stoeber University Shirt!

Before it closed up for the summer, Ryan and I visited the Mundelein Sprayground. It had 2 water areas, a sand area, and about 4 trash cans - can't go wrong!

This was an outfit we sent to Uncle Jay and Aunt Dina many years ago when Jaydin was a tot, he's now 6. They sent it back to us for Ryan to enjoy.

I had a great time babysitting for a friend of mine's twins who will be 5 this month. Her Ryan is on the left and Ben is on the right. Our Ryan had fun watching the big boys play.

Over Labor Day Weekend we went to Dixon and got to see some family and some friends. While at Gramma Pat and Papa Joe's house Ryan got drenched playing in the bird bath. While his clothes were in the dryer, he wore a t-shirt of Gramma's and decided to shred some newspaper.

I guess it takes two to play Majong. Meepa would like the tiles up and Ryan would click the mouse to make them disappear.

We've had a great time visiting and having visitors. The month of September holds a few playdates, picnics with friends, a new session of reading class at the Library, and much more!

Meeting Uncle Mark and Aunt Mary Kaye

Dean's aunt and uncle from Ohio recently paid us a visit while they were taking in a long weekend in Chicago. It was nice to see them, as it was the first time since our wedding that we'd done so! They braved the Chicago traffic and hiked out to the northern 'burbs to see us. In tote, they brought some famous Cincinnati Chili (whew, I get out of making dinner for a bunch of nights!) and Chuck the Talking Pick-up Truck for Ryan.


Here's Ryan with his new toy. He just woke up and when he came downstairs, he went directly for Chuck! Chuck has come in handy a few times as a diversion to a tantrum. At least 3 times I've said "Where's Chuck" and that simple phrase has avoided meltdown. So thank you Mark and Mary Kaye for my, I mean Ryan's new best friend!

Playtime!!!!

Boy oh boy has there been a lot of playing being done this summer! New parks, new water toys, fun with family and friends. And it's only July!!! We've been so busy around the Stoeber house that the only time I have time to upload pictures and update the blog is during naptime. So here it goes!

I had heard about this spraypark (aka sprayground or splashpad) in Grayslake. It's fenced in and it's free! We've visited there a few times in late afternoon after naptime when the crowds are fewer. Ryan seems to enjoy it.

I think it's only fair that I include this picture of Dean and Ryan on Father's Day, since I put one of him and me on Mother's Day. See how Ryan looks at Dean adoringly. I only seem to get the evil eye. From Ryan that is.

This is just a portion of the AWESOME park I found in nearby Gurnee. Most of the features Ryan won't be able to enjoy for another year or two. But I'm in no hurry for those days. Kids up to teens can find something at this park to enjoy. There were several different play areas at the playground part of the park. In addition they had a skatepark, baseball fields, sand volleyball courts, basketball courts, tennis courts, and a frisbee golf course. I can imagine many a child being lost (or buried!) here.

Ryan did like the giant swing there.

As well as the slide. Nevermind the dumbfounded expression on his face. Lately that seems to be the standard look whenever I pull out the camera - eyes averted and facial expression blank. I think he thinks that if he doesn't smile and look at me that I'll just give up and put the camera away - wrong!

He also got a kick out of this rocker horse (or maybe it's a dog? rabbit? - heck your guess is as good as mine).

On those days when it's too hot or rainy, the Duplo blocks get a workout. Dean and I have spent plenty of time building towers only to have Ryan disassemble them in a matter of seconds. Fortunately small fry is good about picking up the blocks and likes to zip and unzip the bag.

A rare time when Ryan sat still, looked at the camera, and smiled.

This was cousin Adam at the 4th of July picnic at Aunt Shirley's. In the background are cousins Derek and Andrea. The younger cousins (Nathan, Caden, and Ava) were playing Wii bowling. Adam and his brothers like Scooby Doo and here Adam is doing his impression of "The Creeper".

Did somebody say "The Creeper"?!

Ryan and I went to Uncle Dan and Aunt Sherry's a few times to babysit. Though he's 6 months younger than Adam, there is still quite a difference between the two boys. Not being around other kids on a regular basis, you can definitely see it. No worries here, based on how much he babbles, I know once Ryan starts talking, he's probably never going to let me get in a word. So for now, I'm fine with only hearing the words "trash, hot, light, bite, Da Da, Giz, yes, and uh oh" come out. Not to mention, I have no plans on returning to work, so daycare is not in the cards.

One toy both boys were interested in. Thankfully they were able to share.

On another rainy day, we visited the local Children's Museum again. I had to act quickly to get the picture before Ryan snatched the fireman's hat off his head.

Outside on a sunny day a walnut was found and used as an xylophone stick to make noise, I mean music, along the back on the patio chairs.

Frolicking through the flowers. Dad would not be happy about this.

Helping to fill the water table.

Splashtime at last!

We still have lots of playdates lined up for this summer. We also need to get pictures of Dad's softball team (they are doing great this year!). I don't want summer to pass without a trip to a zoo. So it looks like there will be updates coming soon. Well assuming I can find time to update the blog after these experiences. Hope everyone else is enjoying their summer!