Name that Stoeber

Oooh, sometimes this blog website drives me nutty! I wanted to have a text introduction before the pictures appeared, but for whatever reason I did something that wouldn't let that happen. Rather than reload everything, I'm jjust keeping it as is. I know it's natural to make comparisons between your children - though everything I read/hear says that is not the right thing to do. I promise I'll do my best to make a point to acknowledge my sons' similarities and difference rather than to pin one against the other. For now, I'll let you make note of the likeness (or you may see differences) between Ryan and Patrick. The top picture is Patrick, age - a few minutes. Below is Ryan, age - a few minutes. I remember Ryan's head being skinnier at the top, and wider at the bottom. Ryan's hairline resembles Dean's (Dean is the first to admit this), whereas Patrick as more hair, a shorter forehead for a lack of a better explanation.

I'm sure that when I look at the next two pictures years down the line, I will definitely be befuddled. To me, the boys look exactly alike and I may need to time stamp them in order to know the difference.

For those of you who guessed Patrick is with the white blanket and Ryan is the green and white checked one - you're correct!

Which boy is with Daddy?

Ahh, if you said Patrick is sitting up, while Ryan is lying down, you again are right. But - did you just guess that way because Ryan was in the same outfit as the previous question? Fun note about these two pictures - Dean is wearing the same orange Illini t-shirt in each. He wants me to note that he is proud that his physique hasn't grown in the 2 .5 years these photos were taken, though the shirt probably has been washed many a time and has probably shrunk. For those of you who would like to make contributions to the Stoeber family, we are currently accepting donations at WWW.BuyDeanANewWardrobe.com

Next, taken at as an extreme close-up, who is this?

And this?

Answers: Patrick, then Ryan

And now, who are these smiley (okay, gassy) babies?

I'm with Patrick and Dean is with Ryan. Again, note Dean's orange shirt. This was even taken on a different day, since Ryan has a different outfit on!

Last question, who is this?

And that would make this . . . ?

Correct answers: Ryan and Dean. Ryan was about 13 months when that was taken, unfortunately we don't know how old Dean was (I'd guess either 9 or 12 months). Those arched eyebrows and pouty lips, they are spot on twins. For those who think Patrick looks like Ryan, I'm going to guess that he too will look like this a few months down the line. Keep checking back for future photo-look-alike posts!

Along comes #2

I went to the doctor on Wednesday, July 6 since I was 4 days overdue. The doctor called to see if there were openings that night for me to be induced and the hospital was already pretty booked with patients. So I was told to call at 9:30 on Thursday (7/7) to try again. HOWEVER, baby #2 had other plans. After leaving the doctor's at about 11:25, I went to Target, then ate lunch at Potbelly's, then went home. I was sitting on the patio, reading the newspaper when all the sudden at 1:24, OUCH! A slightly unusual pain that I hadn't felt before that lasted about 35 seconds. I made a note of this in the margin of my newspaper. 4 minutes later, it happened again. Uh oh, this is go time. I called Dean and home he came. This continued about 4 more times as I waited Dean's arrival. The doctor told me to just go to the hospital. We checked into Lake Forest Hospital at 2:30 - fortunately by now there were some Labor and Delivery Rooms available. Here's my last "before" picture. Obviously it was after I'd received the epidural.

And by 5:22pm:Patrick Daulton Stoeber, 9 lbs, 2 oz. 21 inches long with his Proud Papa.

And relieved Mama.

The next day, Papa Bernie brought Ryan to the hospital for their first formal introductions.

Granted, not the best family photo, but it was better than the other attempts.

Headin' Home!

4th of July weekend

Meemee and Papa Bernie came out over the 4th of July weekend hoping that maybe their new grandchild would be born and they'd be here to watch Ryan. However, that wasn't the case (that post to come soon). It was a little on the warm side, so we pulled out the beach ball sprinkler for the first time. While he didn't play long with it, Ryan did seem to enjoy himself.

He even managed to drag me through the sprinkler's mist.

And in true Ryan fashion, we were honored to have him "perform" his Greatest Hits on the back stage, aka our patio steps.

Racine Zoo

Though weather-wise it was a less than ideal June-day, it was a perfect one to visit a local zoo. Rather than battle traffic and high parking costs of Lincoln Park or Brookfield, we decided to trek north to Racine. Ryan and I visited this zoo last fall and he still doesn't get all excited about the animals, so this one was the perfect size for us. There were a few more exhibits open this time around, so we only took pictures of those.


It's crazy how this zoo is right on Lake Michigan, but has residential neighbors. The lucky people living next to the zoo never have to hire a branch cutter, the giraffes take care of that!

The ASL sign for penguins is this cute little bobble move that Ryan likes to do (and looks hysterical doing so). So in his honor, I took this picture of the penguins. It must've been near lunchtime as they were eagerly waiting by the door.

A pack of about 8 Meerkats lived in this exhibit.

The bird area was the coolest (Papa Bernie would be so proud of me for saying that)! They were selling popsicle sticks with bird food on them for $2, so we got one for Ryan. Upon entering the area, a bird immediately landed on Ryan's head. I wish I would've been faster with the camera. He wasn't afraid of them, surprisingly. They loved "cleaning" our shoes - this is Dean's foot you see here.

Maycation

Where oh where did the month of May go? I've been slacking on my blogger duties again, but didn't realize it until the time came for me to clean up my camera. Looking ahead to June I know that it too will fly by as we have Swim Lessons, Ryan's summer camp, and doctor's appointments for me and baby-to-be making up our calendar. At this point, I'd be shocked if I make it to July 2. There's quite a difference in baby's growth from this first picture (taken on Mother's Day) to one you'll see later taken the last week in May while on vacation.


Mother's Day was quite relaxing. The weather was beautiful. Dean, Ryan, Gizmo, and I headed to a local forest preserve and went on a nice walk. After heading home, I changed into cooler clothes and we were outside the rest of the day. I received beautiful cards and went 24 hours without having to cook a meal! What a wonderful holiday, there should be Mother's Day once a month!
Ryan's class also concluded in May. Unfortunately he missed the last day (and it was a Pizza Party Picnic!), because we were leaving for Daytona Beach. But here he is with his teachers, Ms. Brandi and Ms. Danyelle. We hope he'll have them at summer camp too. Perhaps he'll have Danyelle when he goes back in the fall, but Ms. Brandi is having baby and won't be back in September. We wish her well, she was awesome to Ryan!

While on vacation, Ryan got to see his first baseball game. Daytona's minor league Cubs were having Belly-Buster Monday when we were there. For only $11 a person (Ryan was free), you got your game ticket and all the burgers, hot dogs, pizza, peanuts, and popcorn you could eat. A great time and great eating was had by all. Ryan was exceptionally well behaved - even taking into account that he was up a good 2.5 hours past his bedtime.

Hopefully this is the first of many pictures at Cubs games Ryan and Dean have.

Ryan and Papa Bernie share a special moment. Because Papa looks amused, I'm guessing Ryan didn't just say "Papa, no smoking" which I taught him to do.

Opening Day 2030 2nd Baseman for your Chicago Cubs: Ryan Kennedy Stoeber!

On our last full day in Florida, we headed a bit south to where the Halifax River meets the Atlantic Ocean. It was definitely a hot day, but the scenery was stellar. Here's some kind of bird sun basking on the rocks.

This is the view to the north from the pier we were on.

Poor Meemee probably will need another vacation just to rest up from entertaining Ryan on this one. Between singing "Pony Boy", chanting "Fe fi foe fum", and chasing/playing/carrying Ryan around she had to go to bed exhausted each night. Here Meemee is blowing on Ryan's tummy, an act I don't know who enjoyed more!

Ryan didn't seem to mind the beach too much - as long as everything was done on his terms. Whether it was going in the water, playing in the sand, or walking down the beach while pushing his lawn mower as long as it was his idea he was fine with doing it. This was the one and only time I could get him to wear his sunglasses. I'm glad I had the camera ready for this "Hollywood" moment.

Jumping "big" waves with Meemee and Papa while Daddy looked on.

This is my favorite picture from vacation.

Closely followed by this one. And no that isn't a beach ball shoved up my swimsuit.

A great, relaxing time was had by all. It was nice to get away for a bit to a place where the weather was perfect. It was also nice to see my parents friends, Rich, Bonnie, and Heather Ryan again. We hope we can make it back again next summer with 2 kids!

Park Play and A(nother) Rainy Day

Ryan and I took advantage of one the very few days of nice weather we've had this spring (if that's what you can call this season?!). While out running some errands, we stopped at a neighborhood park a few towns over. It was small and we were the only ones there, but that didn't stop us from having fun! You can tell it was a sunny day because freckles exploded on my nose!

Small fry is growing up! Lately Ryan's been swinging on the "big" swings instead of the baby bucket-style ones. Fortunately, he is very good about hanging onto the chains and we've yet to have a tumble.

Any guesses as to what he is pointing at over yonder? Ding, ding, ding it was a trash can. He has now been interested and talking about them for more than half of his life (it started at 13 months - he's over 30 months now).

Tackling the terrible T-Rex.

Because we've had so many rainy days, I decided it was time to get Ryan a slicker and rain boots. I know I'm biased, but is there anything this child doesn't look cute in (a devil's costume, Oscar the Grouch's trash can, even Green Bay Packer clothes)?! At first he wasn't crazy about stomping in the puddles, but he quickly caught on and liked it!

Here's hoping that our next post is the result of another sunny day of play. Or maybe vacation pictures from Daytona - less than a month until go time!!!

Easter and Daddy's Birthday

This year Dean's Birthday fell on Easter Sunday, so that was a day full of family, fun, and food! Leading up to that day, Ryan and I attended an event at the Round Lake Area Park District. It was very cute, set up with carnival games, a scavenger hunt for Easter eggs, a craft table, a guess the number of chocolate eggs in the jar table (I won!!!), and a picture station with the Easter Bunny - or as Ryan would come to call him, Blue Bunny (hey, isn't that also an ice cream brand?! Can't imagine how he'd know that!). When we first approached BB, Ryan threw his hands over his eyes and proceeded to scream and bury his head into my shoulder. You would've thought I was trying to have him get his picture taken with Freddie Krueger! Gradually he warmed up.

This was as close as I could get him. That poor bunny was so patient and made many attempts to get close to Ryan, but was good about letting him be in control. Ah well, maybe next year.

Forward a couple of weeks to Easter Morning (aka Dean's Birthday). The Easter Bunny did make a stop to Meema (or Meemee) and Meepa (or Papa Bernie) 's house. He left a trail of about 8 eggs to the closet where Ryan's basket was hidden. I think Ryan ate at least one item from each of the eggs. You may be able to tell how puffed his cheeks are here - puffed with candy, that is.

I got the goods!!!

One of the items in the basket was this little wind-up chick. You pressed its head and it would hop along. We'd set it on the desk and it would always hop over the edge. Ryan was in hysterics each and every time!

Back track to the previous weekend - as a surprise to Dean, we went to the Russell Military Museum, which is at the border of Illinois and Wisconsin. It was a cool place with soooo much memorabilia and warcraft from WWI, WWII, Vietname, and Desert Storm. Dean, of course, could tell you the names/types of all the vessels and weapons. I however will leave it at the following:

This is a tank:

Lots more trucks, tanks, and cannons.

The birthday boy and son outside, ummm something.

I sure hope you can view this video, it took many attempts to not only film it, but to upload it. If you can't see it, I apologize. Just know that it is a very cute rendition of Ryan singing Happy Birthday to Dean.