Daytona Time!

We're back! Florida was wonderful and the weather couldn't have been better. It'd been about 10 years since I'd been to Daytona and Dean had never been there. I didn't pull out the camera many days, but on those that I did I snapped away. Ryan, too, had a great vacation. He is an excellent traveler. If we can always fly on Southwest Airlines on a 1/2 full plane we're doing it. Can't beat the extra bags and refreshments!

Last time Ryan flew, he wasn't interested in the DVD player. Since then, we've learned that his kid song CDs are a must when we travel in the car, so we decided to see if he'd wear headphones so we could use these in case of an emergency on the plane. Here we are practicing. It worked, though on the plane we only needed them twice for about 10 minutes each.


Our dear friend, Joanne, stayed at our house to watch Gizmo because our usual pet-sitters vacationed with us! Meema and Meepa drove to Daytona a few days before we flew out and took many of our belongings. In total, Ryan had 5 chairs in Florida: 2 at the beach (1 replaced the first that broke), a booster seat to eat in, his carseat, and an easy chair (you'll see that later). But this is the easy seat his takin' a liking to lately. He loves lounging in it and letting us spin him. However when he stands up, it's exit time off the chair. (Who knows where sock #2 is?)

On the plane while Daddy reads "Goodnight Moon". This once again has become his favorite book. He loved it about 8 months ago, but then it got ripped up (that may have been Gizmo's doing), but we've readded it to our collection and now it doesn't matter if it's day or night, it's the first book he goes for.

Ryan, meet ocean! Despite the fact that the child did not like to get anything on his hands in our play class, he really did take a liking to the beach. The salt, sand, or initial chill of the water didn't bother him at all.

Ryan and Meema chillin' in their beach chairs. This used to be my chair when I was little. Unfortunately the undertow of the sand broke the aluminum frame so we had to get a new one. Not bad for something made 25+years ago. In the back you'll see the push lawnmower. Ryan loved to play with this on the beach. Meema commented on what a great mower he is, there wasn't a blade of grass to found once he was done :)

Dean and I got to go out and celebrate our anniversary early. Here's a self-taken picture of us.

One day when Dean and I were both a bit sunburned, we decided to skip laying out at the pool or on the beach. Instead we took a walk along the boardwalk. The pier you see in the distance was under construction, but we still had a nice walk.

There was a sprayground along the boardwalk. I took Ryan right in to cool us both down.

From there we went to a shaded park recommended to us by my parents friends. Funny enough their names are Bonnie and Rich Ryan, and Rich's middle name is Dean. They live just north of Daytona and were able to suggest some delicious restaurants as well. Here we are in front of the park's waterfall.

Crikey! Is that a crocodile that Ryan is sitting on?!

Meema and Meepa are saints. They watched Ryan many times so Dean and I could enjoy the beach or dinner on our own. In their time together they learned many things about Ryan. 1. He still loves trash cans. 2. He doesn't care if it's your underwear in the drawer, he'll empty it in 10 seconds flat. 3. He LOVES the Itsy-Bitsy Spider. 4. The pool and beach are okay, but in his opinion riding the elevator is the best part of vacation. 5. His new favorite word is BOP! He says it in a deep voice and it has a meaning unbeknowngst to us. But he said it so often that I have found myself referring to him as Bop ever since.

Cuddling Meema after the 1000th verse of Itsy-Bitsy Spider.

Playing Peek-a-Boo with Meepa.

The easy chair we got from the Ryans. He's sitting and waiting for one of the bikini-clad women he liked watching on the beach to call him. He's all boy!

The five of us our last day together. Don't think that Meema is taller than me, she was standing on a tree stump!

What a great vacation! I can only think of one word to use to sum it up, BOP!

Ryan Loves . . .

Hello again from Ryan Kennedy Stoeber! My 18 month birthday came and went and mom forgot to let me update the blog, so now it's my turn! Better late than never I guess. I decided to fill this posting with all things I love. Mom and dad say I've got quite the personality already and have lots of things I like. But putting my favorite thing to do on here wasn't possible. How do you photograph me doing the opposite of what I'm told? I like pushing on the screen door, getting into the entertainment center drawers, standing on the rocking chair, playing with the stove knobs, splashing in Gizmo's water bowl, playing with the tv remote control and cordless telephone, moving while I get my hair cut, unraveling toilet paper, pulling things off the kitchen table, and clicking on the computer keyboard and mouse - but those are all things I'm told not to do. Still they are my favorites . . .



On Thursday mornings mom and I go to a park district class called "Gettin' Down and Dirty". However, I do not like getting dirty. Mom has tried to get me to touch dirt, sand, playdoh, goop, birdseed, moonsand, fingerpaint, flour, shaving cream, and dried oats. I will have none of it. Thankfully there are plenty of cupboards, trash cans, and a bathroom (with toilet paper!) that I spend the 1.5 hours of class exploring. Below I'm doing one of the activities I enjoy most from class, uncapping the markers. They are easy to take off, but require more skill and patience than I have to put back on. Oh well, that's why mom's there, right?

Each week there are 2 art project tables, we've attended class now 5 times and I've only done 3 projects (okay, who am I kidding, Mom did the 3 projects). On the left I (I mean Mom) used a rubber worm to paint. In the middle mom put fingerpaint on me and forced me to spread it on the kite. And on the right she again forced my hands into puffy paint to paint the cloud. Maybe someday I'll grow into these type of messy projects, but for now - forget it!

Enough talk about things I don't like, this is supposed to be about things I love.

Playing Peek-a-Boo. Where's Ryan???

Peek-a-Boo!!!!

Daddy! This was on his birthday.

Reading. My current favorites are on the table. "Mr. Brown can Moo can you?", "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" (I can even recite along with that one), and "10 Little Dinosaurs"

Flipping on and off and on and off and on and off and on and off and on and off the light and fan switches. Mom says she hopes I never give an SOS signal while doing this.

Cuddling Gizmo. Every morning I now greet her in this manner when I come down the stairs. I'm starting to think she's pretty sweet on me too (don't tell her this though).

Oscar the Grouch may love trash, but I love trash cans. I can even say "trash". I have left playgrounds, a birthday party, and even a chocolate factory in order to come into contact with this beloved object of my affection. Yes I am kissing this, and no my mom didn't disinfect my mouth afterwards.

Finally mom and dad got me a grocery cart of my own. The cart I was pushing around was for babies just learning how to walk. I, however, am a big boy who runs!!! I need a cart that can keep up with me that I don't have to break my back leaning over in order to get it to go. Plus now I can haul all my groceries and bears around in it too.

Did I mention Peek-a-Boo?

I also love cheesin' it up for the camera.

Mom and dad say my grocery cart is an indoor push toy. Thankfully I have my John Deere tractor to push around outside. It's a stepping stone to the lawnmower that someday I'll get to push around the yard.

And because it's Mother's Day I can't forget my Mom!

There are definitely other things I love that mom and dad didn't get pictures of: Bubba Bear, Nana and Grandpa, Meema and Meepa, Gramma Pat and Papa Joe, Grandma Katie, all my aunts/uncles/cousins, my baby-sitter (and friend) Joanne, Mom's fitness instructor Vicki, stroller rides, me listening to my kid cds in the car, taking a bath, all my friends in the mom's group, chasing and being chased, getting tickled, climbing on the couch and stairs, singing songs, and dancing. Whew, it's quite a list the things I love. I'm not even sure if I covered everything. But as I grow and change, I'm sure this list will do the same. But until then I'm happy with everything on it. Next time you hear from me, I hope to be relaxed and tan after my vacation to Daytona Beach. Chao, peace baby!

late March & early April

Ugh, well I guess you could say that March and April got away from me again. When I uploaded photos from my camera to my computer there were about 150 of them - way too many! What have we been up to? The Moms on the Border (of Illinois/Wisconsin) mom's group I'm in has had several playdates that we've attended. I never manage to take any pictures though, sometimes because they are at my house and I'm busy entertaining or sometimes it's because they are at other people's homes and I'm worried about Ryan breaking something or getting into the toilet paper (again). We also have been hitting some neighborhood parks and forest preserves with Gizmo to get some walking and fresh air. I helped out at the Vernon Hills Park District Breakfast w/ the Bunny event again and Dean and Ryan came too. We had a wonderful Easter meal and Aunt Christy and Uncle Chris's house. We've done some yardwork, got new toys, been to the Round Lake Children's Museum, got our 18 month photos taken (I'll have to post those next time), started a new class at the R.L. Park District (again, photos next time). All in all pretty busy! Just the way we are happiest. Now for the explanations.



My friend, Amy, who I workout with gave me some toys that her boys no longer play with. This truck is a personal Stoeber family favorite. It has a button that you press and it says "All music, all the time" then plays a heavy metal guitar solo. We all dance when Ryan hits it, which just encourages him to do it over and over.
Finally, a picture of Ryan cuddling Bubba Bear.

These next few are at the Round Lake Park District's Children's Museum. Ryan was drooly and had a runny nose, thus the bib. Here he is playing some blocks.

Finally he got his hands on a grocery cart. These are popular there with all the kids.

Waiting patiently to check out the customers in the grocery store.

Finally business has picked up!

Treating the dogs and the cats in the vet clinic portion of the museum. Maybe following in the footsteps of Dr. Dan, Dr. Sherry, and Dr. Chris?

Trying to get Ryan to eat can be challenging somedays. Breakfast is the easiest, dinner is the toughest. One day I tried all orangish/yellowish foods for lunch. Cheese/crackers, mangos, mandarin oranges, and carrots. It was a hit!

Here's a few Easter family portrait for the old album. Dean seems to be enjoying Ryan's misery a bit much. Likewise that bunny seems to be awfully cuddly with Dean ;)

One of the beautiful weekend days we had. Dean spreading mulch and Ryan following along pushing his John Deere toy.

We've had Gizmo for 7 Easters and this was the first time we tried an egg hunt for her. She did pretty well, we "hid" her eggs in open places before Ryan woke up and put her treats inside them. Here she is with one of her finds. Paw up means she wants something, in the case she wants the goods!

The Easter Bunny brought Ryan a basket that included a book, some bubbles, and blocks. It was hidden behind the rocking chair in the familyroom.

Ryan found one of his eggs while looking for his basket.

Yeah, he found the basket of goodies and more eggs!

Here we are at Chris & Christy's. They have an egg hunt for the young kids. Here Ryan is with my cousin Adam. Adam is 5 months older than Ryan. Ryan is more mobile, Adam is more vocal.

Ryan loves cousin Nathan (one of Adam's older brothers, you can see his other brother Caden in the red in the background). Here the two were dancing to some music only they could hear.

I managed to get my old kitchen set from Meema and Meepa and we put it in our familyroom. Though we haven't bought any play food yet, Ryan still likes playing there. He is a pro at the microwave (that must be genetic)
The other day we had our friend and neighbor Erin over. It was a little windy, but too sunny not to get outdoors. So here the two are bundled up for a wagon ride.

Back inside they were doing the same dance, it was a version of the Twist.

That's all for now. Next time I'll have 18 month pics as well as photos of our art projects from our Park District class and who knows what else!!!