Halloween 2011

Ahoy Mateys! Happy Halloween from all of us aboard the SS Stoeber. This weekend we went on a treasure hunt for some booty - or as you landlubbers call it, Trick-or Treating. Captain Stoeber (aka Dean) manned the ship with the littlest mate (aka Patrick) while Mama pirate (disguised as a lady bug - you know since females aren't allowed on Pirate ships) ventured out with Pirate Ryan and his first mate, Gizmo. As expected, a great haul was brought back.

Ryan is 3!

This crazy blog software, if it wasn't free, I'd complain even more ;) This picture (above) is supposed to be further down, but because I have no idea if or how to move it, I'll talk my way around it. Since June of this year, Ryan's received occupational therapy (through Early Intervention - details about that program below). This was his therapist Mary. She'd come for an hour every Monday. Ryan loved doing activities with her. They often involved climbing, jumping, using materials with different textures, music, and noise. We'll miss Mary!


Where oh where has the time gone? Ryan is now 3! Silly as always, with a sticker on his nose, here are the two brothers together. Get your Patrick fill now, as the rest of this post is dedicated to the birthday boy!

For the past year, Ryan has been a part of Early Intervention, a program to help kids under age 3 in different areas. Robin (on the left), was Ryan's speech therapist and she visited our house every Friday for an hour. Tiffany was Ryan's developmental therapist (they did more fine motor and some gross motor skills) and she came for an hour twice a month. They were wonderful with Ryan and really appreciated what a sweet, outgoing child he is. We'll miss them!

Meemee and Papa Bernie came out the weekend of Ryan's birthday. Together we went to Stade's Farm Stand/Pumpkin Patch. It was a beautiful day so the place was packed! Unfortunately Ryan was getting the start of a cold, that combined with the overwhelmingness (that's a word, right?) of all the people, some parts of the day were tough. We'll try again next year when he's a bit older and feeling better.

Ryan measured in at 38.5 inches!

I was surprised that he liked feeding the goats! They'd come right up to you and take the food out of your hand. I didn't want him getting knocked down (that'd make the day even more challenging), so I held Ryan.

The spin car ride - fun, right? Poor Meemee, she was the only one small enough to fit in the car (hee, hee) so she was the poor soul who had to ride with a very unhappy Ryan. Fortunately they let him get off after only a few spins around the track.

Ahhh, better times. Blowing the candles out on the Apple Cake. Yum, yum.

At summer camp, Ryan really enjoyed the scooters, so Meemee and Papa Bernie got him one for his birthday, complete with a Spiderman helmut. He's still a bit short and doesn't understand the concept of pushing himself along, but he did enjoy his ride while Meemee did all the work!

Thanks Aunt Julie and Uncle Doug for the Count & Draw toy. Ryan loves all the Leap Frog toys.

Opening more presents!

Now that Ryan is three and Early Intervention is finished, he qualified for the Early Childhood Education program through our school district. He goes to school, on a bus, Monday-Thursday 8:20-11am and on Friday 8:20-10:25. Here's the big boy just before his first day. So far he loves Miss Jessica's class. We'll keep you posted about whether or not he loves the bus. . .

What's up?!

Hi Fans!
It's Ryan, remember our last family posting was told to you from my baby brother, Patrick's point of view, and now it's my turn. Mom has been super busy lately and finally got around to putting this update together.

What have I been up to you ask? Well a whole lot of everything!!! We try to get outside as much as we can while the weather still lets us. But sometimes we have to find things to do inside. I really like to perform, especially in places where I can see myself. This picture is perfect, I can catch my reflection so I can see just what my audience sees.

This was taken my first day of Terrific 2's this fall. My teachers are Miss Stephanie and Miss Terri. I had Miss Terri over the summer with camp. I really like my class. My friends include Geo, Gavin, Jackson, William, Luke, Soniya, and Haley. I like when we sing "The more we get together".

Labor Day Weekend was a chilly one this year. Mommy didn't pack warm clothes for me to wear and I wanted to be outside. Fortunately, Meemee had this Illini tracksuit for me and this fleece hat to keep me warm. My cousin, Ava, received some Zhu Zhu pets for her birthday in August. I had such a fun time with them, that I got one of my own. It makes funny noises and spins in circles, hey I make funny noises and I like to spin in circles too!

Here's me and my bestest buddy, who also happens to be my baby brother! I'm telling Patrick that my birthday is coming up and I'll be 3! With this comes a whole lot of changes. No more working with Robin, Tiffany, and Mary. Instead, I'll be starting a new school! Stay tuned for more about that. Chow, peace, baby!

7 weeks have taught me (Patrick's perspective)

Hi Everyone, it's Patrick Daulton posting my first blog! I'm very excited to do so. I figure I've been around for 7 weeks now, I think I have everyone and everything figured out, so why not take a shot at sharing what I've learned in my time with all of you.

1. I have learned that it is much more comfortable to fall asleep while being held than being laid down on a bed. Mommy sometimes "wears" me in her Moby wrap. It may not look comfy to you, but it's nice enough for me to nap in!

2. I have learned that I grow like a weed (must be all the eating I do) and soon won't fit in my bassinet. Then I'll have to move into the crib in my own room. This will make mommy sad and fearful that my mid-night crying outs for food will wake my brother in the room next door.

3. I have learned we have a dog, Gizmo. But I may have only seen her a handful of times as she only comes out when little boys go to bed. (That's why there's no picture of her)

4. I have learned that my big brother adores me as much as I adore him. I also know that he REALLY likes my bouncey seat and the music it plays. He may enjoy it even more than I do.

5. I have learned that Ryan likes to kiss and cuddle me, sometimes a bit aggressive for Mommy and Daddy's liking though.

6. I have learned that I have these people wrapped around my little finger!

Stay tuned, rumor has it that next time my big brother is going to post and we'll see what he has to say about me being around!

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.