Thursday, September 13, 2012

Happy 2nd Birthday!


Happy 2nd Birthday, to our sweet Ryan!

Now (2012)
Then (2010)
At two years old, Ryan is fun-loving, determined, creative, expressive, thoughtful, and stubborn.  He has so many different sides to him, all rolled together into one miniature person. To me, he is perfection.  

If only I could bottle up every single moment: a secret smile that lasts for one second before he tries to hide it, an adorably awkward dance move that occurs in the split second it takes me to reach for my video camera, those rare occasions when he will take a five second break from running and jumping and climbing to wrap his small arms around my neck and softly touch his lips to mine.  Then, in a blink of an eye, that moment is over.  I know that there will be many more moments to come, but never one exactly like it.  Maybe the next time his eyes won’t sparkle as bright or his wobbly legs will become more sturdy.  Maybe he won’t squeeze me as tight or he will say “mom” instead of “mommy”. 

I just want to tell him, slow down a minute baby, mommy isn’t ready for all of this yet!

Every time that Ryan reaches a new developmental milestone, we are eager to see what he has in store for us next.  But lately, I have also come to treasure all of his quirks and inabilities to do certain things.  So, when he mispronounces his L’s as W’s and mixes up his sentence structures (“Where Wucky is?”) I am not going to constantly try to correct him, but instead, marvel in these details.  In the future, when his speech is perfect and he is too self aware, I will surely long for these days again.


I go through videos on my phone of Ryan from about six months ago, and it is like watching a completely different child.  He didn’t have the words to express himself or the physical control of his body the way that he does now.  At the time, I couldn’t wait for him to be more independent, but now, I miss that wiggly boy who lost his balance whenever he tried to run; that teeny infant who didn’t appear to do much more than eat and sleep, but was so curious soaking in the sights and sounds around him. 

We are very blessed. We have been given the opportunity to relive the innocence and beauty of the earliest years of life through our son's childhood. I just want to be there for this little guy every single step of the way. I want him to know that his mommy loves him, although I know that he could never possibly understand how deeply.


I didn’t cry at my wedding (too nervous) or at my mom’s funeral (too traumatized), but here I am with tears rolling down my face at the thought of Ryan turning two years old tomorrow.  This little guy came and turned our lives upside down, gave me the determination to fight for my life, and now gives our whole family incredible hope for the future. He is the reason that I will be happy, no matter what situation life throws at us. Every single day is an adventure with this little man and we couldn’t be more proud of him for just being him.


At 24 months old, Ryan…

Lays down on the floor and asks for “tee-kles” (tickles).

Cheers for mommy and daddy and tells us “good job” and “good helper”

Directs the temperature in the car.  He is either “coldies” or needs more “ay-er”.

Insists on putting on his own shoes. “Ra Ra do it!”

Uses self control by saying aloud really fast “wait, wait, wait, wait!”

Sings by himself the ABC’s, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Old MacDonald

Says “daddy fix it with his tools” whenever anything breaks

Races his toys and shouts “ready, set, go!”

Identifies most all of the letters of the alphabet consistently (mixes up: c & s, and v & t)

Laughs when he hears other people laugh (this used to scare him)

Is extremely shy and does not talk much in front of other people until he warms up

Naps once a day (prefers his carseat over a bed)

Associates his friends with an activity that he did with them (“Peyton climbing at the park”, “Miles at the swimming pool").

Counts to ten easily, and sometimes makes it up to twenty

Is constantly in motion and his little body never seems to run out of energy

When given a choice between two things, his favorite answer is: "both!"

Doesn't like to stop playing in order to clean up his toys.  Asks for "more minutes?"

Is 99% potty trained at home, and continues to work on potty communication while we are out

Has the cutest little voice and the sweetest expressions when he talks



We will be celebrating Ryan’s birthday this weekend with parties on both Saturday and Sunday for our friends and family.  We decided to do two separate parties when I realized that the guest list was way too long and we would have broken the fire code in our building’s party room.  Also, we will have more time to visit with everyone this way.

Here is a clue to this year's party theme:


Ryan has been helping me out in the kitchen a lot lately.  I think that he enjoys “working” with me on this stuff even more than playing with his toys.  It might make my job take a little longer, but it is completely worth it to see is face light up with excitement over what he did. The chocolate chip cookies were a big hit!


It is still unbelievable to me that when he wakes up in the morning, we will have a two year old. Where did our baby go??

WE LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK, 
RYAN JAMES!  



4 comments:

  1. This is such a sweet post. Happy birthday, Ryan!!! <3

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  2. Way to make me cry! Happy birthday Ryan!:)

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  3. Gorgeous family!!!!! Love to all of you as you celebrated with Ryan! xoxox

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  4. Thanks ladies! Ryan ended up having a wonderful birthday weekend!

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