Disaster Boy Turns 2

How did it happen that my little guy is turning 2 today? He has brought an enormous amount of love and laughter to this family.

Here are some of my favorite things about Birthday Boy Ryan:

He loves, loves, loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses. He is the sweetest little boy. In the morning especially he likes to come down and snuggle with Steve.

I can't believe how polite he is. Ryan is the only one of our kids who consistently says please and thank-you. He knows if he says please he'll get pretty much whatever he wants. Why haven't the girls picked up on that? His language skills are improving significantly as well. I can understand Ryan-ese much better than most, but he is really taking great strides.

He has earned his nickname and more. Ryan can get into anything and everything. In a way I totally admire his determination. He doesn't just whine and wait for someone to do it for him. He takes matters into his own hands and accomplishes what he wants accomplished. Raiding the candy stash, tearing open a favorite snack (goldfish all over the floor), moving a stool over to get a cup and attempt to get water from the fridge by standing on the dishwasher, etc. There is almost always a mess in the wake of Ryan.

Ryan is a furniture mover. It allows him to complete those tasks outlined above.

He is learning to fight back. Sarah gets her hair pulled a lot. Katie and Ellie get hit quite a bit. We all get a tongue-out raspberry when he's frustrated. Tommy occasionally gets shoved aside when precious lap space is being infringed upon.

Ryan adores Tommy. He's constantly giving him hugs and kisses and brings him toys when he's sad. Again, there's only jealousy when Ryan wants the snuggle that Tom is receiving.

Every meal is called "yunch". If he's hungry, that's what he asks for. He eats just about everything. Luckily his food allergies have all but disappeared. I'm still careful with eggs, but that is really it. The only foods I know he can't stand and won't eat: bananas and eggs....well, up until yesterday, he devoured the scrambled eggs I made and seems to be ok with them! We don't even have him on his allergy medicine anymore which is a blessing (though that may be due to it being around zero degrees outside!)

Ryan is such a girl sometimes. He changes clothes multiple times a day (yet again, since I won't do it for him, he does it himself.) He has favorite clothes that he prefers to wear if they are clean. He does not like to be dirty for long. He screams like a girl. But I suppose that's not completely his fault. He likes to wear bracelets and carry around a purse. He likes to push babies in strollers. He loves, loves, LOVES shoes. It's really quite scary how much he likes his accessories. Ryan even loves to wear a tie to church and as soon as he knows it's church day he runs to his room and picks one out.

But he's also such a boy. He climbs on everything. He growls all the time. He loves balls and cars. His latest is to put a basket or bucket on his head and walk around trying to scare everyone. Really quite funny.

He loves to have his hands in his pockets. It always makes me laugh because he looks like he's being all "GQ" when he does it. I have to be very careful when it's time to do laundry. I have found grapes, chapstick, marbles, crackers. All sorts of fun things.

Ryan has serious separation anxiety. We've had the same babysitter for almost 2 years and he still cries when we leave. He refuses to go to Nursery alone. Steve has become Ryan's favorite, finally. My dad ("abapa") is probably a close second. Typically anyone that talks to Ryan gets a blank stare or a scowl.

We have not kicked the pacifier habit yet. We have restricted it to bedtime. He is definitely addicted! He's still in a crib, too. I'm not ready to give up either crutch yet.

He loves to read books. Some favorites (and it's funny to watch him pick up a book, look at it, and throw it down for a different one that he likes more):

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Moo, Baa, La la la

I Feel My Savior's Love

5 Little Monkeys

Winnie the Pooh board books

I Can be Reverent

What Makes a Rainbow

10 Little Ladybugs (now destroyed...hmmm)

Ryan is the perfect addition to our family. I can't imagine life without this cuddle-bug. Happy Birthday my sweet, sweet boy.

(We had a snow-globe snow this morning and I made Steve go out and take pictures. We got some awesome ones of Katie, too that I'll post tomorrow.)