Grandparent Visit

We had a wonderful grandparent weekend this past weekend! They came and helped us out with a few things around the house and did lots of playing with Ryan. He was in heaven the whole time, he took advantage of every second he was awake to play with grandma and grandpa. He is so worn out that he should at least sleep well this next week. I don't know what he is going to do when he is left at home with just me again.

Almost Half Way!

In 3 days I will be 20 weeks pregnant which is excatly 1/2 way to my due date. According to the internet she is now about the length of a banana. It seems to be going pretty quickly this time, maybe that is because with a toddler in tow there is much more going on everyday.

We are starting to pick out stuff for baby girls room and even a few cute pink outfits because I just couldn't resist. I'll post pictures once we actually get anything DONE in the room.

Officially Going to School

Ryan is officially signed up for preschool (honestly I signed him up for 2 because of the deadlines-but he is only going to one) He starts in April. I figure I have a little time to prepare myself while still giving Ryan enough time to get settled before the baby is here disrupting his life. I think we made the right decision and Ryan seems to really like it. I guess we will know for sure when he starts, until then it's all anticipation!

Park Pictures

Random pictures of a day out at the park with dad!

Speaking

Ryan has finally started to talk! This last week he has started saying tons of things, some are repeats of what I have just said and others he comes up with out of the blue. It's amazing how fast talking comes once it starts! He uses truck, Car, wash, drive, hi, bye, milk, blue and ball the most... but he has gotten to the point where he usually comes up with about 5 new words a day!
He has of course gotten more demanding now that he knows I understand what he wants, but I think that also has a lot to do with him inching closer to 2. I can't wait to hear what is going on in that head of his!

it's a GIRL!!!

It's a girl and she's perfect! Everything measured perfectly, she has all her parts and we are so excited!!!

Preschool

I am starting to look at preschools for Ryan. With baby #2 on the way I don't want Ryan to be bored at home and I also don't want to have to drag him to doctors appointments (newborns are always at the doctors), and other baby-centric appointments. Finding a preschool seems like a simple task, but no, there are about 12 million variables you have to consider. Here are the top variables in my book:

First are their openings at the school? Duh... if you can't get in don't even look you will just be disappointed if you fall in love with it. For the ones you have a chance with, they all have different enrollment methods, most aren't like regular school where they either have space or they don't, some are ongoing enrollment, some have deadlines and some seem confused about what their policy is (red flag). One we are thinking of applying to requires you to sign up now for an August start date... so for most of the schools it isn't a decision you make one day and start the next day, you have to look far enough ahead to keep your options open.

Secondly you have to decide if you want full day, half day, and how many days a week? I think we are looking at half days either 2 or 3 days a week. Because you have to sign up so early, you have to consider what your child will like 6 months in advance and it's hard (at some places impossible) to change once you make the decision.

Third, they all have a different goal... purely academic, purely play, some mix, art based etc. He is so young that I really don't want to push him too hard down the academic route, honestly he has lots of years for that. Luckily with a part time program he isn't there all the time so whatever is lacking in a program I can try and make up for at home. You just don't want everything to be lacking so it would be a waste of his time. I want to have him at a place that will make him the most happy, now I just need to figure out what that will be.

You have to pick what is best for you child, without really knowing until you start. How will he deal when I leave him somewhere? Will he love it, will he hate it? Will he have good teachers, which is the most important thing and again you don't really know until you are there. I think I will just have to make a decision and stick to it, no looking back, if he hates it I pull him out and we try again later. Luckily with me being at home we are really flexible. So far I have toured 2, and I have appointments to tour 3 next week. Ryan LOVED the visits, he immediately walked away from me and started playing with the kids and exploring the classrooms. I had to tell him a few times that it was time to go before he would make his way to the door. It made me a lot more confident about starting the process.

Knowing me, a few deposits might be made before a decision is made :) We'll see!

Baby Kicks

I have been feeling the baby move for a few weeks now. The movements are little flutters, but completely internal, you couldn't feel anything by touching my stomach. Last night baby started kicking and we could feel it through my stomach, even Don got to feel it! This is much earlier then with Ryan (I'm at about week 18) which either means I now know what to look for with the movements so I recognize them earlier or this baby is going to be even more active then Ryan *shudder*. Either way it is very exciting!

Making Cupcakes

We decided to make cupcakes on a cold day when we were stuck inside. Ryan loved that he was able to do almost everything himself. Vanilla cupcakes with homemade cream cheese frosting might be his new favorite food on top of it. He decided he wanted them to be pink and green so they were certainly interesting looking but man did they taste good.

Parents are SO Embarrassing

At 20 months Ryan is already embarrassed of me. I thought for sure it wouldn't happen for a few more years but I was wrong. Today I was singing along to one of his cartoons and he comes up to me, looks me in the eye, shakes his head and says "no." Oh well, I already ruled out a career in singing so I guess I shouldn't worry too much about it....

Update: this afternoon Ryan was dancing to a song, I tried to do the same dance he was doing.. he told me "no" again. Apparently a dancing career is out also.