"paint"

Big sister loves to paint and it's almost a daily occurrence that she has some form of paint splattered around the art table in our breakfast nook. Rylan often stands watching, screeching, reaching, and wondering why he can't join in the fun. Today, I gave him a brush, a ramekin of water, and some colored construction paper and sat him at the table next to Kenzie.




30 minutes later, he was still being artistic.
And, finding the experience totally refreshing.

Water Baby

The pool opened over Labor Day weekend, and it certainly appears we have another water lover in the family. Rylan's smile stays plastered to his face the entire time he's in the water! Last year, he spent most of his pool time napping in the stroller, of course, so he's ready for big fun in the water this summer.

Deanna Rose

Now that the Farmstead (better known as Deanna Rose) is open, we made our introductory visit with Rylan this year. Last year, he went maaaaaaany times, but spent most of those visits asleep in the stroller. Today, he was barely content for long in the stroller -- so I let him out and he had the BEST time. It's such a joy to experience this old favorite through his eyes. You kind of forget how special the place is, until you see a little guy truly experiencing it for the first time.




Ry wandered around the water park tentatively at first, and then just sat right down in it..and rolled around.



In the goat areas, he clung to my knees as the little buggers tried to climb me in order to get to those little food morsels. Once the food was gone, and they calmed down a bit, he walked around excitedly...yanking on tails.




After seeing Kenzie go berzerk on these bells, Rylan took over.



And, the grand finale..a bomb pop. (another first for him). I ordered one and handed it Kenzie. Rylan squealed. He squealed again, and I felt it prudent to get him one too.

Little Joey

Some neighbors found this little turtle walking through their ball game and thought of Kenzie, bringing it to live with us. We have had a turtle once before after finding him wandering up our drive...but we soon returned him to a nearby creek.

This guy has been named Little Joey, or Baby Joey by the neighborhood kids and is currently living in a little turtle habitat we set up. He seems happy, is eating well, and as long as the kids follow the directions of "NO TOUCHING" we'll keep him for a few days, before sending him on his way in the same creek. Rylan gets really excited watching him - pointing and SQUEALING - and dancing around his home.

Kenzie's taken it upon herself to teach him ALL about turtles, and he's thoroughly enjoying the lesson, it appears.

Park

On a meandering walk, we wound up at a park, at Kenzie's request. This was Rylan's first park experience....out of the stroller and be-bopping around. I don't know why it came as a surprise, being that he's growing up fast - but he actually "played" on the equipment this time and had a most excellent visit.







He's quite an adventure seeker. He's enthralled with the slides. And, the rocks were the second best plaything, in his opinion.

The mystery of the empty watering can...

Has been clearly solved.
The littlest bugger did it.

The Incredible Babbling Boy

This week you've started saying "Na..Na.." which means night-night. Love it. But, even more..I love those kisses you're blowing about. And, the discovery of your "button." You're showing that belly off with a gusto!


You're also mimicking big sis in big ways. You love to play tee-ball, but your aim is a wee bit off. And, you're frequently seen walking about the deck with binoculars. You love to swing. You exclaim "shit" (nope. not a typo) everytime there is a swing in the near vicinity. Apparently, this means you'd like to have a swing. Nice.



Kenzie also introduced you to BUGS! You like to dig in the dirt in search of worms. And, just about any creepy crawler will catch your attention. We haven't had any bug crunching to date. You just like to watch. With your binoculars.

What's best though..is the streaming babble. You're quite the conversationalist. Kenzie calls it "Baby Spanish" because it's just nonsense. But, it's the best nonsensical noise, ever.

Alternative seating

Rylan's most favorite thing to do is to wander about on our deck. We've become used to just leaving the door stand wide open, and the upper level of the deck is child-gated from the rest. Rylan bee-bops around out there, poking fingers at the dirt, sitting at his little table, and jibber-jabbering at the squirrels. On this day, he found a comfy seat on one of the pots.