Ryan was 2 yesterday; pretty amazing to think that it's only been 2 years, and so much has happened with him. It doesn't seem that long ago that he was 100% dependent on Katie and I for entertainment, food, clothing, etc... But now, at 2, he's completely able to entertain himself - we can leave him alone while we go to cook or take showers or something, and he's ok playing with his toys or watching a movie. He can feed himself pretty much anything, he can make decisions on what he'd prefer to eat, and even get it himself if it's on a low shelf in the pantry (this isn't a good thing). He talks up a storm, but goodness knows what he's talking about a lot of the time, but when he really wants you to know what he's saying, he usually knows the right word to get you on the right track, or at the very least can do the 'I'll take you to it and show you' pull on your hands....

It's been a really amazing last 2 years; and it'll only be more amazing as time goes on...


We took Ryan to see Sesame Street Live: Elmo's Green Thumb yesterday at Philips Arena. Parked right at the arena, so we didn't have to walk anywhere, and parking was cheap enough... We had really pretty darn good seats too; as good as the ones that were twice as expensive, I'd say. Though, the way it was setup, I'm not sure there were ANY seats that weren't great in there.
We went to the 10:30a show, figuring that traffic would be easier, and since we were having his party on Saturday, we just thought it would be a nice 'on your birthday' treat. He was utterly transfixed the whole time. We were worried that we'd be too far, and Ryan wouldn't be able to see well, and he'd get bored and whine and cry -- not a bit! He kept up with where everyone was at all times, and danced with the music, and made sure to identify all the characters for us. "Big Bird", "Abbie", "Bert", "Elmo"! He'd occationally want to know "Where'd Abbie Go?" or "Where's Big Bird?" - it was such a hoot.

Took him to Applebee's for lunch, so he could effectively have ice cream and cookies for lunch, since he didn't want his chicken fingers after all... Got his haircut at Pigtails and Crewcuts again, and they did a great job again.

After all that, it was naptime, which turned into "I'm going to play with my new truck in the bed for 2 hours and not actually nap" time... Then we did the rest of his presents, dinner - Pizza - he loves pizza, and cake, which made him uber-hyper, and then played with him new trainset for the rest of the evening while Katie baked, iced, and decorated Ryan's party cake. It's a Giant 3-D Lightning McQueen cake, and Ry's pretty excited about it.

Leads us to today - we're hoping that it doesn't pour this afternoon for Ryan's party, if it does - we're in a pavilion, but I still don't want my friends or family soaked getting in and out of there.    We didn't invite many people, just a few friends, their kids, and our families - so I think there'll be plenty of room to stay dry.

Rant - I know when I was younger that I wasn't very good at RSVPing for everything. But now that I'm older, married, and in-general more responsible, I try harder. Why exactly certain parts of my family cannot manage a simple invitation/rsvp response system, I have no idea. My mom ended up being the one to tell me two nights ago which of my Aunts and Cousins were/weren't coming, because they opted to call HER and tell her, instead of calling me directly. Because my number is on the invitation.

Then again, these are the same relatives that never invite us over - they just tell my mom to invite us. Unfortunately, it always ends up like an afterthought (because it's the day of or a day before) that we ever hear about it, so it's just weird to us to show up.   To me, it's acceptable to say "bring your kids" when said kids live in the same house.  But when your kids are nearly 30, married and have children, invite them your damn self and RSVP directly!
End Rant

Tags: family, ryan