It’s been non-stop action in our household for the past two months! Football season started, it was mommy’s last 6 weeks home, we went on a little trip, Ryan turned TWO and we moved (AGAIN!)!
September started out just right with the start of the Football season. Life revolves around the football schedule in this household, especially the University of Southern California (USC) and 49ers schedule! Scott is a USC Alum so we’re all mandatory USC fans … lucky for him we were all easy to convince :)
Here are the kids all ready for football season!
Ryan making daddy a special picture:
The fall season started out nicely with a fun filled trip to Scott’s family cabin. It was a full house with Scott’s parents, his sister and her husband and their adorable 8 month old daughter! Ryan and Ellie loved spending time with their cousin and grandparents. The weekend was busy and filled with exploring what the mountains had to offer … which is an endless bounty of sights, sounds, smells and more!
Ryan and Ellie had such a great time – after a few days we headed home – and left Grandma and Grandpa at the cabin for some peace and quiet! We wore them out!
September was a fun filled month since it was the last month of mommy’s maternity leave at home! We filled our days with all sorts of new activities and outings. Ryan, Ellie and mommy couldn't have had more fun together!
The weather was perfect for outings to the park!
... or just being silly at home!
Big smiles from Ellie!
Ryan doesn't like his hands dirty ... so finger painting isn't our favorite ...
September ended with a very big event Ryan turned TWO years old! We celebrated the big day with lots of friends and family! Ryan had a blast with all of his friends who came to celebrate with him. We feel so lucky to have such a great group who love Ryan dearly and couldn't wait to celebrate his big day with him!
Here are some pictures from Ryan’s TRUCK themed birthday party!
Ryan is thriving in his 2 year old shoes – he’s a happy, outgoing and confident guy. Always saying hello to anyone who looks at him – literally! And he is challenging himself physically by climbing onto things and balancing. We are always trying new and fun things to eat of course. All of this while he’s learning to assert himself and wants to make his own decisions … this new development has resulted in some unique activities!
Here’s my amazing TWO year old in action …
Exploring the outdoors on our own is a favorite activity ...
We are always trying to figure out how things work ...
Asserting ourselves is also a big thing these days ... even if that means having mayonaise for dinner!
And he's the sweetest and most loving big brother ...
And as we entered October, we decided to make things lively by moving – AGAIN! Long story short the house was just not for us. So we packed up and moved back into our old neighborhood. Here we are getting packed up …
Ryan wanted to help pack ...
And he wanted to make sure we didn't misplace his sister ...
Helping daddy!
Daddy would take off wall decals and Ryan would put them back up for us :)
Even among the boxes and chaos we already felt like we were back home! We are sad to miss out on some of the conveniences of living in a house versus apartment, but overall we know this was the right choice for us! It didn't phase Ryan either – he is so resilient it’s simply amazing!
Here are the kids enjoying their new family room!
October wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the pumpkin patch! Ryan helped mommy and daddy pick out pumpkins for the fall – one for mommy, one for daddy, one for Ryan and one for Ellie!
Ryan enjoyed getting dressed up with his sister and had a BLAST with his first Trick or Treating experience! Mommy and daddy couldn’t resist a monkey costume for Ryan … and Ryan was thrilled to share his ducky costume with his little sister! Here we are all ready to go out for a little Halloween treat …
In addition to having a party and celebrating Ryan’s big birthday, we had Ryan’s annual visit to his Genetic Doctor! Ryan’s Genetic Doctor sees us annually to check in on ongoing visits he may have with other specialists, to check on his development and to check for complications of achondroplasia which may have developed over the course of the year. Ryan charmed the doctors as usual and we all had smiles as we received more good news. Ryan has a nice straight back, his head, height and weight are all nicely proportioned and he doesn’t have bowing of legs. He’s thriving physically, emotionally and cognitively as we enter his 3rd year! For Ryan’s 3rd year, there is lots on mommy’s “to do” list – like speech development, social skills and emotional confidence as we begin to see our special uniqueness and lastly potty training of course! And just like he has with everything else, Ryan will take on each challenge with a smile, determination and great success.
... on to the next adventure!
