Hammin' it up!

The girl loves the camera - cheese!!!!

Helping Grandma blow out her birthday candles - we had to re-light the candles so Ryan could do it again.

Protecting the cooler like a good toddler...

Sisterly love

Ryan is really digging her role as big sister - she loves helping out with Reese; getting her binky, bringing over a blanket, etc... That is, until Ryan decides she wants to steal said binkie and blanket...

Quiet Reese, I'll do the talking...

I'll show you the ropes; mom & dad are pretty easy to manipulate, especially when you say 'please' and give out hugs and kisses...

Happy 5 weeks Reese!

We can't believe 5 weeks has already flown by! Reese had her one month checkup today and is doing wonderfully: 10 pounds, 22 inches

Five weeks in and here's what we know about the kid:

Likes - tummy time, eating, soothies, Today Show and Oprah

No likes - gas, Ryan's tough love, Kate Gosselin on Dancing With The Stars and much to mom's dismay, the car. What baby doesn't like a good car ride? I think we found the one and only on the planet who saves her fussy time for her carseat.

Potty humor...part deux

Seriously? Again?

Potty humor

Oh Ryan, you and your 'tricks'.

Ryan has added taking her diaper off and peeing wherever she may be to her repertoire of skills. A few times last week we got her up from her nap or from sleep only to find her crying "poo-poo" and sitting in a puddle of urine. Thankfully, she has yet to deliver any actual poo-poo. She really brought it up a notch when she started trying to take her diaper off in broad daylight -- kitchen, family room, etc..... Potty training is still a bit in the future as she is scared sh*tless of the toilet and considers her baby toilet a toy, although she loves to point out the potty and help gather the toilet paper. We did wise up and she now only sleeps in onesies with her pajama bottoms.

I caught her in action yesterday, thankfully before she had time to water the floor:

It starts with a slow, nonchalant move for the pants

Followed by an attempt to step out of her drawers

Thankfully mom stopped this one before it went too far, but if she fails to get the pants all the way off, no need to worry, she just whips the diaper right out from under herself.

Talent. True talent.

Girls Gone Wild - Spring Break 2010

This week dad had a lot of work to do so mom and the girls went down to the lake for the week with Grandma & Grandpa to relax and party it up!

Clearly Reese enjoyed herself - a little too much fun perhaps...

Ryan and Grandpa out on the deck - gotcha!

Wild times with a bowl. That's about as crazy as it got!

A special thanks to super Grandma Peg for giving mom the greatest gift of all --- a night's sleep. My mom was a saint and gave me two nights off by taking care of Reese. It was Christmas in April!

Ryan the girl, finally!

As you know, Ryan has been rocking a lovely mullet these last few months. Our little tomboy REFUSES to girlify (sure, that's a word) her look. Mom finally had enough and while we spent some time down at the lake with Grandma & Grandpa, we bought some hair clips and waged a war. It was brutal at first, Ryan would probably describe it as torture. However, with some reverse psychology (mom is pretty smart after all) and persistence, we finally got Ryan to embrace the hair clip - she even ASKS for it now! Hallelujah!!! We won't get too carried away as sometimes the clip only stays in for 5 minutes but hey, baby steps. Our little photo documentation follows.

Mom could quite possibly be the worst human being ever - why would she do this to me???

I am going to stand here and HATE this, but I'll leave it in...

Still not happy, too distraught to move or attempt to pull it out.

I'm a girly girl!!! Granted it's a different hair clip than above (we graduated from pink to yellow) - look how cute I am!

These girls clean up nicely!

Ryan's favorite word just might be 'bath' (well, behind 'mine' which is of course her word of choice these days). She LOVES her bath and moreso after the water has drained (bye bye wa-wa) and she can lay on her tummy in an empty tub. We don't really get that one but the girl loves it and she's pretty darn cute so we don't ask questions.

Reese had her first official bath and lucky us, she seemed to enjoy it as well. Our little babe chilled out while we washed her down. Water babies they are, time for Grandpa to buy a boat for the lake! Hint, hint.....

Thursday cuteness!

Where's your nose?

Ears?

Hair?

*the binkie is new (courtesy of Reese), a battle we have chosen not to fight since the arrival of Ryan's soothie sucking sister. Ryan hasn't wanted a binkie in probably 17 months but now that the temptation is staring her in the face, I guess it's too hard to say no. Like Girl Scout cookies.

Reese's tricks - yawning:

Sleeping like a precious little angel - she is a tummy-time loving machine! It's a shame she can't sleep on her tummy at night, mom would be one extremely well rested lady if that was the case.

Happy Easter!

While Reese didn't really get what all the hype was about with Easter, Ryan on the other hand loved her first Easter participating in the egg hunt. Right out of the gate, she turned and stole an egg from her cousin Jack's basket. That a girl! Shortly thereafter though, she got the hang of it and in the end actually started giving away some of her loot.

Ryan planning her strategy...

Reese opting for a nap instead

Ryan getting some instruction from Grandpa - it is his yard afterall

.

On the hunt....

A quick break to give mom a hug

Why do all the work if I can just steal from Jack?

A full days work

Baby Updates....

We've almost made it two weeks and no major casualties! Reese is doing wonderfully - we are very lucky to have such an angel baby (knock on wood). She is back up to her birth weight (8lbs, 11 ounces) and is sleeping and eating like a champ. She really only fusses when hungry or if she senses Ryan is on the prowl:) Mom is elated to be getting 4-5 hour stretches of sleep at night, thank you Reese! Ryan has been entertaining to say the least....The first few days were a bit rocky as she wasn't a fan of the new baby or mom but now we're getting into our groove and Ryan enjoys pointing out Reese's hands, eyes, nose, mouth, etc..... She's turning into a little helper (although 'gentle' doesn't seem to be getting through to her) by bringing blankets, ba-ba's and binkies to the 'baby'. Although with the binkies, she more often than not is just straight up stealing them right out of Reese's mouth. Sisterly love. Ryan herself is becoming such a fun toddler (minus the tantrums) to watch - her vocab is expanding daily and her energy level is unmatched - she really is a funny little sh*t!

This pretty much sums up the first few days for Ryan:

Reese has already found her fingers, a nice replacement when her big sister hijacks the binkie.

Sisters....

Aunt Barbara & Uncle Bo came in for a long weekend - She and Ryan are BFF's - thank god for Barb's high energy level, she and Ryan don't stop and keep each other highly entertained. Barb did threaten to take Reese (she does fly free) but we'll just settle for frequent visits.

Hell has frozen over......Uncle Bo holding Reese ("babies are slippery")

Sweet little Reese hanging out.

Both Ryan and Reese love the Baby Bjorn bouncy seat (thank you Uncle Barclay) - we have literally used this seat almost every day for the past 21 months, the best purchase!!! Ryan of course now uses it as her own amusement park ride. She'll get in it backwards and start bouncing to the point where we think she'll be catapulted across the room.