Part Man Part Metal

Sometimes my child can be very...weird. It's not so much embarrassing as it is hilarious. We put Ryder up on the counter at my in-laws and gave him some crackers to keep him busy while we grated some cheese for dinner (no we didn't walk away from him while he was sitting on the counter). I was getting the cheese out of the fridge when Jennifer started cracking up and said, "Look at your weird kid!!!" He had just picked up the grater and put it on his arm and kept holding his arm up so it wouldn't fall off.
Anytime it would start to slip he would lift his arm higher to keep it on.
He even kept eating his crackers with his new..."appendage."

Zander

Kristin had a baby boy, Zander Francois Coppee, on the 13th and she wanted me to make his name to hang above his crib. So here it is! His theme is "rockstar" hence the electric guitars (my fave). This was sort of a challenge for me because I have only made girl names and it's super easy to make things cute and girly. But for a boy, I tried to make it as masculine as I could and lemme tell ya...it was hard.

My Second 5k

I just posted these pics totally backwards. Oh well. Enjoy my moments from end to beginning.
finishing as a sweaty mess.
just gettin started. can you see me?
our group, minus traci who refused to join in. party pooper.

Yes, I did another 5k and I beat my time from my first 5k. YAY! Total satisfaction over here. It was at Higley High and it wasn't as good as our first 5k but whatev. We didn't have timing chips so we had to time ourselves basically and the course wasn't mapped out well. We were running through giant rocks and dirt and crap. Oh well. The coolest part was the rain. I love running in rain and even though it didn't last long it totally refreshed me. There was a pretty big group of us running. There was me, my neighbor Traci, Sara, her dad and two brothers, Joy, and her friend Allison. My last 5k I finished with a time of 37:30. This time I finished at 32:23.

Toy Town

Totally forgot to post these pictures. My sister and I took our kids to Toy Town in Chandler over a month ago and I got so many cute pictures. If you haven't taken your kids to Toy Town, you gotta go. They have every toy you could ever imagine, a bunch of tiny little houses to play in, a jumpy castle, and a train table. The kids had SOOO much fun and you only have to pay for your kids (I think it's around 6-8 bucks) and adults are FREEEEE!!! And yes...Ryder has a major black eye from getting b*tch slapped by a chair at In N' Out.

At the end of my rope

Okay...I've got issues. Well, really, Ryder has the issues and I can't seem to figure them out. So I guess it's my issue that I can't figure out his issues? ANYWAYS, every single morning...and I'm not exaggerating it really IS every single morning...Ryder wakes up screaming and crying. As soon as I pick him up he stops and it USED to be that this was the end of the crying. The rest of the day he was happy for the most part. But for the past month...or maybe even two I've lost track...he wakes up screaming and crying, I pick him up, he stops, I take him downstairs, then the SECOND I put him down it's screaming and crying again. Then one of two things happens. Either I can't take the screaming and crying and I grab him breakfast really quit to SHUT HIM UP or I decide that he's not gonna be the boss and I make him stop crying and calm down before I even respond to him (but this usually takes a while). So this morning I decided to make him calm down first. He was throwing a major tantrum and I decided to ignore it. He came walking over to me and had MAD boogers all over so I cleaned them off and he screamed harder! When he was finally calm I asked him quietly if he would like breakfast and he said yes. So I start feeding him yogurt and he is crying in between almost every bite! Now at this point it's just annoying and stupid. He's getting what he wants but he's still crying. Then when the yogurt is gone he starts screaming and crying AGAIN! This happens EVERY SINGLE MORNING! And yes, he has yogurt every single morning because he just loves it. But when it's gone he freaks out so I always give him something else to eat after. So this morning he eats, but is STILL crying. I turn on his favorite show, I pull out some toys, and he starts playing...while crying...and whining. He just won't STOP!!!!! I can't take it anymore! I get so annoyed and angry that I start to act out and I'll spank him or yell at him when he doesn't even know what he did wrong. It's awful! He's in his crib right now...screaming...because I just can't take it. Does anyone else know what it's like to wake up to a screaming, crying toddler EVERY SINGLE MORNING?! I could understand if he was just a baby but he is 18 months old and knows how to communicate!!!!!

MAN ALIVE! Okay...calm...calm.....truth is, I know exactly what he wants. Every morning he wants me to pick him up, carry him downstairs, get him breakfast WITHOUT putting him down, then feed him his yogurt followed by something else IMMEDIATELY. But you know what? He's not the boss and he's not a baby!!! I don't want to just cater to all his little wants. If any of you don't know Ryder...he is a HEAVY child! I can't carry him very far I always put him back down cuz he KILLS me!

UGH! Sorry about the vent session I'm just SOOOOOO frustrated right now. I don't know why he has to scream and cry every morning and I don't know how to make it stop. It just makes me get so mad at him. I NEED HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SERIOUS HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

18 Months!!!

My lil' man is 18 months old as of yesterday! He's been to nursery twice and seems to be doing pretty well with the exception of this past Sunday when I checked on him and he was crying so I took him. He was on FIRE! Poor bubba had a fever. So I took him home, gave him Motrin, and put him to bed. Well I took him to the Dr. today and his canine teeth are coming in. No wonder! I can't believe he's going to have 4 more teeth! He already has so many!!! Anyways, here are his 18 month stats:

Height: 34.5 in (95%)
Weight: 27 lbs 14 oz (75%)
Head: 19.5 cm (90%)

I don't know if I've mentioned before but Ryder is tongue-tied...bad. He can't stick his tongue out very far at all (probably a good thing for the future when he wants to be mean (; ) Jon and I have been arguing over whether to clip it or not. Jon wants to clip it, I don't. I've been doing some research and 99% of the time that children have their tongue clipped it's completely unnecessary and their parents just want to get it done. Anyone else out there have tongue-tied kids that have been clipped???

Also...Ryder chipped his front tooth. I didn't even notice it until I gave him a popsicle and he couldn't even bite into it like he used to. He made a face and started crying like he was hurt. His Dr. said I could take him to a Pediatric Dentist or just wait and see if Ryder adjusts to the sensitivity OR the sensitivity might decrease over time. Anyone else had issues like this?

Things Ryder says:

"Where is it?"
"This"
"That"
"Ball"
"Dada"
"Mama"
"Night, night"
"moo"
"neigh"
"bock bock"
"quack quack"
"Ouch"
"Whoa"
"Shoes"
"Cheese"
"Please"

I'm pretty sure he says more but I can't think of them all right now. Something cute that he does is when you hold up a camera to take a picture of him he'll say, "Cheese!" without you even telling him to. It makes me laugh.

Ryder's favorite things to eat:

YOGURT!!
Blueberry waffles
Cheese
Turkey sandwiches
Chips
All fruit
Triscuit crackers
Tuna sandwiches

Foods Ryder does NOT like:

Peanut butter
most vegetables :(
maple syrup
honey

Jon and I can't believe how fast our baby grew up. Now that he's in nursery it's hitting us hard. He's become so independent. He's the typical boy that likes to play rough and sometimes hit...but he can be the biggest sweetheart. If anyone is hurt or crying he's the first one there to comfort them. He is also a big helper. When I took him to the Dr. today I undressed him and he just laid down on his back like he knew the drill. He also will bring you a diaper if you ask him and he'll throw away anything you give him and he ALWAYS wants to throw away his dirty diapers. He'll bring you something from the fridge as long as he knows what you're asking for and he'll help clean up when you ask. We just love him! He likes to give hugs and kisses and now he can blow kisses. So cute! After these next 4 teeth come in our next adventure is potty training!! Wish us luck!