Escape of the Baby

Our sweet little baby girl on Friday night decided that she did not want to go to bed...she scaled the wall and escaped her crib (twice). The first time John and I had gotten both kids in bed and had sat down on the couches...a few minutes later we heard what sounded like banging on her door. We looked at each other and I said, "NO WAY!" and we ran upstairs to find Ms. Alyssa standing at the door. We put her back to bed (and she wasn't to thrilled with that) only to have her climb out once again. The second escape was accompanied with a loud thud. She did not hurt herself and hasn't done it again...crossing my fingers she will stay in her crib for a while longer!!!


PICTURE SESSION
Yesterday we took the kids to have their pictures taken. It did not go all that well, which I suppose was no big surprise :) Here are a few pictures and I will post a slide show on the side with all of the pictures (good & bad).

Note: To see the slide show enlarged, click on the slideshow. It will take you to another page (Picasa Web Albums). Then click "slideshow" on the right side of the screen.

Congratulations John!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

John graduated with his MBA from University of Wisconsin - Madison on Saturday! John is excited to have his time back but a little sad that he won't see his friends from the program frequently. I'm extremely happy to have those nights back too.

At the beginning of the ceremony the speaker asked if everyone could hear her and people responded yes...then there was a moment when it was quiet...this was the moment that Ryan also decided to chime in with "YES!" Everyone chuckled and many turned to look. At the time I was wondering if John recognized Ryan's yes and it turns out he certainly did. The kids made it through a decent portion of the ceremony but their Nana took them outside towards the end.

We are all happy it is over and of course very proud of John!

First Dentist Visit

No Cavities!!!

Ryan had his first dentist appointment today (7/9)
* No cavities!

* Ryan let them count his teeth, brush them with the electric brush, squirt water & air, suck water out (with "Mr. Thirsty"), take pictures (not x-rays) that show up on the TV, & floss.

* The Hygienist, Brenda, was great with Ryan. She talked to him for a while before trying to see in his mouth. She showed him all of her "cool tools" (i.e. squirt gun that never runs out of water, Mr. Thirsty, special tooth counter, little mirror, gloves & special glasses). Ryan was so interested he was asking what other cool tools she had. He noticed a TV and asked about it, so she used another little tool that takes pictures that show up on the TV. Ryan got to see his teeth and an upside down picture of himself on the TV.

* He did really great. He had a few moments when he was thinking about not cooperating but they were very patient with him and he did it all. There was not a single tear shed.

* Ryan was well rewarded for his great behavior. He got to enter the 'No Cavity Club' drawing, picked a spiderman foam airplane from the treasure chest, Dr. Brad showed Ryan his motorcycle through the window & we went to McDonald's for lunch.

SWIMMING

Ryan and Alyssa had their 3rd swimming lesson last night. Alyssa enjoyed blowing bubbles in the water and even taught her big brother. By the end of the lesson they were bubble blowing machines. They are both learning to kick. Ryan seems to enjoy doing the hokey pokey at the end of the class.

Dress up

JOKES
Ryan is really trying to figure out the art of jokes. He thinks he is quite funny but to everyone else (who isn't a fellow three year old) his jokes don't make any sense. We were in the car and I thought I would try to teach him a real knock knock joke...

Mom: Knock Knock
Ryan: Who's there?
Mom: Boo
Ryan: Boo What?
....so close, but kinda ruins the joke!

SUPER TOOL RYAN

MILWAUKEE BREWER ALYSSA

SUPER FIRE FIGHTER DADDY

OTHER PICTURES

John & Alyssa

Alyssa lounging on the couch.

The kids being loaded up to go to Rhythm & Booms. Alyssa was not happy about the fire works and cried herself to sleep in a few minutes. Ryan was surprisingly unfazed by the noise and really just wanted to spin in circles with his friends.

Zoo Outing

We met our good friends Julie, Sophia & Bella at the zoo yesterday. The kids spent time looking at the lions, seals, giraffes, alligators, prairie dogs, and grizzly bears. We also had a picnic, played at the park, and took a ride on the carousel...lucky kids! Here are some pictures of our day.

Alyssa checking out the lions.

Alyssa & Bella

Bella & Alyssa looking at giraffes.

Oooh...prairie dogs!

The grizzly bear was cute too. He was scratching his back on the rock wall as he relaxing in the water.

Sophia & Ryan on the turtle. Ryan is trying to feed the turtle.

Ryan fell asleep on the way home.

Michigan

We got home today from another trip to Michigan. Thankfully the drive home was as quick and uneventful as it could be (7 hours with a half an hour stop).

CAR QUOTES (6/19 - on the way to Michigan)
* "DADDY! Do I have to be mad at you all day!"

* "Oooh, I have an idea Mom. If you take your seat belt off you can reach my cool book, etch-a-sketch, and everything!" -- after I told Ryan I couldn't reach something he had dropped

* As we drove through construction the lanes were shifted over and we had to drive over some rumble strips (which used to be on the shoulder), every time Alyssa would say "ooooo" in an attempt to copy the sound it made.

* "I want eee" - every time Alyssa wants something she says that. I'm still trying to figure out what "eee" means...maybe eat or please...maybe something totally different, who knows. But every time she wants something she says it over and over again.



RYAN & DANIELLE'S WEDDING
The wedding was a lot of fun. Ryan & Danielle looked fabulous and most important extremely happy! We really enjoyed seeing our friends from John's days at Chrysler. They had a fun photo booth so we could all have a picture and they get a CD with the images. John was having a bit of difficulty figuring out how to stand so his head wasn't cut off :)



While we were off enjoying ourselves at the wedding my Grandma watched the kids with a little help from Aunt Jane and Uncle Doug. We hear Aunt Jane was able to put the kids to bed no problem, which is often easier said than done! I was honestly afraid I would get a call and have to drive back to get them to bed (specifically Ryan). It was really nice to have the kids spend so much time with their Great-Grandma. I'm kicking myself now as I realize I didn't take many pictures...as always. Here is on of Alyssa, very proud of herself for climbing onto the chair by herself.

Outside

Alyssa was having a great time going up and down the slide.

As I'm sure you heard in the background John was busy mowing the very long grass in the backyard. I swear we mowed it last week...it just is the perfect growing environment back there I guess. We filled one barrel in the front yard with grass clippings, one barrel of sticks from the backyard (because of the storms this weekend), & 14 bags of grass clippings from the back...granted it was the 13 gallon kitchen sized bags but STILL!

Meanwhile...Ryan was busy causing trouble. He was taking the sticks (out of the barrel of course) and either throwing them at the lawn mower (which John was pushing) or jousting with his sister. I did take one picture as I had the camera in hand but put an end to it quickly. Not the safest thing ever!

Alyssa is just a very busy girl right now. She is spending a lot of time figuring out what she can climb on top of....up & down, up & down, up & down.

Here is a picture of Ryan busy throwing sticks...

Daddy

Peek-a-boo! Hanging out with daddy before he leaves for work.

Group Hug!

Waiting for Daddy to pull out of the garage and wave goodbye.

New Trick

Alyssa has just figured out how to get on the couch by herself. Here is a picture of her first successful climb. Now I really will spend my day telling a child to sit down on the couch!

Grandma & Grandpa visit!

Grandma & Grandpa came to visit today. We went to brunch and had a great time! Ryan showed off his bike he got a few days ago.

The kitty says meow

Alyssa saying hi and meowing.

Alyssa

Alyssa is 15 months. She is saying some words including Hi, Bye, kitty, momma, daddy, baby, car, ball...and I'm sure a few more I can't think of right now. She is starting to learn some animal sounds too. She always gets the sound a kitty makes and is about 50% for the sounds for dog and duck. She knows a few body parts...belly being her favorite. She loves to pull up her shirt and pat her belly. Right now when we put her to bed she holds her baby doll and when you get her up she always picks up the doll, hands it to you, and says baby!