I'm 32! (Aug 14)

Reagan helped me decorate (aka eat the extra frosting off of) my cake. That's supposed to be a pool with a person and floaties in it with grass and lounge chairs surrounding it. She helped decide the design after seeing a pool themed cake at the bakery in the grocery store.

"What frosting!?"

The New Ride

On Aug 11, we traded Cam's old 3-broken-windowed, no air conditioning, '93 Jeep Grand Cherokee clunker for some government cash ... $3,500 off the price of this house on wheels! We're all pretty excited ... it's an 8-passenger Toyota Sienna with multiple ways to configure the seats. Ok, I know I'm a dork or need a life or both, but I just counted all the possible ways to configure the seats and there are 36! No joke! (unless I miscounted) If you're interested in how that's possible, I'll draw diagrams cause that would be another fun way, besides the amount of uneccessary detail I'm putting into this post, to procrastinate on what I really should be doing!

First Solid Food For Ryan - Aug 11th

I had listed the first 12 or 13 foods Reagan ate in her baby book, so I'm pretty much copying that for Ryan ... why reinvent the wheel? So here's Ryan's first taste of sweet potatoes:

and here was Reagan's ... a tad more thrilled, I'd say. (wow, same spoon ... we have several colors of those spoons, what a coincidence! I didn't plan down to that detail, I swear!)

Daddy/Daughter Camping Trip - Aug 1st

.. in the backyard! We had a camping theme at Stepping Stones one day and a couple days later, I bought a used Kelty Kids sleeping bag from another Mom and it all prompted this fun idea. So Cam pitched the tent in the grass, blew up the air mattress, instructed Reagan to get books to read and her princess flashlight, and they had a cozy night. At some point, Reagan said the wind was too loud, but when Cam told her he thought it was a relaxing sound, she decided to agree with that.

The Naked Family Story

The Scene - Pool, July 20, 2009, 7 pm:
Reagan's parent/tot swim lesson ends and kids and parents head into the locker rooms while other kids and parents settle on the bleachers for the next lesson. Reagan and I (and her friend Jack and his Dad) head into our respective locker rooms while Cam and Ryan (and Jack's Mom and baby sister) wait on deck. Cam picks up a fussy Ryan ... and reveals the biggest blowout in the west ... poop is everywhere!

Minutes later, Allison passes through the locker room letting me know what Cam's dealing with and that I should take my time, ha ha! After showering, I realize half our clothes are out in the stroller. I'm dressed from the waist up. Reagan's naked. I tell her to wait while I quickly run out (with a beach towel around me, this isn't that good of a story ... and there's no poop on our clothes, not that good of a story either). Cam has a mountain of dirty wipes next to him and is balancing a naked Ryan while scraping poop off into the pile of all-that-is-poopy. This pile is in his car seat, by the way ... bad sign.

Cam: "Can you just go stick him in the shower?"
Me: "No, I'm already dry!" (and it would freak him out and the water's too hot, I thought later)

I grab the clothes, start heading back, and see a naked Reagan walking toward me. "I wanted to come with you", she says. The parents on the bleachers are having a nice chuckle by this point. When we return, clothed, ...

Cam: "You're planning to throw that outfit [that he was wearing] away, right?"
Me: "No, that's Jack's, I have to give it back to Allison!"
Cam: "It's burried in there." (pointing to "the pile")

I carefully retrieve the onesie and with a good rinse, stain remover, and wash, it comes out pretty nice. They probably don't want it back though, having seen it in all it's glory.

Later that evening, a nature show is on TV and Reagan says: "Wow, what a beautiful sunset. That's the color of Ryan's poop."

Ryan Loves To Laugh ... and Grow

Mr. 97th percentile keeps growing and growing and growing ...

3 months - 16.5 lbs
video of him laughing


4 months - 19.0 lbs

4.5 months - tripod sit

5 months - 20.0 lbs
another video ... getting better at laughing

Ryan's Amazement

"Ok, put the brush on a color ... got it..."
"No way! It makes the paper turn that color!?"

3rd of July Parade

With two groups to walk with, Mom's Club and Stepping Stones (preschool-like class where parents attend), we walked between them in the parade. Ryan fell asleep in the carrier toward the end, so he was apparently unamused with the festivities:
Queen Reagan and King Jack rode in his decorated wagon pulled by his Daddy, Blake.

Reagan's First Bike Race (Jun 27)

This picture is portraying the experience as all peaches and cream. That was before they said "Go!". Note to selves: she doesn't like to be put in the spotlight unless it's on her own terms! She had a nervous look the whole time and at the end of the 1-block course that I basically pushed her through while she very slowly and cautiously pedaled while looking at the cheering bystanders with great distress, she cried and we talked about it. It occurred to us afterwards that this was pretty similar to not wanting to walk down the aisle as a flower girl. Hopefully we haven't ruined the idea of doing fun events!

Summer Fun

Jun 24 - Studio Grow (play place)

The Artist

The Gymnast (video)


The Thrill Seeker (video)

Jun 26 - The Oakland Zoo

w/ BFF Jack on the train

Jun 28 - Heat Wave

we got a backyard pool!

Father's Day ...

... is a chance to give fathers the amount of personal space mothers get every other day of the year. (Jun 21, 2009)

The Woodland Fairy

Reagan was one of 3 woodland fairy flower girls in cousin Kristen's (Cameron's 2nd cousin) wedding in June. Kristen made the skirts and wings herself and this picture was captured by one of Dan's (the groom's) friends - great pic! She was too nervous to walk the aisle - too many people focusing on her ... I relate, especially at her age. No big deal though since there were two other girls and we could still have her in the pictures. Well, with multiple people coaxing her to stand next to Kristen and pointing cameras at her, that didn't go much better. The best it got was standing nearby while avoiding all eyes and cameras no matter how much I reassured her and stood right nearby.

However, all she wanted to do at the reception was go over and talk to Kristen :-) ...
Here's Kathie and Jerry both walking Kristen down the aisle ... They all looked wonderful and the whole setting was just gorgeous!
At the reception, Cam found the most fun spot to eat appetizers with Reagan. Like a little romantic date (in fact, it was a gazebo picnic where Dan proposed to Kristen!)