Love from Dad

I woke up this AM with this email in my Inbox:

From: "rppatrick2@mmm.com" <rppatrick2@mmm.com>
To: caroline.patrick@yahoo.com
Sent: Friday, June 24, 2011 8:28 AM
Subject: Blog

Stevie-Joe!

I can't believe you are one!  This past year has flown by, but it sure has been fun.  You are such a joy to have in our lives, and are always quick with a smile.  It has been so fun watching you develop, especially these past few months.  You are such a content baby, and love to play with toys.  Your two favorite toys that you play with when I am home are baseballs and blocks.  On Easter mom and I....I mean the Easter Bunny, brought you and John a tee-ball set.  Initially you were OK watching John hit the ball, but as soon as he dropped the bat, you were quick to inspect the tee, bat and ball.  You love throwing the ball over and over again as well as dragging the bat around.  Your other interest has been blocks.  We had a relaxing night last evening hanging out on our front porch as a family.  JR was nice enough to provide you a number of blocks to play with and you happily stacked them over and over again - we may have a future architect, grandpa Steve would be proud!

Cuddly.  That is how I can best describe you.  One of my favorite memories with you was a few weeks ago.  You and I were sitting out on our front porch while mom was reading books to John in bed.  You were just relaxing sitting on my lap, looking out the window and every time that I would give you a kiss on your head, you would lay your head down on my shoulder and snuggle for a second.  You did this over and over again!  You definitely love to be held; especially by mom, and if held, will sit for long periods of time.  

One of my first memories of you is up at Nana and Grandpa's cabin on the 4th of July, 2010.  You were only a month old!  I remember bringing the pack-in-play down to the beach for you to sleep in.  We put a piece of screen over the top so the bugs wouldn't get you, and you slept peacefully while JR was busy on the beach.  You have always been a good sleeper, and easy to put to sleep at night.

Stephen, lately, my favorite thing to do has been watching you and John play together.  You are both getting to ages where you are wanting to interact.  Of course, there have been many times when you both want the same toy and wrestle for it, but there have also been a number of times lately where you two have played blocks, games and trucks together.  You both love being outside, and since our St. Paul house does not have AC, we have spent a lot of time outside this summer.  You and John have really enjoyed playing with water.  Whether it is in the water table, the sand-box because we forgot to cover it when it rained, or the sprinkler, you guys have had tons of fun splashing around and just being boys.  You are not afraid to get dirty!  As you have developed, you have begun noticing what your older brother is doing more and more, so when you see him playing in the sand and getting filthy, you jump right into the mix!  

We are so lucky and blessed to have you SJ, and I love every minute that I am home with you.  I can't wait to watch you grow, and experience all the memories that are yet to be made.  I love having two boys, and love you!  Happy first birthday Stevie-Joe.

Love,

Dad

Ryan admiring his son Stephen Joseph- June 4th 2010

Seriously, best dad ever!  Thank you Ryan for loving your kids so much! They love you right back!! :) XO

Stephen the Builder, Stander and Peak-a-Boo-er!!

Stephen has found a great interest in our big building blocks.  Today, we had a (very) mellow day because I have mastitis again (!!!).  We did a lot of books, puzzles, stickers, Chutes and Ladders and blocks.  This morning I thought I would put on a kids show to give me some time to lay on the couch and rest.... of course when I turned the TV on, our signal was out! :)
While I was reading books to John, Stephen played with our blocks.  At first he had a hard time figuring out how to lift the (big) red ones, but once he figured it out- he was a stacking king! :D  I was so excited for him!!  He can stack 3-4 all by himself. 
These are the blocks we have- love them!
Toddler Cardboard Stacking Blocks

Last night we were playing on the porch, and Stephen was standing alone

He isn't able to lift his head up yet- he quickly looses his balance if he does. :)

It was super funny/cute because the whole time he was screaming and laughing- he didn't know which to do!

I am not ready to have two babies walking!  Eeek, I am thankful for everyday that SJ hasn't taken that first step yet! :)  My days are numbered.... I wish he could stay a baby forever. <3 

Another fun thing SJ learned is peak-a-boo-  While we were driving to and from the cabin last weekend, I sat in the back with the boys, mostly reading to John and singing songs.  But, Stephen played peak-a-boo with me!  We used his blanket, at first I was moving the blanket up and down, and then he grabbed it and did it.  He thought it was hilarious! I was laughing so hard just from all of his laughing!! :D Such a silly guy! So, in between pages from the book I was reading to John, I was doing a peak with Stephen-- did I how carsick I was?! LOL  Good thing it is only a 2 hour drive! :)

Father's Day 2011

I woke up early and headed to Granny Doughnuts (Ryan's favorite guilty pleasure!) for some blueberry doughnuts.  Then to Rainbow for eggs, bacon, salsa and OJ.  I got home just as the boys were all waking up.  I made breakfast and then we hung out.  Ryan was begging for a day of "nothing"  He is just so busy with work, school, the 2 councils he on/leads and all that is included with the upkeep of the house while we are trying to sell it. 
We took a family nap around 11am! HA everyone was tired still from the cabin on Saturday.  We went grocery shopping, cleaned the house and hung out.  The little boys made Papa and Bopa cards so we went to deliver them. :)  Bummer, I forgot to take pictures of them.... they were finger painting and hand prints, pretty cute if I do say so myself!
We went to Patrick's first, played there a bit had dinner and played some more. 

Trying to get a father's day shot of Ryan and the boys. 

Clearly it wasn't working..... BUT it does capture what our life is like these days! :D

Steve was golfing, so I didn't get a picture with the four Patrick men... BUT, I did have this nice shot from the cabin! :)

Then we headed to my parents house with their cards -

My parents had Kelli, Dan, Mark, Sara, Ed Shinbach and Alan Pritz over for dinner.  We got there at the tail end of dinner... just in time for dessert! :D  The boys played in the backyard while everyone finished their dinners and then we had banana cream pie. Yummy!

Stephen and John opened their birthday gifts from Sara- a sensory ball for John, and a Cars book and shirt for Stephen.  :) Thanks Sara! 

Stephen wearing the sunglasses my mom got for John. :) 

We took a couple pictures in the front yard by the famous tree....

Then it was home for baths and bed! :) 
Love you Ryan, Dad and Steve!  I sure have 3 amazing dads in my life, XO <3

Father's Day at the Cabin

This year for father's day we headed to the Patrick's cabin.  Ryan wanted to spend time as a family and simply relax.  On Saturday morning I had signed Ryan up for a golf lesson with the head coach at T&C but it was raining and gloomy out so we rescheduled it for a weekend in July.  We had a lazy breakfast instead and got a late start to the cabin.  On the way up there, we sang many rounds of songs for the boys and got to chat with each other too. When we go tot he cabin it was already after 12, so we had a quick lunch and headed to the beach.  John and Stephen played in the sand and then John did some exploring on the boat and laid on the dock watching the water and fish swimming around.  Auntie Lauren was after a (huge) muskie she caught earlier in the day but just as she got him to the dock, her line snapped! Oops!  John wanted to fish of course too.   So, we got out his pole that he got for Christmas and put on a bobber, sinker and hook.  Ryan, Bopa and I went to the boat hoping that John would be able to catch his first fish.  Bopa threw the line out a couple times and we had a couple bites, but weren't able to snag one.  There was a fish hanging out next to the boat, so we dropped the line right next to the boat and bingo- John caught the fish!! :)  He was a rock bass, and Bopa named him Rocky. 

John kissing Rocky! :D 

We threw Rocky back.... and he stayed ...belly up.... I guess John and Rocky bonded for a bit too long.  Oops, sorry Rocky. 

Stephen took a long cabin nap and John spent the afternoon running around, exploring everything.  We started running out of activities he was interested in.... other then the painting that Bopa was doing.  John wanted to help Bopa paint a new bench seat/bed on the porch.  Instead, we gave John a bucket of water and a brush- he went to town painting the deck.  :)

John painted, Stephen slept, Ryan and Steve enjoyed Saturday afternoon/Father's Day cigars and beers.  It was a lovely afternoon! I tried to nap John at the cabin because he was extremely tired but that was an epic fail.  Nana rocked him, held him, sang to him, I rocked him, held him, sang to him, swung him in a swing.... nothing worked.  So, we went for a boat ride while Johanna and Ryan water skied.  Last year the boat ride was not something John enjoyed but this year, I think he thought it was pretty fun or he was at least neutral about it. But, he sure wanted to ski too! :)  So when we got back to the dock, John skied....

 

Finally little Stephen woke up! :) When we got back from water skiing Nana was playing with him in the cabin.  He came down by the lake to watch John collecting "slime balls" (Slime balls are the coolest kind of seaweed I have ever seen! They are like jello balls filled with water.) 

John and Ryan took hot showers and then it was dinner time! Burgers, grilled veggies, salad, potatoes- YUM!   We had dinner with the Joyce family, chatted a bit and then it was time for these Patrick's to hit the road.  The boys were tired, Ryan and I were tired and we knew sleeping at the cabin was out of the picture.

I have to say, I love our long car rides together.  It isn't often Ryan and I get to just simply chat for 2 hours at a time! :)  XXOO

Look Who's Talking!

Both boys are making huge strides!  John has come such a long way! It was just a short 6 months ago that his vocabulary was maybe 20 words tops.  Now, he has hundreds of words he can say!! Woohoo- I would even go as far to say that sometimes he doesn't stop talking! HA  He is like a broken record at times. :)   He is working on saying 2-3 word phrases.  We are still going to Miss Molly fr speech 2x weekly, and boy does John love her- he is starry eyed for Miss Molly. ;)  We will continue with Miss Molly for until he turns 3 and then re-evaluate his progress and possibly take a 3-5 week therapy break.  John uses 2 word phrases 75-85% of the time and 3 word phrases 25% of the time.  Ryan and I are learning we need to be careful about what we say around him because he is repeating a most words he hears! OOps!  There are still many letter sounds that are too hard for John still but he is making great strides to say the words anyways- usually he just pronounces the word and omits the sound(s) he cant do.  Ex. Prize = Pize.  When you ask him his mane, he will simply say, ME!  The J sound we haven't mastered yet.  John has also been very interested in songs and singing.  We sing in the car and before bed.  He will request one of the many songs he knows and then will sing the last word of each line.  He can also do the hand actions to a few songs too. 
His favorite songs to request are:
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Wheels on the Bus
On Top of Spaghetti
Found a Peanut
Mary had a Little Lamb
Little Bunny Foo Foo
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
He has also been learning his numbers- his favorite number is 8.  The answer to everything is 8.  :)  He will count bites of food at meals, puzzle pieces and how many of something he gets. (ex. 3 stickers) I say the number first and he will repeat. 
I am thrilled with the progress John is making!!!! <3

Stephen has started to talk too!!!  I have been shocked at how he has started to pick up on some words.  Mom, Bye-Bye, Num-Num, Dada, Night-Night.  I can't wait to see what life will be like with 2 talking kids!! :D 

Ready to go for a walk on a breezy evening. :)