Overheard

Background: Every time Ryder hears the word 'cow', he moos. That is important background information.

Last weekend we took Ryder to Urgent Care because he had some funky gunk all over his face, his tongue seemed to be swelling, and it had blisters on it.

The PA, afer examining Ryder: Ryder has Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease
Trent: I thought it was Hoof and Mouth Disease
Me: Oh for God sake, he is our baby, not a COW!
Ryder: Moooooo!

Even the PA laughed.

Ryder Flintstone

You turn around, and they are driving ...

Dad and Papa got this down from the attic of the shop over at the farm. It has been driven many miles by Cooper and Konner, and now Ryder gets to take his turn behind the wheel. He is mostly interested in getting in and out of it, but he sure thinks he is big stuff tooling around in it. The barn cats are scared for their lives (and tails!).

Corn box, no vacuums allowed

I can't say we came up with the idea ourselves, we stole it from a photo seen on Facebook but in my opinion, the idea is genius. No sand to track in the house, no sand for the dogs to dig in, no sand for the neighborhood cats to use a litter box. Thanks to a simple trip to the feed store, Ryder now has a corn box. Due to the drought in the heartland, Ryder has an expensive corn box.

He doesn't like to be IN the corn box. I tried to put him in it and cover his feet and instant panic set in like his toes were being eaten alive by the corn. He does like to wield the rake and shovel as if they were light sabers and the dogs were the bad guys. And Callie likes to eat the corn, so I'm sure it is just a matter of time before she breaks all her teeth and has to fed canned dog food through a tube.

Ryder wasn't overly careful about keeping the corn in the box, and much of it ended up in the grass - as you can see in the video. I didn't much care. So what if we have corn growing in the yard next year? And then I had a total deja vu moment ...

I was in high school, laying out on a lawn chair working on my tan and eating sunflower seeds. I was doing what anyone who is outside does when they are eating sunflower seeds ... I was spitting them in the grass. Now granted we lived in town, and we had a nice grass, but it was, after all, just grass.

Dad was, how shall I say it, completely and totally ridiculously obsessed with his grass. He would mow it, he would fertilize it, he would water it, and then he would stand and watch it grow. Then he would mow it the other direction, and repeat. And that was all in one day. It was pure insanity.

I wouldn't doubt he had security cameras installed to monitor the grass for suspicious activity  because somehow dad found out about my reckless and careless sunflower spitting behavior and, I shit you not, he made me vacuum the grass. VACUUM THE GRASS. There I was, 16 years old with the shop vac in the backyard just sucking up my own spit from our finely manicured lawn. Why no one hauled me (or him) off in a straight jacket that day is a wonder.

So as I sat in the corn box, watching Ryder carefully pick up each kernel of corn he spilled over into the grass and putting it back in the turtle, I thought about my dad, that day with the vacuum, and I smiled. Maybe the gene that cares about meticulous lawn maintenance skipped a generation and went straight from Grandpa Rodger to Ryder.

Too big for mom's help

Ryder has reached that age or that level of naughtiness where he tries to run away from me whenever I want to do something to him. He runs when I mention the words diaper, bath, or clothes. He shakes his head, and tells me "no" in a tone that leaves little room for misinterpretation.

Until he is ready to be potty trained, dress himself, or take a shower, I'm guessing these will continue to be the days of our lives. He doesn't need my help ... until someone wants to know where his ears are.

Call me, maybe?

Ryder is practicing his phone etiquette in case the US Olympic Women's Swim Team (or Gramma Jill) call him. I think he needs a web cam, blowing kisses over a standard cell isn't as effective.

Elmo is worth a stiff neck

Our TV is on 24/7, but I truly believe in Ryder's mind he thought it was just a box that showed John Wayne movies over, and over, and over, and over ...

You can only imagine his excitement on weekend mornings when we get up LONG before daddy and we get to control the remote and find those channels way up where we have never been before (I mean really, if you never had kids and get 700 channels, did you know you got the Cartoon network?!).

Little man gets so excited that he doesn't even know how to watch Elmo.

Don't box me in

He likes his slide, but he loves the box. Maybe because the box is in the house, and he has better access to it, but it keeps him entertained much better and he isn't constantly nagged to 'sit down' in the box. Dad keeps cutting new holes in the box to keep him entertained, and the tractor flashlight from Gramma Jill is a big hit in the dark box. I can see where Christmas is headed this year ...

First Haircut

Ryder got his first haircut on Sunday. We went to this cool little place in the city called Snip-Its that is just for kids, they have tiny little chairs with TV screens playing cartoons and it is all decorated cute and they have suckers and the works. Didn't matter to Ryder Dean.

I knew it was been a production. He doesn't like anyone who isn't his dad or I, and surely wasn't going to like someone coming at his head with a clipper, but even I wasn't prepared for the amount of carrying on that ensued. The video is just about the whole thing, the whole haircut lasted under 4 minutes. The woman was a saint (she said she had 3 kids at home) but I suppose you would have to be to have your profession be to cut children's hair for a living. While I tipped her extremely well (she earned it) the haircut averaged $8 a minute. Next time he goes with dad to the feed store.

Before

After

I opted not to keep a lock of hair (gross) but I do have pictures for the blog and baby book. Good mom day (with the possible exception of giving her permission to put him in a headlock) ... ? Check!

Reflections

Ryder has some funk. I'm not sure what it is, but I am ready for it to be done. Saturday morning he woke up with a fever, and that fever continued through Tuesday evening. Since he can not go back to daycare for 24 hours after having a fever, he was home through Wednesday. Suffice it to say those were the longest 5 days of our lives.

The fever has passed, but it has been replaced with a level of whining and carrying on that cannot be brought down with any amount of Motrin. I love my baby to the moon, but little man has his father's disposition when it comes to being sick. He has a cold, and he is getting some teeth I think might be molars (based on size, not placement).

These past days have taught me a few things:

1) I am not 'stay-at-home-mom' material - Not that this was ever in question in anyone's mind, but I just don't have it in me. And don't think that Ryder doesn't agree. When we finally got to daycare on Thursday, he wiggled out of my arms and into Ms. Kita's and said "bye-bye" to me and waved. He had enough togetherness too.

2) It is impossible to work from home when your sick baby is also at home - Trent stayed home with Ryder and I worked on Tuesday and Wednesday. Ryder would hear me on the phone and stand outside my office door and cry. One of the doctors I was talking to asked if someone was hurting cats where I was. To avoid the inevitable crying that would come if he would see me, I would get down on all fours and crawl from my office to the bathroom and back again to avoid him. Ridiculous.

3) Dogs will eat anything - Including, but not limited to; baby puke, spilled Advil, and a plastic basketball hoops.

4) If you let them cry long enough, they really will stop on their own - It only look 16 months for us to test this tried parenting hypothesis, but it turns out you all actually know what you are talking about. Apparently you have done this before. Genius!

5) Mama's really do make everything better - No matter what is wrong, everything is better when mama holds you. Unless it is not ... then see #4.

Tulsa Time

The Tulsa State Fair (don't ask me when they became their own state) is going on and Konner showed his mini Hereford on Wednesday so we loaded up and headed northeast for the day to cheer him on.

It was a perfect day to be at the fair, it was sunny but not hot. The fair itself was very nice, lots to see and do and it was very clean and not crowded. Trent used to show his animals there back in his youth, and he spent most of the day talking about how much it had changed. Sometimes I don't think he realizes he is 40 years old, and things are bound to change in the 25 years since he and his sheep paraded around Tulsa. If Ryder was old enough to talk, I can only image the words "did you have to walk your sheep uphill both ways to the fair, dad?" would have come out of his mouth.

Cooper enjoying hanging out in the show barn.

Ryder kicking it in a lawn chair. He thought he was so cool.

But he couldn't quite stay awake for the show.

Konner in the ring with Murphy.

This is my favorite photo. Action shot, and I was right at eye level!

Konner and Murphy doing their thing.

We had a great day with the family and Konner did an excellent job. We will definitely go back next year.

Dear Ryder - 16 months

Yesterday you were 16 months old. We are nearing that milestone when we stop counting you in months and you start lying about your age. Time flies by.

You will not allow daddy (or anyone else in the neighborhood) to start a lawn mower without you on it, but you have a hard time staying awake while you mow. Of course as soon as mommy lifts you off it, you instantly wake up.

You can Callie came to an understanding of sorts this month. You have become good friends ... which is to say she no longer hides your tennis ball from you and she allows you to hug all over her without growling, which is a BIG step forward!

You will eat off a plate without turning said plate upside down and/or throwing whatever is on the plate across the room. Mommy is happy about this, the dogs not so much ...

You acquired a cheesy smile when mommy asks you to "say cheese" for the camera. You are proud to show off all your new teeth.

At the very end of the month, you decided to keep on a baseball cap. You have developed an interest in being like daddy, so if daddy wears a cap, you thought you would too. Never mind that mommy wears a ball cap more than anyone!

Nothing gets you excited like the thought of cows. You want to be at the farm where you can be where the cows are, and you are never happier than when you are on the tractor or on the gator helping daddy and papa feed the cows.

You are a bit of a daredevil. You enjoy your new slide, but you would much rather run down or jump off the top of the slide than sit on your bum to slide down it. I see many trips to the ER in our future.

This photo represents three things that summarize this month: 1) You ALWAYS have a spoon in your hand 2) You love playing with your animals and rarely play with any other toys unless forced to and 3) You have some serious bed head in the morning and are in desperate need of a haircut.

I love you to the moon and back my precious baby boy!

Mama

1st Trip to the Zoo

We took Ryder to the zoo for the first time on Friday. He was less than impressed with the 8 giraffes or new baby elephant (which happened to be absolutely adorable) and spent most of the day asking about cows. Next time we can save our money and the 20 miles we must have walked around that huge place and just take the boy to the farm.

Watching the Ducks with dad. We just fed them, that was pretty fun.

They have all these great animal statues up all over the zoo, perfect for photo ops when the animals (or your child) don't cooperate for live photos. We did see three black bears in the Oklahoma Trails exhibit.

We were there are lunch time, and they had just slung a hunk of meat out to a cat in this cage.

 We spent a lot of time inside the Gorilla building playing with them through the glass. I liked them way more than Ryder, although he seems to get a kick out of this big guy.

These baby elephants were more fun to climb on than watching the real baby.