One Small Step for Man...

Hi. It's me. Ryan just took ONE step. =)

I think we still have a long way to go before we're a full walker, but this kid knows he's got it! The problem is he gets so excited from standing (and now today, taking one step) that he looses his balance. And he's still a pretty wobbly guy all around, but man, is he so freakin' cute and funny!

Ga-Ross!

Just a quickie post....

So I'm making one of my favoritist dinners tonight - Garlic Chicken Penne. Isabella and Sean and half the kids in the neighborhood are outside, playing kickball. Trey's (finally) tilling my side flower bed.

And Ryan is crawling around on the kitchen floor, exploring, laughing, playing. For no particular reason, I look down at him. He's chewing on a diaper. Which I don't think much of, and I say, "You silly goose, where'd you get that?" And then I start to wonder - where the Hell did he get that.

Oooooooohhhhh Eeeeemmmmmmm Ggggggeeeeeee! That diaper is wet, with pee. That's Ryan's diaper in his mouth!! (Swallow the tiny bit of vomit that just came up.) My first - completely irrational - thought is how the heck did he get into the trash can, open a wet diaper, etc. And then the realization hits....

Ryan is wearing a pair of overall shorts over a t-shirt. All clothing is intact. And yet he is wearing No Friggin' Diaper! My baby is Houdini reincarnated. He removed his wet diaper, without removing his clothing, all while hanging out under my feet as I cooked.

I'm still in shock.

Follow that Baby!

The last of the Latta childrens would be Ryan. Or Piglet. Or Baby Taz. Named so because that kid leaves a path of destruction wherever his wee little hands and knees take him. Ryan is the kid that Sean was not. He's showing me how not-child proofed my home is, he's into everything, tearing up all that gets in his way, as he squeals and screams with glee. He's a Freak.

Luckily, he's a cute freak. That's what God does to keep you from killing your own young. While he still looks bald from far away, when you get close, you realize he has quite the head of blond hair. And it's starting to curl up, and totally reminds me of the baby from Hi & Lois. (What was that kid's name?!)

Hi & Lois baby

He has the most stunning blue eyes. Great, another gorgeous kid, this one a blue-eyed blond stud. Did I mention I was in trouble? He's a charmer, too. Smiley, happy, gregarious, full of zest and life, curious and mischievous. And then he'll hit the proverbial wall, his head spins around and pea soup shoots out. Yeah, he's *that* kid. Charms the pants off ya, and then flips out and you have no clue what hit you.

Happy baby, doing what he loves best. Eating.

And he is SO living up to his Piglet nickname. Ryan does NOT stop eating! And, per his 9 month check up last week, he's only 25th percentile for weight! Of course, being a Latta, he's 87th percentile for height, and is wearing the size 12 months clothes that Sean wore the summer after he turned one. But he's constantly filling up those hollow legs. He still drinks 4-6 bottles per day, plus is on almost all table food, eating anything I put in front of him. We are pretty much done with baby food, and will probably be transitioning to a cup and milk by the time he's 10 months. He's a freak of nature.

But a freak of nature that I sure do love. He's just so amazing. Teeth #7 and #8 are breaking through the gums this week, he's cruising all over the place, climbing up on steps, standing for a good 10-15 seconds. He gives kisses, drinks from a cup, says Mama and Dada (and bunch of other stuff that I can't figure out). He's so big, so fast. I think I'll keep him.

My little climber & explorer.

Who is this Little Man in my house?

While I've been non-blogging, my baby is growing up. Fast! I'm referring to my first born, Mr. Sean. AKA Lil' Boo. AKA Little Man.

Sean is growing like CRAZY! He is as tall as my hips, talks like a little boy rather than a baby, tells jokes (badly). He knows all his colors, shapes, most of his letters, can spell his name, and is getting better at his numbers. He asks a million and one questions a day (OK, I actually hate this, but I know it's a good thing.) And my favorite, dances like a madman! He's seen a few episodes of So You Think You Can Dance. And he thinks he can! (And, um, he actually can!)

Flyboy Sean, mid-back spin. He's got some mad dance skillz!

Oh, and we're peeing on the potty. =)

Yessirree, a week after I decided to stop talking about it, and give it a rest for a month, Sean decided he wanted to be a big boy and he *stands* and pees in the potty, just like Dad does. Not to sound perverted, but it's the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Now, the #2 duty is nowhere on the horizon, and I'm hoping he figures that out by the time he moves out of the house. So he still wants to wear diapers, not big boy underwear or even Pull Ups. He's had few accidents, and most of those were out of indifference. I don't love this trait in my son, something that he's shown ever since he was a baby. Remember how he didn't walk until 17 months? It wasn't because he couldn't do it. It was because he was like "Meh. I'll do later." So we still have a long road to go before he's 100% potty trained, but at least I know we're on the road!

And I cannot tell you enough. I have a gorgeous son. I mean, he's just flat out beautiful. I know I'm his mom, but seriously, he is going to be that little boy that all the girls are googoo-gaga over. I'm so in trouble.

Pretty boy, with his big, brown eyes. And goofy grin.

In the meantime, Sean's adjusting to sharing a room with his brother. They're doing great, though Sean's waking up a good hour and a half before he used to, and not making up for that with an afternoon nap. (Lots and lots of whiny, cranky 3 year old this past week. Ick.) And I've tried to let him sleep in, and just get Ryan up, but this picture shows what I am now walking into at the crack of dawn.

My boys. Two peas in a pod.

Needless to say, these boys love each other to death, and Sean is just the *best* big brother. Until he rams Ryan over at full speed. Or my favorite - he knocks him down, Ryan starts crying and Sean starts shushing him to be quiet so Momma won't come in. I know eventually I will have to pad all the walls like an asylum and replace all my household goods with rubber and plastic. But at least my boys will be close!

...And Tween makes Five...

In case you haven't heard by now, our family grew by ONE recently! Well, technically, we've been a five-member family since December 4th of last year, but now we're "Official!"

Isabella now lives with us Full Time!! Yes, it's very exciting, we could not be happier! And, yes, it was a surprise to us all! Long, complicated story short, two Sunday evenings ago, we got a call that she wanted to move here, and two and a half hours later, she was here. The next day was still a major in-limbo day, and it wasn't until Monday night that we knew - for sure - that this was happening. Isabella started a new school on Tuesday, and our life has changed forever since then.

Gift from my dear friend Amy E.

We now have the boys sharing the nursery, and Isabella has her room back to herself upstairs. We've visited her school, met her teacher as well as some of her classmates. She has new friends, one of whom she has hung out with multiple times. She asking about getting involved in activities this year and next, and even asked me to show her where she will be going to middle school next year.

Isabella, chillin' in her updated digs.

The boys and I get her on and off the bus, she helps with dinner, goes shopping with me, and just this morning, I was quizzing her on her spelling words for her test today as we waited for the bus. It's new, exciting, crazy, chaotic, and All Good!

Our baby girl, IzzyB

In all fairness...

I haven't forgotten about my blog. I have no less than 11 partially written posts, all started with the full intention of getting posted, but life (read: Children) find a way of interrupting, and days later, the realization that that story has long passed. In the past month (which I think was August, but it flew by too quickly), I have not worked on my blogs; on Pampered Chef; on my photo cards; or anything else that may eventually lead to my post-children career.

However, in the past month....

We went on vacation.

Had a very successful garage sale.

Added another child to the daily mix.

Rearranged bedrooms.

Established brand new routines for all kids (and mom and dad!).

Oh, wait, did you catch that 3rd one? The one about the new, full-time kid? More on that later... =)

The beauty of being a stay-home-mom is that I can deal with these large family changes and not worry that my work is suffering. My work is my Family.

And I'd just like to say that this Family has never, ever been better.

In the meantime, I, the novice writer, obviously need to embrace the short and sweet stories, and worry about the long poetic prose for another time in my life!

Goin' a Mile(stone) a Minute

I wonder, if a blogger isn't posting any blogs, does she exist?

So the last time you heard from me, Ryan had figured out crawling. I had no idea what was coming in the next few weeks...

The following week he mastered pulling up...

The week after, he started cruising...

The week after that, he began trying to stand on his own...

Thank goodness, he's still on the mastering cruising, and still only stands for 2-3 seconds!

He also cut ALL FOUR front teeth.

And learned how to give kisses!

Thanks to all that, Ryan forgot how to sleep - I'd find him awake, at 2am, practicing standing. Or more likely, screaming, because he was practicing, and hit his head for the 127th time. It got the point where his lumps & bumps had their own lumps & bumps! Cutting four teeth at once just served as icing on the lumpy, bumpy cake!

Throw in a few birthday celebrations, a stay with Isabella, a trip to Chicago, and a fun virus that ran its course through the house. Needless to say, I went into walking zombie mode. Not capable of much more than a short Facebook quip here and there. I have unorganized photos comin' out my wazoo, unpublished videos, a million cute stories floating aimlessly in my brain.

I think we are now on the other end of that round of mini chaos. Just in time for...vacation! We leave tomorrow for a week down at the lake. And, unfortunately, Ryan picked up a nasty habit of a 4:30-5:30 wake up time. That habit must be broken, because that's just not cool!

So that is what's up with the Latta clan. Look for quick pix, or links to pix - as much as I can before we leave. But to not keep any grandma's waiting for their Ryan fix, I shot this video this morning, trying to get some teeth. My baby is getting So big So fast!