Tonight, before bed we played "Chutes and Ladders" with Zoe. She won. As we tell her its bedtime, her response is: "good night losers".

I'm at work and just got a call from Kia letting me know that Ryder did his 1st ever poop in the potty! He's been sitting on his potty for about a month or so, and has even peed in it a number of times. He likes to sit on his potty and reach up and flush the real toilet.

So... good job Ryder! We are so proud.

We were bathing the kids tonight and I gave them their bath toys, which consists of a couple small balls. Zoe takes one ball and pretends its blush and begins to pretend to blush her cheeks. Ryder takes his and begins hitting himself in the head with it repeatedly.

Last night, after we put Ryder in bed, about 10 minutes after he got into bed, he came out into the hallway naked, carrying a diaper that was full of poo. Gross.

Kids in playroom, Zoe frustrated with Ryder; Kia says to Zoe "Ryder is just a baby and his brain doesn't work like yours yet". Ryder says "Yea! No brain YaYa!"

Playing Jenga with the kids for the 1st time. Thx Aunt Bernie, Uncle Charles, Indigo and Orlando! Zoe loves it and is actually really good. Pics to come...

This morning was quite a milestone: for the 1st time EVER, the kids woke up @ 6am (their standard wake up time); but this time, rather than clamor to come downstairs... They decided (on their own) to play by themselves upstairs! We had to get up @ 6am anyway, so didn't necessarily benefit from it, but its a good sign.

On another note, Ryders beginning to talk really, really well.

At night, he likes to read books and sing songs before bed. Song he likes:
Buffalo Soldier, Twinkle Twinkle, Hush Little Baby

I've recently added the ability to submit new posts to the blog via text message. That explains the recently added, unusually short postings. But, on the other hand, its nice because I can submit posts as they happen; whereas, in the past, the kids would do something "noteworthy" and I'd say to myself, "I need to add that to the blog", but forget about 10 minutes later.

Apparently we use the term "what the heck?" too often in our house. Zoe now starts with "what the" and Ryder finishes with "heck?"

Ryder @ 22 Months

Its Christmas eve and I took our framed picture of the kids with Santa from Ryder and he got mad at me and said "Daddy take it".

Zoe has recently coined the phrase, and says it the same everytime: "sparkly, crystal, rainbow, unicorn ballerina powers". I'm not sure what it refers to.

A few updates:

• The pacifier weening is coming along well. He's at the point where he doesn't really put the pacifier in his mouth anymore (cuz its too small) so he now just holds it in his hands.
  
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• Zoe has been using the following phrase of late: "Sparkly, crystal, Rainbow Unicorn Power". She says it the exact same way, flawlessly, each time.
  
• When Ryder heard another kid crying, he mocks them by saying "Cry baby, cry..." like in the movie "A Christmas Story".
  
• Ryders vocabulary continues to improve. He's forming 3 and 4 word sentences; like "I do it too"
  
• Ryder has been getting more into reading books of late. He now demands to read a few books before bedtime.
  

Current events:

• Congress voted to repeal the Militarys Don't ask Don't Tell policy.
  
• Unemployment is at 9.8%
  

Yesterday, Ryder was screwing around in Zoes room and slipped on a random puzzle piece. He fell and hit mouth/teeth on the side of Zoes bed. He bled from his gums a little bit and his teeth may have been a bit loose.

Because of this incident, we didn't want him using his pacifier as it could lead to his teeth growing in improperly (at least thats what the internets say).

So, initially we were going to cut him off cold turkey. He protested (i.e. didn't go to sleep and just laid in bed calling for "Momma". So, we've decided to go another route... We've clipped off a piece of his pacifier and will continue to do so until the pacifier is of no more use to him. Hopefully it goes smoothly.

I got the following email from Kia yesterday regarding Ryder:
He said "Hi, Ryder!" to himself very clearly today! And kept saying it over and over while looking at himself in the mirror page of a book. Then when I was in the kitchen, I heard some crying/whining, so I go to the play room to see what's going on and when I say "What happened?" Ryder looks at me and says very clearly---"Ya ya did it". LMFAO. It was so funny, I looked at Zoe and she clearly and honestly was like "no I didn't."

Ryders 21 Month Picture *Happens to be on Thanksgiving, which was fantastic. We ordered from Balducci's.


Coincidentally, a few pretty big milestones happened today:
1. He has learned to climb out of his bed so we've transitioned his bed into a "big boy bed". Yea, last night, I was changing his diaper and turned around to deposit the diaper and when I turned back around, he was standing on the outside of his bed, feet on the lower rail, hands clutching the top rail. So, tonight is his 1st night sleeping in his new big-boy bed. It took him a while to go to bed, but he is currently asleep. We'll see how the morning goes...
2. As the picture indicates, he is sitting in a big-boy chair! He no longer likes his high chair. So we put him in a regular chair w/ a cushion to prop him up. He ate dinner like that and did a great job.

A few Ryder updates:

• Much like Zoe when she was younger, Ryder has developed issues with stray hairs around the house. While Zoe used to flip out and scream "Hair!", Ryder points at the hair and says "Fuzzy?"
  
• He also says "paci" referring to his pacifier.
  
• We've already begun watching "A Christmas Story" and both kids love it. They really get into the movie.
  

I'm going to backtrack on a lot that has been going on and I just haven't had time to blog about it...

Incidentally, As I'm writing this, Ryder is under the table pooping. Thats his M.O. He goes off into a corner or under the table, all surreptitiously, to do his business and then comes back like nothing happened.

• Yesterday, we had a Daddy/Daughter day. It was me, Swett, James and Carlos. We took our girls to the National Harbor to the Grinch Ice Exhibit. For the most part, the kids had a great time. Zoe was not a fan of the Ice Exhibit. This picture summarizes her experience:
  
  Here are some other pics from the day:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  And finally... THIS is how Dads do Daddy/Daughter day (Zoe took this picture):
  
  
  
• November 14th, Zoe and Kia made a Sweet Potatoe Pie. It was amazing!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We had a special Ryder only day where we took him to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. It was really nice to get some alone time with our boy:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• On November 11th, I picked Zoe up from school. On the way home she says "I want to marry Abraham". Abraham is a schoolmate of hers. She loves him because "he's the best tire swing pusher and pushes the highest"... When we get home (35 minutes later), our neighbors kid (Jude) is in his front yard raking leaves. Zoe looks at him and says: "I think I want to marry him".
  
  
• On November 9th, I was in the "play room" with Zoe. The TV was on (Yes, we put a TV in the play room). A kids channel was on and a commercial came on. It was advertising a game called Zoobles. At the end of the commercial, Zoe says: "I'd like to buy that toy".
  It occurred to me that that was her 1st exposure to kids commercialism. I reminded me of when I was a kid and they'd have these awesome commercials of "remote controlled cars" where the car is zooming around, jumping rocks and landing on its wheels perfectly... Then, when you got the car (thanks Mom), it was not nearly as cool as the commercial.
  
  
• Halloween Pics:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• October 30th, Kia went to the "Rally to Restore Sanity":
  
  
  
  
• In October, my cousin Lindsey came to visit with a friend of hers whose name is also Lyndsey. Both Zoe and Ryder had a great time and Zoe idolized them both. Cousin Lindsey let Zoe play games on her I-Phone and Zoe was enthralled.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Zoe calls an "Ambulance" an "Alambiance"
  
  
• A while back, I came across a picture that I thought perfectly captures Zoes personality. This is an old picture, roughly around the time we moved to Virginia. I call it, "Quintessential Zoe":
  
  

It has been a long time since I've posted anything of substance... We've been very busy and tired in general. So.. here is what we have been up to of late:

Here are some Ryder updates:

• Ryder has learned to say "No!" to requests that he deems unnecessary
  
• Says "go" if sitting in the car at a stop light
  
• Other words he says: Bus, Bird, More (but it sounds more like "Me", Bike, I wanna go, Why? (he loves that one).
  
• Ryder has begun tattling on us all. If I do something he doesn't appreciate, he'll go up to Kia and say "Momma... Dada." He'll do the same to Zoe and Kia.
  
• He and Zoe get along well for the most part. They definitely love eachother but go through the usual sibling issues.
  
• Songs he likes:
  Maybe - from the movie "Annie"
  The sun will come out - also from "Annie"
  Sandy "Dumb Dog" - Yes, "Annie" again. He loves that movie!
  Buffalo Soldier - He loves to sing along at the "Ya ya ya... yayayaya..." part.
  Don't worry bout a thing
  *He also is very particular about his songs. If you start to sing a song that he isn't particularly feeling, he'll say "No". And keep doing so until you get to the song he's after.
  
• He loves to smell his feet and then he cracks up
  
• Tells the following "knock knock joke": Knock Knock. Who's there? Poo Poo. Poo Poo who? Ahhh Poo Poo. And then cracks himself up.
  
• Seems to be graduating from playing w/ Zoes ballet outfits, pink hats and headbands to playing w/ cars and choo choos and balls. :)
  
• Per Zoe who is sitting beside us eating dinner: He like to hold my hand and hug me and kiss me
  He likes to copy me; We fight when he hits me
  
• Today when Kia picked the kids up she was talking to Zoe on the ride home. They were discussing what a great Daddy then have. He works hard to pay the bills, etc... Kia said, you have the best daddy in the world. Zoe replies, "becaue he buys me presents? And if someone messes with me, he'll beat their asses."
  
• He likes to sit on Zoes back and tummy and rides her like a horse.
  
• Speaking of sitting on tummys, yesterday me Zoe and Ryder were playing in Zoes room. Just screwing around. Ryder sat on my tummy facing my feet. At the time he had one of those super bouncy balls in his hand. Out of nowhere, he decided to slam the ball down onto my... you know. I laid there writhing in pain and Zoe asked me if I was crying. That is pretty much the 1st time something like that has happened to me w/ either kid. So I guess I can't complain too much.
  
• When we drop Zoe off he says "i wanna go" and then sayhs "Bye yaya" (his nickname for her).
  
• He has been eating w/ a fork for some time now.
  

And Zoe updates:

• Zoe is learning Spanish at her school. Hope Montessori. She sings a few songs in spanish and has some basic words down.
  
• As I stated, for the most part Zoe and Ryder get along great and they play really well together. However sometimes they disagree, argue and get generally annoyed w/ eachother. And sometimes when Zoe is really tired and frustrated, she breaks down and cries really hard and says: "Sometimes its really hard to have a baby brother".
  
• A few weeks ago, we got a note from Zoes school/teacher Mrs. Dadavi. It read: "Mr. and Mrs. Birdsong, Zoe and another girl got into touching eachothers work in an antagonizing manner. Im not sure how it started, but Zoe ended up poking the girl on the arm. Fortunately, it didnt break the skin. I talked with her about what happened and how we need to use our words, because we cannot take the hurt away once it is done. She was receptive."
  
• Zoe has been listening really well and she helps Kia w/ Ryder; sometimes she undermines Kia when she has to reprimand Ryder. Zoe will come up to Ryder afterwards and comfort him.
  
• Zoe and Kia had a girls day last weekend where they got pedicures (yes, Zoe had her 1st professional pedicure) and then went to a ceramic art store and made mugs for hot cocoa.
  
• Zoe loves to make her own Salads for dinner (thanks for introducing her to Salad Grandma!)
  
• Zoe recently reunited with an old friend. Zoe met Stella in Costa Rica when she was 6 months old. Stellas parents recently moved to the area and they've had a few playdates already.
  
• Zoe often gets up in the middle of the night, stumbles out of her room half awake and summons Kia to have "sleepovers".
  
• I took Zoe to see the owl movie:
  
  Halfway through the movie she asked me when the movie was going to be over. For half a second, I considered walking out, but I was somewhat invested and just spent about $40.00 on tickets and candy. So we stayed.

And finally, an example of what a great Daddy/provider I am: We have lived in our current home for over 1 year now. Since we moved in, we've had "hot water" issues. i.e. the water is luke warm. It has really sucked. Last week, Kia asked "Is there anything we can do about the water situation?". To which I replied "No".
Well, over this past weekend, I was cleaning out/re-organizing the basement and decided to take a look at the hot water heater. And... wouldn't you know it, there is a nozzle where you can turn to turn up the heat. Who knew????
The good news: We now have hot water
The bad news: We suffered for over a year unnecessarily.
Yes, I suck.

-Ryders 19 Month Picture-

Ryders 1st Haircut was yesterday, Aug 21st 2010

Look at the range of emotions!!!
-Uncertainty-
-Fear-
-Panic-
-And... Acceptance-




And... the finished product:
Before:










After: