When we get in the car, Ryder insists on buckling his own seat belt.

Ryder likes to give hugs when I leave for work and before bed. He says: "big squeeze. Big squeeze yellow" which means "other side".

Ryder likes to give hugs when I leave for work and before bed. He says: "big squeeze. Big squeeze yellow" which means "other side".

This past Sunday, Ryder and Zoe were playing in Zoes room. Ryder got ahold of Zoes hairspray bottle and proceeded to spray it all over the floor. Because of the product included, it was extra slippery.
So, Zoe goes running across the floor and slips on the slick area and falls and lands on her princess tiara. It poked her pretty badly in the back. She let out a blood curdling scream. Both Kia and I sprinted up to see what happened.

She was fine, for the most part. She just has a pretty bad bruise on her back. It scared Kia and I half to friggin death. Somehow in my panic, on the way up the stairs, I managed to rip the skin off of the tip of my middle finger.

Our nerves were shot for the rest of the day.

Ryders speaking is improving immensely. We can actually have mini-coversations. This is a poor example but I find it very cute: I'll ask "why did u do that?" And he'll say "because".

Kids in tub playing with soap. I tell them not to eat it : Zoe asks me if I ever ate soap as a kid. I say yes. She says, "For real? What did it taste like?"

So... today was Ryders 2nd Birthday. Because its been a hectic week, we didn't have time to plan anything, so we just had a mini-celebration. He had ice cream cake; which Zoe picked out.

We got him some helium balloons (which are his favorite things ever) and a fire engine truck. Zoe had a small fit of jealousy because Ryder was getting all the attention and we wouldn't let her play with Ryders truck.

Here is a photo representation of the meltdown (Notice Ryder in the background not giving a crap):




Anyway, I can't believe that he's 2. On the 1 hand it seems like its been 5 years since he was born; that's most likely due to how much we've been through in the past 2 years... On the other hand, him turning 2 is bittersweet. He's not our baby anymore, but now a big boy. Being a parent is a constant emotional struggle between wanting your kids to develop and grow up and trying to hold on to those precious moments when they are babies.

Here are pictures of Zoe at two and Ryder at two:

Well... its been a wild ride... Its been 2 years to the day that little man (Ryder) was born.

Here is his last "Monthly" photo (even though I've missed the last couple months.

Happy Birthday Ryder James Birdsong. We love you sooo much:

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".