Ryder is a memory expert!
Christmas has come and gone this year. The kids had a great time and got to have 2 Christmases; 1 at home and 1 at Grandmas house.

Santa got the kids the classic game "Operation" and he also got them a game of "Memory".

So, we played memory as a family yesterday morning. The game comes with 72 cards, but because the kids (Ryder in particular) are so young, we only played with 20 or so cards.

So, we start playing and Kia and I can't get any matches. Zoe is doing OK... but Ryder was like a Memory expert! He got the most matches and he literally only needed to see a card once to remember its location! It was truly amazing. There were a few occassions where he wouldn't wait and just barged in on another persons turn to flip the correct matching card.

It was funny and also a pleasant surprise to discover a hidden talent in our little man.

Sleep

This morning, both kids slept until 8am. 1st time that has ever happened.




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Location:Phyllis Ln,Alexandria,United States

Going to work

For the past 2.5 years, just about every morning, this is how Zoe and Ryder saw me off to work. They'd watch me walk down the hill to my bus waving and blowing kisses. There were a few times where I forgot to look back and wave and they'd get all bent out of shape.








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Location:Phyllis Ln,Alexandria,United States

Zoe v Ryder

Tonight before bed, Ryder was playing with a stuffed bear that was given to Zoe by Grandma. At bedtime, Zoe, seeing Ryder's interest in the bear, decided to take it to bed. Well... Ryder got mad and went to grab it back. Zoe wouldn't let go and a tug of war broke out. We, realizing Zoe only cared because Ryder expressed interest, ruled in Ryder's favor and forced Zoe to relinquish control of the bear. She was pissed! As Ryder went off happily to bed, I stayed with Zoe to attempt to reason with her. She wasn't having it.

Zoe, crying and livid: "Ryder is a stealer!!!". I wish some people would come arrest him!!!"

Shortly after, Kia was trying to console her and from downstairs I hear: "I'm gonna tell Grandma on Ryder! She bought ME that bear!"

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Location:Phyllis Ln,Alexandria,United States

Pinkalicious

We sold Zoe's 1at bike a few days ago. She has outgrown it. So long Pinkalicious, thanks for the memories.




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Location:Phyllis Ln,Alexandria,United States

Ryder can now button his own shirt! Last night he buttoned up his pajamas all by himself. I offered to help him with the top button but he insisted he could do it and he did.

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Location:Phyllis Ln,Alexandria,United States

Parent teacher meetings

Last week, we had Parent / Teacher meetings at their school. Both Zoe and Ryder had great reports. The teachers (mrs Diamond and mrs. Didavi) had nothing but great things to report.

Zoe is great at reading and helping the younger kids,

Ryder is great at listening, interacting with the other kids and he does really well at circle time (unusual for his age).

So Kia and i are patting ourselves on the back for being such great parents... we are wrapping it up, getting the kids together to leave, saying goodbyes to the teachers when Ryder says out loud: "when I grow up, I get to say bad words".

Oh well... It was good while it lasted.



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Zoe, the artist

Good news, bad news:
Good news, Zoe copied a picture from one of her books. She must get her artistic talent from her Mom.





Bad news, Ryder has a fever. He must get his immune system from his Mom.

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Location:Phyllis Ln,Alexandria,United States

Ryder had his first visit to the dentist. He was a trooper! Even better, no cavities.




We took the kids on a daylong trip to the DC mall. Specifically the Martin Luther King monument.





Last week we visited the White House. Our tour (self guided) started at 7am. We froze our butts off waiting to go in.



Here we are!





We didn't see Barack... But we did see the next best thing; Bo, the Obamas dog!




We did Halloween with friends in Del Ray. Ryder was "optimus crime" (that's how he says it, and Zoe was a mermaid. Ryder was a madman! It was as if he was an old pro. He ran from house to house, dodging the big kids and getting in the mix to get his candy. The people in the house kept saying "just 3 pieces please" Ryder wasn't hearing that. I had to keep pulling him off the porches! He'd say "are we going to nother house?".
Zoe started off mad because she couldn't "see her feet" because of her costume. When we tried to pacify her by moving the fins, she got mad because now she didn't "look like a real mermaid". So, we couldn't win. Fortunately, after a while she got over it, loosened up and had a great time.






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Ryder Anecdote from Kia

Zoe was mad at Ryder for rearranging the Halloween sticky letters on the window. So she kicked him. Ryder ratted her out. I made Zoe go do a time-out in her room. When it was time to come down, I made her hug him and apologize. So she hugs him and says she's sorry. Ryder squeezes her back, with his cute little hands around her middle, and says in all sincerity "I love you, Zoe. Thank you for kicking me." .........


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Location:Phyllis Ln,Alexandria,United States

Ryder counts to "17"

Ryder says "Galapagos"

We recorded a show on the nature channel called "Galapagos". The kids like it. This is how Ryder says it:

Yesterday after work, we went to our community pool. Zoes swimming continues to improve and Ryder was able t put his whole head under water.

Zoe can swim!!!!

Yesterday after Nicolas Rodas' Baptism (where both Ryder and Zoe were well behaved; for the most part) they (the Rodas') threw a pool party at their local community pool.

Since we joined our community pool and went to the beach, Zoe has slowly but surely been working up the confidence and skill to put her head under water...

Well, yesterday Zoe did it! Initially she was working with Kia to practice. Then, we took them to the "baby pool" and she began putting her head in the water and swimming forward! At her best, she probably stayed submerged for about 5 seconds and did 2 strokes forward.

She was so proud of herself.

The following is Kias version of the story, and I quote:
"Zoe saw that her BFF Sophia Rodas knew how to swim already. I saw that look of determination in Zoe's eyes, like, "Well I can do this too!" So far, we'd just been trying to get her to feel comfortable to put her head under water, but she tended to be hesitant. When I saw that look in her eyes, I seized the opportunity. I said, "Zoe, want to put your head under water? You see Sophia did it, and I know you can do it too." Without missing a beat she started to just go under, but I told her to get her breath first. She took a big breath, held her nose and put her head under without rushing to the top, when she popped up all smiles. So we did that several times, and she was going waaay under, all fearless now. So I told her to let me pull her in the water by her hand (the other hand held her nose) when she went under, and we did it and she got the feel of what swimming was and was all smiles, because she was kicking and swimming, I was just dragging her along in the water. She stayed completely under and I was so proud of her and excited for her because I knew how proud and excited she was for herself! Then we did it where I held her lightly under her tummy so she could see how that felt. So finally when we went to the kiddie pool, it was just deep enough that she could do it all herself and push herself up when she was ready to come up for air. There was one segment, where suddenly she just kept kicking and moving both hands completely underwater----SWIMMING!! She came up and her smile was so great, and she suddenly looked like such a big girl, and I got to be there for that and it was one of the greatest moments of my life. This morning she told me she was dreaming of swimming. We snuggled and she told me the whole dream. I am so happy for her and proud of her. A great, great moment. I feel so lucky.
What is really sweet about this moment is that Zoe and I learned at the same exact time, the summer we were 5 years old."

A few anecdotes:

Zoe
Last week, while Zoe was asleep, I went into her room and "stole" her Pillow Pet pillow (i like them, what can I say???).

So, I wake up in the morning and Zoe comes up to me and says: "You stole my Pillow Pet last night, but I took it back". And low and behold, at some point during the evening, she had snuck up on me and taken he pillow back!

Now, the past few mornings she comes down and says: "You didn't get my Pillow Pet last night"

Ryder
This morning, after I had left for work and Kia was taking a shower, Ryder took it upon himself to go into the refrigerator and get some water. The problem is, we buy one of those gallon containers of "spring water" that has a nozzle you pull out to get water and push in to stop the flow... So, Ryder succeeded in pulling the nozzle out, but didnt bother pushing it back in to stop the flow. As a result, the entire gallon flowed out into the refrigerator and onto the kitchen floor.

We took the kids to Ocean City, MD 2weeks ago. We stayed at the condo of a relative of Carlos and Sabrina Rodas. It was both kids first times being at the beach (with the exception of Zoe going to Costa Rica when she was 6 months old). They had a blast!

Getting ready to hit the beach:


1st Pic @ the beach:


Kia helped Zoe make her 1st sand castle:

Ryder playing in the sand:

Zoe and Kia made a sand sculpture... guess what it is:

We hit the "boardwalk" one evening:


There was a park right near our condo... Here is a cool pic I took of Ryder:


Bonus video... While walking along the boardwalk, we passed a store that was blaring a rap song, so Ryder did what he does in those cases:


Overall, it was a great trip. They both loved playing in the sand and playing at the pool. As far as actually going in the ocean, we'll just say, "baby steps". Zoe eventually allowed me to carry her into the ocean. Ryder tended to just stand on the shoreline crying while we went in the water. The sound of the waves crashing scared him and he'd yell: "Shut up waves!"

For most of Ryders life, he has required a bottle of milk before bed. The past 3 or 4 nights, he has not asked for a bottle! We may be coming to the end of an era.

On the flip side, he has been putting up a major fight lately to get his butt in bed. Last night he was crying and yelling: "I want my Zoe!!!". Because he likes to sleep in her bed

SMH...

So the other day, Ryder woke up at his standard 5:30 to 6:00 AM time slot and proceeded to harass me incessantly to wake up. I tried desperately to ignore him and fall back to sleep. He continued to mess with me. Eventually I gave up and in exasperation said: "Ryder, you're f'n crazy". Only I said the actual word. Ryder smiled and said back to me "no daddy, you're f'n crazy and I'm gonna tell momma you said that bad word".

Test

Test post from Blogsy

This weekend, we took the kids to Ocean City, MD for their first ever trip to the beach. We have had an amazing time. They love playing at the beach. As I type this, Zoe has her back to her food and Ryder is stealing her grapes. They are not so fond of going in the ocean, but they love playing in the sand. Zoe did eventually allow me to carry her out into the ocean. She looked at me and said: "I'm ready Daddy". She grabbed onto me and held on tight and we went into the water.

Ryder allowed Kia to dip his legs in the water. He didn't like the noise the waves were making so he told the waves: "Shut up waves!!! Or i'll punch you in the face!". He said the same thing to the thunder during a thunder storm we had while here.

We also hung out at the complexs' pool. Zoe put her entire head in the water for the 1st time! She was so proud of herself.

Last night we took them to the boardwalk and just walked up and down taking in all of the sights. They both had a blast. We got them funnel cake and cotton candy. They weren't big on the funnel cake, but Ryder couldn't get the cotton candy into his mouth fast enough. Last night, as I'm talking to Zoe she asks for more cotton candy and I tell her that cotton candy is not good for you. She says: "Why did God give us cotton candy if its not good for us?".

We have video of Ryder "rockin out" outside of one of the shops that had music playing. I'll try to upload the video asap.

Last week, Ryder woke up at his standard 5:30am timeslot. He proceeded to mess with me and annoy me in an attempt to get me up out of bed. After attempting to ignore his antics, I finally had had enough; I looked at Ryder and said: "Ryder, you're f'n crazy". Only I used the actual word. Ryder looked back at me and says: "No Daddy, you're f'n crazy and i'm gonna tell momma that you used that bad word".

Riders 1st day of Summer Camp

This past Monday was Ryders 1st day at summer camp at Hope Montessori. He and Zoe are there together. I tried to be there for it and had planned on it up until the morning of... I was Acting for my boss at the time and EVERYONE in my office called in sick, so I had to go in.

Kia took him said that he marched right in hardly looking back. He had a great day and Zoe said that she checked in on him throughout the day. A far cry from the 1st time we left Zoe at school.



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Ryder poops in potty!

This morning, Ryder Did his 1st poop in the potty. He and Zoe were both home sick from summer camp. Ryder did his usual "hide under the dining room table" routine; only Kia stopped him and convinced him to use the potty instead.

As it turns out, it was a tiny poop, so Ryder got up and looked at it and said "a baby poop!"

He got a popsicle for being a big boy.

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This morning, as we were all waking up and I'm heading out the door to work, the kids hear the Garbage truck approaching outside. For some reason, Ryder has been enthralled by the Garbage truck from the 1st day he saw one.

Anyway, our neighborhood has 2 different Garbage service providers: AAA and American.

So, this morning the American truck comes by and the kids rush to the window to watch. Zoe notices that the truck didn't stop at our house and asked why? Kia says something to the affect of "that company doesn't do our garbage, another company does". To which Zoe responds with confusion because she reads the huge writing on the truck "AMERICAN": "But, we're American".

Both Kia and I laugh out loud and Zoe is still staring out the window at the truck pondering why mommy and daddy laughed at such a simple comment.

Zoe came home from school singing Firework by Katy Perry.

Ryder is now monitoring "bad words". If he hears us using a bad word he says "why you say that bad word Daddy?".

I'm hanging with Ryder outside and I ask him: "where is your football?" He responds: "uh, I don't know, maybe its upstairs". His vocab/grammar is improving!

For the past few months, i've been singing "Raspberry Beret" to Ryder before bed time. I did the same thing with Zoe when she was a baby.

With Zoe, when I finally got around to playing the actual song on the radio, she got this huge smile on her face because she recognized the song. If i'm not mistaken, there is video on this blog of her singing the song.

Anyway, today when I picked Ryder up from daycare, I played the song for him to see if he'd recognize it... When I started playing the song, he started dancing (as he always does) and then when the lyrics kicked in, it took a few bars for him to recognize it, but when he did, he started singing along! It was awesome. He says "outdoor, outdoor!" And of course the chorus, "Raspberry Beret"

Very cute moment.

Current Events:
Last night, President Obama announced that Osama Bin Laden was killed by US Navy Seals:



Link to News Article



To Zoe and Ryder,

The magnitude of this announcement brings me back to the events of 9/11. You two weren’t even a “twinkle in our eyes”. One day, you guys may wonder where mom and dad were and what was our reaction to the events of 9/11.

So, I’m going to tell you here:

We were not yet married, in fact our wedding was 11 days later on Sept. 22nd. We lived in the lower level of this house
on Alma Place in Oakland, CA. I was 29 and mommy was 28. Mommy was a high-powered prosecutor for the San Francisco District Attorneys office. I had recently gotten a new job with an Engineering Company named MACTEC in Oakland, CA. I think I had been there only a few weeks. So, Sept 11th 2001 was a regular work day, just like any. Your mom and I were asleep. At around 5:30am, I was woken up by a phone call from Uncle Rob. All he said was “Turn on the news”. I said OK and hung up, knowing that something pretty big must have happened… So I turned on the news and saw the live footage of a city building burning from the inside. Considering I just woke up, it took me some time to make sense out of what I was seeing. Smoke coming from inside of one of the World Trade Center buildings. Reading the scroll, I saw the word “airplane” I thought, “wow, looks like a small plane must have accidentally flown into the World Trade Center”. Then I listened to the reporting and understood that this was no small plane, nor was it an accident. I woke your mother up.

We watched together as another airplane flew into the 2nd tower. I think my reaction was something to the affect of: “Holy f’n s$#T”. I remember my heart was pounding! We continued to watch the news footage as at this point it was impossible to take your eyes off of the TV (it would stay that way for days to come). So, we’re thinking, man, those poor people. I remember wondering how in the hell they would fix the damage done to the buildings. That concern became moot as your mom and I watched in shock and disturbed awe the 2 World Trade Center buildings collapse, killing over 3000 people and setting off a string of events that would lead to 2 wars, hundreds of thousands of lives lost and a 10 year hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

Writing this and remember back actually gives me a lump in my throat. It was a very emotional time. It was also frustrating as you wanted to “do something” but there really was nothing that you could do. I remember thinking that were I in New York, I’d go help with the clean-up / recovery effort. But I was in California, so that wasn’t really an option. In hindsight, many of the 1st responders to the World Trade Center disaster are now suffering physical ailments related to their time spent around “Ground Zero”.

That is pretty much it, in a nutshell. Hopefully, by the time you guys are old enough to read and understand this, terrorism will be a thing of the past and the American economy and job market are once again flourishing…

Last Friday, my job had a "Bring your child to work" Day. I decided I'd take Zoe.
It turned out to be a really good day and she had a lot of fun.

She took the bus and metro in with me.

She met "The Crime Dog" McGruff:

She got to see and pet a drug sniffing dog... no pics of this. However during the drug sniffing dog exhibit, my colleagues daughter, Raven, took Zoe under her wing and they were inseparable for the rest of the day. Raven is super sweet and loved Zoe to death. She is now Zoes hero:


Here is Zoe at my desk:

Prior to Easter, Zoe wanted to get her hair straightened. Here is the sequence of pics:





And, finally, the finished product:



The day before Easter, we took the kids to see the Easter Bunny @ Tysons Corner. Here is their picture:

On Easter, Kia made brunch (with Mimosas) and Grandma and Grandpa came over to watch the kids do their Easter Egg Hunt. Good times were had...

So... Mama is out of town partying it up with Auntie TT and Auntie Andrea.

Its just me and the kids.

WE LOVE AND MISS YOU MAMA!!!

Here is a video for mama:

Getting kids ready for bed tonight; Zoe gets mad @ me and screams "I'm not your princess anymore!". 20 min later Ryder screams @ me "I'm not your friend!". Ugh.

Last night, we took Zoe out to a special dinner with just Mommy and Daddy.

The occasion was to celebrate the fact that she no longer uses/needs PullUps!

Kia told her a while back that if she can go 5 straight days without peeing in her pullup that we'd take her out to dinner.

So, congrats sweetheart! We are super proud of you.

Here are a few pics:


Thanks to Uncle Ray and Aunt Leah for watching Ryder while we were out. He had a blast as well.

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