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".