A little ode to my baby

OMG. I'm kind of freaking out.
In just 2 days, I'm going to have a 3 year old.
WHAT THE HECK?
I swear, he was just born yesterday.

My body thinks so at least, because these stretch marks still feel fresh. Sometimes I look down at my stomach and I'm like, 'what are you doing on my body? I'm young and wild, go away!' And after 5 minutes of two screaming wake up calls I realize that I really am getting old and I'm not so wild anymore. Unless you consider a 10pm bedtime wild........

I thought that with all the hustle and bustle that's about to take place this week in honor of my BIG BABY (he's not a little boy yet...not for 2 more days)...that I would shed a little light on my LITTLE BABY because he's fun and I like to talk about him.

So here's the best thing that's happened recently:

Because I am mom and I like to make people hear me roar, I often refer to my children by first and middle name, just to establish dominance at all times (just kidding...they just have beautiful names). Sometimes I'm silly about it and I say things like, "Ryan Joseph, you are soooo cute." and other times I say things like, "Ryan Joseph, get off of your brother".

So the other day I'm down the hall and I hear Tristan yelling, "NO NO RYAN" (he's becoming kind of bossy lately)...and Ryan is laughing, wait- cackling, so Tristan is getting very irritated when all of a sudden I hear him say, "Ryan Joseph YOU STOP". Except it didn't sound like Ryan Joseph. It sounded like Ryan Doofus. And it was awesome. And I couldn't stop laughing.

Ryan's name is really amazing. It's quite simple; very classic...you can't screw it up. I love it. I love it for so many reasons. It means Little King and that was the kicker for me. I felt like it was a strong and decent name. (PLUS WE AGREED ON IT) It was a name for a nice man, and that's what I want to raise. Nice, kind, strong & happy men.

Anyways---- RYAN.

He's pretty adorable. If you haven't met him, you probably want to because he's a little bundle of fun. Small and compact, so he's still totally cuddle-able and has plenty of chub to go around so you just want to squeeze him (safely please). His hugs make you feel soooo loved. He's been influenced by the french on his kissing style and will give you two "MUAHs"- one on each check. We eat it up.

We call him "Monster", "Boo", and "RyRy"... and sometimes "Ryan". He responds to all 4. Because he's a genius. No really, he is. He's started talking and it's the greatest thing that's ever happened because this stage was SO HARD for me with Tristan.

Ryan likes to think he is big and refuses to be carried. He loves the gym and all of his friends there. He disperses his love pretty equally and we like that about him. He loves Tristan the most but Mommy and Daddy are equally as cool. Sometimes he doesn't quite understand that Tristan doesn't like to squashed...but we're working on that.

Ryan does all things that Tristan does. Tristan wears underwear? Well, so does Ryan. Who cares if it's over the diaper, he knows he looks cooler wearing the underwear and he likes it. Tristan eats his cereal with milk, a bowl, and a spoon? How dare we ever think to pour Cheerio's on Ryan's tray and treat him like a baby.

His favorite things right now are Mickey, going up and down the slide--but mostly up,  Woody, and destroying any train track in sight.

Our favorite little quirk of Ryan is his infamous hand gestures. He uses his hands to talk and I really have no words to explain it...he does it every day, and yet it still makes me want to die of adorableness overload.

Ryan's mischevious behavior is slightly aggitating, yet charming. Might be biased on this one, but I don't even mind when he makes a mess because I know he's just exploring. He's so adventurous and independent; always seeking out new things. 'Oh mommy, you have a check in your purse? I wonder how money tastes...let me eat it and find out.'

Oh yeah. And the cheeks. We shoulda just named him "Cheeks".