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Here are the Top Ten Things We'll Miss Most About Toddlers when they finally grow up...taken from The Girlfriend's Guide to Toddlers :
10. The swish-swish sound their diapers make when they walk.
9. The way their tummies peek out from under their shirts and over their shorts.
8. The way they say "remember".
7. How juicy their kisses are.
6. How they can turn back into babies when they're tired.
5. How you can tell their temperature by holding their hands.
4. The way they truly believe the magic of the universe.
3. The way they pretend to talk on the phone.
2. How their hair looks when they wake up in the morning.
1. How they hold your face between their hands and say "I wub you".
Ryder hasn't done numbers 8, 3 and 1 yet, but I sure am waiting for it.
And I'm adding one more.
I'm going to miss his toddler feet. All blocky and rectangular.
We have a great bedtime routine, Ryder and I. If there is one thing that I am absolutely proud of, and believe me- it really might be only one thing- besides the fact that he's cute- is the fact that he goes to bed always between 9 and 10pm. No ifs, ands, or butts about it. Not only that, he's been sleeping in his crib since he turned 6 months, alone- in his own room, in his own crib. That's a HUGE deal. And it sucked transitioning him, but we did it. And he's such a good bed time boy.
Our routine is as follows:
1. We sing the song that Izzy taught us while cleaning the family room of his mess. It goes something like this: "Clean up, clean up, everybody do their share", for about 200 times. He runs around the room, picks up his cars, his books, his blocks, his teddy bears, his balls, his puzzle pieces, his animals from the animal farm, his pots and pans, his flash cards, and trains.
2. I get a bottle ready. He looks for his magic blanket with his hands in the "where is" position.
3. Bottle is ready, magic blanket is found, and he runs to my husband to give him a hug and kiss good night. He runs to me, pointing to his bottle.
4. I scoop him up with one arm. We waves good bye to daddy, the ceiling fan, Blue, the couch, the door, the mirror, the hall lights, the palm tree in our living room, the teddy bear on the floor beside it. He turns off the hall light.
5. We go into the room, he shuts the door, turns off the light, and we sit in the rocker, and he gulps his bottle. He then reaches for the crib, I put him down, he looks up, and then puts his head down, and I sneak out saying "good night".
Step 5 was what was funny tonight. He was DRUNK. He was milk drunk, play ground drunk, happy bath drunk, you-didn't-use-the-bulb-syringe-on-me-tonight drunk (he's had a runny nose over the last week). He finished his bottle, and looked at me with half closed eyes...put his head down on my shoulder and decided he wasn't comfortable.
He slid off of me onto the floor, and seriously tried to shake himself out of his drunken state. But that didn't happen. He literally stumbled all the way over to the door- all off balanced, eyes half closed, magic blanket dragging, knees bent, and tried to open it!! He realized that he couldn't open the door, and at this point I'm laughing my ass off..and I'm saying, "Ryder, it's time for bed!". He looks again at me with his eyes half closed, and bends his knees, falls to the floor with his butt up in the air, and is trying to make himself comfortable on the hardwood floor. Like he just couldn't even handle how high he was from this fun day....he wasn't even cranky tired, he was just drunk happy. And sleepy.
I picked him up, placed him in his crib, gave him a kiss, and he sank right into his crib.
The books that I've read on raising toddlers have mentioned that from 18 months on- they begin to test your patience and limits to the point where you want to go running and screaming from the house. But then they do one thing...just one thing that makes toddlers what they are..and you're in love...
I'm just going to try and enjoy this time with my little toddler- because he'll never be a toddler again. And he's really just getting into it...I've thought that he was a toddler 8 months ago when he started walking.
But no, NOW he is.
So I was debating on whether or not to check out "High School Musical". Apparently, it's the "GREASE" of the present day. I don't know, nothing can top "Grease", or "Grease 2" for that matter (Michelle Pfifer singing that she needs a C-o-o-l-r-i-DER just can't be beat)- but I'm definitely curious. There's so much hype. So, I sat and thought...and sat and thought some more (about whether or not I should TIVO it) when I just got to thinking about high school- in general.
What the heck do kids in high school do these days besides learn? Do they pass notes? Doubt it- with the advent of cell phones- they probably just text. Damn! There was nothing more fun than writing a "note" to a friend, or a BOYFRIEND. You'd hand it to him, all shy- and be like- "I wrote you a note. But don't read it NOW. Read it later." At the bottom of the note you'd write, "WRITE BACK". You'd fold it all clever-like...and maybe even draw funny animals all over it, or maybe even write your favorite band on it, over and over...in my case- that would be Duran Duran, or INXS.
Even better than all that was receiving a note. Especially from the boyfriend who sat behind you in class. You'd get a tap on the shoulder, and you'd turn around, and your man would be looking down at the floor, all coy. You'd look down, and see a piece of paper under his loafers. He'd push his foot up, and then "OOPS"- you drop your pencil (cause you could never use pen in class). You'd grab the note, and try to figure out how to open it without making too much noise. Can't you hear "I'm forevuuuhhhhaaaa yourssss.....faithfully" playing in the background? Yeah, people, I turned 35 last weekend, gimme a break.
Do they just text now? Text simple things like, "you're HOT. got yo digits from Paulo. CALL ME." And would the girl be all like, "ohmygod, who IS this?". I so wish when Ryder grows up to be in high school- he could write notes. It's just so old school and cool. But oh well, I'm DEAD ASS OLD, and that will never happen.
Do they even talk in the hallways in between classes? Or does everyone have iPods or MP3 players plugged into their ears as they go from History to Biology? I saw a commercial for a binder that had a charger in its pocket, just for the occasion that you run out of fuel for your tunes. What happened to the good ol' TRAPPER KEEPER?? Or the blue denim binder that you'd write ALL over? Have they all been replaced by laptops? Are spiral notebooks still used? I bet they all can certainly write with pen now. And even chew gum. And to reiterate Capitol Swell's earnest question: "whatever happened to the mix tape?".
HAH. Maybe "High School Musical" will have all the answers. Get the TIVO fired up.
Ryder is growing up so darn fast. Here he is at about 18 months! He's growing so fast that he can't even keep up. He used to be able to crawl around under the dining room table, and then stand up- while still under the table- and walk out without banging his head. He hasn't been able to do that lately. I'll see him under the table, and then all of the sudden, I'll hear a dull "thump", and I'll glance over again, and he'll be rubbing his head. It's like he doesn't understand that he's gotten bigger, and that he needs to compensate and stoop a little lower.
He also used to be able to run around the couch furiously...now, he takes the corners too close when he's running, and then I hear the all-too-familiar "thump". I look at him, and he's rubbing his temples...he's just run into the couch while taking the corner a little too tight. He's like a big, sloppy puppy with big hands and big feet..slobbering and slipping all over the place and getting into trouble.
God, he's cute.
Here's Baby Ian!!! What an adorable kiddo with dimples! You can see the rest of the photo set by clicking the link below.
Enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blueryder/sets/72157601263428056
