Ryker as Dancing Santa

http://www.dancingsantacard.com/en/?santa=601097

Merry Christmas!

San Francisco Zoo, August 2010

Ryker asked Santa for a rocket ship.

Go Giants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ryker is a BIG Giants fan.  After winning the World Series, we went down to the corner and lots of people gave him high 5s and took his picture.  Here's a (sideways) clip of him yelling "Go Giants!"  We'll go to the parade on Wednesday when the team returns from Texas.

Halloween & Jack O'Lantern

Ryker is ready to hit Fair Oaks and say "Trick or Treat!"

Halloween at School

All of the kids and teachers dressed up at Ryker's school and we took them "trick-or-treating" on Church Street.  XO Cafe gave all of the kids fresh baked cookies which were promptly eaten - by the adults if we could wrangle them from the kids...  Ryker was Fireman Sam (complete with a Dalmation puppy).  It was a perfect costume since it rained off and on all day.  It seems that other neighborhood kids have figured out they could tag along and get candy too!  The stampede to get candy trampled Ryker at one point and I had to rescue him.

Shark, M&M, Angel, Thor & Cookie Monster 

Trying to gather everyone...

Superheros

Lisa's Birthday

I picked Ryker up early from school so he could help make a cake for Lisa.  He did all of the mixing and decorated the cake.  Lisa even let him blow the candles out with her.

St. Paul's School 2010

This is Ryker's first, official school picture.  He is wearing his Celtic shirt proudly.

Like Father, Like Son

I believe that some behaviors are learned and others you inherit.  Both Andrew and Ryker like to sleep with their hands clasped behind their head when they're very tired.  I'll find them like this in the middle of the night when they're sound asleep.  There is no way Ryker is consciously copying his father at this time.  Sometimes he'll sit in his car seat with his hands behind his head just before he falls asleep.

Growing Up

Early the other morning (and I mean 4 am), Ryker came into our room crying "my legs hurt, I have growing pains, I need medicine."  So, I got out of bed and rubbed an analgesic cream on his legs and gave him some ibuprofen. 

I measured him in the morning and, indeed, he'd grown an inch over the last 3 months.  That's a lot when you're only 37" tall!

Today I offered him his dinner and I guess it was too early because he said "I've had enough of growing up.  I don't want to eat."  Enough of growing up?  Oh, baby, you've got a lot more growing coming your way.

Fort Funston

Ryker and "the puppies" (aka Noli and Harry) chased the ball into the water and got covered in sand.  So much fun!

Daddy's Birthday

Ryker LOVES to make cake.  Andrew's favorite is tres leches.  Ryker also sang Happy Birthday and helped blow out the candles.  He made a picture frame at Terra Mia and put his new school photo in it.

1st Day of School

Ryker started pre-kindergarten at Littlest Angel Pre-School in Noe Valley.  We got out of the car and he ran to the door.  As soon as it opened - whooosh! - he was gone.  Definitely no tearful good-byes with him.  They said he had a great day - except for scratching some kid.  Fingernails were cut this morning... 

We managed to get one photo.  The other boy is Ryker's new friend, "Zach."  On Sunday we went to the school picnic and Zach and Ryker run up to one another.  Neither Andrew nor I recognized him or his parents.  We discovered that they went to the same camp, affectionately nicknamed "Lord of the Flies" since the kids would come home so unbelievably dirty.  Zach's parents said they just threw out a bunch of his clothes because they couldn't get the sand/mud out.  The kids had a fantastic time, running around, playing ball, making sand castles, climbing mountains, etc.  Both boys will be back there next year.

Knock! Knock!

Ryker:  Knock! Knock!
Me:  Who's there?
Ryker:  Banana! ha ha ha ha
Me:  Banana who?
Ryker:  Banana!!!  ha ha ha ha ha

Disneyland

We had a fun-filled 5 days & nights at Disneyland.  It was great because we could take our time and not get exhausted.  Ryker loved the "space train" (monorail) and the Buzz Lightyear ride and the water park and meeting Lightening McQueen and 3D movies and so forth and so on.  Keelin LOVED rollercoasters and meeting the princesses.

Disneyland

Yes, we did it:  the big trip to Disneyland.  5 nights.  8 hour drive each way.  2 kids.  It was exhausting, but we had a great time.  I took Keelin to Ariel's Grotto for the "Princess" lunch (they all come around for photos), we say the High School Musical show, fireworks, went on lots of rides, met Mickey, "Bzzzzzz Lightyear", Mary Poppins, and lots of other characters. 

Summer in San Francisco

We did so many fun things together:  bus rides, trolley rides, boat rides, cable car (and museum), the zoo, Golden Gate Park, Discovery Bay Museum, Day Street Park, Mitchell's ice cream, Lovejoy's Tea Shop, Terra Mia pottery painting, Disney's Aladdin musical, California Academy of Sciences, the Aquarium, In-N-Out burger for fries and vanilla shakes, Krispey Kreme donuts, and so on.  We also ate the strawberries and tomatoes that we grew on the decks, played with ALL of their toys, rode bikes and dump trucks (guess who). 

Ryker Graduates from Nursery School

I guess there are events to celebrate all sorts of different life stages.  Today Ryker "graduated" from The Hummingbirds.  He had a wonderful year with Adela, Alex and Idania, but it is time to move on to "big boy school" (pre-K) in the fall.

A Day Out With Thomas

Ryker LOVES his trains.  He plays with them everyday.  He has Thomas bed linens, wall stickers, underpants, jackets, shirts, bathing suit and lots and lots of trains.  At least I can say he uses all of it all of the time.

Roaring Camp is about 1 1/2 hours south of San Francisco.  It is an old camp with steam engines that run to the beach and the mountains.  Thomas the Tank Engine and Sir Topham Hat came to town.  It was a great day with moon bounce, face painting, bubbles, story telling.  Ryker and I had lots of fun together.

More at AVO's

My mother goes by "AVO" (Ancient Venerable One).  She has a fantastic assortment of toys and we love going there in the summer.  We go to the beach, play in her backyard, eat lobster (Ryker's comment?  "It's dead.  It's very very dead.").  Andrew painted the garage with Keelin and Annika's help.  We went on the ferry and ate lots of ice cream and cotton candy.  We all had a blast!

Summer at Avo's in Newport, RI

We had so much fun in Newport!  Annika came for a week.  Andrew brought Keelin from Ireland and we turned Avo's house into a zoo.  All of the kids slept together (when we could finally get them to sleep).  We ate lots of cotton candy, donuts, and ice cream.  We went to the beach and built sand castles and used the boogie board.  Ryker really wanted to go out in the big waves until one crashed on his head.  The trip brought back such fond memories of all of the summers I spent in Newport at the Bensons.

Auntie (L)isa

Ryker loves to see Lisa and her puppies. Ryker helped brush Harry the other night. Usually he's very good with them, but sometimes he scares them with his toys...

4th of July - Santa Cruz boardwalk

We went to the Santa Cruz boardwalk for 4th of July.  It was lots of fun but SO crowded.  Ryker made a new friend and they went on lots of rides together.

Ocean Beach

Daddy loves to take Ryker and Lisa's dogs, Noli and Harry to Ocean Beach for a walk on the beach.  It doesn't matter how cold it is, Ryker immediately strips off all of his clothes (he doesn't even like to wear a wet bathing suit) and splashes in the water.  When he's cold he rolls in the warm black sand.

Fairyland

Ryker loves going to Fairyland, a pint-sized amusement park from the 1950s in Oakland.