the boot

Today at 5:30 p.m. Davis pushed Ronin off the ottoman at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

At 7:30 p.m. Ronin and I took a trip to the ER.

By 9:00 p.m., we arrived home with "the boot" (the name given to the splint by Ronin).

For the worried family members, Ronin has a fractured bone in his foot, which his dad helped fix while at work in the ER.

Halloween

I nearly forgot to post some pictures of the boys in their get-up! Happy Late Halloween!

doctor Daddy

One of the boys' favorite activity lately is taking a bucket, putting it at the end of the couch, and doing a roll-over onto the couch.  

Ronin has realized that with the help of the bucket he can actually stand up on the arm rest.  This is, as you can imagine, a little dangerous.  He continued to experiment with ways he could mount the couch.

One of his experiments led to a fall from the arm rest to the floor.  He must have landed on his hand funny because his middle finger swelled up and he cried with tears (which is unusual for him).  After a few minutes of playing he would cry again from the pain.  Eventually, Kevin's medical training proved to be very beneficial.  He taped up Ronin's fingers and Ronin felt much better.  Thank you, Daddy.

Ronin's squats

Since potty training time is coming soon, I thought I would see if Ronin could take off his own pants when we were changing into pj's.  The result ended in him doing some pretty decent squats. We might have been a little too encouraging; now, you can just ask him to do squats and he starts right away.  Sorry you have to tilt your head to watch it. 

a good ol' back scratch

Ronin got sick around Friday or Saturday and during one of his sick nights, he awoke unable to get himself back to sleep.

Lately, he enjoys expressing his independence...a lot.  Apparently even in his sickness, he must maintain this.  I went in and picked him up to console him, but he wouldn't have it.  But he also did not want me to just leave him there.  

We eventually settled with him standing up in the bed, holding onto me with one hand and to the crib with the other and me scratching his back in a half hug.  After a minute or two of this, I asked him if he would lay down and I would scratch his back.  This was also okay with him, he laid down asked for his blankie, I scratched his back a little more and he drifted right back to sleep.

jar jar binks, anyone?

Last night after two successful hours of Ronin being in the big boy bed, I decided to be brave and take a bath. I left the door cracked so I could hear him, just in case. As I was just about ready to get out, I heard him crying. So with cat-like speed I was out of the bath and dressed, I opened the door and saw him: Ronin was standing in the middle of the hall with squinty eyes, holding the Jar Jar Binks (Star Wars) book, and looking at me very confused.

I took the book and told him it was still night time and put him back in bed. However, around eleven o'clock he woke up again convinced it was time to get up. For now, it's back to the crib for night time sleeping!

big boy in a big bed

I felt like today was the day. The day for Ronin to sleep in the bottom bunk of those famous bunk beds. So I laid him down with his regular blankie and stuffed animal, and he went right to sleep. Amazing!

Ronin's first real haircut

Ronin's hair was looking a little shaggy, and in the past I have cut his hair, but I thought it was time for him to get some professional treatment. There is a place I have driven by several times called Snip-Its. It's a place just for kids to get their hair cut. They don't even take appointments; I was amazed at the interior of the place as well as the skill of the stylists!When it's all said and done, they push their little card and a piece of hair into a machine and a surprise comes out, Ronin got bubbles. But his stylist also gave him a sucker, his first one ever. It was obvious that this was his first time, because Papa leaned over a little and when he did, all the saliva produced from that sucker came right of Ronin's mouth!

snort like a pig

Ronin has learned the sound for a pig and I think it is pretty hilarious, so I thought I would share it. Also, we have a print of Starry Night in our dining room and recently Davis taught Ronin how to say Van Gogh, only it comes out "ee-oh." Both are captured on this short video. Enjoy!

even Spiderman gets thirsty

Though Davis's time being sick wasn't pleasant, it did provide Ronin and me with a little quality time. I found this old Spiderman costume in a box and Ronin wanted it right away. For some reason, he calls Spiderman "Money" or at least that's what it sounds like he's saying. Anyhow, here are some pictures of the great Spidey:

the rotomill and repaving

We received a notice last week that our parking lot and street in our townhome complex were going to be repaved. Each section was scheduled a couple days and we were instructed to move our cars. Yesterday was day one for our section, but no work was done. So for today I was a little hesitant to move my car, but did it anyway.


This morning when we opened up our blinds, they were towing cars out of our parking lot. Davis and Ronin watched intently as all the big trucks moved in and out of our lot. Even though we've had breakfast and cartoon time, both the boys end up at the window watching the big trucks. I think it might be that way for most of the day.

let's celebrate...putting on our socks

Lately, Ronin gets excited about lots of things. The best part is, he proclaims it with an excited, "Yay!!" everytime so you don't miss it. And so it goes, "Yay," we parked the car. "Yay," my diaper's changed. "Yay," my shoes are on. "Yay," we're eating. And really, the list goes on and on. I can't complain though, it's definitely made me appreciate the much smaller things in life.

a stroll in Manitou

If you know Ronin, you know he doesn't like to be held for more than about two minutes. On a whim, we went to Manitou last week and walked around for a bit, Ronin started to get a little cranky, so Kevin took him to walk with him (the picture) but Kevin ended up carrying him around for about a half hour! The boy loves his Daddy.

real phones, real Life

Ronin likes to play; right now, it's the only thing he likes to do, he doesn't like to sit still for anything. Lately his favorite toy is a phone that a friend gave us. It is a real phone, it is completely functional: the keys work, the sounds work, the camera works, it even will make a call--but you'll only hear an automated voice telling you your service cannot be validated. Ronin has since lost interest in his "play" phones. None of them make him happy quite like the real one.

I am pretty amazed at his affinity for things that are "real" that he can play with, it doesn't matter what it is, it's better if it's the real thing. It didn't take too long for it to hit me that I am no different. To me it's better to have the real thing: Dr. Pepper is better than Dr. Thunder (the Sam's choice version), Sugar is better than Splenda, a haircut at a salon is better than at Supercuts, and the list could go on, but the point is the same I have a sense that there is more value in things that are genuine (it's even true of non-tangibles). It's also true of life in Jesus, that is where real life is, it is where we will feel truly human, because only in Him will we be fully functional.

Ronin's first big ow-ie

I'm surprised that this hasn't happened sooner, a scratch like the one you see on his forehead. The boy has no sense of caution: he only knows not to jump off the couch because it's a "no-no"; he has learned how to make his body like a surfboard so he can glide down the stairs as fast as possible; he bangs his head on our front screen door, and these are just a few of the things he does.

Ronin was walking down our small front sidewalk and lost his balance, he partially softened his fall with his hands, but obviously it wasn't enough. Also, the scratch looks worse now than it did when I took the picture.

a real deal walker

Some of you know the saga of Ronin's adventure in walking. It just seems it has taken a very long time for him to be confidently and consistently walking. A couple weeks ago, I could finally say that Ronin is walking! Here's a video as proof for you skeptics!

that moment

It seems there is a moment when you look at your little one and he doesn't look so little anymore, the baby is nearly gone and all that is left is a toddler. Yesterday that moment happened for Ronin. Look at him in his t-shirt, jeans, and converse!

look how big

Because Davis is squatting next to his "very long roller coaster" you can't really see how big he's getting, but he is all boy now, not an ounce of toddler left in him (except maybe his pant size). Ronin is on the left with his friend, Wesley. Ronin is definitely toddling around. He walks more and more everyday!

I can't take the credit for these great pictures, Wesley's mom took them, Thanks!

desperate times

I would bank on nearly every person knowing what follows that phrase...call for desperate measures. We went swimming today and it just knocks Ronin out; he was asleep within 3 minutes of being in the car. As a result, he took his nap early without having lunch, which put his entire routine off a little.

During this past week, Ronin has consistently used the sign "please" correctly, it is not only cute, but very (might I say VERY) helpful and effective. However, it has replaced some other signs that he was using, like "milk" simply because it achieves the same goal. Though I still sign "milk" to him when it is given.

Tonight after our FRG Game Night, where the children doubled the attendance I sat Ronin in his chair for his before-bed milk and snack. Before I even had him buckled he was signing "milk" as if he hadn't had any for days. Are we not the same? When we are feeling really desperate, it's as if all the sudden we can clearly communicate exactly what it is we need.

in honor of Kenzi...

I have been doing my best to motivate Ronin to walk, we borrowed a walker-toy from a friend, I cheer for every attempt, I applaud when he just stands on his own. He took three steps last Friday, and has done about that many or less since then.

Last night, he took eight (honoring Kenzi) steps at our friend's house!!! We all cheered. Davis got so excited he gave me a huge hug. Needless to say, we're pretty excited. Probably me most of all--this means I won't have to carry him anymore!!