Dahms Family: 2011

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Happy Fall!

It has been a busy, but wonderful start to the school year and Fall. As our children become more active, we find ourselves out and about more and asking ourselves "Where does the time go?"

Ryan and Kate are both keeping us on our toes, but smiling while we do it! I think Joe and I both agree that our favorite thing to do is watch Ryan and Kate interact. Ryan is such a sweet big brother and Kate absolutely adores him (when she's not yelling at him- we are trying to minimize the bossyness already!). Today when I walked into the kitchen for lunch he was setting Kate's tray up with a baby doll, a book and a block for her to play with. It was the sweetest gesture!

Kate is officially an army crawler. She especially loves to crawl to remotes, the baby monitor lights and over to Daddy's mini helmets and bang them together. Joe and I were convinced she was going to be a terror after having such a chill baby Ryan. But she has proved us wrong thus far (I know her day will come). Dona, our daycare provider, said she would take 11 Kate's any day. Everyday I pick her up at Dona's she throws her hands in the air, flaps her arms and screams- my heart melts every time! I think the most amazing thing she does is go to sleep when we put her in her crib. Our wide eyed baby will stare at her glowing seahorse or aquarium, put her two fingers in her mouth and eventually fall asleep. People ask us how we do it; we have absolutely no idea! But, we are extremely thankful! She is continuing to be a vocal baby. She loves to talk and yell loudly for no apparent reason. We luckily found out that she loves to hear us sing. So as soon as she starts yelling, Ryan and I will bust into song. She seems to love everything- swim lessons, food, people...oh, everything but sippy cups- she is definitely not a fan of those yet! The thing that makes us laugh the most is her love of the baby in the mirror in the car. She has started to belly laugh at herself as she kicks her legs in her car seat or waves a toy. Every time we get in the car she squeals as if she is greeting herself. While she is extremely easy going, she is particular about some things.

1. She has become a puff snob- meaning she will eat all the puffs on her tray and not touch the Cheerios. She squeals in delight whenever the puffs container is brought out of the cabinet.

2. She is grossed out/disturbed by unfamiliar textures- rubber lizard, doll hair

3. She much prefers remotes and Momma's keys to baby toys- if taken away, she will let you know she is not happy

Ryan Edward amazes us every single day. He is a conversationalist and an attention seeker (as everyone who was at my Tupperware party found out as he modeled his engineer costume to everyone individually). One day as we pulled into Dona's, we noticed she had her Fall decorations up. His response was "Wow, I'm so proud of her." Then he walked into her and told her "I'm so proud of you!" What a funny guy!

His imagination continues to grow- he loves to work on cars like a mechanic, play restaurant, doctor, He loves to take in the world, asking lots of questions and making discoveries like "Momma, my heart is beating!". He has finally started singing on his own- singing was never something he did. Now I will hear him singing to Kate or himself. He has always liked music though and still does. The Script came on the radio and he yelled "I love this song"

Some other funny moments:

*As we drive by Miller Park- "Who plays there?" Ryan's response "Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Ernie (aka Bernie)"

*When my cousin's son told Ryan he was his best cousin, Ryan replied "My favorite cousin is Luke!"

*At the mall, Ryan saw a Bernie the Brewer pillow pet. Joe asked if he wanted it for Christmas. Ryan said "No, I want to get it for Fall Day" (He completely made up this holiday!)

*He the thinks jumping rope is literally jumping with a rope in his hand

*After he ran away from Joe and Hart Park and would not stop, Joe said "That was very dangerous." Ryan replied "No it's not. Look it's a park."

*He was upset that his car would not attach to the trailer so I said "Bring it over here and I'll help you." The Ryan said "No, I want you to bring you over here".

Pumpkin Walk

Kissing Snoopy

Luke and Ryan

Happy Boy!

Cleaning up at Grandpa Y's Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Bupa

Groovin Bears Class at the zoo

Beast Mode

Go Brewers

Susuan G. Koman Race for the Cure- Year 3

Best Buddies

Friday, September 9, 2011

August 2011

We had a blast this summer! Here are some photos that captured some of the fun:

Pirate Fest in Oconomowoc

Brewer Game

Pirate Kate

Ryan's 3rd Birthday Party

Tired Kate

Pickles help with teething!

Very serious at the first dentist appointment

One of many trips to Lowes during the basement remodel

Happy Kate at the zoo

Fun with Nana at State Fair

Swimming at Hoyt Pool

Kate's 1st Brewer Game

Eating at Maggianos for Momma's birthday

Ryan dressed Kate up as Santa

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Silly Kate

Happy July!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Baby I'm Amazed by You

As Joe and I approach our 6 year anniversary(wow, where did the time go?), I think back to when we first started dating. Lonestar's song Amazed became our song. Now, almost 12 years later, this song has taken on a new meaning for us as our love for each other has grown into family. In the past two months especially, celebrating Mother's and Father's Day, we have said to each other countless times, "Our kids are amazing!". We would even turn to each other as Ryan sits quietly on his timeout mat after not listening (That's a 1..2..3..timeout), hands held up to hide our smiling faces, and whisper "Look how cute he is! He is so amazing. We are so lucky!". Meanwhile, Kate rolls around on a blanket on the floor "talking" to her toys and shaking her rattles. Seriously, how did we get blessed with such amazing kids?

Ryan has grown tremendously as he prepares to become a three year old next month. I sometimes have to stop and remember I am having a conversation with my son, who not too long a ago was just a cooing baby. The reality of him becoming a big kid did not fully sink in even as we potty trained, watched him brush his teeth, put on his own clothes, listened to constant questions like "Why Daddy? or "Why 'cus Momma?"...No, it wasn't until I signed him up for the Movin' and Grovin' class at the YMCA. As soon as I clicked the enroll button I noticed it was a "Child Only" class. What? Not Mommy and Me? It was then that I realized my baby is growing faster than I would prefer. There are times when the meaning of the Terrible Twos is fully understood in our house, making me wish for this phase to be over. But then I read an article in Parenting magazine and everything is put in perspective. After taking a quiz about my toddler's behavior I checked the answer key. It read..."If you mostly answered C then...we don't don't believe you! You must have an angel child." Then spontaneous moments like "I have the best momma. You are the best Daddy. And I have the best Kate!" come flooding to the forefront of my mind and I am reminded, yes, he truly is amazing- the yelled "I'm not happy with you, momma!" comments and all!

*Kate is as happy as a baby could possibly be! She loves playing with toys and lovies, which is a change from Ryan as a baby. Her favorite is her glowing seahorse. We will put Kate in her crib wide awake, turn on her seahorse and she will be out in 5 minutes- amazing! She is entering the transition phase- moving out of the infant car seat, swing, bouncer and now beginning to sit up, roll anywhere and everywhere, sit in a high chair and shopping cart and eat solid foods, including grabbing and eating cheerios. Eating has quickly become Kate's favorite hobby. She would eat solids all day long if we would let her- I call her my eating monster. She loves food so much, she will begin to cry immediately after I take the spoon out of her mouth to get another spoonful. Kate has been known to grab soda cans, open her mouth while we are eating and grunt and then bite food like a dog snatching a treat from your hand. Since she is such an eating monster, I was worried when we took her out to eat at a restaurant- I always get nervous about disrupting others. She finished her dinner before ours came to the table and began to cry. I didn't have any other food packed- yikes. So we gave her a water bottle and she was content until we left- same happened with sunglasses. She is so happy, snuggly, giggly and easy to love- she is amazing!

Happy Father's Day!