Dahms Family: September 2012

Our summer can best be described as Wild. It was wild- busy, wild-awesome, wild- themed birthday party, wild- children, wild- crazy...but mostly wild-fun. It was the best and most memorable summer for me so far. There was a great balance of vacation, time with kids and time with friends and family. This was the first year that we had no naps in the morning so we were out and about everyday putting stamps on our summer passport. Some of our favorite everyday activities were swim lessons at Hoyt, summer classes at the Y, Art Class at the Big Backyard, Sports Explorers through the Rec Dept., weekly visits to the zoo and library.

Some of the crazy wild comes from Kate being all over the place and into everything, Ryan deciding he does not nap at home anymore, except maybe every 4th day, Kate wanting to go potty, Ryan becoming a more independent thinker leading to things like colored train tracks and making his own choices regardless of what mom or dad said and Kate making a mess with the contents of her diaper- totally grossing us out! EWWW!

Kate: We have determined that Kate is an advanced child- she has started her terrible twos at only 18 months! While smiley and sweet, she can be sassy and stubborn- a little stinker (I have no idea where she gets that:) She wants to be more independent- no tray at the table, no help while eating... Her first instinct when something is not going her way is to shriek or grunt. She has also mastered a stink face and a firm "No!". We are working with her on using kind words:) She has recently begun to express what she wants with "I want that!" or "In a bowl". My favorite was when I turned on a song and she raised her hands in the air and shouted "I want to dance". So I got her down from her highchair and when danced! Some of our favorite words she uses are "I love you", "Minnie", "Football", "Nonni" for Ryan (I have no idea!), "Peas Momma", "Bapa"and "I Do!". Even when we are not asking, for example, "Who wants a banana?", she will shout "I do!" if she shes something she wants to eat or do.

Ryan: He started the summer working to earn rewards for making good choices and looking at people's eyes. When he earned a reward, he got to choose a paper popsicle with a reward on it. As a result, we went to see Brave, rented video games/movies, saw the Sea Lion Show at the zoo, rode the Carousel, went to Yo Mama, constructed and painted an airplane and much more. It has been fun to watch him grow and begin to reason and understand consequences for choices. One example where he didn't quite think through the consequences was when he and Kate were in the car, I went to grab our lunches and I hear loud crying. I asked what happened and he replied "I boxed her". "What do you mean you boxed her?" "I punched her in the face" One small commercial highlight from the Olympics stuck in his brain and turned into a jab into the cheek of his unsuspecting baby sister. We live and learn! He still has his pretend boy that seems to appear at the most convenient times- my pretend boy said that or my pretend boy did that. The most recent occurrence was yesterday when I told him he would not be able to read his new magazines in the car because it was too dark outside. He immediately replied "Sometimes my pretend boy's head can light up so I can see" My response:"Oh, well let's hope that happens tonight for you." This kid has quite the imagination! This year as I get ready to go back to school, Joe and I are getting Ryan ready to go to school for the first time. He is more than ready and I know he will thrive in a classroom. I'm so excited for him to begin this new adventure.