A ride on the Spooner Express!

And the holidays are upon us

We've entered the holiday season and we've been getting harassed that poor Nick is getting cold out in the boat (last posted picture). I figure if I don't update this now it will be a while since the next month is looking a little crazy for us.

The past few months were pretty busy - I traveled to DC for work for three nights in October and it was the longest I've been away from Nick. We considered that a test to see if I'd be able to handle a vacation (minus the boy) this winter--and it was hard but I think I passed. So Tim and I have been talking to the travel agent and are looking at something for January or February. Tim's been away from Nick on a few occassions for whole weekends so he should be OK too. And I'm sure Nick will be fine splitting his time between his grandparents and still seeing his buddies at daycare.

Halloween was fun this year--we took Nick to the Halloween parade in Anoka and he went trick-or-treating for the first time. He loved running down the street and going up to everybody's house, knocking on doors and seeing our neighbors pets. We went to a pumpkin patch just down the road and Nick went on his first pony ride.

We've been up to the cabin a few times in the past couple of months and spent some time in WI during deer hunting. Tim managed to get two does this year, which was pretty good since deer sightings were pretty scarce this season.

Thanksgiving weekend was a nice break for all of us--with the one exception of an emergency vet visit on Thanksgiving day for Scooter. After having his urinary system flushed out and put on antibiotics and new kind of food, he's doing good. We also celebrated Alison's second birthday on Saturday and Nick was very interested in helping her open her presents. He went bowling for the first time on Sunday and was a little upset he couldn't run around carrying the bowling balls (the lightest ones were 6 lbs - which is pretty heavy for a little guy). But he did really get a kick out of pushing the balls down the lane.

Nick's been (I'm literally knocking on wood as I type this) healthy so far this fall/winter and we really hope it stays that way. He has his 18 month appointment recently and he is, of course, a big boy. 34 inches tall and 28 pounds - he's in the top 92 percent for height.

Here are some random pictures from the past few months. We're going to be taking Christmas pictures soon and I'll update the blog with those photos soon. (Or else a certain someone will start threatening me again--you know who you are!)

The first snow of the year - back in early October at the cabin.

Tim was a little too excited to be able to cut down this pine tree - he's been wanting to do it for years.

Nick loves the Grandpa Mark's tractor.

We took Nick and Ali to the Children's Museum - they had a blast together. Ali even defended Nick when other kids took toys from him - what a good big cousin!

Nick's favorite thing at the musuem.

Nick's first pony ride!


Nick and Ali at the Halloween parade in Anoka.

Nick on the front steps, ready to go on Halloween night.

Nick Trick-Or-Treating at the neighbors house

In the garage helping dad winterize the boat. And playing a little basketball.

Nick has started to cuddle a little more - and mom loves it!

Say cheese!

This is my "I swear, I didn't do anything" look.

Each year Tim grows a beard for hunting, then shaves it off in some disturbing fashion. He actually kept it this way for over a day, and went to Ali's birthday party like this. Gross.

Nick and Ali at Ali's birthday party.

Summer

I realize this is the first post in nearly three months. Summer is a very busy time for the Rymans. The cabin calls to us nearly every weekend and those weekends we didn't travel up north were always jam-packed with activities here at home. Plus we got a new camera sometime ago and we had an interim period "between cameras" where we actually didn't take too many photos.

But we had a wonderful summer. We had so much fun doing new things with Nick. I can say that we are all sad to see it go, but we're trying to look forward to all the fun things we're already planning for the fall.

Here are a few photos of summer activities.

Here is Nick in the boat on Lake Minnetonka. We went out on the lake just yesterday - one last time to take the boat out this summer.

Nick loves to play outside more than anything (one of the many reason's I'm nervous for cold weather to come). He wakes up and before I can put a clean diaper on him he's already yelling "outside, outside, outside!" He will sit down on the step and try to put his shoes on - he can't quite master it yet - but it's his way of letting us know, it's time to go outside.

Loves to play with Dad's sunglasses.

Ahhh, what a cutie!

Just playing at home.

"Ummm, can you guys get this tube out of the shed for me? I want to go for another ride!" Yes, Nick went on several tube rides this summer. With mom, with dad, and even one ride with Mom, Aunt Kat and cousin Alison (Yes, all four us fit on one tube - you can see here it is huge!)

Nick loves bubbles. He hasn't learned yet how to blow them himself - he will just put the whole thing in his mouth.

And this photo shows two of Nick's favorite things in the world - 1.) being naked and 2.) any kind of tractor. He loves the lawn mower and Grandpa's bigger tractor. He climbs on the lawnmower, sits in the seat and plays with the key. It won't be long until he figures out how to actually start the thing. I have a feeling with his obsession with driving things we're going to be paying someone to fix our garage when he runs the car through it at age 3.

All in all we had a great summer. Nick's doing really well. He's 16 months old today and growing in every way. He's at the 93rd percentile for height (go figure) and nearly every day I come home surprised at what new thing he learned to do or what concept he now understands. He is very sweet, loves to give the kitty's and other kids hugs and will sometimes humor mom with a hug and kiss. He will no longer walk up or down the stairs as a "baby" and insists on walking down and up like a "big boy". This of course makes me nervous, hence all the baby gates, but he always waits to hold mom or dad's hand - at least so far. He had his last sip of milk from a bottle and is now 100 percent using cups. He also is working on transitioning to one nap a day (like today), which wouldn't be bad if his one nap was every longer than 30 minutes.

He is very much a daddy's boy - he is so in love with Tim. Whenever he even leaves the room Nick will yell in protest, "Dada, Dada, Dada!" I think it's adorable, even when it makes me jealous.

We will try to do a better job updating this blog with photos and such this fall.

June Update

We've been pretty busy this past month. Below are a few photos of some of the good stuff.

Mom and Nick took a train ride in the kiddie park at Como Zoo. Nick's first ride!

Nick was excited to watch the game.

Nick was so excited to see the Twins Bear - he loved him! Even when he was pretending to eat him.

Just letting things air out after playing in the sand and swimming in the lake.

Oh playing all day is such hard work!

A beautiful sunset on Viola Lake.

I don't know about anyone else, but this does not look comfortable to me. But Nick loves to sleep this way.

Nick has passed a few pretty big milestones this past week. He took his first steps alone last Saturday at the cabin - Grandma Judy was watching and she just about gave me a heart attack when she screamed. By today, Nick is walking across the room by himself - he's really confident and very steady already.

Besides learning how to walk last weekend, he also cut a tooth. A molar. But wait, that's not true. He didn't cut A molar - he cut ALL FOUR MOLARS in two days! My poor baby! We felt so bad for the little guy but he did amazingly well - he is one tough little guy. At least he's done with the teeth for a few months...we hope.

We are super excited for the 4th of July - we've been planning to take some time off and hang out at the cabin. I think I hear a margarita calling my name....

One Year Photo Shoot

It was Nick's first birthday on May 20 - we had a nice party at the house. Thanks to everyone who came over and helped celebrate - it was great.


Last weekend we had a photo's taken to mark Nick's one year. We used the neighbor's backyard - cause it's more beautiful than any park I know - and some in our house. They turned out AMAZING. I am so happy with them.

It is seriously hard to pick good ones from the 100-plus photos, but here is a small sample.