First Day of Preschool!

Today was Ryan's first day of preschool! 

He is in the "two-year old program" at his preschool and goes three days a week. Grandma will be taking him to and from school and this morning she picked him up and I met them in the parking lot. He has three teachers and 8 kids in his class (4 girls and 4 boys). That's an amazing student/teacher ratio! Here are a few photos from his first big adventure!

Grandma and Ryan walking in to his new school!

So excited to paint a picture for mommy and daddy.

Trying to hear the ocean waves in his seashell

He was a chainsaw! He was saying "rrrrrrr! cut, cut, cut" as he sliced his Play Doh

They had BLUE sand!

Getting used to things...and liking all the new trucks and diggers.

Cars zooming down the ramp.

 Ryan really enjoyed his first day however he isn't completely sure about the idea of Grandma leaving him! I'm guessing by the end of the week things will be easier on that front. So looking forward to what this preschool experience has to offer!

Uncle Jack

 In just ten days, so much has changed...

Nine days ago, at 7 pm or so, my uncle, Jack Inmon, had a severe heart attack at the age of 64.  It took the medics 40 minutes to revive and stabilize him.  Eight days ago, he had survived the heart attack and we were praying for him to be strong enough for heart bypass surgery.  Seven days ago, he was supposed to wake up.  He did not.  Six days ago, the doctor told us he had suffered massive, severe brain injuries due to his loss of heart function. The predictions of his recovery were zero percent.  His only son, David, arrived from Las Vegas to be at his side.  Five days ago, his daughter, Jessica, arrived home from Paris where she had been studying since last September. Four days ago, we met again with the neurologist who repeated his message for all of us to hear, that our beloved father, husband, brother, uncle, son-in-law, brother-in-law would never come back to us.  The difficult decision to discontinue life support was made, knowing this was clearly his stated wish should he ever be in a situation like this.  Late Sunday evening, life support was removed.  He came to rest in the early morning hours today.

He leaves behind his wife, Ling Inmon, daughter Jessica, daughter Whitney, son David, favorite cousin Heather, sisters Nancy and Paula and their families.  In addition, he leaves behind the Chow family of San Francisco:  Henry, Carmen, Wayne, Sharon, Calvin, Helen, Kwan and their families.  He was cherished by a large extended family who will deeply miss the joyful love of life that burned so brightly in him.

The magnitude of his loss will slowly sink in, in the coming weeks and years....and so will the healing. I'm not going to rush it. It seems to wash over me in waves, some small, some bigger. Some of the waves bring a smile to my face, while others bring tears. I know he lived his life to the fullest and as my heart aches, it is also filled with joyful memories.

"We are so lightly here. It is in love that we are made. In love we disappear."
                                                                    — Leonard Cohen

First professional haircut!!

 

Ryan went to same barber Boppa sees and Mr. Joe cut his hair. He was in the chair along side all the men and did not have one fuss or tear!! Yay!!

one

Happy 1st Birthday, Ashlyn! What a year it has been...it has flown by! This year is one I have cherished more than you can know. Not only is the addition of PINK to our household been wonderful, you have really been a BABY for your first year of life. Unlike your brother, you have not been flying as fast through each developmental stage and it has been so fun to really enjoy your "babyhood" and we are loving that we have had so much fun time to cuddle, watch you learn to crawl, babble and just be a baby.

You are such a happy girl. You are a snuggler, observer, and a bit of a "drama-mama" when you get your feelings hurt. Most of the time you have an easy-going way about you (you are very patient) and are truly a sweetheart. You are so adaptable - for example you very quickly and easily adapted to your crib after sleeping beside me for your first 11 months. You don't want to miss out on anything and can rally if there is a party and will go extra long stretches without a nap if we are out and about. You don't nap, generally, unless we are at home or in the car.

You think Kai is the funniest dog ever and are often content to watch him and/or your brother run circles all around you. Your first (and only) word is da-da but you're sure trying to say more with all kinds of "talking" and noises. You like to clap and every time you hear someone say "yay" you put your hands together and grin ear to ear. You have little curls forming as your hair gets longer and you still have a bit of a mohawk as well.

Your in the 9th percentile for weight (18 pounds) and the 66th for height. You have five teeth (two on top, three on bottom) and are still nursing (and not showing signs of weaning) and trying new foods. The nickname "Bean" is now "Beansprout" in part because you're pretty tiny. You can still fit many of your 3-6 months tops (onsies) but are in 12 month pants and pjs. You are just starting to pull yourself up and are crawling at new speeds now. Walking doesn't seem to interest you *yet* and you love jumping in your bouncer. You LOVE to be upside down and have such an adorable belly laugh! 

We celebrated your big day by making you your own pineapple upside-down cake and you enjoyed it immensely! We skipped a party for you and you didn't seem to mind a bit. Ryan sang "Happy Birthday" to you about 10 times last night and your face lit up watching him serenade you.

We love you so much and look forward to your second year. xoxo

First word!!

Ashlyn is saying "da-da"

9 months

Ashlyn was nine months on Friday! Time is sure flying by...it's hard to imagine that her first birthday is in just a few months!

Ashlyn (a.k.a. Sissy, Sister, Sis, and Bean) has an adorable twinkle in her eye, is very patient, is sitting up, rarely rolling over, "talking" (especially to her brother and wow to they get going back and forth), and is on her way to crawling. She is still a lightweight but is average to tall for her age. She is eating a couple of servings of baby food per day, still nursing, and having a few bites of table food here and there. We are slowly introducing things but she is very interested in what we are eating. She still sleeps in a portable crib in our room and I'm hoping we will transition her to her own room soon. She cut her first tooth over Christmas and still only has one pearly white. Teething was hard on her - much more than it ever was for Ryan - so we had a bit of a learning curve while she was pretty uncomfortable and fussy when that tooth emerged.

We are looking forward to the milestone ahead for Ashlyn and are loving and embracing the last bits of "babyhood" around here. In a blink we'll have two toddlers!

Happy nine months sweet baby girl!

Yay!

I got home from work on Wednesday and the challenge began! It has been just over four days and I am thrilled to announce Ryan is potty trained! Day one was actually the only day that we had multiple outfit changes (about 16 - I didn't know he could even "go" that many times in a day). Day two and three were only a couple of outfit changes (despite all the Christmas hub-bub). We are still putting a diaper on him during his nap and at bed, but other than sleeping...no more diapers for Ryan! Yay!!

This is one his favorite books about ditching the diaper. Seemed a little better than a photo of him using the potty. Congrats Ryan! We are so excited for you!

%

Ashlyn and Ryan went to the Dr. today for their "well care" visits...

At 5 months: Ashlyn is 18% for weight @ 13 lbs. and 75% for height @ 2' 1.9"

At 2 years: Ryan is 94% for weight @ 33 lbs. and 98% for height @ 3' 1.25"

 

 

 

And here is the swing set Rob built!

September Summary!

It has been an extremely busy fall! Here's what we've been up to:

Ryan's cake, decorated by grandma and mama

 Ryan: First and foremost - Happy Birthday, sweet boy! Ryan turned two yesterday and we celebrated by having 40 friends and family over for dinner, a pinata, play time on our new swing set/big toy and of course, cake and ice cream. It did rain a bit, but our friends are such troopers and everyone grabbed boots and coats and made the best of things.

Ryan got his cast off in late August and is back to running, jumping and climbing. He can sing his ABC's, loves Curious George, still takes long afternoon naps, and is learning how to use his imagination (SO fun to see him pretend!). We have been working on a few new concepts...one is man vs. woman...we're still working on that one! And I'm also trying to help him understand what "changing his attitude" means. He calls it his "atti-tune" - which I love. He is grasping concepts that surprise us and keeping him busy and engaged is important these days (otherwise he gets bored and sometimes naughty). We'll be getting him back into swimming lessons again soon and hopefully finding other outlets for our busy little guy.

I am excited for Ryan's year ahead and know there are so many adventures in store for him. He is A LOT of fun and personality-packed. Rob and I both comment daily how "funny" or "cute" Ryan is and our hearts are full and lives so much richer because of him.

Rob: after Labor Day weekend, Rob and a friend left for a week of elk hunting. They had no cell service and he had a long week of hiking, biking, sleeping in a tent and getting rained on. He and his hunting partner saw two elk on day one they wish they would had gone for. As it turns out, they didn't get a shot again the rest of the hunt.

Two days after he got home, Rob started building Ryan and Ashlyn a swingset from scratch. It's HUGE and has three swings, a super long slide, a large platform/tower, climbing wall, stairs, and covered sandbox. He still needs to put the roof on and I will get a photo of it up soon. He worked on it for the whole last week so it would be ready for Ryan's birthday party yesterday. Everyone at the party thought it was from a "kit" - if I may toot his horn...he is amazing! He can think in 3-D and after he and I sketched our plan, he just went out and built it! Thank you, honey! A HUGE thank you to my parents as well for helping with childcare and lending a hand so we could get this built. My dad helped shovel 5 yards of pea gravel and who knows how many pounds of sand...he is an energizer bunny!

 Ashlyn: is now 5 months old, still a great sleeper/eater, and very smiley! She tries to "talk" to us now and is starting to show her personality more and more. She has a great sense of humor and laughs at us (hey Ashlyn, be nice!) a lot, but also has a quick fuse when she's over tired or hungry. She is just now entering into that "fighting sleep" phase I remember Ryan having. Thankful for the paci these days :) She is long but little - weighing about 14 pounds. She's far from the supersized baby her brother was! It is fun seeing her personality develop and get a kick out of her when she "gets the giggles".

Brooke: I am thankful to be healthy and am overall very happy, but work for me this year is proving to be more challenging than ever before. I have referred to this year is "The Year of the Hampsterwheel" and with reason! I am still working as the Marketing Director and am in the office 80%.  I do have an assistant now, but I have also taken on a new job in addition to my current position. So...I am now the Director of Marketing and Alumni Relations. I am trying my best to keep up with a toddler, infant, and a new and bigger job. So far so good, but as you can see from my infrequent blogging, I'm B.U.S.Y.  A little too busy for my taste...but I'm thankful to have a job with great co-workers, benefits and retirement. And it's fun to have a new challenge set in front of me. I may have to forego some of my personal time blogging etc, but I'm hopeful I'll get a handle on my new pace and get back to my hobbies soon :)

I hope all of you are well. We were blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family celebrate with us yesterday that I feel caught up on many of your lives. Facebook is also such a great and easy way to stay in touch. I will post more soon and next time I'll make sure it's in the from of great photographs! xoxo, Brooke

Tibia...

Well...life took an unexpected turn on Thursday when Ryan broke his leg. He was at the YMCA in a toddler discovery class with my dad and my cousin Brandon. He was just being a toddler, running, jumping, playing...and he took a fall that fractured his tibia. Turns out it is a very common break often referred to as the "toddler's fracture" and heals quickly. But in the meantime, Ryan has a long leg cast and can't walk or crawl for four weeks. We will be carrying him and toting him in a wagon for a month and have the buff arms to prove it!

Day one was sad...our busy, busy, little guy had a tough time understanding WHY "the man" put a cast on his leg. He kept saying, "take it off mama...take it off daddy" and there were some tears for sure. But by today, Ryan has adapted well and woke up saying "Cast on leg. Can't walk." and spent the day playing with new toys from Grandma, Auntie Myra and cousin Nicole. We also took a trip to the fire department to see a fire engine and then had a picnic at Chambers Bay. Lots of family time, one-on-one time and fresh air seem to be the ticket!

Thank you to all of our wonderful friends and incredible family for your support! It will be cumbersome at times and I know he is going to get "cabin fever" - but we're counting our blessings he is a healthy little boy who only has a broken leg. And we know it will bring some unexpected blessings (like extra snuggle time, more alphabet studying, fine motor skill development, etc) to have him slowed way down for the next month. Here are some photos from the last 48 hours....love to you all!

Bike Ride

Camping

Last weekend we went camping with Rob's sister Gloria and her family. It was great to see the cousins all play together. Ryan also really started riding his bike! The weather was great and we have managed to finally wash all the campfire smell out of our hair around here :)