Dude-isms

Random "dude-isms" that I thought I'd share with his viewing audience.

*Counting goes a little something like this....1,2,3,4,5,6,Rylan,8,9,10! Hands go up in the air at this point. There are ALWAYS 10 of any given object we're counting. Next in the counting order comes 15 three times and then 18, 19 and a number he has apparently made up because we have no idea what he's saying.

*At the toy store yesterday, the owner's dog was doing tricks for the kids. When the dog rolled over, dude laughed from the bottom of his belly, got down on the floor with the dog and started rolling across the store.

*Momma, Momma, Momma, Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Momma, Mommy, Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Annoyed yet? Yeah. That's every day for me. Every day, all day.

*We're having trouble with "n's" lately. So, I ask him to say "nananana-Necklace" for example. He calls necklaces "glasses." He responds with the following...."Nananana- Glasses." And he has showed signs of thinking he needs to say "Nananana" before all his words. Yesterday was "Nananana Apple Juice!" I guess that one's backfiring on me.

*He got his first scraped knee yesterday but as soon as I told him it was a Silly Knee, he thought it was awesome and hilarious. Hopefully he doesn't try to skin the other one as a result.

*Shorts have taken some getting used to. When Tim first put them on him a few weeks back he insisted they come off and kept saying "Rylan pants!" He apparently thought they were broken since he could see his bare legs. He still does a double take when I put them on but has learned to deal.

That's all for today. Each day brings more 2 year old smiles, so I'll keep ya posted on the cutest of the cuteness.

Butty

Dude is very selective with what words he enunciates beautifully and the words he hacks the heck out of. Taking a BUTTY (Tubby) is one of the words he hacks in a way that only Mom and Dad can understand. He has never once said "yes" when asked if he wants to take a tubby, but once we're in, it's a highlight of our day. I'm considering wearing a bathing suit for upcoming buttys as more water ends up on the bathroom floor than in the actual tub.

Progress & Pine Cones

Progress.

Where's the 2 year old in this picture? He sat there for 20 minutes singing "Twinkle Twinkle" and talking to the umbrella.

There was a shimmer of beauty in the midst of yesterday's gloomy clouds and drizzle. A shed was born. See above for the results of Tim and Wes's sweat and tears. Well, they didn't really sweat since it was 50 degrees and definitely didn't cry, but you know what I mean. Thanks to our dear Cara for sacrificing your hubby for the sake of our storage crisis. It just needs some paint (any volunteers?) and we'll be done with that project. A handy right hand man is such a beautiful thing.

We woke up to sunshine and blue sky today, so after church we went on a short hike (aka, follow dude wherever he runs) through the park. He successfully cleared the ground of every single pine cone visible to the human eye and whipped them into the river. When the pine cones were gone, he moved on to dandelions. Nature truly is the best playground out there.

My preppy boys.

One pine cone down, 256 to go.

The Gateway to Dude's Future Love of Racing

My hubby loves the idea of having a son who he can mold to love all things racing. Not Nascar folks. At our house we watch F-1 and something called "Rolex" events that I see eating up 4 hour time slots on the DVR on a regular basis. I don't know. I just try to be a good, supportive racing wife. That has meant countless hours at racing schools and track events in both scalding temps and freezing rain. Its been a hobby that has allowed us to bond throughout the years. I have to say, my stud is quite the rock star amateur racer.

Anyway, dude has made it overly clear that he loves baseball, basketball, soccer...anything with a ball really. Other than asking to ride in Daddy's "coo car" every day, not a whole lot of interest in cars has been displayed. Until Sunday. Dad came home from a day of racing school in Eastern Colorado and dude discovered the helmet Dad wears while on track. A love affair developed between duder and this helmet, so we now have hope that this noggen protector will be the link that connects our little man with his future love of racing. Keep the faith Dad! Quality father and son bonding time at the track is yet to come!

A Museum all to Ourselves (kinda)

What to do when a huge blizzard is taking effect, both husband and wife have the day off work and you know you're going to be locked in your house for the coming 48 hours? You go to the Children's Museum of course! My parents gave us a free membership, which has been awesome, so we took Dad with us for the first time. Duder had a blast running around the place like he owned it. Not many people ventured out in the midst of the white stuff falling rapidly from the sky, but my hubby loves nothing more than driving in "weather," so we had the place virtually to ourselves.

Buster danced in front of the mirrors with various hats on for half hour.

High five to the creepy pig wearing a mid-riff shirt & a diaper.

A Big Melt Down

The sun shines here 90% of the year. But when it's not shining, watch out! Our weather acts a lot like a prepubescent female teen (well , me as a prepubescent teen). Sunny and beautiful one minute and raging snow storms the next. But then sunny and beautiful again 2 seconds later. That was this past weekend. We got about 12 inches at our house...the road up to the mountains was completely shut down and the neighborhood where Tim works got zero snow. Some reporters said the world was coming to an end. Well, it didn't, but it was a crazy snowy weekend. Dude loved it. I took him out to shovel yesterday when it was near 70. This week is shaping up to be near 80, so there ya go. Our 12 inches is melting down. Quickly. You just never know in the Mile High City. Gotta love livin' on the edge.

Who Wins for "Most Fun?"

Last weekend Wes and Tim hit up one of suburbia's hot spots (Home Depot) and spent 2 hours grunting about what wood is best and most appropriate for our new, much needed shed. Tim's sanctuary (the garage) has been cluttered with STUFF since the day we moved in. Hes been incredibly patient in waiting for the prime opportunity to build up a new home for all the STUFF. That opportunity came, without my prior knowledge, when I went to San Diego. Much progress was made last weekend.

While the men continued their grunting, measuring, cutting, nailing and drinking beer, I joined forces with Cara and our kiddos and went to the Wildlife Museum for a nice quiet Saturday visit. When we pulled into the parking lot and were greeted with a huge sign reading "Welcome to the April Egg Eggstravaganza," we knew our hopes of a quiet visit were squashed. Too late to turn back, so we dared the crowds and enjoyed watching the kids enjoy the madness.

Who had more fun? I'll let you be the judge.

HE AROSE - Let's Hunt Eggs!

There are a whole lot of very cool things that we've been blessed with in this life. Easter happens to be at the very top of that list. If Christ dying on a cross and rising from the dead isn't reason enough to get together, sing hymns, eat ham n' potato casserole and hunt hundred of eggs, I don't know what is.

The first cutest bunny

A close but yet so distant second

Easter at Oma Bosch's house was once again memorable. Despite the drizzle and coldish temps, we still got out there and experienced the egg hunts in their entirety. Oma was stationed inside the big picture window this year to guide the adult hunt, adding a whole new element of fun. No injuries were had this year and a lot less complaints about being stuck with the Peep filled eggs were heard from the hunters. The picture below shows the sheer athleticism and fierce competition had during the hunt. Oh yeah, the little kids had a lot of fun too:)

2 Eggs & a Big ole Bunny

Easter has not yet arrived, but dude has been getting in the spirit (the commercialized Easter spirit, but his 2 year old brain doesn't quite understand dying on a cross, rising from the dead and going back up to live in the sky).

Last Sunday we ventured out in the cold to the neighborhood park for the yearly Egg Hunt. Not knowing what to expect, we showed up 2 minutes late and realized that when they said "prompt," they meant it. There was one lonely egg left in the middle of the field for our dude. He gleefully picked it up, put it in his red race car basket and wanted to sit down to take it apart, put it together, take it apart...you get the picture. Our sweet neighbor Abigail (girlfriend Riley's sister) graciously gave duder one of her eggs, bringing our total to 2. Four minutes later the park was cleared out, due to the frigid temps, and home we went.

Wednesday I brought him to my office for a visit from the Easter Bunny. I knew this had the potential for leaving permanent scars, but I think it left fond memories. He would not sit on the "Big's" (as he called him) lap, but had no problem throwing his ball at the bunny's face and eventually laid a sweet little kiss on its cheek.

Sunday will bring the BIG Jansen Easter egg hunt. We'll make sure to update the blog with both the adult and child highlights from that annual event. As Tim and I like to scream/sing every Easter morning, "He Arooooose! He Arooooose! Hallelujah, Christ Aroooose!" Happy Easter.

Riley + Rylan Sittin' in a Tree

If you happen to be 2 years old, don't expect our dude to get all warm and fuzzy with you. Babies are cool (mainly since they don't move or invade his personal space) and older kids are great because he can try to model their behavior. Kids his own age are typically viewed as competition and a threat to his toydome. UNLESS you're name is Riley (our neighbor friend). She's allowed to play with all his toys, sit in his new pick up truck, and obviously, from the photo above, he'll even plant one on her when prompted. We really dig Riley's parents, so we'll continue to encourage this courtship as long as we can!

Oh Riley, how I adore you.

The only time Dude will go through his tunnel is if Riley is on the other side.

To receive the honor of sitting in the pool of balls WITH dude is really quite something.

2,598 turnovers = $0 for Gwen

I must have missed the NCAA Championship game last night. Did anyone catch it? That's all I saw were a bunch of biddy basketball players just learning how to dribble and rushing down the court like there were small fires burning in their green shorts. Someone should have told them that GIFTING the ball to the opposing team time after time after time is NOT the best way to win the game. See ya later $300. It was nice dreaming of you and the new external camera flash I had all ready to purchase. Me, bitter? Nooooo.

The One Time of the Year I Care About Basketball

When I was in Junior High I was a rock star on my biddy basketball team. My 5'8" 13 year old frame would be planted in the middle of the zone -gangly arms up straight, either stuffing shots or laying them in the hoop. I didn't have to move really, which was good since I looked like a drunk ostrich when I ran.

Come Sophomore year of High School, I realized that my glory days were long gone. My knees knocked (still do) when I ran and I often had bruises on my rump from my feet kicking it with each graceful stride. I put basketball (and any other sport requiring running) behind me and never looked back. Until I learned of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. You mean I can get involved in basketball without making a fool of myself AND potentially win a bunch of money? I'm in!

I'm not going to toot my own gambling horn as of yet....BUT....I did want to encourage all of my loyal blog stalkers to root for Michigan State tonight in the NCAA Basketball Championship game. Gambling is really the only incentive to get me interested in sports throughout the year. Mainly because I have a knack for going with my "gut" and making picks that bring me small wads of cash. My luck continues! See below for my work pool bracket picks...and for those who don't follow this tourny, note that I picked the two teams playing tonight to go all the way. If Michigan State wins, I take home $300 in cold cash. If North Carolina wins, my bud Zar takes home the prize.

GO STATE! Yes Mom, if I win, I'll donate 10% of my earnings to charity. If I win, we all win.

What the bracket says is that Michigan State and North Caroline will be in the finals with STATE winning the Championship.

Friday Morning Beer Fest and Other Fun

Mom arrived Wednesday night and it's been go-go-GO ever since. My parents are movers and shakers, so there's really no stopping the fun. Thursday we went to the children's museum where dude took it ALL in. He played "hoops" (well, mainly commented every time someone missed and would say, "almost" to make them feel better). Then he and Pappa played in the train room where a photographer from the museum spent 20 minutes photographing our little rock star for their new web site. She was drawn in by his Lenny Kravitz T-shirt (thank Nick and Caylei). The firetruck, puzzles...so much excitement you just can't contain it in a blog posting.

Friday was dadio's 59th b-day! Bruce, Barbie, Dad, Mom , Dude and myself started with breakfast downtown Littleton and gleefully moved on to our tour of Coors Brewing Company in the quaint little town of Golden. Free beer on a Friday morning - can't beat it! What am I talking about. I hate beer. But I did drink about half a glass, if that counts for anything. Duder LOVED this experience...don't fret. The lad received no beer, but did learn all about how it's made. After the free tour we went to Jansens cabin (Dad's favorite place on earth) and spent a couple hours enjoying the quiet beauty of it all. Dinner at Hacienda while saints Aunt Cara and Uncle Wes watched Rylan topped off the night. Happy Birthday Dadio. So glad we could spend it with you!