It's The Little Things

Yesterday we converted Ryan's highchair into a booster seat and allowed him to sit at the table with his own bowl of food.  I was very afraid that he'd only want to dump the food out of his bowl and bang it around, but he was actually content to just sit there and eat like a big boy.  I can't believe how grown up he is.  I will say that there were occasionally feet on the table, but the poor posture and less than stellar table manners probably come from me :).  I know that his eating at the table from his own plate probably sounds like such a little accomplishment to you, but I'm really proud of him.  

I feel like I've done a lot of shopping lately.  I placed an order online about a week ago to catch some great deals on winter clothes for Ryan for next year.  I know it's a gamble trying to pick the right size.  However, I always order big (better big than too small, right?), and if we can't use them I'm sure I could gift them to one of my friends who could.  I got him 6 really cute long sleeved shirts and a fleece pullover for quite the bargain, and I never had to leave my house to do it.  

Yesterday I finally got a good deal on another Britax Boulevard car seat for Ryan.  We have one already, but we wanted to have another so that we had one in each car.  I've been waiting and waiting to find a good deal, and during this wait I've even narrowly missed a few good prices.  Now the deal I got wasn't as good at the Target $42.99 fiasco, but it was a pretty good deal--only $1 more than I paid for the first one.  I was quite happy to find that.  

And the last item of my shopping report is that we bought Pat a small chest freezer that he's been eyeing since before he got home.  He wanted a freezer for out the garage to store meat in. We finally found a good price and bought it.  Now I just need to start stocking up on frozen goods now that I have the room, but of course I'm waiting for good prices ;).

I need to praise myself just briefly too.  I usually don't brag, but the dinner I cooked last night came out fabulous.  We had teriyaki sirloin tips.  I made a marinade and then broiled them in the oven.  They were cooked so perfectly that I actually impressed myself.  We also had some sweet potato fries baked in the oven.  Pat thought they were good, and he's not so much a fan of sweet potatoes normally.  I passed the real test too; Ryan thought it was yummy!   

So that's about all we've been up to lately.  Nothing too exciting, but it's really just little things like these that are enough for us.  

Mission: Sofa

Yesterday we were on a mission to find Ryan a comfy chair of his own.  He LOVES sitting on things lately.  He makes it a point to go sit on top of his wipe container like it is a stool, so I thought he'd enjoy having a chair of his own to sit on.  On the suggestion of a friend we went to the PX first.  Unfortunately they didn't have anything.  I probably should have called it a day at that point, but I was really on a mission and would have been bummed if we didn't accomplish it.  We drove to Toys R Us, and lo and behold they had chairs and sofas on display right in the front of the store.  We looked at them, but weren't sure which would be best.  They had tons of girl prints, but very little for boys (as seems to be the case around here).  We wandered the store a bit more and realized if we bought the Backyardigans it would be $10 less than Elmo or Cars for the same exact sofa.  Pat called me cheap, but I consider that good with money.  We came home and Ryan just adores his sofa.  His face lights up whenever he looks at it.  The mission was accomplished and worth every penny.  

Brutal

Brutal is a good word to describe what it is like with Ryan cutting molars.  Teething has always upset Ryan a little, but this is crazy.  The past few evening have been full of tears and very little eating.  I'm so glad that Pat is around to experience this, although I will admit that these molars are a bit worse than the previous teeth he cut.  I feel so bad for my little man and wish I could take away his pain.  I don't think I've even seen Ryan this upset for this long.  

We finally had some nice weather today, which allowed us to take Ryan out back to play.  This was the first time that we've let him wander all around the back yard.  It was so cute to watch him exploring, and he really seemed like a big boy.  It was a little funny though whenever he'd stumble because he doesn't like grass and each time his hands would touch the ground he'd look shocked and bothered.     

While we are still adjusting to Pat being home, things are really falling back into place.  We still have a couple more weeks of Pat being on block leave to enjoy our family time.  I'm really looking forward to all the fun we'll have and am just so happy to be together.