They keep us laughing!

R: When God makes people, do you think it's tricky for him to put the legs on? Because when I draw people, the legs are the hardest part for me. 

R, drawing a person: ... and here's the eyes, and the nose, and the boogers inside the nose...
Me: Ew!
R: Don't worry, Mommy. I won't draw boogers inside your nose. Just inside mine and Daddy's noses.

R, randomly: So how does the food inside our bodies turn into poop, anyway?

Me: Um, it's a process... first the food travels down into our stomachs--

R: So our bodies are like a factory? Got it.

R: I sure wish I had two tongues. Then I could eat twice as much.

R: Mommy, I'm very concerned. Why can't cardboard boxes get wet?

R: I tried a vegetable today!!!

Me: What did you eat?!

R, proudly: I ate one pea!

R: You're really pretty, Mama.

Me: You're handsome!

R: You're nice!

Me: You're sweet!

R: I like your eyebrows.

R, playing soccer with me: Can we stop playing? I want you to score a goal but you're not getting any better. 

R, interrupting me while I was working: Mommy, Baylor's barking. You can't really focus.

R: I make jokes, not trouble.

R: Let's make a hovercraft-train-boat and we'll tie them all together with a pretend rope! First, we'll need to move everything off the land!

Me: Ok, just tell me what to do!

R: Well, basically, you'll just need to clean my room. I'll be back later.

K, looking at a book about music composers: Yep, I knew I would recognize Beethoven. His hair was NOT on point.

K (during virtual school): Do you like my nails??

Me: They look great. Have you finished your assignments for today?

K: Huh?

Me: SCHOOL IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN FRENCH TIPS.

Me: Did you get in trouble today?

R: Goodness gracious, no!

R: I'm a fan of baby girls. I'm good at making them laugh and feel better when they're sad. 

R: Boy, Katelyn's been a handful today!

Me: Why didn't you eat your carrots at lunch?

K: I did, I ate two of them. One for each eye.

R: If I was a bird, I wouldn't fly. I would just land on top of cars and ride wherever I needed to go.

R (head hanging low): Mommy, Katelyn won't play with her little brother. You know, me.

R: I have a great idea! Let me whisper it to you: wlkajfvknvda;eiasdn sdfnajf adfawjef.

Me: Wdjsijprkw difjwelr isjefr.

R: No, what I whispered to you was asking you to play hide and seek with me in Spanish!

R: Can I play with my toys before washing my hair? Don't worry, I'll tell my brain when to stop.

Me: When you're mad and feel like you might say or do something you shouldn't, you need to turn around and walk away.

R: When I make bad choices, it feels like Jesus is in a different place.

They keep us laughing!

Me: What did you have for lunch?
R: I really don't remember. I guess you'll just have to smell me.

R, while watching a cartoon: That's groovy.

R: When my pretend puppies see rabbits, they don't chase them. But when they see a mole, they chase that.

R, frustrated that Alexa wasn't playing the song he wanted: Alexa, this is not acceptable behavior.

R: I wonder if Alexa and Siri know each other?

R: I just had a brilliant plan.
Me: What's that?
R: *says nothing and brings me a 223 page book to read*

K: A bad guy cut off Baylor's tail when she was a puppy.
R: Did he go to jail?
K: No.
R: But bad guys have black and white shirts!

Me: Think about what you want for breakfast.
R: I'm not going to do that. I think about a lot of things. I don't want to think about breakfast.

D: Sorry Baylor, you don't get to eat chocolate!
R: Because it will make her get the coronavirus!

R, getting ready to play animals with K: Let's cock-a-doodle-do this!

R, randomly: Don't ask me about my hobbies.

Me: I'm going to the bathroom.
R: See ya later, sweetheart.

R: Why do you eat chips a lot?
Me: I don't, really.
R: Well that's a shame.

Me, at 4am: Did you need something?
R: I have three things to tell you: One, my hand is asleep because I laid on it too long. Two, I need a sip of lemonade. Three, I need to go to the bathroom. 
Minutes later, as I'm putting him to back to bed...
R: Also, what is our house made of? And how does our heart pump blood in our bodies?

Me: Do you want breakfast?
R: I just got here!!!

R, while dancing: I have sensible feet!

R: Let's make you a pretend pie! First, we need apples, bananas, oranges, a giraffe that's dead, and coconut.
K: You're putting giraffe meat in my pie?
R: Yes, and coconut.

R, while watching the Blue Angels flyover: But it's the coronavirus!! The planes can't be close together!!

R: Mommy, I know you're a real person, but could you be an animal please?
Me: Ok, how about a giraffe?
R: I think you should be a koala.

While Dave has been working from home, Ryan set up his own pretend desk near Dave's. Ryan will regularly put on his headphones and tell Dave, "Shhh, Daddy, I'm on a call."

After a very rough day where R had been particularly needy, I melted down before putting R to nap. 20 minutes later, he snuck out of his room, came and put his arms around me, and started singing, "You've got a friend in me..."

Ryan is Four

[This post is a bit late] Ryan is FOUR! Wow. Crazy to think that it was on Katelyn's fourth birthday when we told her I was pregnant with him!

This happy, little old man is just the sweetest thing. He loves sunshine and fluffy, "mashed potato" clouds. He LOVES birthdays and throws an all-out pretend birthday party for me at least twice a week. His first instinct is almost always to share and include everyone. The grape flavored fruit snacks? He saves those for me since they're my favorite. His drawings are precious but he's never made one just for me... the paper is always double sided with a drawing for me and a drawing for Daddy. When he and Dave go to Costco, Ryan often insists on picking out flowers for me and Katelyn, and not a day goes by when he doesn't tell us that we're "the prettiest." It's like we have our own personal mini Prince Charming... and I absolutely love it. None of us deserve his level of sweetness!

I've often thought Ryan has the gift of encouragement. When Dave was home sick with bronchitis, Ryan promptly made him a get well card-- while he himself was home sick with a stomach bug. He loves people and is always asking someone to be his best friend. Once when I picked him up from school, his class was sitting in the hallway waiting for the water fountain. He walked down the row, giving each kid a high five or a hug, telling them things like, "Have a good day!" "See ya tomorrow!" "Hey, I like your shirt!" Was he leaving preschool or running for office? Hard to tell.

I LOVE it when refers to his fingers by their status in the "Finger Family" song. For example, he might say, "I need a bandaid for my brother finger!" or "I was eating my snack and I accidentally bit my daddy finger!" It's adorable and I'll be so sad when he grows out of it.

Of course Ryan has bad days. In fact, the past few months have been especially hard as there's been a lot of change beyond anyone's control. In December, his world was knocked off its axis when his best friend, who is a few months older, promoted to the next preschool class. (And when I say best friend, I mean he and this sweet little girl have been thick as thieves since they were 18 months old. They're like an old married couple. The teachers say they've never seen anything like it.). Their separation was hard on ALL of us because Ryan just wasn't himself. FINALLY, it was Ryan's turn to move up classes and join her... and then after one glorious day together, Coronavirus hit. Thank goodness for weekly chats on FaceTime! And when his birthday party had to be indefinitely postponed AND his much anticipated soccer season was cancelled due to Coronavirus, he was disappointed but took it like a champ.

This kid's imagination... oh my goodness. He has the ability to describe exactly what he's imagining and somehow pull others into his convincing, exciting world. A regular conversation can quickly turn into riding on a speed boat, but then the boat broke down and we had to use a jet ski to go get the extra engine, but the jet ski toppled over and then we had to swim to shore, where we found an abandoned golf cart and a puppy. He's so fun!

I love this boy so much.

They Keep Us Laughing!

R: That's the last kiss I have!
Me: You're all out?
R: Yep. I better get more from Baylor and then I can kiss you again.

R, to me at my parents' house: Are you going upstairs to talk to Jerald?

Santa: What do you want for Christmas?
R: Well, my daddy already bought my presents.

R: This new juice is quite disgusting. See that picture of a grape on the box? That's what makes it disgusting.

R: I had a bad day. My friend put his boogers on me.
K: Gross! Did you put your boogers on him??
R: No. I didn't have any.

After an emotional day, K was sentenced to a relaxing bubble bath.
Me: Do you want candles for your bath?
K: What I really want are rose petals around the edge of the tub.

R: Guess what? My favorite animal is a zebra!
Me: Really? Cool!
R: Tomorrow it's going to be a fox.

Me to K: Have a good day at school! I know you can meet your goal!
R, 5 minutes later: Is Katelyn going to play soccer today?
Me: No, why?
R: Well then how will she meet her goal?

R: I wish we had a blanket that went alllll the way down the bed, and then there were balloons and they would pop.
Me: Can you explain that more?
R: The balloons would be underneath the blanket and they would pop when I laid down on them. It was a joke, Mommy.

R: Guess what?? When I was napping, I read THE WHOLE BIBLE. All of the pages! I learned a lot.

R, at Katelyn's basketball game: All these people are NOT using their inside voices.

Me: I heard you get sick in the night so I ran upstairs.
R: You ran fast to come help me?
Me: Yes!
R: Did you also say oh dear?

Me: Look at that spider web! He used all his legs to build it! Amazing!
R: Yeah. How do we get rid of it?

R: I cleaned the living room! 
Me: Well thank you!
R: With pleasure!

R: We smell Baylor's toots because she doesn't wear pants.

R: Where does the water go down the drain?
Me: Into the pipes, down into the ground.
R: Where the gnomes are?

Dave: Are you going to put me in a nice nursing home when I'm older?
R: No, I'm going to BUY it for you!

R, looking at my left hand: I like your rings! There are two on that finger. Which did you get first? The plain one or the snowflake? [meaning my wedding band or my engagement ring]

Grandmom: Are you having a good day?
R: Not yet.

R, during COVID-19 quarantine and at 8:45pm: Mama, I wore these pajamas the whole day. I should probably change into some new ones.