You've got a friend in me...

For the last month or so, Ryker has been all about Woody and Buzz from Toy Story. It all started when our friends next door gave Ryker a Toy Story book and Woody doll. Ryker wanted to read all about Woody. Then he met Buzz Lightyear in the pages and he was all about Buzz. From that point on it has been Woody and Buzz, everyday. Several weeks after he was introduced to the pair, we saw that Toy Story and Toy Story 2 were playing back to back on the Disney channel. We DVR'd the movies (up to this point Ryker hasn't watched hardly any TV at all) and Ryker loves them. He will sit through the entire movie without a peep, other than "Buzz, Buzz!" when it goes to commercial--which prompts me (Mommy) to scurry to find the remote and fast forward through them. With less and less energy these days, the movies have provided a much needed break during the day. Well, that didn't last too long, as our DVR went out and we had to get a replacement, meaning Ryker's beloved buddies were no longer around for his viewing pleasure. So, we turned to YouTube and daily watch snippets of the films to get us by until we can purchase the DVDs for Rykerman. All of this Woody/Buzz mania led us to plan a movie night as a family. Saturday (July 3rd) we took Ryker to his first theatre movie: Toy Story 3. Before we walked into the theatre, he was able to name every character on the poster outside. Inside, he enjoyed the movie and did a pretty good job for being only 20 months old. In hindsight, we probably should have waited a little longer or made sure we arrived after the previews were over (that was the toughest part). On a few occasions our little explorer needed to run up and down the stairs or pull down all of the seats in the aisle, and more than once we had to go stand with him near the exit because he just couldn't sit still any longer. All in all, though, it was a great night (and, on a side note, a really good movie...even if I was crying through nearly half of the film; maybe seeing my little boy grow up so quickly and watching little Andy grow up and leave for college hit a little too close to home).
On the way home, we saw several fireworks lighting up the sky. He began pointing out the window saying "firworkses" (not a misspell, he pluralizes it...adorable) and showed off his skills at identifying red and green on the traffic lights at all the intersections. He picks up new stuff all the time. He is getting very involved in his prayers at night. He lists off a whole bunch of things he wants to thank God for...from family and friends to water and bumps, he really does a good job of saying his thank you prayers. It is so cute, and as funny as it is sometimes, I just love his simple faith and that he wants to pray every night. There's nothing better than that! Another new thing is his ability to pretend to take pictures with and handle an iPhone as though he's a pro. Neither Jevon nor I has an iPhone and he's only seen one a handful of times, but these days he picks up a phone and slides his finger across then turns it around to take pictures, then puts it to his ear and has a conversation (usually this one: "Hi, Emer! Yes, yes. Uh huh. Bye bye.")

Speaking of Emerson, these two are so much fun to watch these days. They talk, wrestle, throw stuff, work together to do things like fill up cups, and mostly just follow each other around. It really is a monkey-see, monkey-do type of thing with each of the boys taking the lead at times. Recently they have been doing a lot of swimming. They also took a trip to the park (for the first time since April) to play on the slides. Ryker is officially done with his blood issues. His count this week was 195, which means he'll get tested in one month and then hopefully never again. We could not be more thankful that God has gotten us through this trial and blessed us with a completely recovered and healthy little man!

Ryker has also spent some time with family lately. We got together with my Dad's side of the family on the 5th for a cookout. Ryker had a great time seeing everyone, but mostly enjoyed his new activity table from Trish & Mike and playing with Tyler. We also spent the weekend with Grandma & Grandpa Luttrell. Though not as fun for him as his baby pool, he did acquiesce and get in their big pool with me. He doesn't like that he can't touch the bottom. We had a great time though, and Grandma wore Ryker out by chasing and playing with him. How does she have so much energy?

We are less than 5 weeks away from the due date for baby #2. Ryker pats my belly and says baby a lot these days. He likes babies quite a bit. We went to visit our friends in the hospital yesterday and he was super eager to see baby Anna and did a nice job of being gentle with her.
I'll try to be better about posting in a week. We've just had so much going on that there's hardly time to sit and write it all down. Ryker is a little ball of energy, though, and loves how on the go we've been. Hope your summer has been as fun as ours has been, so far!