Our Last Hoorah....before baby #2

So Greg and I are very excited and gearing up for out last hoorah before baby #2. We are starting off in Boston for 2 nights I have a work conference and Greg has a Deuche Bank Golf Tourney (for work...what a cushy job...I am way jealous) Anyways then we head off to the cape for a long weekend sans baby to spend with 2 other couples both newlyweds...(ahh such bliss). SO that is a total for 6 days away from our little boy! Are we terrible parents? We have split up Ryan's mini vacation too 6 days with a highly energetic almost 2 y.o would be too much for just one party to handle so we have divided his trip among his loving Grandparents/Auntie and Uncle who are looking forward to their visits! He will be spending his first overnight with Grammy and Granddad, Auntie Erin, and Uncle Brian for the first half of the trip then will be headed to Mimi and Papa's for the second half. Hopefully he will be a good boy for everyone. We will miss our little boy terribly but we desperately need some adult time to ourselves! Thanks to everyone for offering to spend time with Ryan! Could not have done it without our families. Erin sorry for sounding like an overprotective mother!

Weekend Re-cap
Greg played in the labor day classic over at the Ranch Golf club all day Saturday so we spent the weekend at Mimi and Papa's. Ryan and I had such a fun day we took a nap went shoe shopping and then to church. With the cool weather this past week I tried to put his sneakers from last April on his chubby little feet and could barely velcro them so I knew it was time for some shoe shopping. Turns out he grew another half shoe size still an extra wide so it makes shoe shopping difficult not a huge selection but we did find a cute pair of sneakers in his size. Thanks Mimi and Papa for treating us! Then we headed off to church. This was my first experience bringing him to church (Mimi and Papa have brought him several times) He actually was quite good. Of course did not want to sit still but that is totally expected at this age. We went armed with snacks, water, and some keys to distract him. We was such a good boy!

Sunday we decided to try out Six Flags New England with Ryan. Papa had won 2 tickets from a golf tourney and he wanted Ryan to have them. Boy was it hot out but Ryan did not seem to mind he is such a little dare devil. Of course his favorite ride was the kiddie coaster. Greg took him on all the kiddie rides while I snapped photos. Ryan loved all the rides and of course wanted more. They do have a lot for toddlers but probably not work the money right now (our tickets were valued at $99). They have wiggles world and looney toon town with a lot for toddlers. Luckily Ryan is tall for his age and could ride all the rides with an adult. But after 2 hours he was pooped and looking like he had had enough so we headed back home for a much needed nap. Since he enjoyed six flags so much we are still thinking about taking him to Sesame Place in PA for his birthday. I hear it is only 2.5 hrs away and has much more for this age.

New Happenings
Ryan now uses many full sentence phrases more than 3 words in a row and will often ask for help when needed.

He will often call out "mommy more moo moo pease tanka".

When he starts whining for something we tell him to use his words and he will often tell us what is needed. It is like a new revelation in the Flynn house to actually be able to communicate with Ryan

Upon waking in the morning he almost always ask for oatmeal and blueberries his favorite. "mommy oatmeal booberries pease"

Trying to work on distinguishing between colors. Can now recognize blue and red and of course yellow (his favorite color)

Almost always tells us when he has pooed immediately requesting to be changed now if only he can tell us before so we can put him on the potty....

Will be starting school next week. We have a social a get to know everyone parents too on Wed. Scary to think Ryan is starting preschool already but I think he will get a lot out of it. It will be 2.5 hrs per day twice a week and the best part is it is right up the street from our house. I have mixed feelings about starting school. Our playgroup that was started when Ryan was only 4 months old is slowly coming to an end. We all met about a year and half ago and the 4 of us have been getting together weekly ever since. Two of our kids are starting preschool this fall. One is sadly moving away and the other my closest friend of the group started her first day back to work full time today and her daughter is in daycare. Most of all I will miss seeing the kids and all the new things that they do each week and of course I will miss our mommy conversations too. But Ryan has really enjoyed his weekly play dates with the "girls" and often asks for them throughout the week! I am so grateful to have met this wonderful group of moms and babies I don't know what I would have done without them! I am so sad that we will not have our weekly play dates anymore but I am happy to see our kids growing up. We have promised to at least meet for girls nights out at least monthly but it won't be the same. We do still have our Tuesday afternoon playgroup. And I know a lot will be different in a few months with baby #2. But I am a little sad and I hope we will all keep in touch!

Big boy bed update so far so good. Will occasionally wake in the night and Greg will go in to check but he rarely gets up from his bed. Naps are sort of so so sometimes he falls asleep on the floor but at least he is still napping.

Having some skin issues with Ryan... lately more than heat rash we think. Has patches of what looks like eczema on his face, back of his legs and his neck area. Still rubbing/itching is face a lot. We have eliminated nuts with little to no improvement. I have been using aquaphor with some relief. But we have an appointment with a pediatric allergist a week from Tues so hopefully we will get some answers. I have a feeling Ryan has inherited my terrible allergies.

Likely I won't have time to update until later next week...I will be busy packing and doing laundry. So hope everyone enjoys the last weekend of Summer! We are very much looking forward to our last Hoorah!