Happy Birthday Lyla!!!! *or* Holy Moley, I Can't Believe My Daughter is TWO!!!

Seriously? When did Lyla grow up? It seems like just 730 days ago that Katherine was telling me it was time to go to the hospital. Yet somehow my Little Button became my Little Baby and my Little Baby become my Little Girl. All those country songs suddenly make a lot of sense...

Friday, December 4 was destined to be a special day even before it began. For us the magic began the night before when the first snow fall of this winter began to fall. We were forecast to get 3 or 4 inches over night and boy did we. We awoke Friday morning to a blanket of soft, white, beautiful snow covering everything.

Typically I have mixed feelings about the snow. I love the serenity and the beauty of freshly fallen snow, but I dread the cold and the exertion of shoveling our walks. But this was different because this was going to be the first snow that Lyla got to play in and that she would remember. And it happened on her birthday, what a neat gift.

I think that Katherine and I were slightly more excited about Lyla's actual birthday than the Birthday Girl was. Granted she had been talking about her birthday non-stop for at least two weeks and had made us sing "Happy Birthday" to every single person that we know, at least once. But I awoke that day more excited than I'd been in awhile.

We started the day with a special breakfast: blueberry pancakes. Special because we seldom make pancakes. They were good. Then we got dressed and all went to Target, whoopie!! Look, just because it was Lyla's birthday doesn't mean we can avoid the day to day tasks of running our lives. We all went together so that was fun.

After Target, we came home and Lyla got ready to go outside. We got her snowsuit on plus her hat and these great winter boots she got from her friend Sadie. Out Lyla and I went and shoveled the path. I had bought a small snow-shovel for Lyla a couple weeks ago and she was more than happy to help me clear off the snow. After shoveling, she and I built our very first snowman. Nothing too special, we used a carrot for the nose and leaves for everything else. Lyla really enjoyed packing the snow down. I think he turned out rather nice and he sort of looks like Grover from Sesame Street.

After playing in the snow we came in and were treated to a nice lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and soup. It was the perfect meal to warm us up from the cold. After we finished, the kids went down for naps and Katherine and I started to get ready for Lyla's party.

For her party we wrestled for a long time as to what to do. Last year we invited a few friends and their kids over, four families in total. In the subsequent 365 days, 3 of the 4 families had another child and all the other kids aged a year. As a result, having the same families over would have been pure chaos.

So instead, we invited two families for dinner. I made pork street tacos and they turned out pretty good. After dinner we did presents and then cupcakes. After dinner, the chaos slowly ratcheted up until the kids ended up hitting a wall. The following pictures will give you some idea of how chaotic just two additional families can be:

Playing with friends...

More friends, more playing...

Adults trying to converse as the kids play...

More playing...

Pretty soon Will had had enough...

So we opened presents...

And then we played with the presents...

Pretty soon Will and Kevin had had enough...

So it was time for the cake...

Lyla likes cake.

So does Ian...

So does Sadie...

And then it was over.

The next day, we woke up and played with our new toys.

Lyla drying her hair with Mommy..

Later that morning, we went over to Sadie's house for her 2-year-old birthday party. I decided that Will and I should dress a like... I'm glad I did.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LYLA!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Will's foray into real food

Though we are strong supporters of breast-milk for babies, we also have decided with our children to start introducing other foods after four months and start incorporating them regularly after six months. So these were taken some time in the past two months (the exact dates are fuzzy but so is everything that has happened recently).

As you can see, solid food is the WORST thing that has ever happened to Will (watch for his reaction at 0:11):

It's been like that with everything we've tried (rice cereal, bananas, carrots). Kind of funny but frustrating because we'd like to start incorporating solids every day. Plus Will's weight is trending down (he's gone from 50th to 40th to - most recently - the 25th percentile of weight. Note: this is not bad, especially given who he gets his genes from, but still we want him to eat).

Other funny pictures of Will with food on his face:

Not what I was expecting today.

*Warning, the following is a frank and somewhat graphic discussion of bowel movements. May not be suitable for some readers.*

Quiet Saturday. Katherine took Lyla to Target and Meijer to get the necessities, I stayed home with Will, vacuumed and then had a nice video conference call with 'Pa (aka Katherine's dad, aka Jeff). Katherine and Lyla came home right as Jeff and I were wrapping up so they go to say hi. Lyla really liked seeing 'Pa on the 'puter. Then Katherine fed Will and I went to pring in the groceries.

As I was finishing up I heard Katherine say to Lyla, "You need to poop? Do you want to poop on the toilet?" Lyla said yes, so I took her in there. We've been going through the motions with her as a bit of pre-potty training: If she looks like she's pooping or mentions pooping, we'll ask her if she wants to sit on the toilet and take her in there. Usually, as soon as I set her on, she'll say "All done" and want to get off.

This time was different. This time she sat up there.

We've been talking about potty training for awhile now but have yet to buy any gear for it because we haven't zeroed in on a strategy yet. So Lyla is sitting on the regular seat with me holding her up. She's so tiny that if I were to let go, she'd *kerplunk* right into the toilet.

So she's sitting up there and we're talking about what to do. She notices the toilet paper, so I explain that to her. Then I look and she's making her "pooping" face. It's unmistakable, the strained look she gets as she pushes... well, you know how the mechanics of it work.

So she's pushing, and I'm holding and... poop starts coming out. Right in the toilet. It was awesome... except for the fact that it was poop. Just because it was my little girl, didn't make the actually poop any less, uh, gross.

So she's pooping and I just start crying. I'm yelling out in excitement "great job Lyla!" I'm yelling to Katherine, who is feeding Will in the other room, "She's pooping! She'd doing it!!!" See, part of our strategy is to be as encouraging as possible. We don't want to shame her in any way, so we've been making a big deal about every positive steps she makes toward going potty on the potty. Telling us when she has a dirty diaper is rewarded with congratulatory affirmation. Wanting to sit on the toilet is cheered.

You have to realize, though, that our excitement isn't fake. We have two kids in diapers right now. We change at least 10 diapers a day... maybe more. We're really looking forward to Lyla being potty trained. But again, we're restrained because we don't want to put any undue pressure on her... she's not even two yet.

But this time, I couldn't hold back the emotion. I'm crying, I'm cheering, I'm beaming. It was an onslaught of emotion for me. My little girl growing up. My little girl figuring out how to poop in the potty. My little girl offering Katherine and I some much needed relief of the constant demands of this current situation. I'm pretty sure I heard "Cat's in the Cradle" in the background.

So she poops. She gets down and I wipe for her and we get to wash our hands in the sink. Then I send her out to tell momma what she did (sans pants since I didn't have a new diaper ready). Much rejoicing. Some discussion as to whether or not we should take a picture... we decided against it. Who wants to look at a picture of that, regardless of how significant it is? Hugs. Kisses. High fives. It was a glorious moment in the Ring household.

Chances are that this was a one time thing, that we still have a lot more diapers in the future. But the thing you have to realize is that today offered Katherine and me some hope that one day soon our kids will be potty trained. That our kids are getting older and as much as I don't want my babies to grow up they are able to take care of themselves more and more. We have a long way to go still, but at least we know that it won't always be like this, taking care of two kids under two, twenty four hours a day, seven days a weeks.

And that, my friends, is something to celebrate.

Mike's graduation from Bethel

My cousin Mike graduated from Bethel College in Mishawaka (aka South Bend), IN with a degree in Awesomeness. Since Mishawaka's only a little over 2 hours from Grand Rapids, we were very happy that we got to go see the ceremony.

Here's our view of the stage.There's Mike with diploma in hand. You can see my cousin Laura behind him and to the left... she'd gone up closer for some action shots of Mike on stage.
The Rings enjoying the ceremony.
You can see (sort of) in this picture the Sudyks (Mike's family). His parents are all the way on the right, about 3/4s of the way up right next to the rail. His sisters, Jenn and Laura, his brother-in-law, Andy, and nephew, Axel are on the same row as his parents but in the next section to the left right on the aisle (look for the baby in the car seat and the man in the blue shirt staring right at the camera... that's Andy).
Me and Lyla. Lyla only got about a 20 minute nap because of the travel so we let her have the pacifier to keep her calm. Despite the lack of sleep she did great all day.
Katherine and Will. Will had no problem sleeping.
Lyla cheering with the crowd as names are called.
Here's video of Lyla cheering, you can just catch her yelling "Yay!" as the video begins.

It was a long day (it took us 3.5 hours just to get ready and get out of the house... traveling with small kids is the nuts). But it was a lot of fun and so wonderful to get to celebrate Mike's accomplishment. I still remember when he and the rest of his family came to my college graduation in 2000. I really appreciated that they made the effort to come out and see me graduate all those years ago and now we've come full circle. Congratulations Mike!!!

Will's fist doctor visit

Last Tuesday we took Will to his 2-week doctor's appointment. It was quite the adventure for the little guy as he hasn't really done much other than sleep, eat, get his diaper changed, and lie around. He has continued to impress us with how calm and good-natured he is. I'm sure there are going to be plenty of circumstances in the future where he and his sister will have us pulling our hair out, but I must say that Katherine and I both are amazed and appreciative of what a calm baby he is. Especially given all the things we've had to deal with in the past three weeks.

Given how good of a baby and now toddler Lyla has been, we were expecting (and our friends were secretly wishing) that Will would be more difficult. If anything, he's better than even Lyla was. I'm not sure why we're so lucky, we definitely don't deserve it but we also not complaining. It's just one more thing on a long list of wonderful attributes of our beautiful children.

Here are the pictures from the visit to the doctor's.

Getting ready to go... Will sure doesn't like being put in his carseat.
LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!! LET ME... (tuck him in with a fuzzy blanket) ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ..............

He awakens in a strange place... hmm, this can't be good.

Hey, Beardy! What's going on? Where am I? Where's Lyla?

What the deuce?!?! That thing is freezing! Where are my clothes?

Oh, mom's finger! Excellent, I'll use this to call Lyla. She's come rescue me!

Seriously, Bearded Guy. What the heck is going on here. p.s. Do you have your tickets?... To the GUN SHOW? POW POW!!

Okay, that wasn't so bad. I got my shirt and socks back. I guess we'll go home soon, nothing else is going to happen to me.... wait, why does that guy have a needle?

Ow. That really hurt. Do you not see how scrawny my legs are? Why would you give me a shot in one? And I don't even get a Snoopy band-aid. What the heck!

Mom, you and the Bearded Guy better take me back to Lyla. I'm so over this place.

According to the measurements, Will has already grown an inch and a half and gained about a pound and a half. Surprise, surprise he's going to be tall. Who knew?

And then there is this.

She's been capable of this for weeks, if not months. Of course she chooses today, while Katherine is upstairs resting to do it. Fortunately, she was more than willing to take the show upstairs for Katherine to see. Before Will was born, Katherine and I had commented that Lyla was probably going to start walking the same day Will was born. I'm glad she waited a couple days so that we could be there.

She went from this:

To this:

To this... all in a matter of minutes.

She is awesome. I can't wait to see her tomorrow as she begins to explore her world on two legs. I am a very proud father right now.

Will pics

Pictures from our adventures last night/this morning.

Post pushing, pre surgery picture. Kate is such a trooper.

The doors outside the operating room. Seems like only 15 months ago I was waiting anxiously outside these doors. (Looks like they've added some awesome decals to the doors in the last year.)

The boy emerges!!

Ooh, he does not like it out here.

Tending the umbilical cord.

Katherine and Will meet for the first time. Katherine was so much more aware this time around, the anesthesiologist did a great job.

7lbs 11 oz, what a big boy.

Mother and son. Katherine is such a great mother, it was awesome to see her love for Will come pouring out of her.

All cleaned up.

Tiny foot.
More pictures and videos later. I love my family.

It's a boy!!!!

William Kevin Ring was born at 3:25 am on March 15, 2009. Our beautiful boy weighs 7 lbs 10oz and is 20.5 inches long. Baby and mommy are doing fine, Will's sleeping in my arms right now and Katherine is resting. This was not how we were expecting today to end but it is definitely how I want this chapter of my life to start. I can't wait for you all to meet little Will.