Cruisin' Right Along

Ramsey, the little tot, is growing so quickly and his motor skills are advancing significantly.  He's rolling, scooting, and now crawling all over the place.  He likes to stand up in his playpen and crib, plus get up on two feet with the help of his new learn-to-walk toy or the furniture. 
As usual, while grabbing anything in his path to look, touch, and taste it, he's babbling and chattering constantly, laughing his little butt off. 
Here's a new trick that we've learned of in the last few weeks... he can do the splits.... width-wise.  Eesh!

He LOVES to sweetly snuggle up and take naps in our arms and on our laps.  And, quite the contrary, he also adores climbing all over us rather raucously like a little mountaineer, grabbing every facial feature we have along the way.... then laughing, of course.

Even though he's a snuggle bug, he's also very independent, spending lots of time playing by himself with his new toys (his favorites are ones that have music and flashing lights).  It's fun to watch him and listen to his funny little sounds and gibberish.

Since he liked some of the park toys that rocked, today we pulled out the police motorcycle that was first Connor's (a gift from Nana and Bumpa), then Bridger's... now Ramsey's.   He laughed as he rocked back and forth, taking time to jump intermittently.

His new toys from Grandpa Orin and Judi prove to be quite a riot for Ramsey also.  They make lots of different noises (songs and interactive learning games) and have sooo many activities.  Eric compares his actions to that of a deejay, controlling numerous things at once, enamored by his accomplishments.

And, as per usual, he must taste everything too!

Mmm... plastic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legomania!

One of Connor's favorite "inside" things to do is put together Legos and Mega Bloks.   To date, he's assembled an airplane and Star Wars sets, but recently he finished his Call of Duty military sets that Nana and Bumpa gave him for his birthday. 

Throughout this last building venture, he was very diligent, meticulously organizing the pieces by size and shape, for a more focused and smooth assembly.

He started putting together the Humvee and military shelter.  Good thing for the instruction booklets (there are so many pieces!).

Being an avid Lego-lover also, I got down on the floor with Connor and dug in a bit as well.  I put together the little army guys and their machine guns, ensuring that they had the proper color-coordinated outfits and matching weapons, ammo, and accessories.  Ha!  Those little dudes were so tiny, my fingers still hurt!

Mission 1 (Humvee and Firebase): Complete.

A few days later...

Mission 2 Completed:  "Dome Battleground" (complete with drone!)

My mission: To build an 18" x 24" x 3" box, spray it Desert Camo or black, add some sand to it, to create a [hopefully] realistic desert scene.  Connor wants to place his Call of Duty sets in the sandbox, then on top of his tall dresser for a cool display.

 

All Lego/Mega Blok missions completed (in the last year or two):

Connor's coveted special Star Wars sets:

(All of these have a myriad of moving parts.  They took DAYS to patiently put together!)

Millennium Falcon:

Jedi Shuttle:

Sith Fury-Class Interceptor:

Red Airplane (the first set of higher-difficulty Legos that Connor completed):

The original idea was to hang all of the Star Wars fighters and shuttle, plus the airplane from the ceiling, but pieces kept falling off and they wouldn't stay together.  So much for that idea!

What will his next missions be?  Hmm....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Time at the Fair

First time at the fair for RAMSEY.  Lord knows I've been to a myriad of fairs in my life, growing up showing cattle across the U.S.  Connor and Eric have had their "fair share" of the festivities in the past as well. 

The weather that day was a SCORCHER.  Even though the thermometer read in the low 80's, the humidity was such that it felt like 100!   Needless to say, it was a shorter trip than we had originally anticipated! 

We started out by checking out the petting zoo. 

It was so hot, we were feeling sorry for the poor llamas and horses that had so much hair.

The loud sounds of turkeys and chickens turned our attention to the poultry.

A large grey female turkey squawked and squawked for unknown reasons.  :-) 

A rooster's lurid crow scared the dickens out of Ramsey.

After that startle, we moved to the dairy and goat barn.

(City Slickers!!!!)

 

We then trekked to the midway to eat naughty fair food (Connor and Eric had their first bites of deep fried Oreos, Connor had his first funnel cake - that he remembers!).   Roasting from the heat, we decided to skip rides and anything else, and head home to enjoy some air-conditioning!

 

Next year, it's our goal to try to plan better and attempt to go on a cooler day as to enjoy the Ferris Wheel, merry-go-round and such!

Splish Splash, I Was Takin' a Bath!

Typically, I give Ramsey his baths during the week.  They're the usual... get every little finger, toe, crevice and orifice clean, while singing weird little made-up songs and laughing.  Then, splash around and play with toys for a few minutes before the shallow water gets too cold. 

Since it's only been during the last month or so that Ramsey has started to really have fun in the bathtub, Daddy decided to push bath time to a whole new level, giving Ramsey a special "Splash Bath".  Donning his swim trunks, he filled the tub up and hopped into the bath with our little sweetie.  (I promised Eric I would not show him in the pictures by the way - even though I thought they were precious!)

With super fun toys and bubbles galore, Ramsey splashed around and played for a good 20 minutes before we took him and his [just-starting-to-become-] pruney fingers and toes out of sudsy water.

Bobber-fishing in the bathtub...

They had so much fun, they did it again on Saturday.  This might become a weekly ritual!  :-)

Turbo Training

A few times per year, Eric travels to various cities, nationwide, for training.  This past week, he went to the western part of the state for training seminar, available only to those who have graduated from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA.

One of the speakers was Steven Toboz, aka "Turbo", a decorated Navy SEAL who had received a Silver Star for his valiant efforts during the Battle of Takur Ghar in Afghanistan in 2002.   From horrific wounds that he received in this battle, he lost one of his legs, below the knee.  After his leg was healed and he rehabilitated with a new prosthetic, he returned to his Navy SEAL Team, only 9 months after the amputation.  He is now a Navy SEAL Trainer and speaks at symposiums across the country.
*Also notable: Turbo's team leader was nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor for his role in the Battle of Takur Ghar, a portion of Operation Anaconda.
More about Turbo's incredible journey:
http://www.cracked.com/article_19260_5-soldiers-whose-horrific-injuries-only-made-them-angry.html

Turbo not only presented at the conference, but remained there for the duration, meeting law enforcement officers in the FBI Northwest Division.  

Eric and Turbo "bonded", sharing stories and a few brotherly toasts. 

First Time at the Park!

While Eric was gone to training and Connor was at his Mom's house, Ramsey, Riggs and I went to Nana Karen's house (we had some china to paint to fill orders).  As it couldn't be ALL work and no play, we took Riggs for walks at night and, one evening, we stopped at the park... the park that I used to play at when I would stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house when I was little!
Ramsey LOVED the swings, the slide, the seahorse, and the merry-go-round! 

First Time Meeting Grandpa Orin and Judi

Last Sunday, Ramsey finally got to meet Grandpa Orin and Judi!
Making the long trek from Oklahoma, Dad and Judi came up for a short vacation to the Dakotas. 
We had a nice afternoon and hopefully we'll be able to have a longer visit next time. 
Ramsey liked Grandpa's beard! 

 

 

Happy First Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Sweetie!   
One year ago (August 9th, 2013), we were kicking up our heels in Vegas.   Oh, how time flies!   :-)   
Love you!

On our way for a "date night" to celebrate.

Baby Mozart?

Do we have a baby prodigy on our hands?  ...Perhaps a Little Mozart?  :-) 
The chances are slim, but here's a look at Ramsey playing his "baby grand" musical piano that Auntie Peggy and Uncle Lance gave him. 
Now that he can sit up on his own, he can whack on the keyboard, flip the music pages, and listen to the melodies.  He's loving it!

Of course, he has to see what it tastes like too.

 

 

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy Fishy

The summer seems to be slipping away, so the boys try to get in as much fishing as possible, while the beautiful weather remains. 
Here the boys are teaching Ramsey how to jig and bobber fish.  :-)

A rather odd "first" for Ramsey...  hugging a bluegill!

 What a beautiful evening!

Connor was up one morning at 5:30 AM to fish.  He caught bluegill, perch, and a nice-sized catfish in a matter of a few hours. 

When the morning sun proved to be a bit too extreme, Connor came in for some Wii time, playing his "Fishing Resort" game.  I guess if you can't fish outside, fish INSIDE!  Apparently all of the fishing really pooped him out.  He was "OUT" by noon, taking a much-needed nap.  :-) 

 

 

"SO BIG" at Six Months

It seems that the six month timeframe for Ramsey has proven to have quite a number of milestones; he's been pushing himself up and sitting up on his own, his first two teeth have come in, he's said his first "real" word (Mum-ma), and he's within days of crawling (right now, he's on all fours, scooting and lunging forwards, and scuttling backwards).  His personality is shining through even more; he's so happy and giggly and also very active and rambunctious!

Ramsey with his favorite toy; his musical airplane.  We all have its songs memorized, replaying in our heads.... constantly!   "One, two, three, come fly away with meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

He loves to "kiss" his loved ones.

He likes to get kisses too!

And he loves to grab faces. 

Riggs is remarkably patient with him.

"First Time" helping with the laundry. Thanks boys!

(Thank you Riggs, for not running off with our socks this time.)