Market Family Reunion 2010

Each summer now, we have a get-together at Grandma Market's farm (Great-Gram to our kids) with Rod's mom's family. There were lots of babies around this year, since 5 great-grandchildren were born within about 3 months of each other!

Ryan and Reed, Rod's cousin Chantelle's baby, found each other very entertaining. Reed is about a month older than Ryan.

Kevin found himself in possession of a blue Mr. Freezie, but needed some help figuring out how to enjoy it!

Kevin is sharing Papa's lap with Mikenna, our cousin Patricia's little girl. Mikenna is about 2 months older than Ryan.

Ryan looks like he's saying, "Ew, girls!"

Mikenna is a social butterfly. She jabbers a lot, and likes to touch the other babies. Ryan was okay with it. He was just a bit surprised when she was grabbing at him.

Andrea LOVES bouncy castles. They had two giant ones at the party, with slides, ball-pits and everything. Her face was so red and hot from all the jumping. Morgan and Addison got quite the ride from Andrea's big jumps!

They set up a volleyball net for the adults and big kids to have a game. Kevin thought the net was part of his personal obstacle course.
Kevin got a bit tangled in the net as they set it up. Uncle Pook joked, "I caught one!" Then, the other kids wanted in on the fun, too.

Morgan, Addie, and Kevin went off in search of more "fun" after being shooed away from the volleyball net.

Meanwhile, the babies were gathered under the big, shady tree in Great-Gram's front yard. Mikenna is big enough that she's starting to sit up, but Ryan, Reed, and Nathen (our cousin Pauline's little boy, a week older than Ryan) stretched out on a blanket.

Andrea and Izzy are such great cousins and friends! They love each other.

Joanna's baby girl, Taylor, arrived a bit later. Taylor (who is one month younger than Ryan) and Ryan were enjoying the view of the breeze in the leafy trees overhead.

Ryan looks so cute in blue. :)

A few minutes later, they called all the kids into the barn to pull the pinata, by balloons attached to strings. The other kids got the candy, but Ryan was interested in the balloon.

Pauline had brought Nathen's Jolly Jumper, and it was a hit among the babies. Ryan spent most of his time in it studying the grass, which was tickling his feet. He eventually started bouncing pretty well.

After all the excitement, exercise, and fresh air, along with a bubba from Daddy, Ryan was ready for a good nap.

Reed obviously felt the same.

Uncle Pook thought it was funny to put temporary tattoos all over the kids. Kevin is showing Papa his belly tattoo.

Uncle Pook has a sense of humour: a pig on Kevin's belly--how appropriate.

Andrea couldn't wait until she got the ice cream after dinner. She didn't stop whining until it was in her hands.

Now that's a satisfied little girl!

We got the kids into their p.j.s as it got darker, and we waited for the fireworks to begin. Kevin and Addie sat together for a while before the fireworks started.

Sparklers and glow-necklaces are always a great way to kick off a fireworks show.

Daddy helped Kevin with his sparkler.

Andrea's cuddling with her "love-blankie" before the show.

Andrea loves fireworks. She is so excited any time we get to see some.

Kevin was making silly faces with his glow necklace.

He really likes fireworks, too.

After the fireworks, there were more sparklers! Gram and Papa helped the kids while Daddy went to pack up our stuff. Andrea was a bit nervous about this short-stemmed sparkler. She kept asking, "Will it fire me?"

The older boys weren't afraid of the sparklers. They were whinging sparks at each other!

The fireflies out in the field were amazing. This picture is nothing compared to the millions of them all over the farm that night.

The kids loved the fireflies. They were all catching them in containers. We let them go after a while.

Ryan liked the fireworks, too. He wasn't scared at all--just curious.

Ryan sat with Great-Gram, Aunt Claire and Nathen for the fireworks.

As we got ready to leave, Aunt Cindy suggested the little kids should have one more go on the bouncy castle and slides. They thought that was great!

Andrea's just coming off the slide, into the ball-pit.

Andrea spotted Uncle Jerry's Ranger just as we were leaving. She'd seen him take the older kids for a ride earlier, and really wanted one, too. I thought she was too little for it, but Uncle Jerry strapped her in for a quick zip around the farm.

She did make it back in one piece! :)

Ryan's Giggles & Rolling Over!

I was trying to give Ryan some tummy time on the floor today. As usual, he got really mad about it, so I got down to his level and tried to cheer him up. He was suddenly full of giggles!

Ryan actually surprised me during tummy time. For the first few minutes, he pushed his upper body and head up really well, and didn't fuss too much. Then, when he got mad, he pushed himself right into his first roll-over! I was trying to get pictures of Ryan doing so well in his tummy position, and accidentally caught his first roll on video--great timing!

Ryan Trying New Things

It seems like Ryan has had a lot of new experiences over the last week or so. First, it was going in the Jolly Jumper (see previous post). A day or two later, I decided to try putting him in the Exersaucer because he likes being in an upright position so much. As with all his new experiences, he was cautious and uncertain at first, but then started to wiggle his little legs around.

He bounced on his tip-toes and tapped his feet on the bottom a bit, and checked out the toys.


After about 5 minutes, he was done! He can't really support his upper body yet, so he kind of leans on the edge of the seat to stay up. I imagine that gets uncomfortable after a few minutes. That's been the case ever since; he likes to go in the Exersaucer for 5 or 10 minutes to be upright and play with the toys, and then he gets tired of it.

"Mama, get me outta here!"

***

Since he enjoys sitting up, but can't do it on his own, I've been trying to find ways to prop him up in a comfortable position. He fit quite comfortably into the kids' chair, and it supported him surprisingly well. He was really relaxed, watching something on TV.

On the same day, I tried sitting him up on the Dora couch, but he was getting tired. I folded it out and laid him down with some toys. He loves to kick his legs right now. He's such a wiggledy-bum!

Then, he started up with his newest trick: what I call his "vocal exercises." Ryan loves to hear himself screech right now. He usually does it when he's happy, although his face looks all grumpy because he's so serious about it. This video isn't the prettiest example of his vocal exercises (sometimes he sounds like he's singing!), but it gives you an idea of what he likes to do. In fact, 2 nights ago, he did this from 12:30 to 1:30AM . . . party animal. ;-)

***

Yesterday, we went for our first outdoor swim of the year at Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Tony's. I decided it was time for Ryan's first swim. Ryan, on the other hand, wasn't so sure he wanted to try it out.

In he went, and he did surprisingly well. His face scrunched up a little bit; he almost cried, but with everyone cheering him on and making a big deal over him, he managed to hold it together. The water was 74 degrees, so he only stayed in for a few minutes. I am amazed he lasted that long in that cold water!

Poor Ryan: his first time in the pool ended with a big splash in the face! How did that happen? Well, while we were all watching Ryan's first swim, Kevin decided to hop off the ladder and dive right in! Thankfully, Aunt Steph was there to catch him, but he got a big dunk and a bit of a scare, and Daddy and Ryan got the resultant splash in the face!

***

Besides Kevin's surprise dunk, the kids did great in the pool. Kevin enjoyed swimming with Daddy, while Izzy and Andrea swam on their own with floaties (and with grown-ups nearby).

After the swim, Hannah and Kevin took advantage of their older siblings' absence by helping themselves to Andrea and Izzy's pasta. Way to seize the moment, little ones!