Turning Two

You know, I was really very close to getting completely caught up with the blog with the last few posts. Then I got extremely busy and it got away from me again. I'm telling all you subscribers of Ryder's World that one day I will actually blog about what happened THAT DAY!! I promise.
To be honest though, I never thought that this blog would ever get to where it is today. Still going strong after two years and more than 200 blog posts. It's really been a daunting tasks keeping up with the little smurf but it has been more than rewarding to document his whole life! Sometimes I already forget what he looked like when he was one month old or what we were doing then so I just flip back to some older posts and read it like a diary. It's amazing how much Ryder's grown and changed and we are really glad to share all these memories with all of our family and friends.
Well, the little smurf turned two last month and I finally have time to post some of the pictures we took that night at his little birthday party. He knew he was the center of attention that day (actually everyday!) so he was all smiles for the camera. Grandma and grandpa got to share his birthday too and he was soooo happy. Now that they are gone, he's always asking where kong kong and poi poi are. (grandpa and grandma in Chinese) It was really fantastic to have them here the last two months to help break in our new house (I promise there will be a post about that too!) and just be around Ryder as he devlops his character. Actually this summer was quite unusual for us as tons of family was in town. Besides grandpa and grandma my brother Cary's family was also in Taipei. Here my sister-in-law and her two kids Russell and Austin smile for the camera. My brother arrived that night so he missed the party. My younger brother Jason is also in Taipei for the summer but he happend to be in China for work during Ryder's birthday. So it was a little like being back home for the summer which was great.Ryder just loves to hang out with his two older cousins even though he is the little pee-on in the group. I'm sure as he grows older they will spit in his mouth and give him wedgies...and he will love it cuz it makes him feel like part of the TEAM!Actually in the picture above is the absolute most annoying toy that he received this year. It's a little yellow ambulance with a button that you press to make the siren go off. As Ryder loves cars, he will not let go of this ambulance. Absolutely will not let go of it as if it were a ice cold beer on a blazing summer day!!!!! And he presses that button continuously for HOURS!! I shit you not! Hours!!!! I am amazed at the battery technology in this thing cuz it's still going. Just like the energizer bunny it's still going. I think it runs on nuclear fusion or something cuz it's been weeks and he just keeps pressing it. He presses it every morning first thing when he wakes up and will continue to do so until me or Jackie cannot fight it anymore! Who do I have to thank for this ambulance? HIS GOD-PARENTS! I am entertaining the thought of buying him a drum set and setting it up at their house just to torment them. It's great fun though and they also got him the coolest leather jacket in the world. Check out the smurf trying to look cool.The highlight was definitely when the cake came cuz he loves to sing the Happy Birthday song and we must've repeated it like 3 times in both English and Chinese. Everytime though, he would clap and smile and he enjoys nothing more than blowing out the candles. Actually I take that back, he likes to press the button on the ambulance just a little MORE!How old are you this year Ryder??!!That's right...TWO!!!! He blew out the candle so many times I think my slice of cake had gobbles of spit on it. There was also a Taiko drum performance that he was so enthralled with and we couldn't leave until the second performance of the night. By that time which was around 10pm, the little smurf was out. He was fighting to stay awake cuz he wanted to savor his birthday but when you are two, you don't win many of these battles. He passes out before grandpa could even get him out the door.
We get home and my son is out. Hope you really enjoyed your two year old birthday Ryder. Daddy and Mommy love you very much. Now please don't press the ambulance button when you get up okay? Actually, I'm going to go hide it now! Or just flat out destroy it.