Ryan's First Easter

Ryan had such a special weekend celebrating his first Easter with his family!

Lake House Easter
Rimkus Easter


The Wojciaczyks and Kot family decided to take Easter two hours west and open up the Lake House for the first time this year.  Saturday morning Jonny and I woke up bright and early to get packed up and ready to go (I distinctly remember being awake at 5:30 a.m., so why we were just getting on the expressway at 9:30 I have no idea).  I was very proud to discover that I could actually pack one bag for just Jon and me, even though it was bulging at the seams (my excitement waned when I realized that we were packed for a less than 24 hour stay - so the "one bag" thing will probably never happen again).  Ryan had his very own 64 gallon Rubbermaid packed to the gills with all his "necessities," and Libby had her own bag too - filled with medicine*.  I stood back and looked at the two bags and Rubbermaid and though, "not bad."  Then we remembered we had to bring the Pack n' Play...and 'nice' clothes for Easter Sunday...and gym shoes for night time...and a light jacket....and Apples to Apples, Disney Edition.  So, by the time we finished collecting all the things we "needed " to have, we had one bag for Jon and me, one bag for Libby, Ryan's 65 gallon Rubbermaid, and 12 other random bags.  Finally it was time for Jon to bring the car around and get it packed up.  It was then we realized it was virtually impossible to effectively pack up all of our crap, a dog, a baby and ourselves into the car.  Flash forward twenty minutes and we're pulling away from the curb with Jonny and Libby sitting in the front and me and Ryan in the back (better me breathing in Ryan's face than Libby).  It was quite the caravan, but it afforded us the opportunity to try out the DVD player in the car for the first time in four years.



Thankfully, we were blessed with a beautiful day at the Lake.  The sun was shining and we took advantage of the weather and did as much out of doors as was possible.  The men split wood, the dogs played ball (even though Libby was tethered to the ground with a 50 foot cord - thankfully she didn't choke herself), and the ladies milled in and out of the house - mostly following whatever Ryan was doing - watching the men and the dogs.  Nana was so happy to hold Ryan for as long as he would let her...which was for as long and as often as she wanted!  What a good boy!  She fed him every meal and he just smiled at her most of the time. 

By the time Ryan went to bed on Saturday night he had spent a wonderful day with his gram and pa, Nana and his aunties and uncles, worn a hat for the first time (still not a fan of the sunglasses), went on a veeerrrryyy slow golf cart ride, colored his first Easter egg and got a visit from the Easter Bunny!  What an exciting day it was for him!

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Jon and I decided to rely on Ryan to be our alarm clock for Easter morning - and he did a fantastic job...of letting us sleep in.  What a good little boy.  When we finally got up and moving, Ryan got dressed in his first little Easter outfit.  I have to wonder why a 3 month old needs a belt, but whatevs.  He was dressed to the nines, and even wore shoes for the special occasion.  We repacked up all of our crap (see above), expect this time, in a much more messy and disorganized way, and headed up to Mokena to celebrate with the Rimkus family.  (Yes, I sat in the back on the way back as well.)

Again, it was a gorgeous sunny day and we arrived just in time for brunch (or brunch waited to be ready "just in time" for us to get there).  Auntie Jess got Ryan on the floor after we ate, and to our surprise, he decided it would be fun to try and roll over.  We must have spent an hour, with bated breath, on pins and needles, etc. watching him make it "almost" over.  We moved his arms in different positions, made funny faces, clapped, and tried to bait him little toys, but he just wouldn't do it for us...and, to date, he still won't.  (And if mommy wasn't so vain, she would post a video of his best try.)

As if he wasn't exhausted enough from his rolling back and forth on the floor, we then decided to see if he would like to "drive" in Jack's bouncy car...so, he borrowed his older cousin's cool sunglasses and took it for a spin.  I think he likes it, but it will take a few more weeks and another inch or so before he LOVES it.  He loved spending Easter with his cousins Annie and Jack (if you'd like to see how much Ryan and Annie love each other click here).  Ryan got another big Easter basket, with some very cool little toys and books and a chocolate bunny (I guess mom or dad will have to eat that...twist my arm).  And congratulations to Jess, for winning the egg cracking contest...again.  I'm totally pulling for you to get a turkey and win again next year. 

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*For those who know Libby and how much she likes to eat anything and everything she finds on the ground - most things I can't even see before they go down her throat - for example some of my recent favorites have been a piece of pizza she found in the yard (brought over by the squirrels from the garbage next door), a chicken bone she found on the stairs, and a button the size of a fingernail I was able to fish out before she swallowed it.  We are unsure of what she got at this time, but last week she was throwing up and experiencing some other intestinal difficulties (is that a nice way of saying diarrhea?).  When it got to the point that she was not eating her food or drinking her water, it was time to take her to the vet.  She had an exam of her bottom and an xray to make sure that nothing was stuck...it would appear nothing is stuck.  Then a full round of antibiotic shots and a prescription for three medications.  Clearly, my vet thinks I have nothing better to do than dispense medicine for, between the three prescriptions, one could not be taken within one hour of another, and the other two hours before or after the other, and the third not within an hour of each of the other or within two hours of eating food...and, by the way, do this twice a day.  And also, the thirty dollar bag of dog food - give four cups over the course of the day - but break that down over 5 feedings (this I refused to do).  Long story short, a week later, she seems to be just fine.