Fiery Flames of Love – 1.9 – Big Boy

Over the next few weeks, our not-so-little Ryan Danbesco was becoming quite a big boy.

He was a very easy child, always eating his food at his highchair.

We found him to be a very independent child, as as soon as we placed him into his walker he was off and running, pushing and twisting all the little buttons on the front.

When he wasn’t toddling around, he found a lot of amusement in the various toys in his room, including his blocks. They were probably the most challenging, and he seemed to do well at getting the block into the right hole.

Busy with Ryan, we hadn’t really bothered celebrating halloween this year. Normally I would have liked to get into the spirit by putting lights up and carving pumpkins, but it had barely crossed my mind. Considering our remote location and lack of decorations, we only had one trick-or-treater this year.

Meanwhile, as a big toddler Ryan still loved his swing. It was a little strange to see a much bigger boy swinging in that chair- it was sad, he would soon grow too big to ride it anymore.

Ryan was such an easy child- he went to bed at night with his little music box and a kiss goodnight. He would cry if he didn’t get either than those- but if he did, he would go straight to sleep.

Potty training was going to be my least favourite, but I knew that since ultimately, I would prefer emptying the potty than changing nappies- I needed to get him started early. It was difficult to catch when Ryan needed to go- otherwise, he wouldn’t stay on the potty for long. This would take a while to perfect.

One day, I was in the living room and as I go up, I noticed Ryan come toddling along after exploring the bathroom. It was shocking! Using his walker, he seemed to have taught himself to walk! I was very proud.

With the walking down, I decided I needed to get started on talking. Instead of crying, I wanted to hear Ryan speak- to tell us what he needed.

It was easy to spend a lot of time with Ryan- we were cooped up in the house everyday. Since the start of Autumn, there had not been a day when it hadn’t rained.

“Tell me, can you say mummy?” I asked.

“Mummy!” Ryan giggled back.

“Can you say daddy?”

“Daddy!”

At long last, Ryan was speaking- sort of. He would say what he wanted in a few words or less. “Hungry, Sleepy, Potty” were just a few.

Potty training then became a lot easier after Ryan could speak- as he could tell me when he needed to go and I would always tell him instead of… “letting go,” he needed to come to the potty.

The very next day, the sky was clear! Samuel and I raced out into a little fenced off area in our yard that we’d been planning to start a garden in for some time. We knew the weather was cooling down and they weren’t going to grow during winter, but we still wanted to get them planted.

We only had a limited amount of knowledge and seeds, so we didn’t take all that long. But, all the while, Ryan played in his new playpen. Sam and I had bought it and then found that we had no space to put it- so when we figured it would keep Ryan occupied while we gardened- we jumped at that opportunity and put the thing together straight away. Ryan seemed to be particularly interested in the abacus.

Another chore I was finding I needed to start doing was the laundry. I was not looking forwards too it, but I could at least be grateful I wasn’t living fifty one hundred years ago when they wouldn’t have had this technology and would have done it by hand.

Since today was the first day it had not rained since the beginning of Autumn, Sam and I jumped on the opportunity to take Ryan out to a new children’s park which had opened recently nearby.

It was a fairly long ride to get there, as the park was placed in a remote area.

Despite that, I knew the drive had been worth it when we arrived. The place was amazing!

I took Ryan straight over to the springy rides. There was a little coin slot on each, where you slipped a coin in so that the ride would play music, blow steam or light up. He loved them, not taking a moment to become a full fledged pirate as he bounced around on his pirate ship.

No sooner did he jump into the wild west- racing his horse along.

In an instant he turned into a space crusader- exploring space for aliens on his funky spaceship.

And finally, all the two simoleon cost rides were over, and despite that- Ryan refused to get off. He crossed his arms and stared me down, not willing to budge. I placed my hands on my hips, staring him down.

“No! Again!” Ryan completed.

“I’m sorry honey, they cost two simoleons. I can’t keep spending on these or we’ll go broke. You’ve had three rides already.” I said, very apologetic. It pleased me to see Ryan having such a good time.

When eye contact became too overwhelming, he turned away, but I used to opportunity to grab him before he could wriggle away.

Luckily I’d brought his little tank toy along, so Sam and I could have a little fun like big kids on the seesaw while Ryan played with his toy. At least that wasn’t costing me two simoleons a minute.

Eventually though, Ryan got up and toddled off. We were a little concerned as to where he was going, so Sam and I stopped, just to watch where he went.

It turned out he just tried to go play in the sandpit- but there were a bunch of big kids in there and he wasn’t aloud in, so he played nearby instead. I was about to go give those boys a piece of my mind, but Sam talked me out of it. He told me that those boys would push Ryan around and I didn’t want that. Ryan seemed to be content just nearby, anyway.

Soon enough the sky darkened and I put Ryan in his little coat and we headed home. It had been a good day.

As soon as we arrived home Ryan at his dinner silently as I prepared ours. He seemed tuckered out from the big day and I knew he would sleep well. So would I.

In fact, Ryan had been so tired he fallen asleep before I had wound up the music box- which never normally happened.

Despite the good day, I managed to clog the sink and the toilet before I headed off to bed. Just my luck.

The next morning posed good news, Ryan finally mastered potty training! That checked off the last thing on the list, and everything was done. All we had to do was let Ryan have some fun, and let him prosper on his own. I felt he would learn a lot from his blocks and his xylophone.

Sadly though, in all the rush, we’d forgotten to pay the bills and the repo man came to take our things! I was very upset- all he did was come and taken all of Ryan’s toys!

Oh, and some magazines. But never mind that, it wasn’t that we were unable to pay the bills, it’s just that we forgot. So, we were able to afford to replace everything he took. No matter.

I spent a lot of time helping Ryan with his blocks, but often he didn’t need the help. He definitely surprised me by his independence by silently getting up, and toddling out of the room.

I found him after, going potty. I praised him, very pleased.

The next morning when we woke up the window was frosted over and it had snowed heavily all night. The first day of winter, and we could already play in the snow!

I got myself and Ryan dressed, and we raced outside to play in the snow. I’d asked Sam, but unfortunately he’d had to go to work. We- or rather, I, started building a snowman, and Ryan played- with his tank again, in the snow.

Meanwhile, Sam rushed passed us, getting called early for an emergency. I didn’t get to kiss him goodbye, but no matter.

Later on, Sam came home and got to help me build another snow man. After the first, I’d spent the rest of the the day playing with Ryan in between building an igloo and making us some warm munchies.

Sam and I made some snow angels, too. But, by then we were getting pretty cold, so we headed inside.

It was getting later, so we decided to prepare dinner and start getting ready for bed. It had been a great day, once again but we were all tired.

After a lack of effort during Halloween, I made sure we were getting festive for Christmas, so I had planned to decorate the outside of the house, which I had done today. Tomorrow, or soon enough, I would find a spot to put the Christmas tree. Then, after that, I would plan the party.

That night, Sam and I thought a lot about little Ryan and how easy he’d been- contemplating whether… maybe he’d like a sibling?

We were both in a very good mood too…

So, you know what? How hard could it be?