Category: 3 Years

Ryan has always been interested in the alphabet and how the alphabet forms words.  We never really taught him how to read but he would always ask us how to spell something (JUICE was the first word he learned how to spell because we would spell it out instead of saying the word).

Ryan was basically self taught on how to read.  Obviously, we have read him lots of books and stories since he was young but never really taught him words other than when he would ask us what something was.

Here is is reading the summary of another book he wants to get sometime called ‘ Frank the Giant’

It might seem like we are lucky to never get snow in Vancouver but to a kid growing up it seems like it never snows.  And in Vancouver if you don’t run to the nearest hill you won’t get the chance to even play in the snow because it will melt.

Ryan was very very very excited to see the snow – it started at night and Ryan would just stare out his window.  In fact, we caught him pulling his blinds back and looking out the window a half hour after we put him to bed!  When he woke up in the morning he was so excited and wanted to go sledding.  I took him on a really fun sled ride and he loved it.  This year we went to a bigger hill and he loved it all the more!

Here is a short video.

This year in LA for Christmas was the best ever.  I seriously think that it was sunny and nice every single day we were there.  That is a bit unusual at that time of year and we certainly were not complaining!

On the day before we left we decided to all go to the park and hang out and enjoy our last day of beautiful weather before heading back to rainy Vancouver.

What does a kid do when he sees a hill on a sunny day?  He does roly poly, of course.

(this is a video)

Christmas is starting to become a bigger deal to Ryan as he gets older.  He certainly had a blast spending time with his cousin Tyler (who is just a few months younger).  Tyler was great at sharing all of his toys and both boys played well together except when David (Tyler’s dad) came home.  Whenever David came home both kids would start a big scene and start fighting over the toys – it was a pretty good coincidence and funny to witness multiple times.

Ryan had a great Christmas but it was filled with such excitement that we realize he really should have taken a nap.  Who under 20 naps on Christmas?  The nap didn’t happen so at the end of the day Ryan was pretty grumpy and ended up passing out super early.

Here are some photos.

Madeline, Ryan and Tyler on the swing	Treats rock!
Opening gifts	Lots of new toys!
Ryan’s favorite new mittens!	Ryan’s gift to daddy

This year we tried to avoid the mall Santa as he can be dirty and smelly and overused.  We decided to go to one of the community centres for pancakes with Santa.   Here we had breakfast with Santa and got to sit on his lap for photos and to give him our wish list.  Ryan was very talkative with Santa and gave him specific instructions on what he wanted for Christmas.

Afterwards, there was a party at the gym.  Madeline was intrigued by Santa but preferred to pose in front of the polar bear.