Another Sleeping Picture

Out of bed, off the top bunk, and fast asleep on the floor.

Riding and Sleeping

One weekend recently, a friend mentioned on facebook that she was out with her sons riding bikes. Rudy and I needed to get out, so I asked where she was going. They were riding around their school's parking lot. It was a great place to ride - no cars, lots of open space. So Rudy and I joined them for a while.

The other night I told Rudy we needed to get out and do something and I gave him several choices; he said he wanted to take his bike like he did the other night with the boys, but at HIS school. So we did. It was a great place. On the sidewalk he can ride completely around the entire complex. There are also several cul-de-sacs he can ride around. We will definitely be doing this more often!

A few recent sleeping pictures. He sure does love his toys!

The little ones right by his face are small sponge dinosaurs. They come in a capsule, you drop them in water and the dinosaurs emerge!

This toy even got its own pillow!

Random Pictures

Rudy usually snuggles on the couch in the morning while I get his breakfast ready. One day, he decided to snuggle on the ottoman instead.

Showing his drawing of Spiderman.

A Great Week Off

It was just a stroke of luck that I ended up having all of this last week off. My (previous ) school had used so many snow days that school ended up being open on Thursday and Friday. Friday was supposed to be my last day, since I had given notice two weeks prior. But instead I was informed the week before Easter that Thursday (the 1st) would be my last day.

Rudy and I enjoyed our week off together - possibly a little too much - he's been VERY attached to me over the last few days. I blogged about much of the beginning of the week and all the time we got to spend outside. Paul was off with us on Thursday and Friday. However, he was also sick. Thursday he took his mom to the doctor's and went himself. So Rudy and I played at the park with friends instead. Friday ended up being the worst day, weather-wise, but Paul was feeling better, so he agreed to take Rudy out for a few hours and let me finish cleaning (I have to say, I never thought this was something I would enjoy or bargain for - time at home to clean!). Then Friday night my dad came over to watch Rudy and Paul and I went out to dinner, seafood - yum, and spent time at a bookstore and a coffee shop. It was a nice relaxing night out.

On Saturday we took the train into Philadelphia to see a Pirate play.

Rudy loves riding the train. (Excuse the way I look, I think Paul snapped the picture as I was eating.)

Rudy really enjoyed the play. Then we stopped at our favorite Philly restaurant - Marathon Grill- for lunch. As we waited for lunch we heard many Pirate phrases - "matey" and "Ahoy" especially. The play was based on the book "How I Became a Pirate" about a little boy who wants to join the pirates but then realizes that they won't tuck him in or sing him songs and he wants to go home. It was funny and Rudy was paying close attention. He keeps reciting parts of the dialogue still today.

On the way home we stopped by to see Bill & Renee for a little while. A tired little boy fell asleep in the car when we headed home - a VERY rare event any more. Even more surprising because we weren't expecting it (because he was very tired or cranky)or hoping for it (because he was very tired or cranky), he was just talking quietly in the back seat and then all of a sudden he was asleep.

Today, Sunday, our last day off, we went to church, took a short walk in the woods after (there's small chapel in the woods behind the church), and then came home and relaxed. I went out and did a little shopping and when I came home, the boys were outside playing baseball, so I joined the fun.

It was a great week - even more so because I didn't plan too much to do. Plans either never materialized, got canceled because of illness or work schedules, or happened spontaneously. And I don't feel like I need a vacation to recover from my vacation- a nice change of pace.

FFF- Fall

Okay, not a post of Rudy pictures but some pictures to show the trees around our house right now.
This is the gorgeous oak over our backyard. It's actually in our neighbor's yard and some of the branches are in bad shape but we are always praying it won't be cut down because we love it.

A view up from our backyard.

The front yard about 2 weeks ago. This is why we spend ALL fall raking - see how one tree has lost all it's leaves and the other is still green?

Okay and just for fun - another Rudy sleeping picture:

Yes, he is sleeping on Grande Pooh. When I mentioned it to him the next morning he said his pillow was too cold and Pooh was warm!

Random Pictures

Rudy decided the other day that the end table made a perfect seat for him.

I had to take yet another sleeping picture. He is curled up completely ON his pillow. I think he spent most of the night like this. Doesn't he look like he's had such a hard day?!

Sleeping (again)

I think I've become addicted to taking pictures of Rudy sleeping. And Patti, once he's asleep he's out so I don't worry about waking him (at least not too much). So here are last night's pictures.

Now let me explain about all his friends in the crib. At least the ones you can see - there are probably 4 or 5 more at the foot of his bed! You remember Pooh - from a previous post. Pooh just stays in the crib all the time. He takes up a lot of space but Rudy doesn't seem to mind.

The gato that Rudy is clutching was a gift from Uncle Bill & Aunt Renee for his first birthday. Rudy got it when we were in Guatemala last November and he loved it then. We took it home with us, but brought it along on our other trips and he continues to love having gato around. Gato also stays primarily in the crib and Rudy often falls asleep holding on to him. Here are some pictures of him with gato on our visits.

The last friend - the newest- is the big purple oso (bear). It was a gift to Rudy from his friend Paige. He was so excited to get it and he came home and "introduced " it to one of his other toys by putting them both together on the floor and then holding them together when we read books last night.

An unrelated story - last night we went out to dinner after church with a mix of people - my dad, Paul's grandmother and aunt and cousin, and friends - Karen and her daughter, Paige. Rudy, of course, charmed everyone and managed to get them to all share their food with him. It's pretty impressive when a college senior, home for the weekend and getting a free meal is willing to share it with a two-year old!

So after dinner, Rudy shared Paul's "chee-co-la" (this is a word we think that Rudy was originally trying to say chocolate but has now come to mean any sweets or desserts) and when it was done he was asking for more. Paul told him it was all gone and everyone else was done too. Rudy looked around the table, saw Paul's aunt still had dessert and said "Pat, chee-co-la" and proceeded to walk around the table to her and get the rest of her dessert. What a kid!

Sleeping

The biggest problem Rudy had when he came home had to do with sleeping. He was used to co-sleeping with his foster mother. We quickly determined that wasn't for us when he slapped and hit both of us one night as he flailed around. So for our first few weeks, maybe even month or so, we would hold Rudy until he fell asleep. At night this meant the routine could take up to 2 hours. And we had to be sure he was REALLY asleep before putting him in his crib or he would wake up and we'd start all over again. Nap time was really difficult because I would spend 2 hours trying to get him to sleep and then maybe he would sleep for another 2.
I can't remember how it happened but there came a time when Rudy was more comfortable in his crib. So we started putting him in his crib and staying in the room, reading a book of our own, until he fell asleep. It was still a long process but a little easier on us.

Nap time was still a problem, though. One day he fell asleep in the car so I carried him in and put him in his crib. I started baking and after 30 minutes he woke up. I was right in the middle of baking so I ran upstairs thinking I would just have to rock him a little and he'd fall back asleep. When I got upstairs he was wide awake and raring to go. I tried getting him to sleep but no luck. I needed to get back downstairs to my baking and didn't want him under foot, so I gave him some books to read and told him he needed some more time in his crib. Amazingly, it worked. He was happy to read his books and talk to his animals. Thus began a new nap time routine - putting him in his crib with some books or toys and leaving him for an hour or so - if he slept - fine - if not - fine too. It gave him (and Mommy) some down time.

Recently (within the last month) we decided that if he was okay during the day in his crib alone, he should be able to do the same thing at night. So now, after we read books with him, we let him pick some books of his own to take in his crib. And we say good-night and leave the room. The first few nights we had two or three times to reassure him but after that he's been fine. Some nights it may take 15 minutes for him to fall asleep and others an hour. But it's nicer for us to be downstairs instead of sitting in his room while he falls asleep. And if Iwe could find a way to record his conversations with himself, or his animals, I would post them here because Paul and I sit downstairs some nights and just laugh.

Here is Rudy after he fell asleep last night.

And when he woke up this morning. (The room was dark and the flash was shining in his eyes, I think).

Nap time with Tad. Tad was our savior on all our trips to Guatemala but once we got home, Rudy wasn't as interested in him. The past week he's been playing with him a lot again.

And waking up from his nap. He was actually a little tired - he may have slept too long.