What He Saying: Vol. 02

Ryder in LS

Ryder in Lincoln Square

Ryder has been continuing his quotable streak – as a typical two year old does. Here are some fresh ones:

Maisy was fussing one morning and Ryder got close to her and said, “Don’t be sad, be pumped Maisy!”

Sometimes during dinner Ryder will recount things that happened during the day so that Ryan can know what happens while he is at work. This is a nap time account from Ryder; he uttered this whole sentence in about two seconds without taking a breath:
“Mommy said it’s nap time. I said no, it’s not nap time ’cause I had a poop coming down.”

After dinner one night…
Ryan: “Would you like an ice cream treat?”
Ryder: “Yes! I am going to eat it good as new.”

Ryan and Ryder were eating some bagels…
Ryan: “Thanks for sharing.”
Ryder: “Thanks for sharing with you.”

At our local sandwich shop, we sometimes get an Oreo shake, which usually has tiny Oreo cookies on top. One time, there weren’t any tiny Oreos on top…
Ryder: “Are there any brown cookies?”
Caitlin: “No, but we can get some at Trader Joes.”
Ryder: “Ooh that’s a bright idea.”

One night I made fish for dinner. As any parent of a toddler knows, getting them to eat can be an issue.
Caitlin: “Mommy made fish for dinner, are you going to try it?”
Ryder: “I’m going to try the fish*, it’s mighty good for me.”
*turned out to be a lie.

Ryan: “Ryder, should I put this Elmo bib on you?”
Ryder: “Yes, that would do the trick.”

Sometimes when Ryder wakes up in the morning, he’s not quite ready to wake up. He can have some very sad times waking up. After a while, he typically calms down, and we can reflect on the events of the morning. One such morning, the following exchange took place.
Caitlin: “Why were you crying this morning?”
Ryder: “That was a mess.”

mother’s day.

gold car machine

gold car machine

It started off just right. My boys and teeny girl made me some delicious breakfast: cake batter pancakes, fresh fruit, and juice. mmm. After breakfast I hopped into our gold minivan (called gold-car-machine to create the illusion that our car is on par with a backhoe or other construction machine) to run an errand. On my way home, things got messy. A little genie lantern light in gold-car-machine started blinking. For all you car nerds, it’s the oil light. It then started beeping. Thoughts of the Jiffy Lube waiting room swirled in my head…hoping I wouldn’t have to use their bathroom again because it was kind of gross a few months ago. Anyway, beeping continued and within minutes the car was smoking. A lot.

I swerved over into a vacant spot on the side of the road as quickly as possible. about five feet away from this spot was a man and his tamale cart. Although he looked at the van in horror he didn’t move an inch. In the tamale cart game, once you’ve established your position, you do not budge. Tamale lovers need to come to you, or the whole system gets thrown out of wack. Apparently his calm demeanor didn’t impact any of my subsequent actions. I jumped out of the car like a raving lunatic. In those early minutes I pretty much thought the car was going to explode. I obviously watch much too much tv. That kind of stuff happens to Jack Bauer all the time; however it usually entails a bomb, rather than a cracked radiator. I was all hopped up on adrenaline – just like Jack – as I rushed around the corner and peeked back at the car, which now had neon green anti-freeze streaming from its underbelly (tamale cart guy holding steady). As you car nerds might have guessed, the car did not explode. And instead of some crafty plot twist that only Chloe O’Brien is aware of, a tow truck came and picked up the mini-van. In Ryder’s eyes nothing could have been cooler than seeing a photo of  gold-car-machine up on the tow truck. I may not have Jack Bauer’s cat-like reflexes, but man, can I be involved in a top notch car break down.

Firehouse Visit

Waukegan Fire Department Fire Engine

Waukegan Fire Department Fire Engine

Those of you who have spent much time with Ryder will know that he’s a pretty big fan of heavy duty trucks and vehicles. Previously, Caitlin has described the amount of joy that he gets from watching the cars and trucks outside our windows. So, when Caitlin arranged a firehouse tour (pics) for all of us, we knew it was going to b big for Ryder. To provide context, Cait spoke to her friend Katie whose husband is a firefighter for  the Waukegan fire department. We picked a date, drove out to their house one Saturday. Katie led the vehicular caravan to the station to meet up with Mark who was on shift at the station. When Mark greeted us at the station’s back door, we began to feel like firehouse VIPs. It was raining that day, which thankfully decreased the likelihood of Mark being pulled away on an actual call. No surprise, the fire engine was the primary item of interest on Ryder’s list. (Actually, he probably didn’t have a fully-formed list, but I can vouch for his interest in the fire engine). Mark wasted no time in showing us over to the fire engine (which he later clarified as combination ladder truck-pump truck). Ryder got to climb in the cabin, sit in the driver’s seat, and even press a bunch of buttons in the truck’s cab. There was an ambulance in the parking garage and Ryder got to sit in the back of the ambulance. The vehicle tour was fantastic and heavily photographed.

Ryder in Driver's Seat

Ryder in Driver's Seat

Mark explained to the listening adults the difference between the ladder truck and a pump truck, as well as the kinds of activities he was uniquely qualified to perform in his role as a firefighter. We learned that firefighters got trained for half of the day – every day except for Saturdays, which they got to themselves. Mark showed us around the upstairs of the fire house where we got to see the recreation area, their in-house gym, the bunks, and even the padlocks on two of the three fridges. (According to Mark, a person could leave a $20 bill lying around and it would be safe for days, but an unwatched bag of chips would be gone in the blink of an eye). The grand finale of the tour was getting to see Mark slide down the fireman’s pole. Not one, but twice – parts of which we were able to capture on video. Then, to get everyone home before the coach turned back into a pumpkin, we had to make our way from Waukegan back to home sweet Chicago. We learned a lot on our firehouse tour – including that Waukegan has the best firefighters ever. When we read Richard Scarry’s Busiest Firefighters Ever book, Ryder still talks about Mark sliding down the pole. Just like Sparky, Snozzle, Smokey and Squirty.

Mark & Ryder

Mark & Ryder

Maisy was slightly less impressed.