First things first, Christmas was a blast. Mom woke me up and we immediately went down stairs to see what Santa had brought me. He sure brought me some great toys that will keep me occupied for a long time. It will also give me a lot of toys to do reviews on so check back in for those.

After Christmas morning at our house, we drove over to my grandma's house which we then opened up even more gifts. I know that my grandma sure liked the gifts that I got her. Any gift with a picture of me in it is top notch. I made it a point to make sure I got to see the Disney Christmas Parade. I got to see the DoodleBops, the Little Einsteins and even Handy Manny. After a nap, I woke up to a completed dinner so we all sat down to eat. Boy was that yummy. I am still eating the leftovers days later.

Sometime last week, I had a chance to see my little brother or sister on the television. My mom had her first ultrasound and we get to have another one soon. I don't know what I am looking at really but its interesting. I think dad feels the same way. I am definitely looking forward to having someone to play with. I like to share things with my mom and dad so I don't think it will be that much different with a brother or sister.

I also forgot to mention that I learned that my first cousin will also be a boy. That should be fun teaching him all of the things I know. I gave him a Christmas present that was addressed to my 'Future Best Pal", it was a baby safe stuffed bear. I have one that my Grandpa got me months ago when we went to Ikea together. Boy do I like that store.

I guess thats it for now. I am not sure what my dad has planned for New Years but I will report on it next week. Have a safe weekend.

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For those who do not know, in between the Disney channel shows they commonly have short films or music videos. Rylan has taken to these pretty well and seems to really enjoy the Ralph's World videos. Christmas provided Rylan with his own Ralph's World CD which introduced us to 'The Coffee Song' which is a pretty accurate song for moms and dads. Check it out and you may just find out it applies to you as well.

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Christmas has come and gone and despite the recent accident and food poisoning, it went pretty well. Rylan was able to spend his Christmas with grandma for the first time and he seemed to really enjoy it.

Just a few months ago at his birthday party, Rylan was not too interested in opening gifts but now at Christmas that was definitely not the case. Any gift that was in a bag he would easily grab the gift laying inside and pull it out. Sometimes his face would light up and others he just tossed aside. One of the gifts that you could tell he immediately liked was a stuffed Little Einstein character which his grandma got for him. He immediately gave it a kiss and a hug. Simply amazing.

One of the great gifts that Rylan gave to his grandparents was a framed drawing and picture of him. We sat Rylan down in his highchair and let him go to town on a few pieces of paper. Per Rylan's request, we then framed it with a picture of him drawing that day. The grandparents ate it up. What really topped off the gift was after grandma had opened it, he immediately went over there and gave her a big hug. The kid is a genius and definitely knows how to leave his mark.

Our Christmas ended with a great dinner made by my wife and her mother. We woke Rylan up from his nap to enjoy the food with us and he did just that. As I walked to my chair I told Rylan that because it was Christmas he should eat in a civilized manner, so he did. Little fuss and even less mess, Rylan ate his dinner very well. He now gets leftovers for the next 2 years of lunches. Rylan thanks you very much grandma!

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Whohoo, I can finally tell everyone. I am going to be a big brother!

I have been holding that secret in for what seems like years. Mommy and daddy broke the news to me on Thanksgiving and they asked me to keep the secret in until now. That is a long long time. I am surprised that I didn't let it out. I am going to be a big brother! I'm so excited.

This week has just been nuts. I have been sick since last Friday and still have a runny nose as of today. I just can't kick this thing. Mom and dad experienced some crazy food poisoning and to top it off, my dad got hit in an accident. Talk about a string of bad luck.

Christmas is just about here though so I am trying to ride the excitement all the way until the end. I have been opening a few of my presents already because we have been meeting up with some of the family that we cannot see on Christmas day. I am having a lot of fun helping to open the gifts. Let's see, I have already received a few Fisher Price Little People sets that I am really excited about and a whole bunch of Disney related stuff. I even got a Cars pillow and blanket set. It was so soft that I immediately had to lay down on it. I like to test things like that out.

I can't wait until Monday comes along so I can open even more gifts. I will be celebrating with my grandma this year so I am very excited about that. We went out with her last night to do some final shopping. She sure is fun to be around.

I will let everyone know how my Christmas went soon. Until then, have a happy and safe holidays.

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The holiday season decided to hand me yet another wonderful gift. A wonderfully packaged rear end collision. Merry Christmas to me!

The drive home was like every other one except this one was special, it had someone not paying attention when I slowed down and came to a stop at a yellow light. Drivers now expect you to burn through the yellow light so when you do not, they just don't know how to handle it and in turn, hit you firmly in the rear.

For the first time, I can say that I had nearly a white Christmas as when I was getting hit and my head snapped back I saw a very quick glimpse of pure white. Luckily it wasn't the white light that people mention in other situations. As for me, minus a bit of neck soreness, I am intact. The car however is another story and that will have to be dealt with. Amazing, the driver of the truck who hit me had a <5 year old in the back seat and he didn't get hurt at all despite the airbags going off.

Now for my holiday words of advice. Pay attention while driving. Also, a very important thing that many parents may not know about is, throw out your car seats when you get in any type of accident. Your child's life is not worth the risk. A minor fractor can occur in minor accidents that in the case of a major one, will show themselves by failing and putting your child at risk. Toss that thing out.

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Have some fun with your own pictures at pikipimp.com.

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It all began Friday when my wife woke up to Rylan spewing out day old food. She just couldn't take it and decided that it would be best that I came home, so I did. After a short while, we got an appointment with his doctor and they sent us home with a basic diagnosis that it was likely a stomach bug.

Saturday came around and Rylan appeared to be getting better which certainly made us feel a lot better. My wife and I stopped by a local Mexican restaurant to pickup some food to go and we picked up Rylan some food at another place. It was within hours that my wife began to feel sick and soon afterwards, I to was feeling badly. Hours later, we pretty much came to the conclusion that we were experiencing food poisoning. Rylan began to cry as he was clearly worried for us while we did our thing. Luckily, he was calmed down slightly by turning on Jay Jay the Jet Plane DVD.

We packed up and headed to the urgent care and amazingly, there was not a single person there. We went right in and after an IV and some medications, we went back home. It was a long night and when we woke up, it was Rylan's turn to go through the hassle.

At this point, my wife is battling through Rylan being sick while I am at work feeling like a truck rolled over me. Definitely not a great way to celebrate the Christmas season.

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This morning I woke up feeling terrible so I am going to keep this post short. My dad came home from work to help take care of me and take me and my mom to the doctor to get me checked out. They think I probably just have a stomach bug or maybe something upset my tummy that I ate.

My dad posted some of my Christmas pictures earlier, I had a pretty good time with them. The lady was pretty cute so I was flirting with her while she took my picture. Then, I saw a girl that was my age outside so I ran out to go see her. She was pretty cute too. We played a little bit together before I had to take off. My mom and dad are really going to need to watch me when I get older because I am already a big hit with the ladies.

This weekend I get to celebrate Christmas with my grandparents and my aunts and uncle. I know that it will be fun. We will be bringing some cookies I think that mom and dad will be making tomorrow. I missed out last year trying any of them so I am going to take full advantage of it this year.

I am going to back to resting now because it really helps me get through the day without getting sick everywhere. Have a good weekend.

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My mom told me that it would be a great idea for me to tell Santa what I wanted for Christmas. I kind of lost my opportunity when I went to go see him recently. I wasn't really up to it.

I am still working on my writing skills so I have decided to post my Christmas list here instead. I think that my mom said other people may read this list and get things off of it that Santa can't get for me. I don't know how the elves make so many toys.

- Ralph's World CD
- Mickey Mouse ClubHouse DVD
- Mickey Saves Christmas DVD
- Anything Little Einsteins
- Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Musical Learning Chair
- Fisher Price Amazing Animals Sing & Go Choo-Choo
- Jay Jay the Jet Plane DVDs
- Anything Mickey Mouse
- Clothing is always nice too (18+ months)

I really have been a good little boy this year. Just look at my picture up there, how can Santa not think that I have the best that I could be. I normally wake up with a smile and fall asleep with one too.

P.S. Santa, my mom and dad have been really good this year as well. They deserve some great gifts as well. I know you will come through with something perfect. Thanks.

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It has been a few weeks now since we first introduced Rylan to his new bed. We have had a near perfect experience with it so far.

As mentioned in the past, Rylan while still sleeping in the crib was able to be rocked for a short while and then laid in. He would then get himself to sleep on his own. With the new bed however, this was a big change which has required more time with us. We now can spend anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes helping Rylan get to a point where he is either passed out or tired enough that he can get himself to sleep.

One experience that we still laugh about is that one night I woke up randomly and saw Rylan crawling back into bed. There were definite signs throughout the room that he had been playing with some of his toys. Before and after this event, we had never seen it happen. We wonder how often this happens and we just don't notice it.

Mornings are always a surprise with Rylan as he likes to crawl out of bed and begin playing with some of the toys we have for him. One of his favorite morning activities is to wake my wife up by poking her nose.

We definitely are glad that Rylan has transitioned so well. I think the next big task to tackle would be potty training which is probably not as far off as we would think as he amazes us with new skills everyday.

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So this last weekend we took a trip up to Sedona, AZ. Boy was it cold and windy. My mom made me wear this ridiculous looking snow suit. I barely could move when I was in my stroller.

When we were up in Sedona, we checked out the lights they were showing off. It was pretty nice despite the stairs mess. They had Disney characters lit up and a whole bunch of other fun things to look at. I am enjoying checking out these lights this year. I had no idea people could find those many lights to put up.

I think my dad will expand on this a bit further next week but on Wednesday, I went to see the real Santa. I guess I will let my dad finish the rest of the story. Let's just say, I wasn't a happy camper.

I have mentioned it before probably but the time is nearing and soon my grandma will be back in town. She is moving back from Las Vegas so that will be a lot of fun. We always have a good time with each other. She was the grandma whose lap I sat on the majority of our Disneyland trip. She sure is a nice grandma.

I guess that is it for now. I wonder what kind of winter wonderland events my dad will have for us this weekend. Guess I will find out. In the meanwhile, here is a picture of our Christmas tree that my dad recently took. It shows off my new ornament that my mom picked out while we stopped in Prescott, AZ.

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Alright, now here is a review of a toy that I take very much pride in. It's my dvd player. Well it was my mom and dads but I have since claimed it.

This thing is a blast. It has a red light on it that If I push certain buttons, it will turn off. When it is on, numbers on the screen will change. How cool is that? I like to push all of the buttons a whole bunch of times until a tray comes out with the DVD. Then I either like to push the button again to put it back in or take the DVD out and play with it. Sometimes, if I am feeling crazy, I will take the tray and pull on it. Once I even went as far as pulling it out of our entertainment center. That didn't go over too well.

What is really neat about this thing is that if my mom puts in a DVD, it will play stuff on the television. I really like to watch Jay Jay the Jet Plane and the DoodleBops. They are definitely my favorite right now. Have I told you that I can say "Jay Jay" now?

I think for kids, this is probably the best toy ever. It has so many fun things to do with it. I could really push the buttons and my moms buttons forever.

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Rylan was introduced to his rocking horse that I refinished for him a few months ago. Everyday that passes, he seems to get a little bit more interested in it. He now is fully capable of getting on it himself and rocking away. While his rocking is short, he sure seems to enjoy it.

(Sorry for the darkness and background noise)

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One of the stops that we made while visiting Sedona for the weekend was to the Los Abrigados Festival of Lights display. Each year they decorate their entire resort with massive amounts of lights welcoming everyone in to check it out. Well not everyone.

This was my first year going and our first year with Rylan. It was definitely chilly and the extreme wind wasn't making the night any better but we went onward. We paid our entrance fee and not too long after getting in, we realized that there were stairs to climb. Strollers and stairs don't work too well together. We fought our way through the entire resort lugging the stroller up backwards with Rylan being carried. We decided that it was pretty clear that the resort wasn't making anything easier for a family with a stroller so we decided to complain. After talking with 2 managers, we finally got our money back.

Now onto the fake Santa. Near the end of the light display, they handed out hot cider and children had a chance to visit with Santa. It was pretty clear from the beginning that this was not the real Santa. Rylan definitely knew as well. He had seen Santa last year and was not going to be fooled this year. He sure put up a fight for a simple picture but I can understand not wanting to sit next to an imposter.

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Wow a lot of new things are going on lately around here. I am really enjoying my new bed that my mom and dad recently gave me. Now I get to sleep with some of my stuffed animals when before I couldn't. They were worried that I would use them to boost me over the crib. They probably were right.

This weekend should be pretty fun. We will be going to the Glendale Glitters lights here in town where there is supposed to be over 1 million lights I think. Thats a whole lot of lights. I went last year but I was just a wee little baby then. On Saturday, we are taking a trip back up to Sedona where we are going to stay for the night and see their light show as well. I hear it's going to be super chilly, like around 30F. That's super chilly for Arizona, well at least for me.

Mom and dad put up the Christmas tree and surrounded it with my fence. The tree really looks nice and with all of the presents around it, it really makes it look like Christmas here. I wonder how many of them are mine. I can't wait to find out. For now, I am loving my toy the Huggies box. I can do all types of crazy things with it.

One last thing that has changed in my world is that I got a new bath tub. I like to call it my big boy tub. It is in the shape of a duck and it even quacks when I squeeze its nose. When I am not using it I like to have it in the room on the floor and when I wake up in the morning, I go hang out in it while mom wakes up.

I'll be back with some weekend updates next week. I bet my dad will take a bunch of pictures.

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