How he spent his 1st Birthday!

Opening an unbelievable number of gifts like the
train set from Nan and Pop (all the train cars are carrying Caterpillar equipment), a car that he is obsessed with from MeMe that makes LOUD noises, a Pujols jersey from Uncle Brian, his chair from Aunt Betsy and Uncle Casey, a dump truck from Uncle Patrick and Uncle Sean...just to name a few. He is so loved. He was running from toy to toy not knowing what to do!



He got an early morning phone call from Grandpa Mike, Uncle Patrick and Uncle Sean - singing Happy Birthday with Patrick playing accompanying piano. (Patrick (almost 9) and Sean (almost 7) have a basement band with neighborhood concerts!)










His first chocolate! This was the actual day of his birthday -- a warm up for his big birthday cake!

Bigger, Faster, Stronger

"It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired you quit when the gorilla is tired. " - Robert Strauss


In our quest for the perfect athlete I have included a sample of what Tucker is doing to prepare for the 2024 Olympics, NCAA Wrestling Championship, College Football National Championship Tournament (hopefully the NCAA will have figured out that the BCS system is worthless), World's Strongest Man, or whatever other athletic avenue of his choosing.

We currently use an Enfamil & Creatine mix for Tuck's weight and he will soon be getting HGH (Human Growth Hormone) for muscle mass....you know, the stuff Barry Bonds "didn't use"...we have been informed that it is safe for toddlers.
His strength workout regimine is as follows: crunches, deep knee-bends, lunges, mountain-climbers, wall sits, handstand push-ups, pull-ups and fingertip push-ups. That is all he can handle at this time. He will advance to free weights next year. For now it is all isometrics and natural strength exercises.
His Cardio workouts vary but he seems to enjoy indian runs, fart-lek runs, wrestling, stadiums, any type of shuttle run, line-drills and the eliptical machine. He is a natural runner (like Dad) and seems to have the body type for it as well (also like dad).

Please feel free to post any ideas that you think may help/improve his workouts.

TER's BFFs

Tucker has (3) BFFs (Best Friends Forever) at the current time.

Atlanta BFF: William. William is seen here with his beverage of choice. He is 5 months Tucker's senior and they are great playmates...except when William throws things at Tuck. Soon enough he will be throwing them back. They like playing at the beach and swimming together.

J-Ville BFF: Teddy. Teddy looks older, but is actually 11 days younger....Teddy is a big fella. They are fast friends and like to do a lot together. They swim, eat, drool and wrestle. Teddy is a very sweet and cuddly guy. He loves to be held and hugged and loved on...Tucker does not. Tucker likes no boundries and, unless he is sick or extremely tired, does not like to cuddle or hug.

NEWEST ATL BFF: Olivia Teague. She now has over 9 days of life experience, and Tuck is excited about sharing the trials and tribulations of his 1st year. She is healthy, eating well and her father (Ben) is now an expert diaper-changer after much trepidation in the last few months. They have not yet met, but their fathers have begun formal dowry negotiations. An equitable resolution seems imminent.

Early Birthday Fun

Although Tucker is still six days from his actual first birthday, he has received two early presents and he LOVES both of them so much. Look at this precious chair that Aunt Betsy and Uncle Casey sent! He has been climbing all over it and sitting in it since we set it up yesterday! (In both of these pictures he is holding HIS cell phone - what is the world coming to - that Kyle got him from the Nextel store so he won't ruin ours with slobber!)
Tresa and Clay got him a Noah's Ark play set complete with two of (almost) every animal in the kingdom. He sits for many minutes at a time putting each animal in to the bottom of the ark and figuring out all the doors and how to then get them back out so he can do it again!

Tucker's six tooth is coming in right now, so last night was a rough night of sleep. Poor thing!

A Typical Day

In light of the name of the blog, we thought we would share what a typical "Day in the Life" entails for Tucker Ryan.

It is a tough life, but somebody's gotta do it.

He wakes up between 6:30 and 7:30... we usually wait through the happy talking until he gets grumpy and wants to see our faces PRONTO. We bring him his morning sippy cup of milk. He hits the ground running, ready to see his toys, Jackson the dog and all that the day has in store for him. We play until breakfast. These days he is eating just about anything (this morning it was pancake and fruit, yesterday egg and fruit). Then more play time until the 9:00ish morning nap. He usually takes a solid morning nap because it is usually really quiet in the house with me also asleep :) and we tend to wake up at about 11 to continue our day. Another sippy cup of milk and lunch. Tucker is almost always in a phenomenal mood. His tempermant amazes us. Today he didn't like lima beans or broccoli (my two dinner choices for him) and that was as fussy as it got. The other side of his consistent jolliness is that he is very stubborn and often naughty and he does not give a flip about being reprimanded. We can be almost yelling and he just looks up and laughs! We say "no" a lot. Imagine when he is three... ugh. He now walks about 60% of the time. The best part of his walking routine is the way he gets something he isn't supposed to have and "runs" away with it giggling. So fun. Anyway, we usually run errands in the afternoon and he goes back down for a nap at 2:00ish. After that nap, we just play and wait for Dad to get home. The night is short for Tucker - he gets his bath and goes to bed between 7 and 7:30. Again, it is a rough life :)

Babies Galore

We wanted to announce that four (two sets of two?) of our dear friends had their babies while we were in Virginia Beach. We are THRILLED and thankful that everyone is healthy and well...


Ben & Jess with
Olivia Jane Teague






Bill & Julie's precious twins

Kyle Edward Van Rossum





Elizabeth Grace
"Ellie"

Pics of wedding

Tucker Ryan and Anne Tucker Sharp (David's niece/Sally's daugter)

David and Gracie Ball!

Kyle has taken over the blog. That's fine. I'll just add pictures.

DBall's Wedding

TER went to his 1st wedding this weekend in Virginia Beach. His Uncle DBall (David Ball) got married and TER was there for the festivities. Though it was not his wedding he acted like the star. I did manage to keep the knee-highs and saddle shoes far away from him....much to Libby's chagrin. And it was a good thing too, because there was a little boy (5-6) who was wearing them. Needless to say that he may have issues later in life.
TER is now walking when he feels like it, and when he does it is more akin to a "drunken sailor" than a normal walk. He thinks it is really funny though and giggles and cackles as he goes. (Today when I got home from work he walked from the living room to the kitchen to come and see me with a HUGE smile on his face....that's my boy). He also has a new early B-day present which he loves....a Noah's Ark toy complete with ark, and (2) of each animal. He loves it and keeps taking the animals out and putting them back in.

Tommy Tornado

All I do all day is chase after him and pick up the disaster zones!

4th of July

Heather (Burk) Pennington came to visit us last weekend! We had a blast in the short time she was here -- Tucker absolutely loved her so much and was very sad as she drove away :)

This is Tucker's friend Isabella (Izzy). She is a little older and wiser, but they love to play together. (I don't know what this face Tucker is making means. Perhaps he is just trying to show me the plastic lid he has in his hand.) We spent the 4th with her parents, Clayton and Cherie and the babies experienced their first fireworks! Didn't phase either of them....


The big news of the week is that Tucker has started walking! Usually he has to be going toward something he wants, but he is taking large numbers of steps. He is oh so proud of himself!

Tucker's Heros

1) Any Notre Dame football alumnus.....Zorich, Zbikowski, etc.

2) Any St Louis Cardinal.....Rolen, Pujols, Eckstein most notably

3) Dr. Phil