Sous-Chef in Training

Ryan has always been a character, a little man of his own mind. That's one of the many things I love like crazy about him. Lately he's been up to some especially eccentric antics. I've written before about how much he loves kitchen appliances - the blender, toaster, and microwave are some of his favorite items in the house. He knows where all the appliances live at his grandparents' houses, especially Gigi's standing mixer. His latest favorite at home is our hand mixer. He'll ask to look at it, and then can spend the next half hour studying it (unplugged of course) in deep concentration, putting the mixers in and out and pressing the buttons.

One morning last week Ryan not only wanted to play with the hand mixer, but he wanted to take it to our stroller class with him. At first I protested - a hand mixer has no place at the park! But we were running late, and he seemed dead set on bringing it along, so I gave in, with the agreement that it would stay in the stroller and not take a tour around the sand box. I didn't think twice about it until we showed up for class and the instructor did a double take and started laughing. "What's he holding? Is that a real hand mixer?" she asked. "Whatever gets us out of the house!" I replied. A few other moms of toddlers gave me a knowing nod - there are definitely some days when you'll grant any and all crazy requests just to close the door behind you and join the outside world.

Turns out, Ryan is a trend setter. By Friday, one boy convinced his mom to let him bring an ice cream scoop to class, and another had successfully pleaded for a new (toy) blender for his 3rd birthday. That's my guy - helping out fellow kitchen gadget lovers realize their dreams!