15 Months

I know. Don't even know how we got here. Ryan is just...well...he's becoming this big kid, and I'm not even remotely prepared for that mentally.

Ryan is growing like a weed these days, and he is seriously the happiest little man. He's very seldom cranky, although he certainly has little periods of separation anxiety that are a major struggle for us. He stayed in that separation anxiety phase SIGNIFICANTLY longer than his big brothers ever did. We kinda wonder if it has to do with Mama's ever expanding belly and the baby to come, but for the time being, it isn't too bad, which we're grateful for!

Physical Development

Ryan is still the smallest of all our boys at this age, but he still is growing like a weed! He's wearing size 4 diapers still (although he would easily fit into size 5), and approximately 27lbs and last we had him measured, he's over 30 inches.

He's beginning to really fill out those 18 month clothes he has been swimming in since he was 8 months old, and we had to switch him up from his "baby" shoes to the big boy ones.

Teething

Ryan has almost all of his first set of teeth in, aside from his 2 year molars. His incisors aren't really very far through, but they have all broken the surface, which is good. We're really hoping that whole process takes a big break here for the next six months, as historically, 2 year molars take a LONG time to come in. We've hardly touched any OTC pain meds during his teething process, as he just likes to suck on his fingers and play with Mama's hair in the midst of it. Life has been wild and crazy these past few months, so I tend to enjoy just kinda relishing in it, and he seems perfectly content to let that be his coping mechanism, so the fewer the meds, the better ;)

Sleep Habits

Ryan sleeps approximately 12 hours in an average day. I feel like that's not really enough, but he doesn't seem sleep deprived in the least bit, so I guess we'll just go with it. He is down to 1 nap most days now, usually for between 1-2 hours. On the weekends, however, if I'm laying with him, or there when he wakes after a couple hours, he'll go back to sleep and average more like a 3 hour nap. We're actually trying to add in a morning nap again, since he never makes it to lunch before passing out in his food without really eating. So far, so good with that. He'll nap in the morning around 9am for a bit, and then again around 1pm.

For night sleep, he sleeps usually from approximately 8pm-6am, and most of the time wakes up on his own. This isn't without a wake up a time or two in the night, usually just to search for Mama. We've been working so hard to wean him from sleeping with us in preparation for when the new baby arrives, but before much longer, Daddy is going to have to start being the one to sleep with him in the night, or else we're going to have a problem come August.

Speech Development

Ryan knows only a few words at this point, but he understands a LOT more than that. He clearly will say, "Mama" (which sometimes he switches and purposely says "Ama"), "Dada", "Dat (that)", "Dis (this)", and "Yeah". He understands when we ask him to bring something to us or put something in the garbage can or in the sink, and he'll do it. When we mention time to "eat" he gets excited if he's hungry, and when we say it's time for "tubs", he gets REALLY excited.

Eating

Ryan is typically a really great eater as long as he isn't teething. He tries about anything, but especially loves sausages, blueberries, grapes and spaghetti. I have been trying (unsuccessfully, a lot of the time) to steer clear from tomatoey-sauce type meals (i.e. spaghetti, goulash, lasagna, etc.) as they give him a rash around his mouth, but those are some of his favorite meals, so it's hard to deny him. He's big into milk like his big brother Cashel was.

We've been slowly working on introducing utensils, but he mostly just likes to flip things around when he uses them, and still prefers using his fingers to get things to his mouth, even yogurt and such haha :)

He's still taking a bottle while we do our bedtime routine before bed with slightly warmed vitamin D milk, although he usually just takes sippy cups during the day. He likes milk or water, and if we notice he seems cranky and gassy, we'll give him apple juice sometimes. He loves to drink ice water out of Daddy's Nathan water bottle, just like all our other kid have.

Toddler Behaviors and Discipline

Ryan has certainly been working to perfect the toddler tantrums, but it's VERY obvious that so much of it is due to how slowly words seem to be coming to him. I'm probably wrong, but I swear by this point with the other boys, they had more words than just, "Mama" and "Dada" under their belts. I know, however, that once he can start talking and communicating better, that all starts to get a little better.

For the most part, we're just going with re-direction as far as discipline is concerned, and while he really seems to enjoy slapping ya in the face, it helps to just hold his hand and say "no" firmly for now, even if it takes a few times.

Likes

• Sucking on his two fingers on his left hand
  
• Blueberries and Grapes
• Being part of the action
  
• Making messes
  
  
• His big brothers
• Playing with Mama's hair
  
  
• Taking of sunglasses and putting them on.
• Squawking
• Doing things himself (especially eating - don't you dare try to give him a bite while holding on)
• Dipping food in sauces (ranch, ketchup, applesauce, etc.)
• Eating like a big boy with utensils
  
• Swimming
  
  
• Books! Especially his favorite: Where is Baby's Belly Button
  
  
• Bath Time!!
  
  
• Drinking out of our Nathan water bottles
  
  
• Running around nekkid

Dislikes

• Being told "no"
• Being left out of the action
• Teething
• Not being able to get through the baby gate at the top of the stairs.
• Big brothers trying to carry him around
  
  
• Being constrained
• Getting his diaper changed or clothes changed
• Getting buckled into his carseat. He's so ready to see what's going on in the car these days, but at bare minimum we need to go at least a few more months of rear-facing before switching him.
• Baby Einstein, if big brothers will ever let him watch it.
• Being strapped in his high chair. We need to pull the booster seat out soon, I think.