21 Months

Oh my goodness is this kid a HOOT these days! He is so funny, and energetic, and just silly much of the time. I'm not really sure any of us can really keep up with this one right now, but aside from his loving to yank on my hair all the time, and starting to get kinda bossy, we're managing. He is a hoot right now, and we have to be super careful not to just laugh at him when he purposely does naughty things. He has mastered "no" and knows when to say it these days, so that's "fun". He is OBSESSED with "Bay a bay" (Barney), pickles, hot dogs, and tractors.

Physical Development

Ryan went through a major growth spurt recently, making all his 24 month and 2T stuff fit perfectly. Prior to this past month, we were having to cuff all his pants about 3 inches, and now we don't have to cuff them at all, so yowza is he growing! We've known that it was coming, however, with how horribly restless he has been while sleeping. Pair the growing pains with teething, and it has been a bit of a month for him.

Teething

We've been working on those darn 2 year molars already off and on, which has left a lot of restless nights. Most of the time anymore, we don't even know why he sleeps so restlessly, but we expect it all the time, so it isn't even a thought to us that he would ever continue to sleep all night in his own bed like he has done once this quarter. He still has nothing to show for all the discomfort, though, unfortunately.

Sleep Habits

Ryan is still taking a solid 1-3 hour nap every day, starting anywhere from 11:30am-1pm, depending on when he woke up that morning. He usually wakes up after about 45 minutes to an hour, and then if you go lay with him, he'll go right back to sleep and stay there another hour or two.

For night time sleep, he usually is out by 7:30/8pm and then wakes anywhere between 10:30 and midnight to come upstairs and crawl in bed with us.

We can always tell when he's tired (either before or after naps or bedtime) because those two fingers are in his mouth. Usually he doesn't suck on them when he isn't tired.

Speech Development

We're adding a LOT of words to his repertoire this quarter. He is currently probably at about 30 or so words, including:

• "No" (which means both yes and no and I don't know haha)
• "This"
• "That"
• "Ca-hel" (for Cashel)
• "Mommy"
• "baby"
• "Bah-ha-na-hay" (for Barney)
• "Milk"
• "Wata" (for water)
• "Go go go go"
• "Kiss"
• "Buckle"
• "Push"
• "Pickle"
• "More"
• "Shoe"
• "Boo!" (he picked this up around Halloween, and now he likes to tell Kinsley "BOO" all the time)
• "Gampa" (for Grandpa, which used to be just "Pa", but he added the "Gam" more recently)

He recognizes a ton more than that, though. He does know "Daddy", but usually he doesn't say it out loud. A lot of times I'll say something silly, and I can tell he understands, as he'll just kinda get this silly grin on his face and put his chin down to his neck and look up with his eyes. I've yet to capture it on camera, but it's hilarious!

Eating

For US, eating has NOT been Ryan's thing this quarter. He has been channeling his inner Cashel when it comes to milk, and if we give him milk first, he wants nothing to do with any other food, which is maddening. But if we give him food first, he just whines and throws his food on the floor until we give him milk. However, this is just the trend for us: At daycare, apparently he eats about anything.

Things he WILL eat for us include apples, clementines, shredded cheese, chips, hot dogs, smoked sausage, a few bites of bacon (that usually end up chewed up on the floor) and popcorn. He really likes meat. He'll drink water and milk. He will eat a cookie sometimes, but not all of it usually - just a couple bites. He also likes french fries, but only from a restaurant - not at home. And he likes tots. Veggies are hit and miss. He'll gnaw on a baby carrot, but he doesn't actually eat them. He also loves dip, but with his hands, not even a spoon or chips or veggies.

All of this is in snacking sessions, though, because if you actually try to put him in a high chair and serve it to him, he has nothing to do with that.

He has been boycotting the high chair, actually, and prefers to sit at the table with the rest of us, but you can imagine the mess. We do enjoy that, though, since it frees up the high chair for Kinsley. He's still just not quite ready for the table, though. We'll allow it on those days when we aren't eating something messy.

Toddler Behaviors and Discipline

We're all out tantrum-my much of the time right now. Ryan is pretty dramatic too - even more so than his brothers were. We see it mostly when we tell him he can't watch Barney all day long, in which case he literally lays down on the floor and screams. He does it pretty gently too, and he doesn't typically flail his arms and legs. It's hilarious!

What isn't hilarious, however, is when he flails his head back when he gets mad about something. I've been almost convinced he head-butted me hard enough to break my nose twice. He has a hard head!

We usually can offset it at this point, and we usually just ask him to go calm down or remove him from the situation. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. He isn't really at a stage where we intend to discipline him too intensely right now, but he does seem to be beginning to understand consequences.

Likes

• Santa! He has a couple pairs of Santa jammies, and when he wears them, he runs around saying, "Ho Ho Ho". It's ADORABLE!
  
• Sucking on those two fingers...ALWAYS.
  
• Making messes. Give the kid a sock, and he'll find a way to demolish a room. Seriously. This kid has talent!
  
• His Mama. This kid loves to be near me every chance he can get. I usually have to be carrying him around if he's not totally occupied by...
  
• ...BARNEY! Oh my word does this kid love Barney. He'll wake up early on the week days just to watch Barney.
  
• Dip. No veggies or chips required. Oy!
  
• His baby sister. He is so in love with her!
  
• Did I mention...his Mama? It's worth repeating. This kid just adores me, and tends to cling to me.
  
• Being a big kid. Ryan wants to do all the things the big kids do.
  
• The Polar Express. Every time we've had it on, he will stop whatever he's doing, he actually DOESN'T suck on his fingers, and he just stares at it in awe. When the train is on, he'll whisper "choo choo".
  
• Cookie dough.
  
• Farming. Oh boy was he a big fan this year! We're hoping that next year ends up being a better year for tractor and combine rides, as he was in LOVE!
  
• "Pa", which has now become "Grandpa", and I think we're all a little sad that he's learned that one. "Pa" was so adorable!
  
• Leslie Patricelli books. She has a huge fan base at this age in our house! We have Potty, Hair, Yummy Yucky, Fa La La, Boo and Binky already, but he could read these every night.
  
• Laundry basket rides. We've reached this awesome phase where the big kids still enjoy doing this...and...ARE WILLING TO PUSH HIM AROUND! Score for finally seeing the benefits of multiple kids lol We used to have to push around Cashel and Kendrick when they were little, and it wasn't awesome on our knees and backs.
  
• Riding this particular 3-wheeler.
  
• Making super cheesy faces and getting people to smile or laugh.
  
• Chicken Chow Fun. Cashel discovered this while having his special overnight with Grandpa and Grandma, and it has become a Chinese staple when we order anymore. All the kids will eat it.
  

Dislikes

• In spite of this picture, he HATES wearing hats and mittens. He takes them off usually every time we put them on. We're fortunate it hasn't gotten too frigid just yet.
  
• As is typical of ANY 21 month old kiddo, being told "No"
• Food. Right now, aside from chips, fries and hot dogs, he just doesn't really care for food. He doesn't get those often, though, so...
• Chicken nuggets. I haven't asked at daycare if he will eat them for her, but he absolutely will not for me.
• Sleeping alone. The kid has to be holding onto my hair when he sleeps. We're hopeful that a cabbage patch doll with hair for Christmas helps in this area. It would be nice to not be woken multiple times a night with a knee to the back and a slap in the face.
• Don't you DARE touch his chest strap on his carseat. HE is the buckler now. He's pretty good at it, too! But he throws a HUGE fit if you do it for him.
• Also, don't you dare open or close the garage door for him. He wants to "Push".

First Combine Ride (November 2017)

Ryan finally got out there for his first combine ride with Grandpa, and I tell ya what: The kid didn't really even need Mama to go with him, as he was totally fine all by himself. I went along to document, of course, though. But he made it very clear that he was a big kid and didn't need his Mama to keep him safe on his combine ride.

Grandpa had to hold onto his coat so he didn't go for a tumble. It was super cold and windy out, and the ground was hard and uneven.

Ryan's 2016 Videos

I finally got around to organizing the videos for our family this year and uploading them to YouTube, so here you go!

This is Ryan's birth book, and then also his first year book :)

18 Months

Oh this kiddo :) Ryan is absolutely full steam ahead these days, and it'd do us well to just realize that it's not ever going to slow down with this one. I regularly refer to Ryan as our "troublesome tot", and the nickname fits him so very well right now. He is absolutely blossoming in every way right now, and has turned into his own little man. He's super independent (unless he's sleepy or hungry, in which case he is ALLLL about his Mama and cannot function without her), and wants to do things his way. He is growing like a weed, and runs everywhere, wagging his little arm back and forth when he goes.

Physical Development

Ryan is growing at the speed of light, it seems! He's solidly into size 2T clothes and pjs, and size 5 diapers, although he comfortably fits into size 6 diapers as well. He is 32 inches tall and weighs 28lbs 6oz.

When Ryan waves, he doesn't wave side to side, but rather up and down like a floppy wet noodle. It's pretty adorable, but hard to capture with a picture :)

He runs all over the place, although he ends up falling a good chunk of the time.

Teething

Ryan still has the same 19 teeth (as you recall, his one bottom one takes the place of two, so he only has 19 instead of 20). We keep thinking that maybe we're working on molars, as we've had some rough nights of sleep and a cranky little dude on occasion, but still nothing to show for it. His other teeth are coming in a lot more pronounced, though, and his cheesy smile shows his two front teeth pretty well. It's adorable :)

Sleep Habits

Does "on Mama" count? This kid is a major mama's boy, and he gladly sleep like a champ right next to me all night long every night. He'd nap there too, if I let him. Every time.

He's not sleeping great, if I'm being completely honest. He's always up at least once in the night, and we've pushed the newborn back into her rock 'n play so that he can join us in bed again, so we all can get some sleep. He DOES go to bed in his own bed, though, and doesn't tend to join us until after midnight. We continue to put him down in his own bed on the offset chance that he'll just sleep through the night, but it has happened exactly once in 4 months, so we're not holding our breath.

On the weekends, he and Kinsley end up usually napping at the same time, and usually both of them will be napping on me, which I don't mind at all, as long as I don't have to pee lol

In order to fall asleep, he has to be sucking on his two fingers of his left hand while twirling my hair with his right ;) Those two fingers are going to be such a problem for us in a year or two :(

Speech Development

Ryan is just starting to really pick up more words going into this month. While he started his second year with a solid grasp on "Mama", he now has that down pat, plus "Dada", "Pa" (for Grandpa), "Yeah", "Nah", "No", "Down down down" (to get out of his high chair), "Woof woof woof" for the sound a dog makes, "Dis", "Dat", and probably a few others I can't think of right now. It won't be long before this kid is jabbering nonstop!

He makes this sort of hissing sound when he doesn't know a word but is interested in something, which is accompanied by this look. I don't really know why he likes to make that sound so often, but he has done it since he was a baby, so it's just one of his things.

Eating

Ryan is a pretty decent eater overall, but he has his days. He's very opinionated about what he will and won't eat, and if it's one of those things he won't eat, it'll end up on the floor. He likes to eat with utensils these days. It can be frustrating for people to try to feed him who don't know these little quirks, because he might be cranky because he's hungry, but you gave him the wrong thing to eat, so he's now hungry and mad because he wants something else but can't tell you what he really wants. Or...you might have gotten the food right, but forgot to give him a fork and spoon, and therefore he can't eat it, even though he wants to and even though he's ravenous.

We have, however, managed to do well with getting him to say "done done done!" when he's ready to be finished, but I have to remind him a lot, and Mark isn't good at reinforcing it, and we haven't told them at daycare to do that either, so...sometimes he forgets.

Toddler Behaviors and Discipline

This kid has hit the tantrummy toddler stage hard already. We've got everything from flailing limbs to huge crocodile tears to screaming to just about everything else you can think of. I'm mostly used to it by now, but being in the thick of it for the third time, I can just say that I'm really weary of this stage of development. I'd like to say I do my very best to avoid them like the plague (i.e. make sure he gets solid naps, eats enough, and things are pretty level), but who am I kidding: We've got 4 kids, including a newborn. We see his tantrums more than we'd like to.

But really, the kid is mostly happy most of the time. We find him laughing way more than we find him crying. However, we do have the whining, simply because it's hard to know exactly what he wants with such a limited vocabulary at this time.

As far as discipline...we're mostly sticking with re-direction at this time, but if he's being dangerous (i.e. kicking at his baby sister), we'll give him a little swat on the leg, and we get the face above for a minute or two, and then he'll stop. Since every kid is different, we're hoping that time outs are MUCH more effective for this kid than they ever have been for his big brothers. We'll be heading into that territory soon!

Likes

• Being one of the big kids ;)
  
• Being a big brother
  
• Checking stuff out with his Daddy :)
  
• Being sweet to his baby sister. He LOVES her. ADORES her. Wants to kiss her every 2 seconds and hold her hand :)
  
• His big brother Kendrick
  
• Leading the pack
  
• Corn on the cob
  
• His big brother Cashel :)
  
• Sucking on his fingers and playing with Mama's hair :)
  
• Riding in the Tula
  
  
• Being part of the fam :)
  
  
• Dancing like a WILD MAN! (I SO wish I'd taken a video by now - I've GOT to capture it because it's adorable)

Dislikes

• Being told "no"
  
• Being constrained when he's got places to go and people to see lol
  
• Having his diaper and/or clothes changed.
  
• The "changing of the guards" at the church nursery. However, this is a huge improvement from the crocodile tears and wailing until we got back when we left him during Sunday School.
• Not being able to come up on Mama's lap with Kinsley.
• Not getting to do what the big kids are doing.