2 Years 9 Months

This little guy is just an absolute riot these days! He is such a great combination of extremely confident and yet so reserved and cautious. He still desperately needs his Mama, and still sucks on those two fingers and plays with my hair when he gets a tired or scared or nervous; the difference being that now if I'm not in close proximity, he'll play with his OWN hair.

Ryan had his first big owie in November, when he ran into a dresser and busted open his cheek :( I was back and forth on whether or not to go to the ER, and kinda wish I had now, as he's got a scar that hasn't really lessened a ton since then :(

Physical Development

Ryan is still easily in 3T clothes comfortably, but he's still got this tiny little waist and bum, so they still fit about as loosely as they did before. Some of his 3T jammies are a bit short in the tummy, so I will need to pull out his 4T ones soon. He's definitely due for a growth spurt here soon, as his pants are still a little long on him, even if he's not typically stepping on them anymore. Seeing as how he's the 3rd boy to wear some of them, the elastic has gotten a little worn on some of the pants, and for a kid with a tiny waist, we've had to retire some of the pants earlier than anticipated. Sissypants is starting to give him a run for his money as far as size is concerned!

Teething

All his teeth are through now! The sleep has been FANTASTIC in our house lately, but leading up to now in the past three months, he has been a hot, whiny little mess. His 2-for-1 tooth isn't super noticeable anymore these days, but I did address it at his last dentist appointment, and the dentist assured me that he would have two teeth to replace it when the time came, when he's in 1st grade or so.

Sleep Habits

Ryan is still napping almost every day, but skips very occasionally. His naps are getting shorter and shorter, though. Where two months ago, he would still nap that 2-4 hours on the weekends, now we're lucky if we get 90 minutes, and it has been less and less coinciding with Kinsley's nap, so that's been hard for me on the weekends. I hate this transitional phase with the kids, where they NEED naps still, but push back so much when it's time for them. I'd rather they just cut them cold turkey at the right time.

While a few months ago, he was really a huge fan of bedtime, lately, he has been balking at it more. He got this little dose of what it's like to stay up later, watch a movie and have popcorn over Thanksgiving break, and now he just wants to do that EVERY night, so he throws a huge fit every night when I say "no". He settles VERY quickly, though, when I start reading books. He LOVES them. He usually sleeps really well in his own bed, but just over the past month, he will occasionally come up and crawl in bed with me in the night and then settle right in.

Speech Development

Ryan is a little chatterbox! He talks nonstop and for the most part talks in broken sentences. Sometimes the way he says things don't make sense, but I can usually understand him. He's funny and silly and if he really likes you, he may tell you to go to "Poopytown" or call you a "Poopy butthole", so obviously we have some filtering to do with his big brothers around.

Eating

Ryan has been on a milk binge for a while now, and while he's not typically super irritable, I think it's teeth. He just pushes his food around on his plate most of the time, and might take a bite or two, but usually it's just "cuppy, milk, Mommy".

He is definitely really fond of "snacks" and will eat most of whatever snack it might be. He is oddly not very overly fond of sweets. If you give him a cookie, there's a good chance that the cookie will sit there with a tiny bite out of it and Cashel or Kendrick will find it and finish it for him. His favorite meal is "cheese and cocks", which means macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. I really hope he never learns to say it right, because it's so adorable when he says it lol

He hasn't been sitting in a high chair OR booster seat both at home and restaurants for the past 2 months for sure, but it has been a while longer. Kinsley has claimed the high chair, and that works for us. He's messy as all get out, but he was just as messy in the high chair too, so we deal.

Toddler Behaviors and Discipline

I'm thinking maybe I'm just so used to them now that it doesn't phase me? But yeah, he's still a tantrummy toddler. He is most definitely testing his limits, and I'm trying my very, very best to not let up my diligence so it will pay off.

I HAVE, however, been trying extremely hard to focus on making sure his needs are met on time, however, to keep the unnecessary tantrums at bay. If he's tired or hungry, I give him a little more slack, especially if I'm an hour late getting him his lunch or supper, or he hasn't had a nap and it's 3pm or something. He's generally a really sweet kid, but he's just a typical tantrummy toddler at this point. I'm very grateful that his behaviors don't seem worse than the typical toddler in light of the hard times his first couple years of life.

Likes

• This kid loves his Mama like no other kid I've ever met! If I would hold him all day long every day, it wouldn't be too much for this guy.
  
• Sucking on those two fingers...ALWAYS. It has actually amped up a bit more recently, since he has been working kinda nonstop on those 2-year molars. They are ALL IN, though, so hopefully that subsides a bit now.
  
• He loves his Daddy so, so very much! We've not been seeing him quite as frequently the past few months, what with the busy activity of the fall, Daddy going through a rough medication adjustment, and the holidays. Mark can't handle the activity level with ALL the kids in tow these day, so it has been a tough time trying to adjust :(
  
• Candy! This kid LOVES candy, and he's always looking for it. My other boys weren't this crazy about it, so this has been new for me. I'm fairly certain his favorite holiday is going to be whichever one gives him the most candy.
  
• Swinging.
  
• Choo Choos! He LOVED his ride on the train up in Duluth to pick pumpkins in October.
  
• He asks to see "Justin Time" on Netflix the second he gets home and the first thing in the morning. Cashel and Kendrick went through a bout with him a year or so ago, so we're all too familiar with every single episode.
• Exploring
  
• Being "one of the boys". He LOVES his big brothers.
  
• His siblings - Kinsley too :)
  
• Snow! He stays out playing as long as he possibly can! I'm really hoping this milder winter continues so he can truly enjoy playing in it for a lot longer!
  
• Cousins! He LOVES going down to the farm in Iowa to see all his cousins.
  

Dislikes

• Not getting to watch a "moonie [movie]" when he wants to.
• Having to go to bed.
• Mama taking to long to get him a snack or drink.

Ryan is just at the sweetest stage overall. I'm so ready for the next phase here without all those darn teeth coming in all the time.

"Pawtrols"

Ryan is obsessed with his Paw Patrol jammies: They are the ones he wants to wear every single night. I need to find him another pair so it isn't meltdown central when they are dirty.

Bookworm

Ryan is really, really into books these days. If we had the time to read twenty books every night before bed, he'd be all for it. I'll ask him to pick out two books for bedtime every night, and every single night, he piles about 20-30 on there, and then throws a fit when we only read 2-3 of them.

:: 2.5 ::

Ryan has overall really settled into the past three months pretty well, but he's getting way more bossy, opinionated, and naughty. Now that he knows so many words and can get across his point and what he wants, he's a lot more sassy, and when he has a tantrum, it's an all out one. Still, I think he's probably the easiest of my kids as far as this stage. My older boys were ridiculously more difficult: Cashel was a biter and Kendrick a pincher, and well...Ryan, although he occasionally will slap you, doesn't do it to the point where he is labeled as a "slapper"...at least for now. He's overall just the happiest little guy, and he makes me smile and laugh and feel loved every day.

Physical Development

Ryan is still easily in 3T clothes comfortably, and the waists on those pants are getting a little less loose than they were 3 months ago. He took it upon himself to start working on potty training (oy!), but we're not going to go hard core until the big kids are back in school to make it a little easier at daycare (and home!)

Teething

This entire quarter has been pretty quiet on the teething front, aside from a few very short spurts of whiny behavior or clinginess. Still no new teeth or bulging gums or anything. Ryan holds the record thus far for the longest teething Johnson kiddo.

Sleep Habits

Ryan is still napping pretty well around 1:30/2pm every day, but the length is variable.

At nighttime, Ryan is such an excellent sleeper now, and even if he's not sleeping, he's just playing quietly in his room. It's SUCH a welcome change from a few months ago, and he's so much happier of a kid now. I love how well he is adapting with quiet independent play, as it used to be that if he was awake, he'd want to be entertained.

Speech Development

Ryan is learning tons of new words all the time, and most of the time, he repeats what he hears, or at least close to it, to the point where if you are even thinking remotely in the same ballpark as to what he's saying, you're going to be able to figure it out most likely. It's great!

Eating

Ryan has been on a milk binge for a while now, and while he's not typically super irritable, I think it's teeth. He just pushes his food around on his plate most of the time, and might take a bite or two, but usually it's just "cuppy, milk, Mommy".

He is definitely really fond of "snacks" and will eat most of whatever snack it might be. He is oddly not very overly fond of sweets. If you give him a cookie, there's a good chance that the cookie will sit there with a tiny bite out of it and Cashel or Kendrick will find it and finish it for him. His favorite meal is "cheese and cocks", which means macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. I really hope he never learns to say it right, because it's so adorable when he says it lol

He hasn't been sitting in a high chair OR booster seat both at home and restaurants for the past 2 months for sure, but it has been a while longer. Kinsley has claimed the high chair, and that works for us. He's messy as all get out, but he was just as messy in the high chair too, so we deal.

Toddler Behaviors and Discipline

Ryan has certainly amped up his tantrums, and the intensity of them leaves bystanders very concerned for his wellfare, I'm sure: Especially when I am extremely nonchallant about them. The thing is, he sounds like he is in horrendous pain or something, but I know there is a slight difference between pain and anger, and about 99.9999% of the time, he's just angry. He no longer gracefully lowers himself onto the floor to kick and scream, but rather throws himself on the ground, and the vast majority of the time, it's because he isn't getting something he wants - ESPECIALLY the ride on tractor of Kendrick's. (The kid is going to be an excellent driver by the time he's 16, right?)

I've been working with ALL the kids on following the 1-2-3 Magic program, and for the most part, it's working alright. For the big boys, it works really well, actually, and I can usually either halt the behavior or they will listen to me to "take 5" almost immediately. If we are in public, they will just ask me where they have to go for their "take 5" time. However, with Ryan, he just likes to count along with me while being deviant and watching me like a hawk, and when he ends up having to take 5, he throws the motherload of all tantrums and refuses to listen when I tell him that he has to be CALM before his 5 minutes starts, so it goes on FOREVER.

I HAVE, however, been trying extremely hard to focus on making sure his needs are met on time, however, to keep the unnecessary tantrums at bay. If he's tired or hungry, I give him a little more slack, especially if I'm an hour late getting him his lunch or supper, or he hasn't had a nap and it's 3pm or something. He's generally a really sweet kid, but he's just a typical tantrummy toddler at this point. I'm very grateful that his behaviors don't seem worse than the typical toddler in light of the hard times his first couple years of life.

Likes

• He is OBSESSED with big brother Kendrick's ride-on tractor
  
• Sucking on those two fingers...ALWAYS. I realized I haven't taken a picture of him doing it lately, though.
• His Siblings! he adores these guys :)
  
• Elmo's Potty Time. I think I'd better gear myself up for lots of poo in the near future. ::sigh::
• Parades!
  
• Trains of all shapes and sizes! His mind is going to be BLOWN in a month when we go on the North Shore Scenic Railroad's Pumpkin Train on our trip to Duluth.
  
• "Coloring" with big brothers. It usually consists of him doing this, followed by biting the tips off all the crayons.
  
• Swinging
  
• Brown Bear Brown Bear. Argh. I just really hate it when my kids cling to this one. I grow weary of reading it every.single.night. The repetitiveness makes me feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone.
• Riding his dang 3-wheeler in the road. I'm CONSTANTLY pulling him back onto the sidewalk. I don't get why that is so hard!
• Being one of the "big kids".
  
• Kinsley Jo...He loves her almost TOO much
  
• "Do it, me, Mama!" This kid likes to take control, and don't you dare try to take his job!
• Picking apples
  

Dislikes

• Being told he can't do something.
• Not having things go his way.
• Not being able to physically do things or get places that he wants to do/go.
• Not having his cuppy before bed.
• Not having his cuppy before Jody's.
• Not getting to "go owwwside" with the big kids.
• Any pjs but his "Pawtrolls" or Santa ones.

Overall, Ryan is a very happy-go-lucky kid. He is really calming down now that Daddy is out of the house, but he is quick to ask to video chat him every night. I'm so glad that he still desires a relationship with his Daddy, even if he's not home with us. He's a good little kid, and adorable to boot! I can't wait to continue to watch him grow :)

2 Years 3 Months

After the past three months, I feel like Ryan is just a whole different person. He is learning words left and right, and if I thought he was a lot of work before, oh my word is it on a whole new level these days. He's SO freaking adorable and funny and silly and just...cute. And busy. SOOOOOOOO busy. And well...he's getting to be pretty in-your-face naughty.

Physical Development

Ryan is fitting almost perfectly into 3T clothes all across the board now, except we have to cinch in his pants as tight as possible, because he has a tiny little waist and tiny little booty that doesn't hold anything up. He loves to wear his size 10 ducky boots all over the place. He's still in size 6 diapers, although we've occasionally thrown a size 4 pull up on him, as we have them sitting around the house, and he has this thing with pulling his pants down and taking his diapers off. He can't easily pull the slightly-too-small pull up down, so we go with it. We aren't hard core about the potty training, but will definitely be starting this fall once the big kids are back in school and daycare can focus on it more.

Teething

The past three months have been fairly quiet on the teething front. We've certainly had spurts on and off where we can tell he's working on something, but we still don't even have bulging gums or anything, so we may be waiting a while. He still doesn't have any of his 2 year molars, so I'm cringing thinking of what's to come sleep-wise in the near future. Cashel and Kendrick had all 4 of theirs by 2.5 years, so we're talking 4 molars in 3 months, and in my experience, they take a LONG time to come in. Lord, help me!

Sleep Habits

Ryan is still taking a solid 1-3 hour nap every day, but he doesn't want to go down until closer to 2pm these days, and it's usually closer to 1 hour than 3, even on the weekends.

I just finally very recently resorted to a little tough love/sleep training and am forcing the "sleep in your own room" thing for the whole night. I had to put a doorknob cover on it, as he figured out how to open doors, and there was some serious weeping and gnashing of teeth for a few nights, but he now easily sleeps through the night without so much as a peep, which is WONDERFUL! He is a much happier kid as a result of the extra sleep as well, and very willingly goes down to sleep much earlier than I even imagined!

Speech Development

The past month has brought short sentences with this kid. He usually puts about 2-4 word sentences together, and as the days go by, it's getting much, much easier to actually understand what he's saying. He gets really frustrated when I can't figure it out based on context or what not, so I can tell there's going to be a big explosion of full on sentences very soon.

Eating

I'm pretty sure Ryan has really been working on those molars beneath the surface off and on this quarter, because if there is one thing he is NOT really overly fond of, it's eating certain foods. I'm not sure if it's because he has grown picky, or if his mouth hurts, but he is still JUST not quite sure how to express why he isn't eating some nights, but others, he devours everything. The teething thing seems to fit the best, at least in my mind.

He is definitely really fond of "snacks" and will eat most of whatever snack it might be. He is oddly not very overly fond of sweets. If you give him a cookie, there's a good chance that the cookie will sit there with a tiny bite out of it and Cashel or Kendrick will find it and finish it for him. His favorite meal is "cheese and cocks", which means macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. I really hope he never learns to say it right, because it's so adorable when he says it lol

He hasn't been sitting in a high chair OR booster seat both at home and restaurants for the past 2 months for sure, but it has been a while longer. Kinsley has claimed the high chair, and that works for us. He's messy as all get out, but he was just as messy in the high chair too, so we deal.

Toddler Behaviors and Discipline

Ryan is really pressing the limits lately, and I'm growing tired of the constant need for discipline. I'm really having to learn with ALL the boys to tone down the punishment. Typically, I like to make wild punishments (like "If you don't stop doing that, you won't get to go outside all weekend"), and I'm working on making it more like "you will be grounded to your room for 10 minutes". I guess my knee-jerk reaction is to make the consequence so severe that he would never in his right mind ever consider doing the thing I don't want him to do. The problem with this is that he totally calls my bluff, and, well, of COURSE I'm not going to punish myself by keeping him locked inside, so he's learning to push those buttons more frequently.

He is really lucky he's so darn cute, because he pushes my buttons DAILY. He thinks it's a funny game, and most days I just don't have the energy to oblige.

Likes

• His siblings
  
• Sucking on those two fingers...ALWAYS. I realized I haiven't taken a picture of him doing it lately, though.
• Elmo's Potty Time. I think I'd better gear myself up for lots of poo in the near future. ::sigh::
• Parades!
  
• Daddy! It has been an adjustment for us all
  
• "Coloring" with big brothers. It usually consists of him doing this, followed by biting the tips off all the crayons.
  
• Swinging
  
• Brown Bear Brown Bear. Argh. I just really hate it when my kids cling to this one. I grow weary of reading it every.single.night. The repetitiveness makes me feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone.
• Riding his dang 3-wheeler in the road. I'm CONSTANTLY pulling him back onto the sidewalk. I don't get why that is so hard!

Dislikes

• Being told he can't do something.
• Not having things go his way.
• He is still pretty obsessed with buckling his own seat belt these days. Don't you DARE touch it!
• There really aren't a ton more of these. I'm sure if I thought SUPER hard, I could come up with more dislikes, but he's really a pretty easy-going kid. He doesn't get that worked up that often.
  

Overall, Ryan is a very happy-go-lucky kid. He is really calming down now that Daddy is out of the house, but he is quick to ask to video chat him every night. I'm so glad that he still desires a relationship with his Daddy, even if he's not home with us. He's a good little kid, and adorable to boot! I can't wait to continue to watch him grow :)

.::TWO::.

My baby boy is TWO! This sweet, cuddly, little man, who I was certain was my last, is now thriving in his role as big brother. He is funny, sweet and makes it his mission to get the most laughs possible. He loves big, his hugs are the best, and everyone in our family just adores him. While his big brothers may fight like cats and dogs, they are both sweet on "baby" Ryan.

Physical Development

Ryan is probably the tiniest of the Johnson boys, which amazes me, since he started out the biggest. He is now 30 lbs and 36 inches tall. We just started him in size 6 diapers and 3T pjs, and while he is mostly in 2T clothes now, some of them are getting pretty small on him, he's just not nearly tall enough for size 3T clothes just yet. He wears a size 9 shoe.

Ryan hasn't quite gotten the hang of opening doors just yet, thankfully. He loves to turn lights on and off, and just recently got tall enough to do both without standing on something, although sometimes he still does.

He loves to run, and he's getting a lot faster. He always dances while pumping his right arm back and forth, but keeps his left one sedentary, which is so adorable :) He loves to be the center of attention, and if you aren't paying attention to him enough, he'll demand it by crawling all over you.

Speech Development

Ryan LOVES to read "bookos" like his big brother Cashel did at this age. If I read 20 books at bedtime, he'd just be in heaven! But he's very specific about which book he wants to read in which order. He doesn't really call any books by name just yet. He specifically loves Leslie Patricelli books as well as "That's Not My..." USBorne books. His favorite, however, is "Where's Baby's Belly Button".

He's really beginning to blossom as far as speech, although we haven't had anything more than about 2 words strung together at a time. He's very capable of communicating what he wants, it just isn't always with words. I feel like he has an explosion of words coming soon, just based on how quickly he seems to be picking up new words the past week. He will repeat what you say pretty well much of the time, although...truthfully, I think we need to deal with some excess ear wax build up and I think he'll be able to hear more clearly. It doesn't seem to bother him at all, but sometimes I think he maybe just doesn't hear it clearly enough. I had been using wax drops, since he has always had ridiculously waxy ears, and he seemed to sleep a little better, so I need to be back on that soon.

Ryan is extremely opinionated, and if you don't understand what he wants, he gets a little worked up and whiny (or rather, screechy).

He knows how to say "Mommy", "Daddy", "Ca-shul", "Ken-ick" and "Kis-ly". He also says "cup/cuppy", "milk", "wa-uh" (water), "no", "yes", "Barney", "Choo choos" (for Polar Express), "sissy", "butt", "booko", "Up", "that", "this", and probably another dozen that I can't think of off the top of my head.

Favorites

His favorite BOOKS include any and all books by Leslie Patricelli (Binky, Potty, Hair, Yummy Yucky, Boo, etc.), One Moose Twenty Mice (in which he can find the cat every time), and probably a dozen others that I can't think of at the time.

He loves KISSING He is probably the most normal kisser of any of my babies at this age. Like...he legit gives a kiss without slobbering lol

He loves WATCHING MOVIES. I attribute this to the time of the year right now. His favorites are The Polar Express and Emoji Movie, and he'll carry them all over the house and put them in the various DVD players. He also loves all the Barney movies and Baby Einstein.

He loves DADDY. It really warms my heart, you guys. Truthfully, Mark isn't the Daddy he used to be. He doesn't understand that he's different, but it's pretty obvious to the older boys - especially Cashel. So for Ryan to take to him the way he does and still engage with him, it makes my heart so happy.

Teething

We haven't had hardly any teething issues for the past few months. He'll go through little tiny spurts, but I have a feeling the worst is still ahead with those two year molars. He only has 19 teeth as of now, because he has that one tooth in the front that is actually two teeth on the bottom still, but I don't even hardly feel any bumps in the far back near those other molars.

Sleeping

Ryan is a pretty good napper, and he sleeps pretty good at night right now, but he never stays in his bed all night. He usually comes up and crawls in bed with us by midnight/1am every night.

Ryan takes one 1-3 hour nap (depending on the day) sometime after lunch. Sometimes he goes down by 1pm, but some days it's not until closer to 3pm. He has an 8pm bedtime. He usually sleeps from 8pm-5:30am. So overall, he sleeps between 10.5 and 12.5 hours a day.

Eating

Ryan is totally hot and cold with food, and it seems to depend on the following things: 1) If he's actually super hungry, 2) If he likes what we're having, and 3) If he's teething. Overall, he's a fairly good eater - especially if we hold off supper until closer to 7pm. He prefers things like cheese, grapes, grape tomatoes, and chips. That's not to say that he won't eat other things, but he has to be really hungry or else he's not a great eater. Sometimes I think that maybe he's just teething or something, though.

Likes

• Snuggling with Mama
• Making people laugh
• Splashing in water
• Barney
• Snow
  
• Milk
• Ketchup. He'd consider ketchup a meal. Anything that has a dipping sauce is his favorite, but he will actually just eat ketchup if you put it on his tray.
• Reading
• Sucking on those two fingers still :)
  
• Cookies or cake
• Jumping into the pool with Daddy
  
• Swimming with Daddy :)
  
  
• Sissy kicky pants :)
  
• Filling cups with water from the fridge
• Dumping said cups of water in rooms with carpet - grrr!!!
• Riding "bikes"
• Being outside

Dislikes

• Being told "No"
• Going to bed when he's not ready.
• Being read the wrong book...or the right book at the wrong time.
• Being strapped in for meals.
• If you don't let him buckle himself into his carseat.
• Someone else getting to pick a show to watch.

Family Dynamic

Admittedly, our family dynamic has been strained this year, but we're still pretty solid as a family unit overall. Ryan is slowly warming towards Daddy a little more, even in the midst of these frustrating mental health struggles, but Mommy is definitely the favorite.

Ryan fits in great with his big brothers, but he tends to hang out more with Mommy and Kinsley than the big boys most of the time. Granted, he loves to get crazy and run around with the big kids as well. His brothers like to include him a lot of the time. He's going to be the kid that fills the gap really well between the older two and little miss Kinsley, and I have a feeling they're all going to be really close as they get older.

Ryan is so sweet and tender with Kinsley, and he loves to get right up in her face and make her smile and laugh. It is seriously the most adorable thing! He's an awesome big brother!

Overall

I just know that Ryan is going to do great things! He has a "can do" attitude, listens fairly well (granted, we're coming up on the toddler years, so all bets are off!) He is almost always smiley, likes to snuggle, and fills that gap perfectly between the big kids and Kinsley. I'm looking forward to hopefully tackling potty training this coming year and finally be down to just ONE in diapers for the first time since we only had one kid haha He's entering some of my favorite years of toddlerdom, where, in spite of the fact that they become bossy and destructive and drive you crazy, they also blossom tenfold, finally get done teething, and start sleeping significantly better. Not only that, but they begin to tell you what the heck all those grunts and whining and non-words actually mean, and the whining starts to lessen considerably.

Farewell, one, and hello two! We can't wait to see what's in store ahead!