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.

First Ride on the Jet Ski (Summer 2017)

Ryan is probably my absolute bravest little guy on the water. He took his first short spin on the jet ski with Daddy last weekend, and was totally enthralled. We'll probably wait until next year for another ride, but he seemed to have fun, anyways!

First Night in the Big Boy Bed (April 2 :: 13 Months)

With the new baby coming soon, and Ryan being really, REALLY attached to sleeping next to his Mama (in fairness...I'm REALLY attached to sleeping next to him too), we needed to start the transition to getting him out of our bed and into his own.

We started by bringing up the double mattress from what will be his new bedroom (it's currently the toy room) and putting it on the floor so that if he rolled off, it wouldn't be much of a fall.

He did alright his first night, just waking a couple times to grab onto my hair and fall back asleep, and wanted some milk around 3am.

In a couple months, if he's doing better about not falling off, we'll move the mattress down to his new room, and I'll start sleeping down there once he wakes up the first time, hopefully making it a pretty easy transition for him. Hopefully, by the end of July, he'll be sleeping on his own better every night just in time for the baby to get all of Mama's attention.

1 Year Well Child Check

This smiley little guy had a great 1 year well child check! He has grown a little under 2 inches since he was 8 months old and is up just under 3lbs since then as well, currently at 24lbs 8oz and 29.25 inches long. Crazy enough, this puts him on record as the smallest of my kiddos at a year, and he has grown 14lbs 5oz and 7.25 inches in a year!

He is now up to date on all his immunizations with zero side effects and hardly a tear.

He doesn't have to come back until 18 months, and won't have any further immunizations until before preschool.

To Ryan on your First Birthday

Oh my sweet little boy :) Words cannot express the joy you bring to our lives, Booboo :) It's hard to believe how much our lives have changed in the past year. It hasn't been easy adjusting from 2 to 3, but it's also so very hard to envision our lives without you. Man, were the days with 2 so much easier haha :) But really, it's not you, I think it's mostly just the ages your big brothers are going through right now. You're the easy one!

A year ago, I was snuggling you after an exhausting labor and delivery, and the world just felt right.

It's hard to envision you so tiny and helpless right now: You're so full of life and energy and gusto. Your smile is so contagious with those two enormous front teeth and that super cheesy face :) I love to listen to you giggle and your complete inability to hide your emotions.

Watching your relationship grow with each of your big brothers just melts my heart :)

It cracks me up to see you still suck on those two perfect little fingers, just like your Daddy did when he was little. We spent way too much time at the beginning of your little life trying to get you to stop before I started back to work before we just gave up and let it be.

Your "little" hands have grown so big from those early days.

You had (and still have) such a peaceful little face while you sleep :) I could watch you for hours, which I did while on maternity leave. You are still sleeping with Daddy and I at night, and I can't even sleep without you there at this point. I love waking up and staring at your sweet little face beside me, even if I could do without the hair pulling and face slapping at 3am for a bottle ;) Thankfully, those nights seem to be fewer and further between, so we're crossing our fingers.

If I've learned anything over the past five years, it's how fast these years go, and I don't want to change one single exhausted part of it. I may not always think clearly, but I'd rather be tired than miss out on these moments with you, little man :)

How the time has passed so quickly, I cannot tell you. Sometimes it physically pains me. I have to remind myself often that God has only just given you to us for a while, and we don't know how long.

There have certainly been days this past year where I wondered how you would make it out alive with those crazy big brothers of yours, but you made it out with flying colors, and I'm giggling inside thinking about all the payback they'll be seeing the coming year, with you being mobile now, and starting to climb. They'll learn soon enough that nothing is safe :)

I thought you were going to be my last baby, and as such, I've spent so many more hours staring at your little face while you sleep, taking it all in. It has been so good for my soul in the midst of a crazy, exhausting, tumultuous year for us. You have been my sunshine, as I've watched you grow. You aren't sassy and naughty and you don't talk back, and you don't have major tantrums just yet, and I've needed that this past year.

I'm nervous about the year to come. I'm nervous about the level of crazy our lives are about to endure. I know because we've been in the crazy zone since Cashel was about 15 months, and we're entering into that phase once again with you in the next few months. It won't help with your big brothers egging you on.

My wish for this year ahead, no matter how big my belly gets, how full my lap gets, and how exhausting my nights are, that you know how much you are loved. I hope that even through the fog sometimes, you clearly see the most important parts of life, that being our love for Christ (and more importantly, HIS love for US) and our love for each other. Because oh man do we ever love you!

Happy Birthday, Ryan Charles!

Love,

Mama

:: ONE ::

Overall...

How in the world are we here? Today we're celebrating our littlest baby turning a whole year old. I'm going to be honest: I wasn't so sure we'd make it through this first year, but we're just beginning to not just survive, but thrive these days.

How Baby is Doing

Ryan is sugar and spice and everything nice most of the time...unless he's hungry, overly tired, or feeling overwhelmed. In that case, he's clingy, whiny and sucks his two fingers a LOT. We're still dealing with separation anxiety, although mostly just on the weekends.

Speaking of sucking on those two fingers: I'm growing more and more concerned about how this transition is going to go eventually when he has to stop doing this. He has grown more and more attached to them than ever before.

Ryan is walking a good 95% of the time now, and oh my goodness is he ever getting faster! I still blink in disbelief when I look across the room and he's toddling over to look at something, or from one piece of furniture to another one. He looks so much bigger when he's standing up.

We're finally down to just the two naps, and hoping that before long we can turn that into one long one and call it good! The kid likes to sleep a lot on the weekends if we're not busy and he can. However, I wasn't expecting the nap he would cut would be his MORNING one first, but that seems to be the trend. We catch him on the weekends like this a LOT haha

I'm afraid to even say it, but he's sleeping through the night without waking for a bottle finally! It has been about two weeks now, and I'm loving it! He does still wake and fidget occasionally, and I'm hoping that doesn't transition into trouble when we switch him to his big boy bed this coming month. He hasn't allowed us to put him in the crib for longer than a 45 minute nap since he was about 4 months old, and we figure that we can either fight that and let him cry it out (which I have never done well with) or just let him nap and sleep in our bed, in which case he sleeps through the night and naps for 2 hours or more at a time.

Ryan is extremely opinionated right now, and he wants to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it. If not, we see this face a LOT! This particular incident was due to him wanting my vanilla chai latte right before his nap time haha

He's really just the perfect addition to our family, and I'm excited to see how he adjusts to being a big brother in the last half of 2017. Nervous, yes, but excited :) He just adds a dimension to our family that we didn't know we needed! Man are little boys so fun!

How Mama is Doing

I told Mark a couple weeks ago that I suppose the waking in the night to feed a baby phase has collided pretty well with the need to wake in the night to pee thing while pregnant, so at least I get to kill 2 birds with 1 stone, right? This year has been one of the best and one of the worst, if that makes any sense. It has been emotionally a really hard year for me in many ways, but I just adore my little family. I'm glad we're past the worst part of the sleepless nights with Ryan, because I know they'll be here before I know it with the newest little one.

I'm certainly weary by the end of the day most of the time. I regularly will doze off while finishing up bedtime with the big boys, and end up soaking in an epsom salt bath before bed a good chunk of the week days. Sleep at night has been REALLY tough with being pregnant again. I don't regularly wake to use the bathroom, but I just randomly wake up and it takes me a bit to go back to sleep. I'm always grateful for the few nights a week when that first wakeup isn't until 4am or later, because then at least I just

I love Ryan's little quirks, like how when he gets tired, he has to suck on his fingers while tugging on my hair. And it has to be MY hair or else he gets all whiny.

If he hears my voice at all, he's not satisfied being with anyone else. Even at daycare drop off just recently he has been struggling BIG time and fusses when we drop him off. I haven't been to church beyond the nursery in months now due to his severe separation anxiety. It's heartwarming at times, but other times I'm just so ready for him to get over it. I'm beginning to worry that people must think Mark and I are having troubles, because he's usually in church and Sunday School by himself while I am in the nursery.

I know the separation anxiety has been a thing with all of my kids at this age, but I forget how exhausting it can be for a while.

How Daddy is Doing

We're all enjoying having Mark home, as we know just a handful of weeks from now we'll likely be in the midst of planting season again, and that's always a tinge more challenging for the rest of us. We just can't wait for the weather to get nicer so we can get outside and enjoy more time DOING things beyond sitting around at home all the time.

Daddy and Ryan love to snuggle together on the weekends and evenings when I need to make supper or go to the gym or the like. He tends to nap the longest and best when it's with Daddy. I suppose that's because Daddy never puts him down to get things done like I do haha :) (In fairness, he never complains when I ask him to do something around the house)

Ryan's little face just lights up when he sees Daddy, and when Daddy is gone, he has started to ask for him, even if he only says a couple words. Mark likes to say, "Boo" and Ryan just laughs and laughs and laughs.

Mark is getting really bored of watching cartoons lately, so he tends to not join us as much anymore for snuggles and show times, but the rest of the day he still enjoys interacting with the kiddos a lot. We're all so ready for spring to come and STAY so we can get outside more and enjoy the weather.

How Big Brothers are Doing

Cashel and Kendrick just absolutely adore their little brother, even if the two of them don't get along that great a lot of the time. I have a feeling our kiddos are all going to end up being REALLY close, which is really sweet. They always like to include Ryan in whatever they're doing (even if Ryan has no desire to do what they're doing). It's adorable to watch their little dance parties, and to watch their excitement when Ryan learns to do something new, like crawl, stand up by himself, and now walk.

They have all been SO EXCITED for Ryan's birthday party, and have been so eager to help out. I mean, decorating cupcakes have been at the VERY top of their list for a few days now haha We can only hope they all are just as in love with their new baby sibling when he or she arrives in late July or early August!