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 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.
Eating
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.
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!
