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.

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!

Milestones: Walking EVERYWHERE (11 Months)

He is on the move and there is no stopping him now! Ryan is walking (gingerly, of course) the vast majority of the time now. I felt bad when Mark reminded me the other day that I hadn't taken any video of him walking yet. I mean, I got his first steps, but haven't taken any video since then. So here it is :)

This has been going on the past week for the most part. He would take a handful of steps for probably the past 3 weeks, but just this past week, it seems to be his preferred means of transportation.

Here, a little before his first birthday, we're going from first steps to being quite the pro. He really started taking it by storm the week after our trip to San Diego in early February.

11 Months

Overall...

Things are going pretty good right now! We're finally hitting a groove with the kiddos, and I can hardly believe that I ordered Ryan's 1st birthday invites before we left for our vacation. Mark and I were chuckling the other day about how we've successfully kept 3 kids under 5 alive for almost an entire year. It's mind-boggling, considering how busy we are, how adventurous and curious they are, and how little we were sleeping there for a while. I still can't believe we're in birthday planning stages now :(

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.

We're so weary of the transition away from this 3rd nap. He tends to take the 3rd nap about every other day, so we still don't have a good routine down for bedtime. We want to get to the point where we put him down before we put big brothers down, but every time I try to do a routine (bottle, books, singing, praying) like big brothers, he gets energized and wants to get down and start moving around and playing. This appears to be irregardless of if he took the 3rd nap or not anymore. It gets old. We love to spend time with him, but would rather he be getting enough sleep too.

Walking is in this kid's near future. We're up to between 6-7 steps, followed by periods of standing. He doesn't typically fall down anymore, he just decides he'd get there faster crawling, and so he sits down and starts crawling. You are more likely to find him standing or crawling into or onto things than you would find him sitting down these days.

Ryan is extremely opinionated, and don't you dare tell him what he is or isn't supposed to be doing. This particular meltdown was on account of me not being willing to share my vanilla chai latte with him. We see it a lot, but not because he's a particularly cranky kid, he just has started to vocalize his displeasure.

Ryan is sick to death of french fries at this point: Vacation eating is NOT his thing. He absolutely ADORES spaghetti, or anything else significantly messier than french fries. We've apologized (after cleaning up pretty good) at many a restaurant for the mess still left behind in his wake. I don't mind it as much at home, but eating out with him, it's just ridiculous the amount of food that ends up on his chair or the floor (or table). He LOVES to eat with gusto!

Ryan did great on his first two flights: First from MSP to LAX (4 hours 20 minutes) and then back from LAX to MSP (3 hours 40 minutes). I mean, we had some whiny, questionable moments during both, but none in which we didn't have him under control within a few minutes. Mostly, as long as he wasn't hungry, we were good. We were very grateful that we had 4 seats to spread him out into, as he was busy looking around when he wasn't sleeping. He enjoyed looking out the window with big brother Cashel :)

As I mentioned earlier, sleep patterns are in a transitional phase. He seems rested when he's awake, although I'm not sure how. He only wakes once a night for a bottle and is back to sleeping about two 6 hour stretches (if we have that long to sleep at night). At night, he sleeps from about 9pm-6am, and usually wakes up when we do. He fights night time sleep pretty bad (hence the 9pm bedtime), and always wants to wait until big brothers are already asleep, but doesn't do too bad with naps. He'll nap just about anywhere, especially in his carseat or stroller when we're out and about. Apparently he struggles going down for naps at daycare moreso, which I "get", since he tends to want to be held to sleep on the weekends for naps. We're VERY tempted to drag up the double mattress for nap times and bedtime so that he can crawl up there and just sleep when he's tired. It worked really well for Kendrick at 13 months when we transitioned him, and it'd be really nice to get him out of our bed, as we don't sleep anywhere near as soundly when he sleeps with us (nor does he). But he's not a fan of the crib at all because he doesn't like to be confined.

How Mama is Doing

I'm just beginning to come out of the 1st trimester haze, and looking forward to going into spring feeling good and a little more energetic. I still have my moments when I'm up in the night with Ryan and weary by morning, but overall, things are going well!

This little guy just lights up my world :) He's so sweet and happy and full of life. My favorite times are when we're just lounging around laying in bed, whether it be a weekend morning, lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon, or as has been the case this week: Lazy vacation downtime. Ryan crawls all over us and gets right up in our faces and just giggles or laughs. We see his huge big front teeth all the time, and it just makes me giggle :) We'll tickle him and he just has the most enormous smile, and it's just incredible :)

It still is amazing to me that I've got 3 little boys who I'm responsible for most of the time. It's even more insane to fathom that we're going to have FOUR kids by the end of the summer.

How Daddy is Doing

Daddy has really come alive this past month. It's when he usually does with the kids: When they start really having an actual personality and are on the cusp of walking. I'm not sure what it is about that turning point, but I've noticed it with each of my kids. Mark likes 'em mobile, I guess. He's a toddler guy.

Winters are rough on him, as he really likes to keep busy and moving and get outside much of the time. But having 3 kids and being stuck inside most of the time, he just really gets more sedentary and loafs around more. (I can't blame him - I feel the same way a good majority of the time during the winter). To say this vacation has been a boost in mood is a huge understatement. It's hard to remember in the midst of the Minnesota winter that one day we'll be able to do wild and crazy things like...walk outside without bundling up in 7 articles of clothing, or...play tag at the park. Or pull out the jet ski again. Mark is most definitely a summer kind of guy. We all love summer around here!

Mark loves to tickle Ryan and hear him giggle and laugh. We play "I'm gonna get you" a lot with Ryan, and it's adorable. This little boy adores his Daddy, and is finally starting to be okay with Daddy and not just clinging to Mommy as much. Granted, we still have our days. All the boys love to pile on Daddy, and they also just love it when he gets down on all fours and growls at them. They have a very playful relationship, which is fun to watch!

How Big Brothers are Doing

Can I just put this out there: I am in no hurry for Ryan to start walking, but I am SO READY for him to start walking. I know. It doesn't really compute, does it? I'm not ready for him to be that busy, but I'm so tired of the big boys dragging him around, so I'm ready for him to be able to walk away from them, or even just tell the big boys that he can walk on his own. Because Ryan CAN walk on his own, he just doesn't do it all the time.

Ryan likes to be near his big brothers and is especially big into seeing what they're doing. He's very curious, and sometimes that drives big brothers a little crazy. Especially if he breaks something they're building, or messes up a game or puzzle they are doing on their tablets.

We have to keep an eye on the boys a lot, because Cashel and Kendrick love to pick Ryan up and then set him up on higher places, like chairs, the ottoman, beds...and then walk away. Ryan is getting a little better sometimes at turning around and going down backwards, but he isn't doing that all the time, so we're constantly on the watch.

We've given up on trying to tell them not to pick Ryan up, as he's a lot more stable than he was at, say, 4 months. It makes people around us have a miniature heart attack, I think, but we're so used to it that as long as they aren't choking him and he's not crying, we allow it.

The boys were all so giddy to be able to get outside while on vacation, which is a precursor and great reminder that Minnesota isn't always freezing cold and awful, not ALL winter.

We're anxiously awaiting the arrival of Spring, so we can make this outside stuff a more regular thing!