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!

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".