Random Ryan Thoughts

I feel like Ryan is back to a stage where I can post a monthly update. He has so much going on in that little head of his, that every day I feel like something new is happening.  Since I just did a Patrick post, I'm going to follow up with some of the random things going on on Ryan's world.

- He is a playing pretend rock star.  Every day, all day is about making up new stories and pretending to be different characters/animals.  Sometimes we are dragons or dinosaurs, sometimes we are TV cartoon characters, and other times we are different friends or family.  But we always have our rolls and what we are suppose to do to stay in character.  His imagination is in full effect!

-He says the funniest things.  When we are walking out the front door he says "after you my lady". When he gets his croupy/asthma cough he refers to it as his "freaky cough".  When he wants to do something he says "Well here is my deal..." and then goes on to say what he is going to do.  He didn't love some rides in Disney world because they "made my tummy very mad".  Randomly he will just say things like "I am just frustrated Mommy, I will take a break".  And he is recently into telling us about his eczema.  He will describe that its itchy in the morning and at bedtime and that we can call him "Ryan Eczema, because thats what I have" haha I blame that one on Doc McStuffins and the episode on Donnie's itchy skin.

-Everything is a question Why?  When?  Where? How Big?  What are they doing?

-He can start a conversation with anyone, anywhere.  He is super social and loves chatting with strangers (if they can understand what he is saying).

-He HATES loud noises... like really hates them.  He spend a lot of time walking around covering his ears.  Even recently when we were in the public bathrooms, he was constantly covering his ears because he didn't like the sound of the toilets flushing.  Its very odd.

-He is loving on his stuffed animal "friends".  He has like 50 that travel around the house with us.  They have sleep overs, build forts, play hide and seek... you name it and they join in on our fun.

-All of a sudden he likes to color.  This actually started in Disney which was a great distraction for meal time.

-He is still a huge love bug-  I can't even count the amount of times he says "I love you Mommy" or "I love our family" each day.... but I am loving every minute because I know it won't last long.

-He NEVER stops moving, not even for a second.  That boys body is in motion from the minute his eyes open in the morning til they close for bedtime (which takes a very long time to do at night).  Well except for nap time... he will still take a good nap most days.  But even during meal times and while watching TV, he is fidgeting or building something or tapping his feet.  Our cuddle moments are more like wrestling matches.

-He is into movies- Frozen, How to  Train your Dragon, Cloudy with the Chance of Meatballs, old Disney movies like Aladin and Hercules.  He can't sit still to watch from start to finish, but he is always asking to go back and watch them over and over.

-He is definitely a typical active boy.  He is always running, jumping, pushing, climbing, building, exploring.  He loves bugs and dirt and trucks, He likes to watch football and then act out the tackles (I have been victim of a few surprise tackles).

Patrick 9 month milestones

Hello again-

My blogging skills are lacking these days.  So much to write about, not enough time to sit down and do it.  I wish technology would come up with a way to just take my thoughts straight from my brain and put it on paper :)

Anyway, Patrick turned 9 months on October 3.  As always, I am a little late with this post, but better late than never.  Right at the 9 month mark he had  a few huge changes happen....

Edit-  Went to the doctors today and he is 19.4 lbs and 28 in long... thats 25-50% in both categories.

1.  He is finally sleeping through the night!!!!!!  Yes!  Finally!  Literally as of October 4 (a day after turning 9 months), he has been sleeping til 6-6:30am every day.  I am hoping this stays consistent and this is his new sleeping pattern.

2.  While we are on sleep, the naps are still kind of all over the place.  Most days there is a morning nap of some kind, and an afternoon nap of some kind, and occasionally a late nap depending on the day, but for the most part I still don't know what to expect.  He is definitely not on a routine the way Ryan was.  I'll keep working on it and offering structure, but for the most part as long as he is happy and sleeping at night, I won't stress.

3.  He can finally go from laying down to sitting up by himself.  This helps him so much because he can roll around and play without constantly needing to be re-positioned.

4. Since he is able to sit up by himself, he wakes up a little bit happier.  Occasionally he will just sit up and then talk to himself in the crib for a little bit until I go to get him.  This is a huge improvement from the screeching cry every time his eyes opened.

5.  He waves hi and bye all the time now.  He likes to see people come into a room and wave at them.  This also happened exactly at 9 months.  And clapping is in full effect.  I think this was because of our Disney trip... lots of clapping and waving at characters, rides, parades, etc.

6.  He is very close to crawling.  I though for sure it was going to happen in Disney.  He gets up to all fours, he rocks back and forth, he considers moving, and then eventually plops to his belly and does the army crawl or rolls to get what he wants instead.

7.  His eating patterns change every day.  Most days he gets 1 formula bottle at 1:00 in the afternoon and then I nurse him at 7, 10, 4, and bedtime.  Then he has breakfast at 8am and dinner around 5:00.  But depending on our schedule that can change, again like naps, he is not on nearly as rigid of a schedule as Ryan was.  Everything depends on the situation.

8.  My milk supply is continuing to dwindle, I feel like the end of nursing is near.  I am going to start adding a few more formula bottles to supplement, but still nurse like 3 times a day and see how long that lasts.  I am also going to start using some of the freezer breast milk to try to give him as much milk as I can for as long as I can, even if I am nursing less.  I"m not as stressed and upset about it as I was in the past.  I am proud of how long I have lasted, and I'll do my best to continue, but even if I only make it to the 10 month mark, I am happy with that!

9.  We go Tuesday for a check up, so I'll have weight information then.  But my guess is he is about 18 lbs.  He is in size 3 diapers and still wearing 6-9 month clothes.  He is smaller than Ryan so its helping that he can wear all of Ryan's clothes... they are the right size for the right season.

10.  Patrick went on his first real vacation to Disney World- lots more about about that next.

11. Still no teeth!  Teething like crazy, but no signs of anything breaking through.  Because of this I am still limiting real foods and he doesn't really do well with finger foods yet.  Just puffs and occasional fruit pieces for now.

12.  He has moved into the big bath tub.  He loves bath time... its a very wet and messy experience for everyone involved.

13.  He has officially learned how to throw things off his high chair table, just for fun.  Thats such a great stage, ugh.

14.  He doesn't eat much solid food, but when he does, he has to have all pieces in his hands at one time.  He will put them one at a time into his mouth, but he likes to sit with fists-fulls of food.  


Andddd he is awake after only a 25 minute nap so I need to wrap this up.  Here are some pictures of my photogenic boy!