Rule of Threes

So apparently we say things in threes around here and it is catching on with Ryan. I am sure a lot of people do without even knowing it, but it becomes very apparent when your child mocks you and repeats it right back to you. His favorite phrase is "Go, Go, Go". If he wants to go somewhere or we are leaving he will always say it. The best though, is when he is in his carseat, he will say it while rocking from side to side and tilting his head from side to side all the while each "Go" gets a little higher pitched.

My next favorite is "Knock, Knock, Knock". He will make a fist and knock on just about anything. He even will shut bedroom doors and knock on them until we come open them and let him back in. We have recently been working on him dipping different foods into ketchup, ranch, you name it. So, naturally, the phrase "Dip, Dip, Dip" has been added to his repertoire. He is really cute when he does it because sometimes the food won't even actually make into the sauce since he is so dainty with his dips, but he thinks it does anyway and will still eat it. Score for us! Another phrase is "Done, Done, Done" when is finished with something. Usually though he will use the phrase All Gone for just about anything. When he is finished eating, when a song is over, when he finishes organizing something -usually it's "All Gone", but sometimes "Done, Done, Done". These would probably be the phrases he actually knows how to use properly, but we can pretty much say anything three times and he will try and mimic it back. Guess it's a good teaching technique!?!

18 Months

One and a half! Wow, I can't believe it. This month Ryan has really kept me on my toes, which is a little hard to do these days since I broke my foot 2 weeks ago at Crossfit :( He has the absolute best and craziest personality I could have ever imagined for my child. He is such a lovable and sensitive little boy, always giving hugs and kisses and just loves to snuggle. He is also a HUGE dare devil. This past week he was climbing (or attempting) to climb on anything and everything. Just this afternoon, he was trying to balance himself between the couch and the coffee table (like he was trying attempt a dip)- ahhh! He is also very trying at times, always testing my patience and pushing the limits, as I am sure most toddlers do. He does, however, HATE getting in trouble and will literally freeze in his footsteps like a deer in headlights whenever he gets called out on something. It's good that he has a healthy fear of getting in trouble and doesn't like to disappoint, but I hate that he is afraid of us!!!

He is really becoming self-aware and acts like he is a mini-adult at times. Last night, my mom was giving him a bath and he pulled off his shorts, which he loves to do now, and once his diaper was off he said "Pee Pee" and then proceeded to tinkle all over the tile. On top of that, he thought he was hilarious. He has really been into telling us when he goes #1 and #2, which is helpful but I definitely don't want this to become a habit. After the bath, we put on his pjs and not 10 minutes later, this is what ensued. After first, he unbuttoned his pjs and thought he was in trouble, so he immediately wanted them back on. I think he then realized he was doing something big, so he decided to do it again, but this time all the way until he had them off!

What a crazy dude. Apparently, this is becoming his new favorite thing because not 5 minutes after being awake this morning, he did it again! Once he was down to is diaper, he tried to take it off as well (not a good habit!). So I gave him a tiny pop on the bottom and he must have thought it was pretty funny because he started walking around the house spanking himself and then spanking other things laughing hysterically. GREAT!

He also likes to try and climb on top of things as well, as seen below :/

We were at the doctor's office last week because he had some bad mosquito bites but turned out he also had an ear infection. That didn't slow him down because he was obsessed with carrying my purse around. He is really into picking up heavy things and walking around with them - huge 2 gallon Ozarka bottles of water, chairs, the scale, whatever he can get a hold of. Our little Hercules! Or should I say my little shopper!

Still his go to move when he gets in trouble!

He is really getting into his blocks these days. Loves to build tall towers then knock 'em down, all boy!

His favorite "toy" right now is his lunchbox. Whenever he sees it, he has to have it and carry it around. I have been telling him that it is only for school, so that maybe he will be excited for school, but it hasn't seemed to work yet.

 "Off to work, bye Mom!"

MDO is getting a little easier. The time he cries from when I leave apparently is getting shorter and shorter, which is great, but the drop off still isn't any easier. It's only been 4 weeks, so I am sure it will get better over time. I think he is having more fun though and actually naps there, which is shocking to me. After the first day, he has napped everyday since. Granted some of those naps are only 45 minutes, which makes for a crazy afternoon later that day; but other days have been almost 2 hours! He loves the playground, the music, and hopefully the new friends!

His stats this month include:
Height - 36 inches (99.75%)
Weight - 26 lbs 8 oz (59.27%)
Head - 20.24 inches (99.63%)

We did his head measurement twice because she didn't think the nurse did it right. But no, it was right, his head is just ginormous! Other than that, he is right on track. I think some new words this month include: Poppy, GiGi, Allie, Keys, Kneecap (random, I know. He is just obsessed with them), Bumblebee, Apple, Open (Opi), Door, Pee Pee, Poo Poo, and Bo Bo (for my foot). Other than that he is really into just mimicking what we say until it becomes part of his vocabulary. He knows all of his body parts and can point to them. He also can follow pretty much any simple instructions (when he is in the mood, of course). He still loves his books and is really into cars (pronounced cooooooows). He loves to go look at them through the window and really loves Wes' truck and has to go outside to see it everyday pretty much. We got him this little play table for his half birthday and he seems to think he is such a grown up now!

Happy 18 months, buddy. We love you!

IPhone Photo Fun

I've realized recently that a lot of times, the pics I get of Ryan are on my IPhone (like most moms, I'm sure). Ryan is just so camera shy, that by the time I can get a camera out (if I even have it with me), he's clams up or isn't being cute/funny anymore. So, I figured I would upload a few from the past month or two.

The first pic was at Kraftsman deli after church a month or so back. They had a little center set-up for children and we picked the table right next to it. He had so much fun and would actually sit still and play. We actually decided to order him a little set of table and chairs for his 1.5 yr birthday coming up, haha!

This is the life! Grilled cheese, juice, and the pool! This is how we spent many weekends this summer.

This makes me laugh. He insisted on putting on his shoes one night when it was already about 8pm. Well, whenever the shoes go on, it means Bye Bye time, so he was pretty disappointed when we weren't going anywhere.

His Aunt Christina bought him this fun drum set with all sorts of instruments. He has so much fun with it, but also thinks it much more fun to wear the drum like a scuba diver!

We went to Smashburger a week ago for lunch and I think I have mentioned before he is a big fan of their onion rings (as are we). This first picture is something he really likes to do these days which is wipe his face. He looks so silly being prim and proper patting his face. Probably because I am doing this to him 2532534 times a day.

 Happy boy! Procurement of the onion ring.....

 What a chunk! Chowing down on said onion rings.

This past weekend I was in Austin for my soon to be sis-n-law's bachelorette party. Well, Wes told me Sunday morning Ryan was running around the house crying and screaming Mommy. He even was looking under our sheets for me :(. Well, Wes decided to take him for a jog Sunday morning in which he fell asleep about 5 minutes in. He hasn't been napping in the morning anymore, so we knew this would throw him for a loop. Well, what you see below is the result of two failed attempts at an afternoon nap,a  really runny nose, and Mommy coming home. On another note, this child needs another haircut, ahhhh!

Blankets, Towels, & T-shirts, oh my!

Ryan absolutely LOVES soft fabrics. He has been known to cart a towel, a blanket, his puppy, and a pillow all at once around the house. He is constantly throwing himself in piles of pillows, playing peek-a-boo with a towel or a blanket, and even picking up his clothes from around the house and hoarding them. For whatever reason, fabric makes him happy. I mean downright giddy; he just starts going nuts once he's in a pile of laundry, towels, you name it.

The other day, I was doing my quarterly "put away the clothes that don't fit anymore" chore. I started going through them in his room and putting them on the floor in a pile that needed to be put away. After about 3 minutes, this is what I find.

He had piled all of the clothes in his trashcan. He then proceeded to take them all out and roll around in them (sorry for the blurry pics, they were on my IPhone and he's way too squirmy for good pics).

I then picked up all of the clothes and went to put them in the guest room drawers. Of course, he followed me in there. I should have known better, the minute he saw me open the drawer, it was Clothes Heaven. Now he was pulling out the old clothes as well.

We finally get them all put away and go into my room so I can get dressed. After a minute of not hearing him, I look into my room from the bathroom, and lo and behold, he had gone BACK into the guest bedroom, pulled a few items out, brought them into my bedroom, and made himself comfortable with his feet propped up on my dresser. What am I going to do with this kid?!?!

First Day of MDO

This is how our day unfolded:

6:30-7am: I'm tossing and turning in bed, nervous about the day and afraid I will sleep through my alarm

7am: Get out of bed and quickly get dressed

7:30am: I start getting Ryan's breakfast ready and chopping all his fruits and cereal bars into teeny tiny pieces for his lunch. I start trying to make some noise so that he will wake up on his own (since he usually doesn't get up until around 8:30)

7:45am: Ryan has his milk and then I force him into his high chair so that he can begin eating. He was not a fan of this. The boy likes to leisurely eat and get ready in the morning. On any given morning it's 10am before breakfast is finished and he is changed for the day. He did not eat too much and began getting upset

8:10am: I go to change him and he is bawling. He's covering his eyes on the changing table and just plain upset. This is TOO much for him this early in the morning

8:15am I spend TEN, yes, TEN minutes trying to get his tennis shoes on him. He is used to wearing sandals all the time but they are not allowed at school. We were both getting frustrated, but somehow I finally got them on.

8:25am: I am rushing to take some pics of him outside to have his "first day of school pics" He would not stay still for any pics, so these were the best I could get. We started out in his chair. he was having none of it and was very disturbed by his backpack.

 Got his puppy and his sippy cup; life is good

 a little tired

 happy boy

 "Ok mom, I'm ready to get this show on the road"

9:00am: We pull into the parking lot right on time

9:05am: We walk in, he immediately jumps out of my arms to run over and show this little boy how it's done.

 You can't tell from this picture, but he ran over to the kitchen area to his go-to toy, the microwave.

I was finally able to tear him away to go wash his hands (it's supposed to be the first thing you do when you get to class) and he was not too happy with me. Once I got him up on the stool, he thought it was pretty neat and had fun splashing in the water. By now, you are probably thinking, "Wow, seems like everything is going really well; even better than expected." That's what I was thinking, too. Even when I went to say bye bye, he looked at me, waved, and said bye bye. [pause] And then came the panic. He literally started running after me screaming. One of his teachers swooped him up and I left. I stood outside the door for about 10-15 minutes listening to him screaming. By the way, he was the only kid out of 8 to cry. Not sure why, but it definitely made it harder knowing I was the only one leaving a screaming child. I had a few different women peak in there to confirm that, yes, it was indeed the boy in the red overalls still crying. Eventually they went and pulled out his pacifier and it calmed him down. So I finally left about 9:20

Fast forward a few hours and I find myself back in the parking lot at 11:20 (they have early dismissal at noon this week) because I was afraid of being too far away in case I got "the" call. I actually notice about 10 other parents waiting in their cars too, so I didn't feel so crazy.

11:50am: A few of the moms start to gather outside the door and are peaking in to see a whole bunch of screaming, snotty nosed kids. Apparently, the attempt of feeding them all lunch before noon did not go well. I can see Ryan's back facing the door. He was sitting at the little lunch table, with puppy in tow, so still. I was thinking, wow, my kid seems to be the only one not upset. WRONG!

12:00pm: We all go in there and I kind of sneak up on his side, and there he was sitting there all blotchy, snot everywhere, food ALL OVER him, his clothes, and puppy, just crying away. He got up from his chair and threw himself on me. He even did the look-up, stare, and lay back down a few times to make sure I was still there. I asked the teacher how he did and apparently, he played nicely all by himself pretty much the entire time in the kitchen center. Guess it's going to take awhile for those social skills to kick in! At least he didn't cry for 3 hours, so that's positive. He also only ate what appeared to be about 3 bites of food which is funny since it looked like he was covered in an entire meal.

12:10pm: We finally leave and this is what he looks like. Not too bad for a first day, I would say.

After we got home, I fed him the rest of his lunch and then he took about a 3 hour nap. Guess all the trauma and playing wore him out. He goes again tomorrow which I am sure will be harder than today since he'll know what's coming this time. Wish us luck!