Where Oh Where Have We Been?!?!

Sorry for the lack of blog lately. We have been busy these days. Ryan turned the big 1 years old on November 15th! Crazy how fast time flies! He loves Elmo, milk, food, books, blankets, animals...let's just say he is not a picky kid...AT ALL!!!! We've definately been blessed with a kid who will eat anything and pretty much play with anything. When you tell him no he will stop and look at you and shake his head no...but still do what he was planning on doing anyway. He loves to open all cabinets and drawers and then of course take everything out of them. At his 1 year check up he was 32 1/2 inches tall and 22 lbs. That now puts him in the 22nd percentile for weight and still in the 97th percentile for height. He is just as tall as some kids a year older than him. He is already in a size 5 shoe. He now has 4 teeth. 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom. He loves lights. When he knows the car door will open he looks at the light and just waits...and then points at it and says "eh" He says mama, mom, dada, da and up. He knows how to open the child gate, luckily he's not strong enough yet to unlock the latch though. Most importantly, he's still as healthy, happy and silly as day one.

He loves to make this face

He loves being able to face forward in his car seat now

Did I Really Just Become A Parent?!?!

Lately we've had trouble getting Ryan to lay down for bed and then to sleep through the night. When he was just a few months old he was sleeping through the night. I seriously thought we just had a great kid who just knew what was to be done and that we became very blessed in not having any problems like most parents do. And then one night he just stopped. Lately, he's up anywhere between 3-6 times a night. Needless to say, we're exhausted!
A friend of mine said it best when she said you just do the expected at the beginning (feeding, burping, changing, etc) and then it's like one day you wake up and realize you're a parent. You need to start disciplining and teaching them right from wrong.
Taking the advice of some people I went out yesterday and bought the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Weissbluth and also Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber. After reading both books for Ryan's age group we decided we would start last night. We laid him down at 7:00 and after screaming for 15 minutes he was out. He woke up later and we let him cry and 5 minutes into it he was again out. When he woke up at 2:30 I went in to give him a sippy cup of milk and he fell right back asleep. He then woke up again at 3:30 and again we let him cry it out.
With Ryan being almost 1 years old (yikes!!) we feel he should not be up that many times at night and that we have let this behavior go on to long and it has become to much of a habit for him. We feel we need to let him realize that everytime he cries someone will not come get him. We feel it is in the best for him and for us. For those who disagree with what we are doing, your opinion has been heard, but we as his parents need to do what we feel is best for us and our child. We also believe the sooner we break him of this habit the easier and better it will be for all of us. By making this decision for our child we have become just that much more of a parent.

Blessed

Most people think of all the things they are blessed and thankful for around Thanksgiving. But with the economy the way it is now things can change in an instant for anyone. So I thought I'd take some time to mention some things we are thankful and blessed for.

We have a healthy son who blesses our days with his sillyness. Yes he may drive us crazy some days but just to be able to have him in our lives, since so many people are not able to have kids, is a blessing in itself.

We have each other. I can't think what either of us would do if the other wasn't there. Being a parent is seriously a lot of work and you don't realize it until you become one.

We have loving family and friends. Without their support who knows where would we be.

We both have jobs. So many people today do not and struggle to keep a roof over their family's head and food on the table. We've been very blessed we both work in an industry that will never go away and are able to provide these simple everyday necessities to our son.

This list could go on forever. We all have so many things we should be blessed and thankful for. Be thankful everyday for what you have cause it could all be gone in an instant.

9 Month Update

It's a little late (ok more like a month late) but it's still better than never. Ryan is doing so much these days keeping us on our toes.

He is now crawling. And I think everyday he just gets faster and faster.

We're now trying to wean him off as much of the jar food and more into "people food"

He has learned that when the door is closed from the living room to the den he can go thru the kitchen and go all the way around to get to where we can't see him.

He now has two teeth and is working on his third. That right there has been exhausting enough for the three of us. He also brushes his teeth and gums with his own toothbrush and toothpaste, fluoride free of course.

He now will pull himself up on something and walk. And with that he has tried standing up on his own in the middle of the room now without anything to hold onto. That usually only lasts a couple of seconds before he falls.

The last doctor appointment he weighed just a little over 20 lbs and a little over 30 inches tall. That puts him in the 50th percentile for weight and 97th percentile for height.

Privacy Please

It's pretty sad the world has come to this but unfortunately we are going to start setting our blog to private so only people we choose can see it. I'd hate to do it but we believe its necessary so we dont fall into the hands of the crazy scammers. No worries. All you will have to do is email either Airon or me your email address and I believe you will need to create an account through here (you dont need to blog.just setup an account) in order to view the blog. I'll give it some time before I actually do it to give all of you time.

Below is a link to the story that is making us do this...

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=8240460&page=1

Just For The Fun Of It

peek a boo

our little monkey

His cheesy lil smile

His crazy hair do on the fourth of July

"please, no more pictures"

This silly little boy has gotten his first tooth!! Sorry, I dont have any pictures cause we can't get him to sit still long enough with his mouth open so you can see it. It isn't all the way up either, just about half way.

For being so small he sure can eat. He loves to eat oatmeal in the morning, probably cause of all the oatmeal I ate when I was pregnant with him. So far, he's liked pretty much everything that we have fed him and has had no allergic reactions to anything yet.

He's not crawling yet but is getting there. He can get himself in the position but then just rocks back and forth. He mostly moves backward and in circles.

He doesn't really want a bottle or pacifier anymore. He seems to much rather have a sippy cup. We're kinda glad though cause we won't have much of a problem breaking him of the pacifier or bottle.

Sour Face

Who knew that eating an orange could make someone give a sour face??

The first few bites of every orange slice that Ryan ate he would give the most sour face.

Ball Pittin' It

Nolan turned the big 1!! He got this ball pit as one of his presents and the two boys absolutely loved it! It kept them both occupied for hours. Ok maybe not hours but at least enough time to give us mommies a chance to get some really good pictures of the two of them. I think our next purchase will have to be one of these for our little guy.

Sleep

This is seriously how he sleeps. He has to have a blanket over him like me but his feet uncovered like his dad. Silly baby.

Cousins

Ryan has finally met all of his cousins and he loved playing with every one of them

(I do not have pictures of him with all of them so these will have to do sorry)

He loved chewing on their fingers

My New Carseat

He has outgrown his infant car seat (and so have our arms) so it was finally time to get him a "big boy" carseat

I think he likes it better since he can now see out the windows

My Little Hand

Happy First Fathers Day!

For fathers day we drove up to Crown King. We had lunch at the oldest saloon in AZ. Ryan surprisingly slept on the very bumpy dirt road.

We then had dinner at Tomo's. Seriously, the best food ever. It's one of our favorite places to go and we both crave their big island rolls. Yumm.

But Ryan was the one who got the gift there. The chef made him a bear out of an orange.

We hope you enjoyed your first day celebrating you as a father and just how thankful we both are for everything that you do

Just Mommy And Me

Summertime in Phoenix...

...has been amazing lately. Seriously. The temps have been in the mid 80s to mid 90s. Its been crazy weather for us and we are taking advantage of and enjoying every minute of it. Cause before we know it, the 100s will be here and it will be miserable.

We take the dog out as well to get some exercise

It may be nice outside but the sun still shines bright enough that we have to wear our shades

And we get amazing pictures like this one :)

Just Another Lil Update

He's getting better at learning to hold his own bottle

He's still the same happy kid he's been since day one

And in the morning you never know which position or where in the crib you will find him

Playdate Time

Ryan and his buddy Nolan

(hard to believe they're 4 months apart since they're pretty much the same height)

I Dont Know About These Things...

He wasn't quite to sure what to think about the shoes

But you gotta admit he looks so cute and so much older in this outfit. And the shoes just made him look that much older.

Six Month Update

Ryan now weighs 17.6 lbs and is 29 3/4 inches long

That makes him now in the 97th percentile for growth and still in the 50th percentile for weight

And to help ease his pain from the shots he received today I gave him one of my favorite comfort foods...macaroni and cheese

He loved it. He ate the whole jar plus a jar of applesauce.

Ryan's First Masterpiece

This was his Mother's Day present to me that he did at the babysitter's house. I know it's kinda hard to read but trust me if you read it you'd get teary-eyed like I did.

Sleep Anyone??

Happy Half Year Birthday!!!!

It's true...Ryan is officially six months old today.

Where does the time go?? Seriously!

As for a much needed update... (sorry it's taken so long)

He's starting to get the hang of sitting up by himself. I give him a couple more weeks before he won't need any help at all.

He's discovered new foods that he loves...apples & blueberries, pears and mango.

He does really good rolling from his back to his tummy but still gets stuck trying to go from his tummy to his back.

He is now at a sitter for about 8 hours a day 5 days a week and seems to enjoy it. He loves the interaction with the other kids.

He has become a pro at moving whichever way he wants on his back. He's learned how to scoot and arch his back just enough to get him wherever he wants to go.

He has only fallen face first out of a chair once. (Is that a record??) Luckily, he landed on carpet and only screamed for a few minutes.

Most importantly, he is still as healthy, happy and content as he's always been!