Birthday and day care

April 17th was a lot of fun. We hung out, cleaned, went shopping, played, went on the swings, slid down the slide and after we got home from getting Neil Ryan had a cupcake. This time it was rainbow chip and I put a tiny bit of frosting on it.
He loved it.

 Forget broccoli, give me cake!

 Hmmmmm

 Hey dad, try this out!

Nomnomnom

April 18th Neil took me into work and then was off to the doctor with Ryan.
He got his 12 month shots, in his arms, poor kid. We also found out he is 27.5lbs and 78cm (30.7inches). He is in the top 90% (which means he is a big dude)
He should drink whole milk (not 2%) No peanuts till 2 years of age (or peanut butter) and he had a rash (which might be athletes foot) on his feet so we have to cream him up at night and try to leave shoes off.
Neil and Ryan had a great time together while I was back at work. Neil gave Ryan a piece of twine while he was on the phone with Revenu Canada about our taxes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD-MBzrmJL4
Its pretty damn funny and it made my first day back to work go better.
My guys picked me up a little early and Neil had a frosty for me as a treat. It was awesome.


Today... today was the first day of day care. I was so 'butterfly belly' this morning. Ryan had no idea what was going on. We went into day care and after asking about the sign in for video over internet we took him to class. I let the ladies know Ry has a rash on his feet and to try to keep shoes off him and the milk was in the bag (breast for now, we really need to go grocery shopping). The young black lady (really need to learn her name!) took Ryan from me and told me "go have a good day." She put Ry in the middle of the room and he had his back to me and started playing. Neil took my hand and lead me out of there. I was crying. Not much just a few tears. Neil grabs my hand, puts it up in the air and turns to me and says "Lets celebrate, lets go to mexico! Ryan is their problem now!" I couldn't help but laugh.


I was pretty busy at work and trying to get into the swing but I did go online a few times to spy on Ryan. I saw him playing, being rocked, being hugged and cuddled, I saw him do the tired lay down and thought to myself "Oh they better put him to bed soon." I saw him step over another kid, play with a ball, eat, drink, walk around and have a good time.
The lady Rita told me he had two servings of tacos at lunch. LOL. And it also looks like he drank his whole bottle of breast milk at 4. Maybe I should give them two bottles? He ate pita, tzatziki, oranges and the fruit I gave them. Damn... kid can eat. I guess it's all the playing with other kids.
I am trying to get him to drink only from cups so we shall see. I will have to talk to them about that and what they think.
He was covered in boogers which was super gross. It was nice to bathe him tonight. Lets just say all the kids there have runny noses and its hitting my gross out factor pretty hard.


This is his report card.

(click to enlarge)

 I get one everyday.
 I fill out the small section to the top left and the ladys fill out the rest. They were really happy with how much he ate and drank but he didn't sleep. The 30 min nap he did take was on a hippo pillow in the main play room. Rita said he went to sleep in her arms around 11 (which I saw) but when they put him down in the crib room he woke up. She said they left him there and he chatted and cried a little. Hopefully he will sleep for them Friday. He was in a GREAT mood on the drive home and tonight while he ate dinner and played. He had a nice bath (a fast one though cause he kept trying to lay down in the water). Now he is sleeping. I am doing some wash and then time to make lunches for Neil and I. (and a shower)
I will confess tonight after bath, after saying goodnight to daddy and kitty Roag, after breast feeding and teeth brushing I let him sleep on me. I sat in the chair in his room while he slept on me just staring at him while the sun was setting. I was in there about 10 min longer then I needed to be. I wanted to hold him longer but we need to sleep train him again, he is getting bad. I just sat there cuddling him looking at him and smelling him and kissing him. Trying to engrave in my brain how he feels in my arms.


I know I am being dramatic... I also know other moms reading this blog will get this and nod in agreement to that feeling. The old cliche is true, they grow up way to fast.


Love you little man.

Happy Birthday my love.

(Sorry for the lack of posts. Been busy trying to get the house in order before the big day and to get ready for work and Ryan ready for day care... sad mom is sad.This is my last day of mat leave. Ryan gets shots Wednesday morning with Neil and then off to day care Thursday.)


This time last year Ryan was 2 1/2 hours old and all Neil and I wanted to do at this point was stare at him, hold him and sleep. I was struggling to breast feed Neil was struggling to not pass out. Also it was snowing last year... this year it is sunny, 9c and green is growing on the trees.
This 8lb 12oz ball of screaming love was ours.
Now he is just such a monkey. He walks and is starting to get really good at it, he loves to hug and he kisses you too. It's a big open mouth with a lot of tongue but he means well. Ryan that is, not Neil. heh
He loves to play, go on swings, car rides (thank god for front facing) dances to music, plays the piano with Neil and for the most part sleeps all night. He takes baths in the big tub (without me in it) and loves to play in the water. He still chases after Roag (kitty) like crazy. Not such a fan of the tv when we do have it on anymore. (thank goodness). 
I think he is really enjoying this large house. Last week I was in the kitchen and he comes walking in (my mom was watching him in the living/sunroom) he grabs my dish towel and goes running down the hallway toward the bedrooms with me chasing him giggling (both of us that is). He looks up at me while playing and just gives me this HUGE grin. Every night when Neil comes home he is so thrilled to see daddy.
I also think Ryan is trying to talk. (god help us).


Saturday we had a birthday party for him. It went great! We had a lot of people over and I think they all had a good time. Ryan was napping for the first part of it so when Neil brought him out of the bedroom into the living room area FULL of people he cried for a minute, a little overwhelmed. Once he got his barings he had a great time. 

 Before the party started

What the hell is going on?!

 Lets play!

 Baby feet are so cute.

The banner I made from birth to 11 months.

 What should I do with this?

Its all good honey, eat the cake, it's good!

Christina thought he was too neat so she helped out a little...

She painted a Van-dike on him with icing. hehe

Eat the cake!

Outfit change after cake, looking like a pimp son!

 Such a cute kid

Tired dad is tired. (but did an awesome job cleaning while I was getting Ry to bed!)

Now that Ryan sleeps it's hitting Neil & I how LUCKY we really are. Ryan is a pretty easy going kid. Yeah he is a little attached to me and to the boob still (about 3-4 times in 24 hours but I am hoping to just be morning and night when day care starts). He gets nasty when tired or hungry but really, who doesn't?

He is such a happy kid that smiles at everyone, he is outgoing and loves to play. He is not shy, a brat or mean. Everyone loves him, strangers comment on him an how happy he is all the time. He LOVES other kids. Neil and I really got lucky with Ryan. I can not wait to see what the next year holds for us and how much more he will change. 

This past year has been a blessing and I will miss my little man Monday-Friday 8:30-5pm like crazy. I know he will have fun, I know this is healthy for him, I know I have no choice, I know I will be out that door at work at 4:58 everyday to get to him, I know I am very lucky to have had a year off work to be with him. I wish I had more, I wish I could have done more. This kid really is the center of my life and I love being his mommy.

Alas its time for me to work and bring home the money so maybe one day we can put this kid through med school. 

Little dude, one day if you read this, know that I love you with every fiber of my being. You are a physical representation of the love I have for your dad. For that I thank you everyday. Also you are so awesome. Keep being a kick ass baby/toddler/boy/man and know I might one day be your friend/confidant/sounding board/leaning post... but I will always be your mommy. I hope you always will look up to me like you do now. I really hope I never let you down. It can be a lot of pressure being a mommy and I will not always be perfect but I promise, for you, I will try.

Yeah I cried a little. So what?

Growing up and screw that, I want your food mom!

Ryan is starting to dislike his 'baby' food and wanting to eat what Neil and I have for dinner. Tonight he has his beef stew/avocado mix I made but he also had some of our rice with avocado, orange bell pepper, beef and wrap (burritos ) all food is home made. He likes spicy too. I have to get more creative with his food. I think he is getting bored. 
Crap. 
Time for us to start eating whole wheat pastas and more veggies with dinner. And less salt. Last night he had some of my Orange Beef and Broccoli. He love it.


He is smart too. I have tried to pretend to scoop his spoon into my dinner and give it to him (preloaded with his food) but soon as I get it to his mouth he goes AH! and puts his hand out to hit it. Then he sees me eat my food or Neil eat his and he makes this ahhhh ahhhhhhhhh sound meaning "put that food in my mouth, that food is good and not mushy!"
Time to whip out that butternut squash ravioli I made him a few weeks ago but he has some issues eating it. I think he can handle it now if I dont brown it too much. Keep it soft and cut it up small. (wontons filled with butternut squash and then you pan fry in a very small amount of oil)
I found some recipes to try out I might make Friday if he is not too clingy. Today he wanted to be attached to me for some reason. Make it hard to cook.
Going to try to make this.
Cheese Carrot pasta (good for lunch)
And this
Carrot Snack sticks
Better watch out for the carrots though, I don't want his nose turning orange again.
I will have to cut up whatever we are having for dinner and give it to him starting pretty soon. Really will have to check the salt intake. Low sodium soy sauce is a must. Leave out the rooster sauce for a bit. Too spicy for him and too salty. We eat way to much salt in this family.


Neil and I were talking today about how we always thought Ryan's learning would be a curve. He learns in steps, its fast and sudden learning. Tonight we were waving at him (opening and closing our hands) while saying HI and then Neil and I started waving our hands normally. Ry copied us, his first time for a real wave. During his sink bath when he sat down he leaned forward all excited and scooped the bubbles toward him with both hands. Before he didn't really play with the bubbles. He might eat a few but that's it. It's insane how much of a sponge he is. He also LOVES to high five us. And tonight when giving him his sippy cup I said "drink" and did the sign. He did it back!!! I was so excited!!!
He also gets super excited when he sees his tooth brush. We use that finger glove thing still with floride free paste. I told Neil for Ryan's birthday I am going to get him a big boy tooth brush. 
Might come off as lame to you but trust me this kid will love it.

Sleeping, crazy birthday party and hair lines.

So the past two nights Ryan has been sleeping pretty easy. Saturday night when he woke up at 1:30 Neil just went over and put his hand on him and he went back to sleep. Sunday night he woke up at 2:30 and 4:30 and I did the same thing. I put my hand on his belly or I flipped him on his back and put my hand on his back. Let me sort of squirm around a little but DO NOT pick up. He was back sleeping in less then 10 minutes.
I am trying something I read about online, do not pick up baby. Lay them back down and put your hand on the kid so they know they are okay and you are there. Even if they cry DO NOT pick up. It has worked the past two nights. At 530 when he woke I put him in bed with us and gave him boob. It was nice to not be up for 2-3 hours with a screaming kid.
I forgot what that is like. Good lord I hope it stays this way. Could we be getting a break from teething? Is the kid just so tired he doesn't want to fight anymore? Is it just a fluke two days in a row?


Saturday we went to Chloe's 1 year birthday party. So much fun but it wore Neil and I out. There were six kids there ranging from ages 9 months to little over 3 years old.
I was in the play room with all six kids at one point and it was very overwhelming. Ry had a lot of fun but I could tell it was a little much for him but he kept looking at me so I kept on smiling while playing with other kids. Its funny, Chloe just sat there, I guess she is used to it since she has an older sister around all the time. All the other kids were only children.
By the time we left I just wanted to go home, that was about 7:30. We stayed past Ryan's normal bed time. We took him to the grand folks place with no plans in motion. We ended up going to Joe and Angelas for a few hours. After a coffee we were ready to hang, chat and play some dominoes. We were home by midnight with Ryan. He was happy as could be.


Sunday morning I rushed to Zumba, rushed home got ready and went to a wedding open door thing at Robin and Christina's venue. I was happy I went and got to see it. I love it. The reception area was like the Old Mill Inn but not snobby or overrun. Sort of Hogwarts meets a British Bar (with good food). By the end of the day I was worn out and a little grumpy.
I asked Neil how it went when I got home. He said Ryan was really good and they had a lot of fun but he thought Ry missed me. He said he was sort of a little sad all day and when I got home he was back to his normal self. It was very sweet to hear.


I love that right now he is getting very comfortable standing on his own (not holding anything) and taking steps a bit better. For me he has gotten up to five steps before falling, I think Neil said he did six or seven for him. I love that when Ryan does the 'walking' toward me he will come in for a hug and after the hug I clap (he joins in) and I tell him how great he is doing! Neil thinks he will be full on walking in 2 weeks, I think by end of March. Time will tell.
Getting sad its almost the end of Feb, when the hell did that happen?


I have been cooking a lot the past few days, I made Butternut Squash soup, Chicken/Black bean/Zucchini Enchiladas, Slow Cooker Garlic Chicken, Cake Pops and Rice Krispie pops. Oh and all the food for Ryan I normally make. Today is another Ryan food day.

 (cake pops after cooling in the fridge)

 Wrapped up in bags (after dipping in melted chocolate and sprinkles)

 Butternut Squash soup (slow cooker) and a pita with ham

Rice Krispie Pops dipped in dark chocolate.

Drying on a styrofoam block.

I found an awesome website that inspired me. I am trying to find some new recipes that don't take too much time or that I can prepare before hand for when I go back to work and am to tired to cook. I don't want to eat out like we used too.


I did the math and since I had Ryan I have lost 47 pounds. Pretty good I think. (20 of that was just at giving birth so I have really only lost 27lbs)
I want to lose 10 more before the wedding at the end of April. I think I can do it. Zumba like always, adding a Water Boot Camp tonight (or at least trying it out) and I have kickboxing I need to do (once I find my gloves). That's 4 work outs a week and walking everyday with Ryan again now that it's a bit nicer out. I guess fitting into pants I have not worn in years really motivated me. My one pair of jeans are even getting a bit to big which has me excited. 


So Neil pointed out to me Ryan has a weird hair line. Now I can not stop noticing it. He is pretty cute head on but when you look at the side his hair sort of looks like a bad wig because the hair line starts so far back. I hope this changes in the next year when more hair comes in. :P

Hmmmmm weird kid, it's okay you are still my favorite little dude.

10 Months old

Ryan is 10 months old today. I have two more months of fun before work. Boooooooo

Things he can do:
Stand on his own, he did this today for 6 seconds while clapping his hands! He started clapping his hands Tuesday. I have been trying to teach him this for a few weeks now. He is starting to wave and I am trying to teach him to say 'hi' while he does this. He can feed himself but still misses his mouth sometimes. He hides stuff from me! He is very adventurous and loves to get into stuff he shouldn't. 
He knows what No is and will stop and look at me to see if I am serious. I am still waiting for him to sign back to me 'drink' or 'food'. I have been trying to teach him this for four months now. He talks a lot but not really words we can understand or if they are I think it's just how they are formed. Not that he understands what the mean yet. He sings and dances also. He loves when I use the vacuum or blender. Today he was chasing the vacuum and I had to put him in his playard while I finished up. He just stood there dancing and talking.


Things he eats / drinks:
He eats about anything he can get. I have not really noticed if he has favorites or not. He pretty much loves it all. I have noticed he doesn't like warm food. He makes a face and then rubs his face with his hands like its super hot. I think I caused this because I never heat up his food. I wanted him to get accustomed to room temp or cool food to make it easier when we go out. I got him a fork and spoon so tonight we can start letting him feed himself. 
He drinks from a no spill cup or bottle. I am trying to get him to have a cup during the day and a bottle of water or weak tea at night (chamomile or fenil, black no sugar or milk). It helps him sleep and pass gas (my mother in law taught me this and I swear by it now!)
I am also trying to get him into more texture food and have been experimenting this past month. He likes it. (big shocker!)
I can not eat anything without letting him have some. He has climbed over stuff to get to me and will try to climb me to get it! He LOVES hummus and pita. I have hunted down whole wheat pita with no salt in the ingredients which are perfect.
We are still super strict about him having salt or sugar (refined or added) I know he gets enough sugar from the fruit he eats. That is when Neil is not eating his strawberries and pears with cinnamon. heh


Sleeping last night:
Last night was pretty great. He slept from 8pm-3am no waking. When he woke I gave him breast because I was swollen and lumpy. (ouch!) I followed it up with the tea so no milk would sit in his mouth. He cuddled in my arms for a bit while I hummed. I had my eyes closed and when I looked down at him he has his eyes closed with a big smile on his face. Happy baby was happy. I put him in his crib and sat on the floor. I put my arm through the crib and rested it on his belly while I hummed Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Did this for about 20 min. By 4am he was sleeping in his bed and was there till 6am. Then he came into our bed till 7 cause no way in hell I was waking up at 6am. Neil did pretty much the same thing the night before (no breast obviously) and got him to sleep in his crib till 6:30am.
I dont know if it was a fluke but I was so happy he slept till 3am. Hopefully we are nipping that 11:30pm wake up. Next up is the 3am wake up. (sometimes 4am).


He has two more teeth on the top coming in (next to the big ones on either side) they are starting to cut through. He has four on the bottom all cut out and still pushing. The one on the left top is out and the right top is pushing out. He will have eight teeth soon, crazy.


He loves to chase his ball. We have three one them. A easy to grab one we got from Jenn and Craig at his shower, a plush soccer ball Sherry got us and last night we picked up a bouncy textured one from BRU. Tara and Chris has the same one and Ryan loved it so much we had to get it. Not a bad investment for $3. He was playing with it forever last night with Neil. I think that helped wear him out.


It's so cool to see how much he has changed. I love to go back and watch old videos of him when he was a month old and how excited we were about him lifting his head up on tummy time. Now he is almost walking! Well he walks if we hold a hand. We have been practising holding only one hand and he is getting better. He can crawl like a champ and stands up super fast. 

At the hospital about to go home. He was so small! 8lb 9oz

 Playing with Dad this weekend.

Today looking out the window. 10 months old! 25.6lbs!!! and 30" tall

Video of him at 1 month and 2 days during tummy time.

Ryan playing with Roag, using my pajama string.

Ryan chasing after Roag. I was petting Roag and Ryan tried to make his move.

Still trying to teach Ryan how to be gentle when petting Roag.

This weekend is a three day one so we get Neil for three days! Ryan loves playing with dad. And we get Lucy Sunday morning till Monday late afternoon. We are doing a play day with Tumbler (Joe and Angelas dog). The weather is supposed to be nice so we are planning on some walks with Lucy and Ryan. Ryan loves Lucy so much it should be fun. And its a good test to see how crazy it would be with a dog in our life (in a few years).

Seven Months

Happy Seven months Ryan.


He can sit up alone, still trying to crawl and does that army shuffle along the ground. He lifts himself up on knees and arms and will rock back and forth. He is faster, so any week now.
He does this open and close wave thing with his hand. I am hoping he is learning the sign language I have been trying to teach him. Food and Drink are the only ones now but soon I want to teach Mommy, Daddy and tired. (neil thinks he is)


He is turning into a bit of a brat. He whines a lot at nap time and bedtime. He is starting to whine when playing too. I ignore him until he stops then I will pick him up or cuddle him. Got to break that habit soon. Still not sleeping through the night. Last friday he slept 5 hours and then 4 hours. Which was GREAT but the past few nights have been bad and back to the 1-2 waking.


His hair is getting long! He has curls now but only on top which is super cute.


He still liked strangers, mostly women, but now he is starting to duck his head into my shoulder to hide. I hope he doesn't go through the stranger fear stuff. I love having a happy friendly baby.


Oh also he is awesome at going out for lunch as long as I have some food for him to eat so he doesn't feel left out. The past two days I went to lunch with Emily and he was awesome both days (he hit his head on the table one day and cried a little). He just likes to be out looking at stuff. I worry he will be bored when we go back home. We have been going out so much since I have been in Florida. I guess we will have to have play time and meet up with Janet and the girls while she is on Mat leave since Tara is back working now. :(


I just wanted to do a quick update on Ryan on his seventh month birthday so in the future I can remember all these fun and crazy times.