All About Us Right Now

Here are more of the pictures from our Saturday outdoor fun.

These are during our walk with Nana.



After the walk Ryan needed to "warm up" in the doghouse. :)
I have a lot of random thoughts that I've been collecting and considering how I can put them in a logical post. I've just about decided that it's not going to happen. Instead of trying to develop a poetically wonderful, logical collection of thoughts that flow like a book I'll just spill them all out...right here.

Ryan has re-discovered the mirror. He finds it great fun to sit (or stand) in front of the mirror and make faces. It's even more exciting if someone else joins in on the fun. It's so funny to watch him because his mouth just moves and moves. It almost looks like he's really telling you something, but there isn't any sound.

Ryan is really doing great with the receptive aspect of language. I can tell him to do just about anything and he will do it. Well...sometimes he gives me his "I don't know" look before he decides to follow the directions. Oh....and sometimes he looks at me and chooses to do something else...defiance! It's also been pretty neat to see how he is starting to put things together as in the order of events. For example I can say lets go outside and he will go get his shoes out of the shoebox and bring them to me so I can help him put them on. That also works in reverse...he will bring me his shoes because he wants to go outside. If I don't respond sometimes he will tell me "out" and point at the door.

As for the speaking part of language Ryan is improving. He regularly says bye-bye, out, dada, mama (actually that rarely happens), beow (for cat), off, on, down, roof (for dog), kitty, hot, candy (which by the way is his new favorite word), ju (for juice), doe (for no). As you can see he has a lot of "Ryan's versions" of words. I think he substitutes "b" for "m" thus the beow instead of meow and mama is more like baba. He also substitutes "d" for "n" sometimes. Today he was saying "doe" and shaking his head no. He signs "more" and "all done". "All done" has become the catch all for all those times when it's all done, he wants something to stop, he considers something bad (like the sound of the dryer buzzer), he doesn't like something (like blinking lights--for some reason he hates them.), etc.

SoonerStart will be coming to the house on Tuesday of this week to re-evaluate Ryan. I'm anxious to see what they have to say about him and if he will still qualify for services or if he will be "kicked out" of the program.

Food and eating still remain issues in our household. Part of it is a toddler thing. Some days he likes the food I fix him and the very next day the exact same food is disgusting. Some days he wants to eat all by himself and other days he wants me to feed him. Sometimes I wonder if Ryan eats enough. I put him on the scale the other day. He weighed 21 pounds. For comparison...he weighed 15 pounds when he was 1. It will be interesting to see what the doctor has to say. If I could ever say anything negative about being in a NICU it would be that it sets parents up (myself included) to really fret about food and eating and weight. Of course babies have to eat and gain weight. It's a sign of growth and health. It's part of nutrition. Before you can take your baby from the NICU s/he has to eat a certain amount in a certain time and weigh a certain amount and show a certain amount of regular growth, etc. I think that sets up a (perhaps subconscience) obsession with eating and food and growth. Some of the very best doctors I have ever dealt with have always encouraged me to think less about how much my kids eat and more about the nutrition of what they do consume remembering that their little tummies are much, much smaller than an adults. I have to say that it's sometimes hard not to compare. I was visiting with a friend who said her kids (a few months younger than Ryan) will eat an entire bologna sandwich. Ryan might eat a 1/4 of one...if he wants to. Ryan's thing...he's too busy to eat.

All by himself is becoming a big thing around here. He loves to do everything all by himself. He gets angry when he can't.

Ryan loves to play music and dance. He and I have at least one "jam session" each day where we break out all the musical instruments and make some music, dance, and laugh. I would make a video of it, but I'm not brave enough for everyone to see just how silly I look dancing around the living room. The mental picture you have now ought to be humiliating enough.

Ryan loves to read books. He just recently started sitting down to read a book in it's entirety (as long as it's short). Of course he loves it when I read the books, but he will even grab a book and "read" to himself occasionally. He has two favorites: That's Not My Truck, and The Foot Book. I bet we read The Foot Book at least a half dozen times everyday. I have it memorized! I bought him a new Dr. Seuss board book yesterday: There's a Wocket in My Pocket. We'll see if that one becomes a new favorite.

Ryan loves his vitamin. He gets one gummy vitamin every morning. And let me tell you...he doesn't EVER let me forget. It's part of the morning routine that he is sure to remind me about.

That's all I can think of about Ryan.

Wade and I have been trying to get in those yearly physicals that everyone says you should have. It's been years since we've gone to a doctor for just a general overall physical with a blood work-up. Wade had his last week and was given a good report. I have mine this Friday. I haven't been having any problems other than my asthma has really been troubling me. I've started taking medicine on a daily basis again. It's so odd though. I've gone 2 years without troubles and all of a sudden I need daily medication again and I find myself breathless and wheezing more often. I'm anxious to talk to the doctor about that although I am convinced that part of it is related to some spiritual warfare and testing. I'll talk about that another day though.

I decided to take a break (one month) from the fertility medicines. Wade and I needed a break from the stress of *trying*. We have been praying about all of it and we've had some much needed great conversations about kids. I'll start the drugs up again next month.

This is exciting for me...probably not for others, though. Zoe (our dog) is going to the vet tomorrow evening. She will be "fixed" on Tuesday. Hooray! I think I'll miss the joy of puppies from time to time, but I KNOW I won't miss the work involved. She just completed her cycle early last week and that four-week span of disgusting...eeewww was enough of a reminder that I don't want that kind of work anymore.

My work is going fine. We are in a slow period. People just spent all their money for Christmas and New Years and are worried about paying their taxes come April, so plumbing jobs are put on hold. I'm hoping to use that for our (Ryan and I) benefit and get out more often. I can forward my calls (on slow days) to my cell and if the weather is nice we can go somewhere like the zoo. I just have to make sure my cell has good reception and that I keep my calendar and notepad with me at all times.

That's all for now. That's enough. As Ryan would say (sign) "All Done!"