Happy 15-month birthday, Ryan Josiah!

Ryan turned 15 months old on Friday, September 7. This past month has been the one where I've seen the most changes in our son to date. He has grown an amazing amount in physical skills, communication abilities and life in general.

Ryan is talking quite a bit these days. His favorite word to say is "CUP!" and he'll point to his drink and ask for it. He still doesn't drink very much milk, but he's doing great with water. Other words he says are "Mama, Dadda, step, book, Who's that?, YOU read it!, STOP!, that, all done, bye" etc. But, his favorite word is "CUP!" He says it all the time, and it's more like "Cuuuuppp." But, he's being very clear about what he wants. He speaks those other words clearly and there are more he speaks so quickly that we can't quite tell. But, he's talking more and more in general, which is a good thing. We'll hear new words each day, including "play" and my favorite "AY-YAH!" from mimicking his brother's martial arts.

He's also walking, as I mentioned previously. It's not just a couple steps now, he's in a pretty good run these days! And when he falls down, rather than crawling to his destination, he gets right back up to walking. So, he's definitely made the full transition into walking comfortably.

Ryan is weaned from nursing completely, and I'm typically impressed with the variety of foods that he'll try. He doesn't like ones that I thought all babies do (like applesauce?) but ate meatloaf on his birthday like it was going out of style. He downed all his and part of his brothers, along with mashed potatoes and corn for dinner.

Ryan has a rash around his mouth that I've taken him to the pediatrician twice for, once being on his actual 15-month birthday. Two different doctors have now told us that it's simply his skin being irritated from the saliva around his mouth from thumb-sucking. It's not a staff infection or an allergic reaction that they're aware of - it's his skin not enjoying being wet as often as it is from him sucking his thumb. It looks awful, but it doesn't seem to bother him. So, I'm going to quit worrying about it!

The day has also come where Ryan seems to prefer "Dadda" like my other two boys. He squeals with delight when Daddy walks in the door from work, and he loves to play with Shawn. I'm always impressed by my husband's ability to just sit and play, no matter what age or stage the kids are at. He's great! The other day after work, though, I asked Shawn "At what point did you take your eyes off Ryan?" When he asked why, I showed him that a HUGE heap of our towels were taken off the shelves and thrown down the laundry shoot. Ryan LOVES the laundry shoot and will "help" put his brothers' clothes down at night. He thinks it's hysterical to watch. But, he also likes to take clean clothes and do the same thing, and the fact that the shoot starts in our linen closet gave him a great place to hang out! Shawn just laughed. Yes, indeed. The boys have fun while Mommy is at work! I also found a basketball down the shoot the other day, thanks to my little Ryan Josiah.

Ryan loves books, and he definitely has his favorites. He also loves to get into drawers, cupboards and even the computer. He is very curious these days! But, he's also a giggle box which makes me smile at times when I might otherwise be frustrated. It is a fun age if you take the time to appreciate it!

One of my favorite things to do now is to say "Ryan, HUGS!" He'll get a huge grin on his face and race over to throw his arms around us. So sweet, and so fun.

Ryan's 15-month well-visit was on Friday, September 21, at 3:30 pm. His stats were:
Height: 31" (41.21%)
Weight: 22 lbs 8 oz (19.5%)
BMI: 16.46 kg/m2
Head Circ: 17.72" (3.92%)

The doctor said that while typically babies at this age have a head circumference that is much larger than that and in a much higher percentile, she's okay with his based on the fact that it's growing and growing at a normal ratio for him. She didn't seem to have any concerns about him at this point, which is good. My little man got his flu vaccine as well as two others, so he wasn't too thrilled with me that day either.

Ryan also has his ninth tooth now - one grew in on his upper left side right around his birthday. Happy 15-month birthday, my dear little Ryan Josiah!