On Monday, January 7, Ryan turned 19 months old. And as much as I hate to admit it, he seems more like a toddler than a baby to me these days. First, his vocabulary has increased tremendously, even in the last month. And somehow my once-quiet boy has turned into a chatter box! He will wave and say "Hi!" to everyone we come in contact with. He also says "Bye" which he often accompanies with "THANK YOU!" (which sounds more like "tan-gu"). People who see him smile and say "My, what a friendly little boy you have!"
Ryan was cracking me up over the weekend. I literally LAUGHED and LAUGHED! He put on this hat and asked me to put on his glasses (which sounds more like "gleaks"). Then he says "CHEESE!" clearly waiting to get his picture taken. And since Caleb loves to take pictures with his camera he got for Christmas, you can see brothers in action (in our very messy toy room).
Ryan woke up this morning saying "I hungry! I want cookies!" When I told him we don't eat cookies for breakfast, he said "I want pizza!" I said "Nope, no pizza for breakfast either." He thought for a minute and said "Oh-gurt" (or yogurt, another favorite of his). Unfortunately, he ate the last one the day before. So I suggested french toast sticks. They are not his favorite, but he ate them up! He was hungry! He's also trying new things lately. He enjoys cheese now (which he used to hate) and he's been eating cooked carrots. He will ask for a "BITE" of anything we have, even if he has some of his own on his own plate. I've also started giving him silverware, but I'm mess-adverse, so I haven't given him complete reign over some of the drippier foods we partake. I know I should, though! He loves noodles, and he's even started to eat some bread. Peanut butter crackers are another favorite. But, he's eating much more of a variety these days, which makes me happy. And he's drinking milk like a champ. Phew! God is good!
My little love bug LOVES books! His favorites are the "COUGH" book, which he asks for every night ("Don't You Feel Well, Sam?" is the real name of it), the "MOMMY" book (or "I Love My Mommy"), the "Boo Zoo" book ("Peekaboo Zoo"), the "HIPPOS!" book, the "PUPPIES!" book ("I Am a Puppy"), the "CAKE" book ("You Can Do It, Sam"), the "KISS!" book ("Kiss Good Night") and the new "TREES" book ("The Tale of the Three Trees"). He asks for each book by the name he has for it, and we read for a long time in his rocking chair before we pray, sing "We Were Born to Worship" and then I tuck him in bed with his froggy blankey and his cup, which I fill with water after putting him to bed and give it back to him. Before I take him to his room at night, he says "Night-night!" to his brothers and Daddy and gives each one a goodnight kiss. They are all very gentle and loving with sweet little Ryan.
But, Ryan isn't always sweet and gentle. His favorite game to play is "OVER!" which is what he screams as he pushes on us (when we're sitting down and encourage him) and he tries to knock us over with a big hug. He laughs hysterically and then helps us up to do it again. I said to Shawn that I hope Ryan doesn't try to knock over other kids or adults since we play this game with him often. So far, it hasn't been an issue.
Ryan loves all people except photographers. If I leave him at Universal, Sunday School or other childcare places like that, he smiles and waves goodbye. But, if I so much as sit him in front of a photographer, he cries like I'm abandoning him or worse! We went to get Caleb's pictures the day after Ryan's birthday, and the photographer was not fantastic. In most pictures Ryan wasn't looking, happy or smiling. UGH! Such is life. I know that this, too, shall pass.
I took Ryan to the doctor's office toward the beginning of the month because he'd had a cold for a solid month. They put him on antibiotics for a sinus infection, and he has been doing amazingly well since. I'm glad he's feeling better! He has been talking up a storm, so I'm hoping that his ears have cleared as well. He's stringing lots of words into sentences too ("Peekaboo! I see ya!" and "Bye-bye, thank you, night-night!" as well as "Bite! I want some! Pizza, cookies - hungry!"). He's fun to listen to (most times!).
He sleeps well, taking a nap in the afternoon and sleeping solidly from about 8 pm until almost 8 am. He is my best sleeper by far! He's not interested in TV at all, but he loves to play with toys. Dinosaurs, balls and cars are his favorites, along with puzzles. He also loves to act like he's on the telephone and will say "Hallo!" He knows most animals and the sounds they make, and he knows all his body parts. We're starting to work on shapes and colors.
One strange thing about Ryan is that he HATES getting his coat on. He doesn't seem to mind his hat anymore, but he runs away from us when we go to put his coat on and cries like we're trying to hurt him when we put it on. He HATES it. I even switched coats, going to the next size up, wondering if it was too restrictive. It hasn't seemed to help. Aw, buddy, I'm sorry that you MUST wear it since it's cold outside! I don't force him to wear gloves, though, because he won't keep them on and he still sucks his thumb (especially after the trauma of getting his coat on). And since we walk Joshua to school every day and always go out on weekends, he fights us every day OFTEN about his coat.
While some 18-month pants are still too big for him in the waist, I need to get out the 24-month bin of clothes because most of his things are too short on him now. I also need to get to the shoe store to get his feet measured because his sneakers look far too small on his growing feet. I'd say we've definitely seen a growth spurt in all our boys this past month.
I'm sure there's more I could write, but this is a good 'snapshot' of Ryan Josiah at 19-months. Happy birthday, buddy!
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