Happy 14-month birthday, Ryan Josiah!

Ryan turned 14-months old on Tuesday, August 7. This month I've seen tremendous growth in his development. On the previous Saturday, he stood up on his own (as he often does now), stood there for a long time, and clapped for himself. We were trying to get him to take a step, but he'll crawl to where he wants to be. But, he'll stand there for awhile first checking out the scene from being upright.

Ryan loves books, and he'll say something that sounds similar to "book" and hand us one. His favorites are "Barnyard Dance," "Kiss Goodnight," "Hippos Go Beserk," "God Knows All About Me," "I Love My Mommy" and "Peekaboo Zoo." I'll ask him to point to pictures in them, and sometimes he gets them right while other times I don't think he's interested in pointing or playing my games.

Ryan is learning parts of the body and can point to noses and bellies. He also loves to play the "hat" game and will stick something on his head or ours when we say "a hat!" He cracks up!

He is talking more frequently, but we can only understand a few words. He says "mama" and "dada" clearly, and he has his own sounds for "hat" and "book" that sound similar but not exact. He's more vocal in general these days, though, which I think is a good sign.

He had blood work to test his iron levels, and hes' finally within the lower side of normal. So, we're continuing to take the medication to build up some reserves, but at least most things looked good! Maybe he's just feeling better now and able to do more. Ryan was weighed on Monday, August 6, and his weight was 21 lbs 10 oz and roughly in the 18%. The doctor said he's doing just fine.

The doctor also said that we could try offering him almond or soy milk since he won't drink cows milk, but as long as he's drinking water or something, he should be okay. We just give him yogurt and other dairy products to compensate for him not enjoying milk.

Ryan is still so easygoing and relatively happy. He is such an easy baby! Praise the Lord! At times I fear that we don't do enough with or for him because he is generally easy, but then I think that that's simply what comes with being the third child. He will scream on occasion (especially at meal time if we're not feeding him fast enough) and the worst thing that he's doing right now is pulling on the table cloth. We transitioned him from his high chair to a booster seat at our table, but he won't stop grabbing and pulling the table cloth (and anything that's on top of it). I'm hoping some day we'll laugh about it. Right now, it's not funny in the slightest! SCHNOOK!!!

The older boys love their baby brother. Joshua will often say, "isn't he the best baby?" Caleb loves to help tuck him in bed and make him laugh. Ryan does have the sweetest laugh. He's stopped gulping air like 'revenge of the nerds' and now just has this adorable belly laugh that is so fun to listen to. We love his smile and his giggles!

Ryan's feet were measured in July, and he was a size 4.5 then. But, the shoe store manager said that bare feet are the easiest to learn to walk in, so we've left the shoes off of him. I'm sure when we go back this fall, his shoe size will probably change again. Ryan is solidly in 18-month clothing now (I still have a few 12-month things we can get away with, but they are getting snug). I can't believe how big he's growing!

Happy 14-month birthday, Ryan!