Ryan is One Year Old

So hey, Ryan turned 1 a month and a half ago! How about that?!

I've been meaning to write this for quite some time. But you know. Life.

If I had to describe Ryan in one word it would be Joy. He is the happiest thing I've ever known. He is goofy, he's sweet, he's sneaky, he's silly, he's fearless, he's healthy, he's patient he's smart, and he is the best thing that could have ever happened this past year.

It's been a really, horribly, awful, difficult, stressful and upsetting year. Thank you God, for giving us Ryan to help us through it. I don't know what we [I] would have done with out him.

So. Here's what he's been up to:

He went from hating his bottles for 11 months to loving them more than anything. What?! Babies. So weird. It took a long while to get him wean off his formula, but we are finally on the all whole milk train and it is great! He will not drink it cold though, so out came the bottle warmer again. He does great with sippy cups, but only if they have water in them. He loves his water!

Much like his brother, he went from eating anything and everything under the sun without complaint to being very picky seemingly overnight. His two favorite foods are bananas and yogurt. He will pretty predictably eat those no matter what (until he burns himself out and then what?!) but everything else is totally hit or miss. He still likes cheese and bread, but hates all vegetables. He doesn't like meat and can be hot or cold when it comes to cheerios. This is my least favorite baby feeding stage, that is for sure.

We are getting there with the sleep. I started making him fuss for a while if he wakes up before 5am. He got in this really yucky phase of waking up at 4am for a bottle and then I could not fall back asleep before my alarm goes off at 5am. It wasn't pretty. Sometimes he's been sleeping all the way until 7am though, so that's pretty exciting. His bedtime is usually 7:15pm right on the nose. He turns into a fussy monster if we try to push it any later.

He started walking two weeks after his birthday and never looked back. He was wobbly for a couple days and then just took off like it was no big deal. He doesn't want any help and boy howdy, is this kid determined. I fear he's going to be my "runaway" kid. With David I could set him down and he'd just stand there right next to me. I put Ryan down at the doctors office for a quick second while reached for my wallet out of the diaper bag and the kid straight up and took off down the hall. Oh man.

He still sucks his binkies. Mostly just in his bed and the car, but if he's fussy or it's getting to be close to bed time I'll let him have them. He requires about seven thousand of them to be in his crib at all times or he will wake up screaming  until he finds one. He has two lovey blankets, little muslin blankets with satin trim. He's become pretty attached to the things too. He carries them around the house all day long and they go wherever he goes. I just ordered a couple emergency backups to keep tucked away, just in case....

He's discovered books and loves them. He will go and pull all his favorite ones off the shelf and sit on the floor and flip through them quietly for a pretty long time considering his age. He will point enthusiastically at his favorite pictures (usually cats) and says "dat!!" when he wants to know what something is. He's not talking near as much as David was at this age, but I expected that. His favorite word is still "Dada" and he toddles around most of the time saying it. "Da-ded" is still David and I'm "Mamama" or just plain ol' "mom", but usually only when he's upset. He also says dog, ball and nuh-uh.

He doesn't like it when I leave the room or the house, but doesn't seem to have much stranger anxiety as long as someone he knows is holding him. And even then, he warms up really quickly.  He's just so darn happy. All the time! I say it all the time too, because it really just blows my mind. I hope he stays like that forever.

Let's see, what else...

He has 8 teeth with his molars on the way. They are taking forever and just look so painful. The top ones are about halfway poked through and the bottom ones will hopefully poke through in the next couple days. He does get a little fussy here and there with them, but has overall been a real teething champ!

He loves bath time. We've started throwing both boys in the tub at the same time and oh man, they love it. Definitely little water babies.

He wears size 18-24 month clothes, size 5.5 shoes, size 4 daytime diapers and size 5's at night. He is super tall and skinny, just like his brother.

I have no idea what color his eyes are.  I know, right? I think they are blue? But really dark blue, with maybe some hazel or green coming in. Honestly, they almost look grey. I guess a little more time will tell....

His hair keeps getting lighter and lighter.  It is SO SOFT though. Oh my goodness, he has the softest hair ever. The back is still pretty dark, so I think once he's older he'll have dark hair, but it will probably be light brown when he's little. I don't see it turning blonde like David's, but I said the same thing when he was a baby...

That's about it. I cannot believe he's one. It makes my heart hurt a whole lot with how fast that went. I honestly feel like I was just pregnant. What a ride though.

So there you have it. Little baby Ryan is now Little Toddler Ryan. I can't wait to see what's next.