Ryan's Vocabulary

Here is Ryan's current list of words.  The word on the left is how Ryan says it.  The word on the right is the translation.

A-yen: Again
Ba: Ball
Awn: On
Sdar: Star
Ish: Fish
Ou: Out
Tutle: Turtle
Melmo: Elmo
We-We: TV
Gocks: Socks
Yello: Hello
Bueble: Bubble
Mo: More
Wa-wa: Water
Dis: This (although this is a guess)
Ights: Lights
Ma-MA (the annunciation on the second MA): mama
Da-da:dada

He has put two words together, mostly more and then another word.  Today he said "maMA, mo sdar".  (I was drawing stars on his paper).  So, making some progress as we approach his second birthday. 

Ryan Speaking???

Ryan may finally be on his way to speaking.  Last Sunday we were out and he saw a little waterfall and he shouted "wawa".  Also, this week he's been saying "ball" and "hello".  Although if you didn't know him - you wouldn't know what he was saying.  He does say "dada" and "mama" and I think he tries to say "more".  He can make a roaring noise (bear, lion, and tiger), a monkey noise, a cow noise, and he "clacks" his tongue for a duck.  He has tried to repeat more of what we say, today he repeated "stroller" and "star" after me.  I am hopeful that this will continue and he'll be able to use words to communicate by his 2nd birthday instead of pointing and grunting. 

Michael's Vocabulary

We went bike riding today and Michael stated he wanted to go on the Wee Hoo trail.  The Wee Hoo trail has some hills on it so when he rides his bike down the hill he can go "weeeee hooooo".  (To get to this trail we have to go through the wreck up town.) 

Tonight, Ian sent him into the kitchen to find out what I was making.  I told Michael "Zucchini Lasagna".  He reported back to Ian "Sincinni Gasagna". 

Ryan's Hair Cut

Ryan lost his curls yesterday.  I was about to run out of the salon in a last ditch effort to keep the curls, but it didn't happen.  Both of us were in tears. 

Accident Prone

Ryan is just accident prone.  Today at day care he was stung by a bee.   Right on his left eyelid.  They were outside and the teachers noticed him rubbing his eye.  Upon closer examination they found a bee on his shirt.  They put ice on it and he didn't seem to be too bothered by it.  His eye was just a little swollen this evening. 

Michael moved to a new room at day care.  He is officially in the four  year old room.  Mr. Matt and Ms. Amy are his teachers.   Upon arrival this morning, Ms. Amy is quoted as saying "There is my Michael.  I have been waiting so long for you to come to my class."  Last week, Ms. Stephanie told me what an angel Michael is.  Ian and I would like for them to visit us at home so they can see the meltdowns he has when he doesn't win, Ryan takes his toys, or a game doesn't go his way.  Guess he is better behaved there then at home. 

Last weekend, we drove down to the South Side to ride bikes.  Michael call the South Side a "wreck up town".  It is a little old, but I like to think it has charm.  He didn't see it that way. 

End of Summer

I have said this once before - I am not good at keeping records of things.  Not only have I not updated this blog in two months, I am. In the process of updating Ryan's baby book which I haven't done since he turned one.

Here is the latest.  Michael can pee standing up without spraying all over the walls.  He seems to be very proud of this - I can only hope this will ensure that he pees more frequently instead of waiting 7 hours to go.  He also stopped sucking his finger.  We assisted the process by using a bitter tasting nail polish and a toy incentive.  But he hasn't sucked it in almost three weeks so we think he is done.  Of course around the same time he has decided to stop napping.  This was inevitable.  I don't think it is related to the ceasing of the sucking as when he was napping he was going to bed really late a night.  So he is trying to find new ways to soothe himself and he is working through new sleep patterns so we all try to run away when he gets angry! His meltdowns right now are a handful!

Ryan probably says a lot more words then we think.  Poor kid probably has a vocabulary of 50 words and we have no clue.  He did say "ish" yesterday when he was eating goldfish.  My neighbor thought she heard him say "ink" when he wanted his drink.  He has also been saying beep beep when he is playing with cars or trucks.  But his preferred method of communicating is still pointing and grunting.  He still enjoys reading books and has taken a liking to Thomas, which has resulted in Michael all the sudden being interested in playing with his trains again. But at least this is giving me some ideas for Christmas/birthday presents for Ryan.

Funny Boys

Yesterday, Michael and Ryan were playing in the living room while I was getting dinner ready in the kitchen.  Michael yelled out to me "Mommy, can you watch him, I have to go upstairs."  Guess Michael felt I didn't have control of the situation. 

Today we did our second music class.  Both boys are still shy, Ryan more so than Michael.  Michael will participate, but Ryan wants to stay on my lap or have me hold him when we are supposed to be dancing.  The teacher always asks the kids to help put the instruments (shakers, sticks, etc.) away and Michael always helps.  Today I was stunned when Ryan put some away too.  I guess it was a shock that he understood and that he walked that far away from me.  Perhaps next week, he'll break out in song!

The End of Soccer

Several times today Michael stated: "I'm so excited, today is my last soccer game."  When asked why it was because it makes him so tired since he has to run so much.  He played a good game this last time.  He ran after the ball much more than before and seemed to kick the ball more.  He had to play a lot as not too many kids showed up.  He thinks maybe he'd enjoy golf more as there is not that much running. I guess we'll see what he says next year. 

Ryan has come the closet to saying a word at the soccer game as well.  He said "uh oh".  In the past he's only ever said the "uh" part when something happened.   Last night, he was adding the oh to it and it sounded like "uh oh", perhaps he'll say a real word before he hits 18 months! 

 

Soccer Take Two

Had another good experience at the soccer game.  He is already acting like a teenager as he doesn't want us to come near him when he is in the middle of his game.  I tried to come over an offer him some water and he pushed me away.  This time, we brought his soccer ball with us for his practice time.  A funny thing happened when game time came.  One of the kid's balls was picked to play the game.  Michael's ball stayed on the sidelines, but he tried to keep an eye on it - he didn't want anyone else playing with his ball.  This probably distracted him as he was still sticking to the back of the pack of kids chasing the ball.  We are not quite sure what transpired next, we believe it went something like this: the coach said to Michael "Michael, go after the ball like it is yours."  And Michael replied, pointing to the sidelines, "my ball is over there."  Maybe he'll get it by the last game. 

Soccer Game

Michael had his first soccer game last night.   To our amazement, he didn't suck his finger or cry at all!  Of course, the concept of passing the ball is completely lost on the group, so there are just ten of them chasing after the ball.  He did seem to stay in the back of the pack.  I think he thought someone was going to give him a turn.  But he did great listening to the coaches and following directions.  He's on the white team (no name as of yet) and he picked number 12 (not too many numbers left by the time we got there.)  Game two is tomorrow night.

Ryan's Skills

Well, Ryan still has yet to speak any understandable words (although Ian thinks he said "hi" at lunch).  But he has figured out the sequence of buttons to press on my cell phone to change the font size and the sequence of buttons on the van's key pad to open all the windows during a rain shower (fortunately, we figured this out before the heavy rain began). 

Delicious Ham

I made ham bbq sandwiches for Ian and myself, but gave Michael some ham without bbq sauce for dinner.  His comment was "This ham is so delicious, I don't even need to put it in the ketchup."  Who knew!

Tubeless!

Michael went back to the ENT today for a follow up. He had his tubes put in over two years ago (February 22, 2010).  We knew that the left tube had already fallen out.  It was actually out last February when we went for a one year check.  The right tube was still in place as of last Thanksgiving.  But today it was no longer in place - it was still in his ear sitting in some ear wax, but it had served it's purpose.  The doctor pulled it out (along with a decent amount of ear wax).  (We brought the tube home.)  He checked his hearing and confirmed that everything was good.  He no longer needs to wear his ear plugs around water!  We were fortunate that both fell out on their own as it would have required another surgery to remove them.  The doctors kept complimenting him on how well he followed instructions and how patient he was.  

Ryan's wound is healing.   He refused to wear the band aid after Monday.  Despite three attempts to reapply it he kept taking it off at day care.  He would just hand it back to his teachers.  Tomorrow we'll start applying ointment to help prevent scarring.  Hopefully, it will be cleared up before 18 month pictures! 

New Bike!

We made a pretty good trade today.  Toys R Us was running a promotion - trade in a bike for $20 - $50 off a new bike.  We brought in a bike we bought at a church sale for $4.00 and got a $20 off coupon.  Michael has a new CARS bike.  It has 16 inch wheels!  It seems so big for him, but the others were too small or had no room for him to grow.  He did a pretty good job riding it, although he does need some help getting it started at times.  But don't try to help him with that, he got really upset when he realized he may need some help with getting the bike moving. 

Rough Night

Well, Friday, March 23rd, will not be a day worth repeating anytime soon.  Ryan fell in the living room and cut his head open on either the corner of the table or a game box. We tried to make our lives easier by visiting a satellite Children's Hospital Clinic.  Unfortunately, she took one look at him and decided the cut was too bad and he may need to be sedated and need plastic surgery.  Fortunately, Ryan seemed to be in okay spirits.  He didn't seem to be in any pain and was acting normal. 

We then drove about 45 minutes to the main Hospital's ER, only to find a slew of people there.  And even though he is so cute and had a big gash on his head... that didn't get us in any quicker.  Eventually, we saw a nurse and were told that if he had to be sedated it would be at least 6 hours before they did anything.  Seeing how that would have been midnight, I opted to take Michael home. 

Feeling somewhat distraught about if I should stay or go (didn't want to watch him be sedated or get stitches but didn't want to leave either) ... I wasn't paying attention and hit the front of the van into the concrete column in the parking garage while backing up. So now, there is a nice dent above the driver's wheel.  Also, when Michael saw how upset I was about the dent he said "Maybe we should walk home." He didn't realize it would have taken us until morning to get home. 

Of course, about 20 minutes after we left, the doctor looked at Ryan and decided that he didn't need to be sedated, so he had a numbing ointment applied and then he had four stitches put in for his cut.  The van is still waiting it's visit to the ER.  It continues to run, but both Ryan and the van are getting a lot of looks when we are out. 

Definitely not worth repeating. 

Michael's World

Ian had a glimpse into Michael's World on Tuesday as he chaperoned a field trip to the Carnegie Science Center.  All the kids have a buddy for the day, Michael had to sit with his buddy on the bus, so Ian had to sit by himself.  For the most part Ian just had to monitor Michael and his buddy, but he did have to help out with bathroom duty and getting all the kids to wash their hands.  Ian reports that Michael is a very well behaved all day which explains his craziness when he comes home.  Michael also raised his hands to answer some questions during a lesson on animals (he didn't get called on).  And he only tried to suck his finger once all morning.  Ian had a fun time, but he was quite exhausted at the end of it.  Michael can't wait for him to chaperon the next field trip!

Ryan still doesn't speak and continues to point and hum for what he wants.  He is a good walking, but still struggles outside with the uneven terrain.  He likes to "crash" the matchbox cars with Michael (although Michael doesn't like that very much).  He basically likes to get into whatever he shouldn't be getting into. 

Walking

Ryan is attempting a lot more walking on his own now.  He can get himself into a standing position if he is on the floor and he can stop and bend over to pick something up if he is walking.  He can walk the length of the living room, but reverts to hand holding or crawling if the distance is longer than that.  He also has a fascination with the toilet bowl.  Already this week, he has thrown a ball in the toilet and tried to stick his hand in the water. 

Michael and Ryan have taken a few baths together, which is pretty funny.  Ryan likes to kick his feet and then Michael will kick his in return.  Ryan just laughs and laughs. 

Michael has been quite the singer the past two days.  He must be learning a lot of songs at day care.  He sang one to us tonight about leprechauns, "down by the bay", and "take me out to the ballgame".  He also likes to add lib his own words.  So, he sang "take me out to the hockey game". 

Gigolo

This evening, Michael grabbed two balls and said he was going to gigolo.  He threw both balls in the air and he was not succesful at gigolo-ing or juggling. 
Ryan has taken about 6 - 7 steps by himself, but still doesn't have enough confidence to just let go.  When I try to get him to let go of my fingers, he just falls to the ground and puts his head on the floor.  I'm still going with my original prediction of him walking by himself around 15 months. 

Not walking yet

Ryan has regularly taken a few steps by himself, but once he realizes he is doing it he loses confidence and falls down.  Michael was the same way.  He is still not saying any words, but manages to communicate by pointing and grunting.  He probably won't talk any time soon as long as he gets what he wants that way.  He likes walking circles around the house "chasing" Michael.  According to Ryan, Michael is still the funniest person in the house. 

Both boys have adjusted to their new schedule.  Michael's teachers always tell us that he is "awesome" and such a good boy.  And after the first week, Ryan is reported as being a happy and pleasant child (of course - they feed him).  Michael did visit Ryan on the first day he was there, but since then he hasn't. Every time we ask Michael if he visited Ryan he always says "I'll do it on the next day."  But he never does.  Not sure if Ryan even realizes that Michael is only a few doors down!  Maybe if Ryan ever decides to speak he can ask to see Michael. 

Bed Wetter

Ian and Michael were lying in his bed after Michael's nap.  Finally they decided it was time to get out of bed.  Michael then told Ian that he would have to change his clothes.  Ian asked why and the reply was "because I am wet."  He had peed while he was sleeping.  A little later I asked him if he knew he was peeing or if he was asleep.  He said he knew.  So I asked why he didn't go to the bathroom.  The reply was "because I was just soooo tired!"   So, I guess in a three-year-old's mind it is better to wet your bed than get up and go to the bathroom when you are sleeping. 

We got to play outside in the snow today for a little.  Ian and Michael were out for a couple hours.  Ryan and I joined them for the sledding.  Not sure if Ryan liked it as he never really cracked a smile outside, but he did protest when I brought him back into the house. 

Ryan Walks!

Today, Ryan took a few steps by himself!  He has been able to stand for a few seconds for the past week or so, but today he stood and then walked about 2 or 3 steps.  He was able to repeat it several times as well.  But he never got more than a few steps.  Looking back though, Michael did the same thing on 5/17/2009 and didn't really start to take off with walking until mid-July.  So, since Ryan seems to be following suit, I'm not expecting much more until mid-March. 

Our Travelers

We traveled to Florida the 3rd through the 9th.   Both kids were good travelers and both too interested in what was going on to sleep on the plane (or some days of our vacation).  We went to Lion Country Safari and saw all sorts of interesting animals and even fed giraffes!  We were able to play outside and visited the children's museum.  Michael took to Jake this trip and wanted to play with him and always wanted his attention.  The kids had a sleepover at Nanny's house one night as well.  Michael slept well that night, but poor Jake couldn't sleep since he kept slipping off the bed.  Michael's favorite part of the trip was playing football with everyone outside.  His quotes were "this team is over"  meaning "this game is over" and Ryan just had fun cruising around.