Ryan is officially, without a doubt a toddler. Good thing he's cute because this Mama is struggling to keep up. :-) Since he took his first steps on July 5th, it seems like things have become a bit more chaotic. Well, added to the fact that Michael has changed jobs, there have been some changes at our house. Michael has taken a job with TE (a division of Tyco) as a Distribution Manager and will be officing out of the house. We are still in the process of reorganizing our office, getting new equipment and figuring out this privacy situation. We will also have to sell our Accord since he'll have a company car...kind of annoying since we paid it off in December but we just don't have a need for 3 vehicles. Okay...enough about that.. back to the monkey....In between two out of town work trips for Daddy, little man came down with a HORRIBLE case of herpengina. He spiked a high fever for a few days and then a few zit-like spots showed up on his chin/mouth area. After a few more spots appeared and his appetite went away I was convinced it was Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease so off we went to "Saturday Morning Sick Clinic". Poor baby had about 6 huge ulcers inside his mouth and super, sensitive gums (added to teething) that bled even when he barely bumped his little face on things. Once Daddy left on his second trip he seemed to be more clingy, he was hardly off my hip and had lots of doses of Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen. Mealtime was insane and I don't think I ate a meal sitting down for 3 days. I had started to wean him the week before and successfully dropped our late morning/mid-day feeding but since dehydration is the biggest concern with this virus, I didn't hold too firm to our 3x a day. Yesterday afternoon he seemed to turn the corner, but I'm starting to wonder if some of the screaming and fit throwing really has more to do with the "mama factor"(as Michael calls it) than feeling lousy. Ryan is an angel for others...funniest thing he will be completely content and then I walk in the door and the fussing and whining starts up. Reminds me of Hannah in a way and she was such a hard baby/toddler I am worried we are headed down that road again. He's not as aggressive and gutsy as she was so maybe his soft/serious nature will be my saving grace :)
We think he might be a lefty, he definitely tries to "write" and use the spoon with his left hand. The kiddo loves his music and to be sung to...melts my heart he will say, "ma" (more) and hum to get me to sing to him. It's neat though to find different ways to comfort and soothe him and I'm even getting a few cuddles and hugs these days! He's only signing "more" but understands "cup", "eat" and "milk". He is picking up a few new words which is cool, just wish I would hear less of "ma". New words he says are , "bye-bye", "ni-ni" (night night), "uh oh", "ba" (bath), and "moo". Silly boy will NOT take a sip of cow's milk. I've tried to mix with chocolate syrup, breast milk, room temp, cold, all different cups...I can tell he's going to refuse it. So I think I just need to wean slowly and be as consistent as possible about giving the "moo" milk in the cup at the same time everyday. He's no dummy, he knows there are water cups around so he just pushes the milk away. I guess I could just offer milk and no water, but it's 100 degrees outside, I don't blame him. I hesitate to try the "75% breast to 25% cow milk and dilute it until its 100% cow milk" option - don't' really have the time or energy for that. Any suggestions would be helpful. Michael said maybe he'd like the Almond Milk? My sister heard to put maple syrup in the milk? Or maybe I just stick to my original play to drop a feeding every two weeks and push the other dairy products and hope he'll eventually learn to drink it? Oh well...he's the baby he knows how to milk it! Ha ha. Bad joke, I know.
Blog posts hopefully to come... Hannah's 8th birthday party, 4th of July Vacation
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