My Baby is 1!

Time to pick up where I left off--back in October when my baby turned one!  It's fun looking back on his first year and seeing how much he's grown.  Some days I look at him and wonder when he got so big and some days he still seems like my little baby.  

We had family over for cupcakes and Nash was spoiled with presents.

I'll give an update of what he's like now at 15 months since I'm a little behind...

Nash is still a noisy baby, but now he mixes in some words with his yelling.  His favorite word would have to be "Lola" and he can say it perfectly.  He's constantly calling for her and looking around to see where she's at.  He also says Mom/Mama, Dad/Dada, Da (his word for Jack--sorry Ry--nothing for you!), tasty, ball, and he makes a few animal noises.  Another noise I'm not a fan of is the little game he likes to play where he sticks his fingers down his throat to gag himself.  He thinks it's hilarious because I get mad and he usually does it when he's confined to his car seat or wants to get out of his high chair and it's the quickest way to get attention!
He's finally a good sleeper and sleeps through the night and takes a couple naps during the day.  I just lay him right in his crib and he'll talk or play before falling asleep.  It couldn't be easier, but if we're not at home and have to put him to sleep somewhere else...not easy.  He got teeth much sooner than my other babies and three molars are coming in right now.  He's also had three ear infections since October--one every time we've gone out of town this fall/winter.  I'd stay home until summer to keep him healthy, but we have a fun family vacation planned next month so fingers crossed.  He's a great eater and has as big an appetite as both his older brothers--not that they're the best comparison [picky]!  We also just received a lovely diagnosis from Nash's pediatrician for something called Chronic Nonspecific Diarrhea (CND).  It's as fun as it sounds and it's here to stay for a while.  He's growing fine and has no sign of food allergies--just lots of nasty diapers.
Another difference with Nash and his big brothers when they were babies is he's in no hurry to start walking!  He stands on his own and will walk with me holding his hands if he's in the mood, but he prefers to crawl around and that gets him where he wants quick enough.  I love this busy, happy baby and enjoy every day watching him grow.

12 Months

One month ago my baby turned ONE! so this is more like a 13-month update, but better late than never.  Nash is at such a fun stage right now.  He's figuring a lot out, trying to communicate more, smiles and thinks it's funny to be told no...  He is still very noisy and does lots of grunting, especially when food is involved and he needs it ASAP.  He is a much better eater than I remember the older boys being at this age and he loves trying new things.  He has to do it himself though--if you give him a bite of what you're eating, it has to go in his hand and not his mouth because the messier the better.  He still loves milk and has completely weaned from nursing, which has resulted in the best update of all--sleeping through the night!  It was a longer time coming and a lot trickier than with Jack and Ryan, but we worked it out and finally no more early wake-up calls for this tired mom.

Nash has some cute things he does like his sort-of somersault where he puts his head down and sticks his bum up and just hangs out like that for a minute.  I also love when I'm holding him and he tries to get my undivided attention by leaning down and looking up at my face so I can't help but look right at him and his cheesy grin.  He also holds his hand out and opens and closes it like a wave but it means "come here" or "pick me up."

He is still not walking or standing on his own, but he pulls himself up to everything and manages to make huge messes by emptying drawers, pulling out books, undoing my folded laundry.  I don't know how anyone with a 1-year-old can have a clean home because I sure can't keep up with everything this boy gets into.  That's ok though--we'll just keep enjoying this stage because I know it goes by quickly.

4 Years Old

On September 29th, Ryan turned 4-years-old and started a near week-long celebration of his birthday!  He got to celebrate at preschool, out to eat with family, then on the actual day with a big donut breakfast and my parents in town visiting.  The following day we had a family dinner and opened more presents.  By the next week, he kept asking to make sure there weren't anymore birthday events planned--or presents we forgot to give him! 

Ryan loves all things sports and was thrilled with a new frisbee, wiffle balls, and his own tennis racket.  He loves playing catch outside with Dad and lights up every time there is mention of going to the driving range at the golf course. 

His love for Legos is still going strong too and he'll build for hours during the day while Jack is at school.

Aunt Jenny made him a Lego pinata and he scored more fun gifts from his cousins.  Grandma DeWitt gave him an early gift she made that we'll share pictures of next week for Halloween.  Jack and Ryan are going to be two very well-dressed pirates!

Ryan is so much fun and cracks me up on a daily basis.  He's so talkative (around us--pretty quiet around others though) and asks me dozens of questions every day.  Some are questions about what the plan is for the day or what time does Jack get home..., then he likes to ask lots of hypothetical questions like who would win--Batman or Spiderman?  Or which would win--rain or the trees?  It doesn't matter how well-thought my answer is--I always choose wrong and he tells me why.  Sometimes I have to tell him no more questions for a while so I don't go crazy!  My favorite though is when he asks, "Mom, when we get home later, will you play with me?"  Once we took the boys to a movie and about halfway through, Ryan leans over and whispers loudly, "Dad, when we get home, will you play with me?"

Ryan also has a fiery temper and you don't want to cross him when he's in a bad mood!  We've broken up many a fight between him and Jack and we're working on him not shouting when he gets upset.  We've discovered he can be kind of a worry-wart and gets nervous when someone borrows something of ours for example.  He'll ask when we're getting it back and what if they forget.  Same with Lola when we have someone else watch her--what if, what if...!  One night we were outside and a big gust of wind picked up some toys and they were blowing around the yard.  I grabbed our plastic pool to put in the garage and Ryan starts racing after every belonging he can see and freaking out that the wind will take something before he can pick it all up.  We keep telling him it's fine, we'll get it all, but he was so upset and just kept crying, "WIND, WIND, WIND." It was sad and cute at the same time.

Ryan has always been my good eater and willing to try new things, but recently he's become pretty picky.  Not picky like Jack where he doesn't like a lot of things, but picky where he can't see any seasonings or there can't be any grill marks or "black" or he won't eat it.  He inspects his food very carefully before deciding it's safe to go in his mouth.

Ryan is very opinionated and likes to do things a certain way.  He does not want any input on what he wears and it takes some convincing to at least choose matching clothes before we leave the house.  He's very stubborn for me, but will do pretty much anything his dad asks!  I guess we're too alike and butt heads.  He also prefers to sleep on the floor next to his bed instead of in it, but I stopped trying to change his mind on that long ago.

I love my middle child and all his quirks.  He's so silly and smart and such a good big brother and little brother.  Happy 4th Birthday Ryan!

11 Months

Just a few more weeks and my baby is ONE already!  The past year has been fast and slow all at the same time.  I love the baby stage and want Nash to stay little, but he's not an easy baby and I'm looking forward to him being not so high-maintenance.  He's on the move everywhere now and loves to crawl around and get into mischief.  Luckily so far he doesn't get into too much trouble, but he has his favorite spots like playing with the door stoppers and spilling his big brother's Legos.  He can't quite pull himself up to furniture, but any day--he sure keeps trying.  He loves when Jack picks him up and carries him from one room to another so he can stay where the action is.  He also thinks it's fun to close doors then sit right in front of them so he's trapped in a room alone. 

He's a great napper, but not close to sleeping through the night still.  I wish he was attached to something like a pacifier or blanket, but all he wants is his mom in the middle of the night.  I started weaning him and he loves drinking milk and water in a sippy cup, but he'll take it all in addition to nursing--he's not interested in having that replaced.  His other favorites are bananas, grapes, and pretty much any kind of baby food.  He makes a face at green beans, but still eats them.  He has a cute toothy smile and is easy to get laughing and making funny faces.  He loves being outside--especially swinging, but he's also content to crawl around and sample things like dirt and rocks.  He's still very noisy and constantly grunts and hits things to play with them, but he's always had to make sure we hear him above his brothers.  We love our noisy baby Nash!

Ryan's first day!

It was finally Ryan's turn to start school earlier this month.  He was more than ready after watching Jack leave each morning so he was very excited on his first day of preschool.

We had a little bit of an issue when it came time to choosing an outfit (we're both stubborn), but he won and it matched fine so off we went.  Now Dad helps him pick his outfit the night before and he'll stick with it most days.

I miss my little buddy while he's gone, but those two hours fly by then he's by my side the rest the afternoon.  I love my strong-willed almost 4-yr-old!

Month in Photos - August

Our summer started winding down in August so we got in what pool time we could at the hotel and in the backyard.

The swings are a big hit with all the boys first thing in the morning before it gets too hot (still in pjs) or in the evening after we have dinner.  Ryan will be the first to head out and I'll tell him I can come push him after I clean up the dishes.  Every time he tells me, "This time hurry--last time you took too long."

It was a big month of milestones for Nash--his first FIVE teeth and he started figuring out how to crawl.

It wasn't easy getting used to all those teeth at once.

Ugh--life with all boys.  I wonder where he learned this?

At the end of the month we had a visit from Aunt Emily and her three boys.  We went to a cool park one night and had some sweaty fun.

And my happy baby making faces and showing off.  He scrunches his nose and makes a snorting noise when he likes something and wants more of it so I got my camera ready during dinner one night.



First Day of 1st Grade

It has been about two weeks since Jack's first day of school and he's been doing great!  I was nervous with him being gone all day now and wondered if he'd come home exhausted or starving, but he walks in ready to play and quickly answers my questions about how his day was.

We pack a lunch to bring from home since he's one picky kid, but he has decided he'd like to get hot lunch next time they serve pizza!  He's getting sick of sandwiches too so I need to get more creative with what I can offer him.  I made a pasta salad last week he liked and we always have a variety of fruit he can choose from.  I did notice his carrot sticks come home with only one bite missing!?!

The first day was rough on one brother for sure!  I told him Jack wouldn't be home until the afternoon so Ryan started asking around 10:00 if it was time for lunch yet.  He wanted to hurry the day along and this is where he parked it when I said Jack would be home in a half hour.  He's doing better at entertaining himself now or playing with just me and Nash.  Ryan starts preschool in another week.

We're proud of our first-grader!  The house sure is quieter during the day, but Jack wastes no time making up for it once he's home.

10 Months

Nash is one busy boy at 10 months.  He still isn't crawling, but manages to move all over by scooting around.  He loves to play with his big brothers' toys--mainly by dumping them out, and he loves anything he can bang or use as a weapon (golf club, spoon, light saber).  Its been kind of a rough month for this baby ever since he started teething.  He got his top teeth first and the bottom two aren't far behind.  I've never had a baby get teeth while still nursing and that's the only comfort he wants in the middle of the night so we've both been getting less sleep.  He's still pretty happy for the most part, but he has a temper that flares up pretty quick when something upsets him.  I joke that he's my "mean baby" because he likes to hit and bite, but I don't think he's being mean on purpose...most the time!  He says, "mama-mama" a lot and "da" when he sees Lola or gets excited about something like going outside.  I can't believe we're so close to the one year mark--I just want him to stay my baby longer.

9 Months

My baby is getting too big all of a sudden.  Now that he sits, he's content to play on his own more often and before I know it--he's going to be mobile and all over the place.  For now he hasn't figured out crawling or standing up to furniture, but he scoots backward when he lays on his tummy on the floor and manages to get stuck in random places.

At his 9 month checkup, he weighed in at nearly 18 pounds, putting him in the 10th percentile for weight.  Compare that to the 97th percentile for head circumference!  I love how the pediatrician carefully explains that what this means is 3 out of 100 boys will have a head larger than his.  Don't worry Nash, it worked out fine for your brothers.

Nash has some white-blonde hair starting to fill in and even stick out in some places.  Still no sign of teeth, but that's normal for my boys.  He loves clapping and making noise including saying, "da da da" all the time. Nash has a habit of pinching the inside of my arm when I hold him and I've got the bruises to prove it.  I try to clip his nails a couple times a week because in addition to pinching, he loves to grab at my mouth when he's nursing.  Not fun getting my lips scratched several times a day.

Nash loves food and gets mad at me if I don't feed him baby food fast enough.  He still goes bananas if someone has a drink around him and they don't offer to share.  I wish I could say he was still sleeping great, but he bumped up his nighttime feedings to two instead of one and we're still trying to get back on track.  He just doesn't like missing out on any of the action and lets you know he's not happy about bedtime.

Nash loves looking for Lola first thing in the morning, playing with his brothers and making messes, "helping" me vacuum, snacking on anything and everything he can get in his mouth, being outside, and of course--being held by his mom!

Month in Photos - July

We celebrated the 4th of July with swimming in the morning, a pizza picnic lunch and a BBQ at the Gibb's that evening.  Jack was the only one to see any fireworks because he stayed to have a sleepover with Dewy while the other boys went home to bed.

This fair-skinned baby loves the water, but needs constant shade to be outside in this desert heat.

Nash has gotten to the age where he does not want his brothers taking something he's playing with.  He was fiercely guarding this golf club that he loves to hold.

The older two got to have a "boys' weekend" with Dad and they all headed to Page to visit Dana and Todd and go boating on Lake Powell.  They were busy being explorers while they waited for the van to get loaded so they could leave.  I swear they play the best when they're about to go somewhere or it's almost time for bed!?

This is probably my new favorite picture!  I love the look on Nash's face.  Lola likes to crowd right up to him hoping to get pet.  Instead she gets whacked with a toy or her hair pulled, but she doesn't mind.  And it's rare to get a picture of her because she constantly barks at any kind of camera.

Nash LOVES the vacuum and likes to think he's helping even though it makes the work that much harder lugging him around with me.

We've had the best weather this month as far as July's in St. George go.  Lots of cloudy afternoons and even rain.  We've been able to go to the park without melting in a puddle and Ryan has mastered an awesome Frisbee toss.  Catching one is another story :)

Jack loves playing at the pool and coming up with new tricks like jumping over Nash's raft.

...and this is how he entertains himself while Ryan is having his swim lesson.

I helped sew headbands with dreadlocks for a YW girls' camp project and I let Jack use the leftovers for his pirate outfit.

My sweet mama's boy...