Dada

Ryane has really been exploring new sounds lately and the last few days she has been saying "dada" more regularly!  It's really cute- she will say it and then get louder and then whisper it. 

She's funny.  Every time you say "Oooh oooh, eee eee, I'm a monkey" she smiles.  Mimi figured it out and it workds like a charm!

 

This is Ryane (on Nic's lap) just belly laughing.  She never laughs like this!  Her typical laugh sounds like this but only lasts a second or two.  She was cracking up at a ball being thrown back and forth, of all things!

Sitting cutie

Ryane is officially sitting!  She rarely loses her balance anymore and is definitely enjoying being able to sit down and play with her toys (well... mostly the boys' toys.  She loves to play with the bin of legos and bang them around). I always say this, but it is crazy to watch what a baby can accomplish in a week.  Not long ago she couldn't keep her back straight in sitting and would lean over her legs.  About a week ago she was sitting but would lose her balance easily.  Now she's a sitting cutie!  Look at those sweet pointed toes :)

Sweet cheeks has her 2nd tooth! Her bottom right cut through and is visable today.  (Mom, I'm gonna clop it when she wakes up!)

Pre-K graduation

It's very surreal to me that Kaden graduated from pre-K.  Not because I didn't think he would, obviously, but because it doesn't seem possible that it is time for him to leave this special school and enter the real world of KINDERGARTEN.  Wow!  What a special night.  A night that I definitely dreaded all week long.  I don't like going to things (movies, plays, etc) when I know I'm going to cry!  I knew I would cry.  But to my surprise, it wasn't a sad, can't believe it's over, night.  It was such a happy, proud, Proud, PROUD night.  I've basically been nervous about pre-k graduation since Kaden started in the Toddlers.  Knowing Kaden and his personality, I thought knew that he wouldn't participate.  I pictured something similar to his Thanksgiving show last year where he rubbed his eyes and put his hands in his mouth the entire time. 

 

I'm not sure if I wrote about this, but during the year, Nic and I were asked by his teachers to drop him off in carpool instead of walk him in.  His teachers and the director all thought that this would boost his confidence and start the day on the right foot, because honestly, there were days that he wouldn't let go or he showed anxiety at drop off.  And we've been dropping him off at the same place since he was 22 months old!  After discussing it out loud, Nic and I decided that car pool wasn't our goal for Kaden.  Kaden is the type of kid that when we are not there, he excels.  When we are there, he is anxious, clingy and doesn't want to participate.  We knew that our goal for the year had to be Kaden would leave Nic's side inside the school and walk to his class by himself.  We thought that this would help him have more confidence in other aspects of his life too, like sports, birthday parties, neighborhood get-togethers, etc. 

 

In January, we started working on this goal.  He would get nervous when Nic wouldn't step into his classroom and it took a short time of Nic backing up down the hallway for something to click.  By February, Kaden had the idea for Nic to stand at the end of the hallway and Kaden would walk down the hall and into the class alone.  A few days later, he was saying goodbye at Cam's classroom and SKIPPING down the hallway by himself.  By the end of the year, he wanted to wait for his friends!  MY CHILD- WHO WON'T EVEN SAY HI TO HIS FRIENDS WHEN WE ARE AROUND, WAITED FOR HIS FRIENDS AND WALKED INTO CLASS WITH THEM!   This is a huge deal for us.  We saw such a boost in his willingness to try new social activities.  He went to a birthday party in February where I stayed in the waiting area and he went into the gym and played.  His teachers noticed his confidence soar as well. 

 

Back to pre-K graduation:

 

 I was so happy that Kaden got to stand next to Mia.  He loves her.  He talks about her with the sweetest smile on his face.  He has even been caught holding hands with her down the hallway when he was supposed to be walking in a line :)

 Look at my boy!  Singing, arm movements... there were so many people there and he PARTICIPATED!   There were bright lights and he STILL PARTICIPATED!  I'm tearing up all over again because I AM SO PROUD.

 Not sure what was so funny but so glad that I captured this sweet moment between him and his friend Isabella ("Mommy, we call Isabella Izzy but the teachers still call her Isabella.")

 So sweet. 

 

I tried to get a picture of everyone from his class (there were 3 pre-K classes this year) standing when their name was called.  Somehow I missed Brody.  This is Alyssa.  Kaden and Alyssa have known each other since they were LITTLE.  I think maybe 4 months old!

 Empty seat was Oliver- he had to take a potty break and I was a little confused and I ended up missing Bea.

 

 Daniel is his best friend in class.

 

 Caroline

 

 Lucas

 

 Mia

 

 Kaden :)

 

 Isabella

 

Mason

 

 Zoe

 

 Elijah

 

 Hannah

 

 Oliver

 

 All 3 pre-K classes and their wonderful teachers

 

 This was another very proud moment for me.  Kaden wanted to get his picture taken with his teachers.  At first he was hesitant but I knew how much he would want this picture. On the way home he asked us to print this picture so he can have it in a frame in his room.

 

 

 Attempt at a class picture.  Most of these kids have been in the same class for the last 2 years.  They are such great friends and they all know each other so well.

 

 This makes me laugh.  Look at all the girls hugging on the left and all the boys standing there on the right.

 

Kaden also wants this picture framed  :)

 

The actual pre-K graduation  ceremony was wonderful.  The teachers and students worked so hard and it was evident.  They all knew every song and every hand motion.  You could hear the words to the songs perfectly and they were the sweetest songs.  All the kids knew when to sit, when to stand, when to turn, when and where to walk.  Each of the classes got a chance to be on the stage and perform 2 songs.  When it wasn't their turn they were standing below the stage singing. 

 

I can't thank his teachers, Connie and Laurel, enough for all that they have done for Kaden this year.  He loves and is interested in learning.  He loves art and cooking and science.  He has learned more than just his numbers and letters.  He has learned about being kind to others, being fair, being helpful, being independent and about diversity.  He has learned about raising money to help others.  He has a sense of the senior community. He has made the best of friends at this school.  He grew up so much!  He will do great in Kindergarten and he is prepared 110% because of this school. 

 

This is our school family...

 

First tooth

Sweet Ry is having a hard day. Her bottom left tooth cut through yesterday. I can't tell if maybe it hasn't cut all the way through or if the bottom right one is right there, but she is definitely feeling it today! So hard to watch this sweet thing in pain. 

Cam's first trip to the dentist

A little more hesitant than I expected, Cam made it through his first trip to the dentist with a good report! Slone did better than expected ;)

Kaden also had an appointment. They called his name and he went back without hesitation. By the time I got back with Cam he had already had X-rays and was halfway through his cleaning. Who is this kid?!

Half birthday girl

My birdie turned 6 months! I hate how quickly time goes.... Hate it!!

Weight 18 lbs, 12 ounces (95th percentile)

Length 27 1/4 inches (95th percentile)

Ryane's in size 3 diapers. She still fits great into either 6-9 or 6-12 month clothes.

Ryane's naps are still hit or miss but the days that she takes a good morning nap (1.5 to 2 hours), she will generally take another good nap later in the day and then 2 shorter naps in the afternoon. We are putting her down 3-4 times a day for naps.

Ryane is still waking up in the night to eat one time.  Lately it has been between 4-5:30.  I guess blogging about it at 5 months didn't help!

Ryane's not taking a bottle or a sippy cup! We will keep doing sippy cup trials so that she can take it when she turns 1.  But the boys never liked the sippy cup and went straight to straws.  May have to try that in the next few months!

She still loves her jumper and now she really likes the walker.  She can walk both forward and backwards in it.  Pretty amazing!

 

Ryane is teething but she has been a trooper.  She's pretty drooly and has her hands in her mouth a lot.  The doctor said he can feel the teeth but didn't think they were too close. 

She can sits up for several minutes at a time... sometimes. Sometimes she loses her balance pretty quickly.  On her belly she raises her chest really high and when I assist, she starts to pull her legs up under her.  She also tries to get back to her back- hopefully she will remember that soon because we are still having to flip the pancake for naps.  I feel bad.  I don't put her down much.  She's my baby and I love to hold her.  I usually put her in her jumper or exercauser when I have to get something done.  Not good for development... but good for nurturing :)

She sleeps on her side or her belly mostly now.  When she sleeps on her side she usually has her arm up on the bumper which scares the hell out of me, but it's pretty cute all at the same time. She sucks on her sleeve, sleepsack or bumper to put herself to sleep.  When she is tired, she wants nothing to do with rocking to sleep. She wants in her crib immediately and generally stops crying and falls asleep right away.

Ryane belly laughs mostly when she is tired.  Other than that she smiles a lot and laughs a little "ha!" when something is funny. 

Ryane is really starting to make a lot of different kinds of noises.  She likes to "ahhh" and says some "dada" or "gaga." She makes some tongue and lip noises too which crack her up (and the boys too).  She also started sniffing which cracks me up to see her little nose all scrunched up.

She started to really notice the cat, the dog and pictures of the boys.  Going up the stairs she always reaches out for the school picture of the boys together.  She smiles at it a lot, too.  She reaches out and grabs the cat- thankfully he is used to that and, I think, likes the attention.

Happy half birthday, sweet thing.  Ry Ry- you couldn't be sweeter!  Love, Love, LOVE you!!!

 

 

 

Morning PJs

All THREE of my kids are LOOKING at the camera!  And most of them are smiling!!  What?? 

That just happened!

First food

Avocado! Success!  I started out with my Baby-Led Weaning ideas of having baby feed herself...  And then my irrational fear of choking kicked in so I smashed them up and spoon-fed her. But she liked it and I'm proud of myself for not buying purées! Yay! 

Ryane's Nursery

It's about time I post some pictures of Ryane's nursery!  I was waiting and waiting for it to be COMPLETELY finished, but who knows if I will ever decide on a rug or knickknacks for here or there.

When I was pregnant, I planned out a boy's room and a girl's room.  It was really important to me to be able to plan out the girl's room because I thought that it might be my only chance to pick out girly stuff.  If I had found out that I was having a boy, I never would have been able to plan my girl room... and that made me pretty sad!!  I picked out fabric for both, planned the bedding and drapes, picked out wall colors and wallpaper (for a girl).  We were planning to use Cam's furniture since he and Kaden got bunk beds in December and are now sharing Cam's room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pictures don't do the room justice!  There are crystal accents on the drapery rod, the fan, the knob on the table and the chandelier that bring everything together so beautifully.  Nic worked so, so hard on the room.  And I was crazy, and hormonal, and wanted it to be absolutely perfect... And I really feel bad about how picky I was about certain things!  But I think it paid off because I am head over heels in love with this room.  It is so not me or my style.  I am so modern and contemporary and this is so much more traditional than I ever thought I would like.  But it is exactly what I had pictured in my head.  It is so girly and it's so calming.  I love just sitting up there and looking around.  The ONLY thing that I am disappointed with is that because of the crib design, it is difficult to see the beautiful bedding and the amazing dust ruffle.  But it is so lovely.  I have wanted black and white bedding for a girl for years.  My mom helped me design it (and I am definitely her hardest customer to please) and our friend Jane sewed it.  The dust ruffle has 4 layers of fabric that ruffle on top of one another.  I WILL use this when the bed is converted because it is too wonderful not to see!