Christmas 2009

We had a wonderful Christmas and this being Ryan's 3rd Christmas, he really enjoyed himself this year. We had a fun time shopping for Ryan and it was a good thing Christmas came when it did because Dean kept finding things to buy! Ryan had so much fun opening his presents & cards and was so cute because he would say "oh wow" or "oh my goodness"...something obviously he's picked up from myself & my mom! He's playing with everything he got but at the top of his playlist the past 2 days has been the Disney Cars racetrack his grandmother (Dean's mom) got him and the Thomas the train set we got him. I know he is going to have so much fun @ my parent's house because they got him a play kitchen! Some changes are coming this week so I'll post about that in the days to come but meanwhile here are some pictures and a  video from Christmas 2009.

Playing "My First Computer" from Leapfrog

Christmas past & present

I haven't done a picture comparison in a while so I thought what better time than Christmas. I was going through our camcorder video that I downloaded to our hard drive (still trying to figure out a way to edit it...but there's no hope) and came across the video of Ryan's first Christmas 2 years ago. It brought me to tears...good tears I guess. It's so hard to believe he was so tiny. He was about 11-12 lbs (can't look in the baby book right now) and he was still wearing newborn & preemie clothes @ 5 months old! In fact, his Christmas day outfit was a preemie outfit. This year, for his 3rd Christmas, he's probably about 30 lbs. and is wearing 24 mo/2T clothing. I don't harp on his weight gain (or lack thereof) anymore but for a parent to a preemie it's a big deal when they gain weight and go up a clothing size, so I just had to mention it!

somehow rolled over under the Christmas tree- 2007

Daddy & Ryan-Christmas 2007

Christmas morning 2008

Christmas portrait session 2008

wearing his new tool belt-Christmas 2009

Christmas portrait session 2009

The Polar Express

One of my favorite movies is The Polar Express! So, when I found out our local botanical gardens was having a Polar Express tram ride, I hopped right on the phone and made our reservations. Apparently, it sells out quickly every year and by the time I knew about it, the only evening left that fit our schedule was a Tuesday night. Luckily both Dean and I were able to get off a little early to get home, meet our friend & my godson and get there with time to spare. We were a little disappointed when we drove up and saw the tram, was well, just a tram...not decorated like the "Polar Express" train...but it was going to be dark by the time we took the ride so I guess it didn't matter. Once inside, we got a cookie and some hot cocoa which Ryan loved, and then started on the craft. They provided colored beads and silver & gold bells so we could make necklaces or bracelets. Here's Ryan's that Daddy helped him make:

Then they had storytime and The Polar Express was read. It was so cute to see Ryan sitting with the other kids. He was more interested in the kids sitting beside him more than the story though and vice versa.

Then came the tram ride, which we bundled up for and brought blankets to keep warm. Ryan enjoyed seeing the lights and all the lighted decorations as we rode through the gardens.

This will definitely be another Christmas tradition we will do every year.

We then had dinner and went back to our house to open gifts. My friend and godson love to spoil Ryan so needless to say, he got lots of great presents! The stocking was taller than he was!

He loves playing with this school bus book..its a small book but it has wheels on it so he can push it. He goes around saying "school bus, vroom vroom"

And in this next picture you can see some of the other things he got, which are all fabulous toys...a plastic bowling set, a crayola coloring station for the bathtub (sooo cute!) and he's opening up Chuck the talking truck (which he gets so tickled with when it starts moving by itself--it's sound activated so if you clap or yell, it will move)

Semi-Annual Speech Evaluation

Ryan had his 6 month speech evaluation with Early Intervention today. I knew it was coming and have thought all along he has been doing so great with his speech. It wasn't until I had to write out my concerns and list of things we still wanted to work on that it really hit me again that he still has a speech delay. I know I should be counting my blessings because he is doing so well and truly doesn't have much of anything wrong even though he was preemie born almost 3 months early....and believe me, I DO count my blessing and am so thankful. But, it still stings when I hear someone else say that their child answers questions or told Santa what they wanted for Christmas and their child is younger than Ryan. It still stings when, like today, I had to come to terms that he's not up to the "normal" level of where most 29 month olds are, speech wise.

We did have a good session and am so thankful for the Early Intervention Coordinator & the Speech Therapist.  Early on and even up until a couple months ago, I wasn't too keen on the ST, but she has grown on me, my mother (who attends mostly all the sessions since Dean and I work) and Ryan. She pushes Ryan and really gets him to listen. They both have always looked out for Ryan's best interests. So onto the evaluation. Ryan has made super strides since beginning in January. He was tested at 18 months, which at the time they still adjusted his age to 15 months (because he was 3 months early). The biggest delay at that time was his expressive language. He was only using about 3-4 words consistantly and would often say a word once and never say it again. He tested at an 8 month level. Today, he tested at a 22 month level. They no longer adjust his age (EI now stops adjusting at 18 months old) so since he is 29 months old, he is technically 7 months behind. He has a huge vocabulary now and says new words every week, but he is only using a few 2-3 word phrases. He also, repeats ALOT and does not necessarily say things on his own...he does, just not as much as someone his age should. He does not answer questions...the what & who questions are the main ones at this age. Things such as "what do you want to eat?" "who is that?"...if we are pointing to someone like daddy. When we ask him about his day at school, his answer is "No"...to everything we ask! So, we will be working on things such as that for the next 6 months. Other things we will work on will be getting him to only put food items in his mouth. He still tends to put a lot of toys, crayons and anything else he can in his mouth. Once he turns 3, he no longer qualifies for Early Intervention so we will either have to go through the school system or find a therapy service on our own and hope our insurance will cover part or all of it. We'll cross that bridge later...for now, we'll work on the short terms goals and see how he's doing by his 3rd birthday.

Christmas Tradition & another cold

Last weekend we went to see a display of Christmas figurines and it seems this may become a Christmas tradition for us. We had a lot of fun watching Ryan have fun, how could we not do this every year. It's called the Coleman's Collection because the collection, dating back to the 1960's used to be displayed at a local nursery (Coleman's Nursery) before it closed several years ago. The city's museum foundation bought the collection and has it on display inside a gallery during the Christmas season. We took Ryan last year and had a nice time so we knew this year he would enjoy it even more and we were right. They have a several trains running through the display and Ryan made quite a few people laugh as he hollered "choo choo" when the train would get near him.

Then they had a Santa parade...yep, a parade to welcome in Santa. Ryan LOVED the police motorcycles & the fire engines..probably more than he liked seeing Santa! haha. Santa came in on a carriage and then sang lots of Christmas songs for everyone to enjoy.

watching the police motorcycles

Santa arrives!

watching Santa singing

saying Hi to Rudolph!

We then drove by some houses that had great light displays. Our friend's boss had a fabulous display that you could get out and walk through..so of course we did.

On another note, Ryan had his Christmas party at preschool on Monday. It was a cookie party so of course the kids had a fun time. At least they got to run around a bit and burn off some of the sugar.

Tuesday evening into Wednesday is when Ryan started getting sick. It could have been from the play area from the mall we went to Sunday or it could have been from playing with the kids at the party. Who knows, but I was so disappointed that he wasn't well enough to go to school Thursday. This was the day he was performing in the music program. Hopefully, they will have another one before the end of the year. I've loaded him up on immune booster vitamins & vitamin C chewables along with the other vitamins I already give him (although I had been slacking on the probiotics). Of course I've caught it and can only hope Dean can steer clear of it since it's getting closer to Christmas day. We did make the decision to stay clear of the play area in the mall now since January into February is the peak of the flu season...speaking of which, once he's well enough, we are getting him the regular flu shot since our pedi's office has it back in stock.

Oh Christmas Tree

We put up our Christmas tree and decorations yesterday and I guess it's a good thing my memory only retains so much because I forgot how irritated I become every year while putting them up. Usually it has something to do with the lights..either I can't find them, they aren't on the tree right (although that's been remedied by having a prelit tree), they are burned out or the most irritating, they burn out after I've put them on the garland or around the snowpeople! This year we let Ryan help and he loved it. He enjoyed taking everything out of the storage totes, dumping the non-breakable ornaments on the floor and pressing the buttons on the musical toys. He even was patient enough to put his ornament on the tree. Since this is his third Christmas, we got him the number 3, which is part of a series in the Hallmark collection that he's received each year.

He even helped Daddy straighten the tree skirt

Put an ornament back on the tree that had fallen off

and just enjoyed sitting in front of the tree...haha, okay, so he is all about touching the tree (hence, why it's only decorated 3/4 of the way down!) but maybe once Christmas day arrives, he'll be more interested in his new toys then the tree. I can't say that I blame him, it IS a pretty tree.

 

 

Snowpeople, out of reach from little people

'Little King'

My little king Christmas 2008

I was cleaning & organizing our spare bedroom last week and found a picture that Ryan was given. We had put it away while we had our house on the market. It's one of those that has his first name at the top and then the meaning & origin of his name. This one goes into detail about other things as well and the first time I read it I remember feeling so in awe of how dead on it was. Since I had not seen it in a while, I felt the same way again when I found it.

RYAN

From Ryan, a name of Irish origin,

Meaning, 'little king'

What he has gained came from hard work

To trust is something that comes natural to him

He is generous to others

Enjoys listening to an uplifting song

Overall, a special person

Never gives up because he believes miracles can happen

To him, the most ordinary events are thrilling.

Every single line in that describes Ryan perfectly! I just LOVE the line "Never gives up because he believes miracles can happen"...that's for sure!

Post Thanksgiving & Christmas Pics

We all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Ryan enjoyed eating some turkey, although he was pre-occupied a bit. My brother brought his new Golden Retreiver puppy and Ryan had such a fun time playing with him. There were several times that the puppy went under the table and tried to catch a snooze but Ryan wasn't far behind wanting to play! He kept saying "doggie soft" and we made sure he kissed and pet the puppy.

We got Christmas pictures taken and I was once again very pleased with JCPenney. This is the second time we've used them (first time was with his 2 year pics) and this time we joined the Portrait Club which gets us additional savings every time we get pictures taken. I love the fact that they don't pressure you to buy a package and they have really great enhancements that make the pictures even better. We are making it a tradition that we will get a family portrait taken every Christmas so Ryan will have a keepsake when he's grown and we're no longer around. Here are a few:





Since Ryan was being so patient while we picked out the pictures to order, we decided to go get a cookie for him and then decided we might as well let him sit on Santa's lap. This year was no different than last year...he went right up to Santa. This year, he said Hi! We got a picture taken and Santa gave him a coloring book and then he said "bye, tank you". Awww, I love this boy so much!

Thanksgiving Eve

On this day, the day before Thanksgiving, I wanted to post what I am thankful for.

First and foremost is of course my husband! Dean is my true love, my rock, the one who makes me laugh when I need it most and let's me cry on his shoulder when I need to. He has a quiet, calm personality and in turn that makes me a better person. When I get upset, he lets me be upset. When I'm happy, he makes me happier. When we met 13 years ago, I knew right away that there was something special about him (maybe a little of it was that he was wearing a cowboy hat, boots & line dancing..hehe). I'm a true believer that everything happens for a reason. You might not know it at the time, but somewhere down the road, you will. If I had not made the choices I made, if life hadn't led me down the road I took, I probably would have never met Dean....and I never would have had Ryan! He is a wonderful husband and father.





Oh yes, Ryan! How can a mother not be thankful for her son? My preemie prince who surprised us and couldn't wait to come into this world so he came 11 1/2 wks early. He even surprised the doctors & nurses the day after he was born because they found a small pinhole in his small intestine after doing a routine x-ray to make sure the PICC line was inserted properly. Ryan wasn't even showing any effects from that hole. Nevertheless, surgery was performed on my little man, weighing only 2 lbs. 13 oz. He was able to be transferred to the NICU Stepdown unit 2 weeks later, where he stayed for 7 more weeks. He went into surgery again a week before he came home, so the doctors could reverse the ileostomy (put the intestine back together). We finally were able to all come home together, 69 days after Ryan was born. I am so thankful for the memories we've made & looking forward to thousands of more memories. I'm so thankful for the things Ryan has taught me. He's taught me to be patient, walk slowly, play and play some more, laugh more and cry less, stop and listen--listen to the birds chirping or an airplane flying above, and most of all he's taught me how to slow down and enjoy the little things in life.




I'm so very thankful to have my parents, my sister, my brother and all my extended family in my life. I cannot imagine life without them, especially these past 2 years. My mom & dad have done far beyond whatever needed to be done, from driving me back and forth from the hospital to basically giving up their retirement so my mom can watch Ryan. I cannot express how much love & gratitude I have for them. My siblings, Dean's family & my relatives have been so supportive & helpful. I've never felt like I had to hide anything or any detail of Ryan's life.

What would life be without my friends? Terrible! My dear friends, some of them live close, others far away but I love all my friends. They too have been such a strong lifeline during the past 2 years. I know I can call my friends any time of the day or night and they will be there for me. I am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.

Of course, I can't forget my "cyber" friends. I would have never thought I would have people I'd call friends but have never met in person. After becoming a preemie mom and finding others in a similar situation (having a preemie), that thought went out the window. The support I've found with ALL my mom friends is priceless. I'm so clueless when it comes to some parts (okay a lot of parts)of parenting and having other mom's to vent with or ask questions and get advice is heaven! Hopefully one day I'll get to meet some of these great moms and our kids can have a playdate!

Have a wonderful & blessed Thanksgiving!

2 year molars?

Yep, I'm placing blame on the 2 year molars!! Teeth can't talk back and there's got to be a reason for Ryan's lack of sleep and attitude lately, right? Well, maybe it's just the "terrible two's" as the saying goes. It's hard to believe just a little over a week ago, Ryan was just as sweet as could be and after spending 5 straight days with him (remember, I didn't have to work due to the storm), 2 of those not going anywhere, I was wishing more than ever I could be a stay at home mom. But these past few days, he has been testing my patience (and Dean's). He wakes up at all hours of the night, takes his nap during the day but is still a grump when he wakes up and will hardly eat. He does have a cough but it's not a bad one and it seems to come and go. I've been giving him Claritin but I think once we're out of that, I will switch to Zyrtec to see if that helps. Claritin never worked on my allergies so maybe it's the same for Ryan. It's just one of those times where as a mother, I just throw up my hands and say, "I just don't know what's wrong...if anything". All I can hope, he gets over whatever it is soon. Dean and I are actually thinking about not moving him to his toddler bed just yet. He has not tried to get out of his crib and with his irratic sleeping, I don't see how moving him to a toddler bed will help the situation. We are getting Christmas pictures taken Sunday, so he needs some kind of decent sleep this weekend so he's not cranky. Here's my baby looking so cute...I look at this picture and could just hug & kiss him all day long.

In other news, Ryan had his preschool class Thanksgiving party yesterday. It was so cute to see him around other kids his age, interacting so well. I was noticing the other boys & girls and Ryan is actually the same or taller than most of the kids. Weight wise, he seems to be the same as well. That makes me feel better overall. I've always been worried that he was smaller than most toddlers (weight wise...he's got the height though) and that he wouldn't be able to keep up somehow with the other kids. I know now that keeping up, physically and developmentally, has nothing to do with weight though, at least for Ryan.

I think having him in this preschool class has been so positive. His speech has gotten so much better, he is now saying 2 & 3 word phrases and he likes to draw & color whereas before, he wouldn't have had the patience to sit down long enough to do that. He made an art project at school and we were able to order it on different objects such as a mug, t-shirt, mousepad, etc. It's a porcupine and it's body is made from Ryan's hand (turned sideways). The feet, nose & butterfly are Ryan's fingerprints. It's so precious to us, so of course we ordered several items!