Changes

Change is in the air. Not only from Summer to Fall but in our house as well. Ryan is becoming more adventurous. He has started climbing on most anything he can, when we’re not watching. The kitchen table is the most recent so we are forced to put our “junk” elsewhere. He is also thinking about climbing out of his crib. Naptimes are when we have caught him. We peek through the crack in the door and he throws all his things out of his crib (paci, lovie, musical giraffe). Then he stands up on his tiptoes and starts to put his leg up on the rail. He doesn’t do it every time but he has done it. Of course he knows how to do it, since a few months ago he DID climb out of his crib. Since then, he has not tried it again because it probably scared him. Now that he is becoming more adventurous, I don’t want him being successful again and possibly hurting himself. Definitely within the next couple months, maybe even weeks, we are going to have to switch Ryan to a toddler bed. I am dreading it. Seriously. It not only means I have to come to terms that my baby is growing up, but it means that we will need to change his room to be Ryan friendly. I know change is good in most cases but my problem is actually doing it. I hate change, which makes me a procrastinator in doing things I really don’t want to do but am forced to do. It won’t be as simple as just switching his convertible crib to the toddler bed. Oh no. Anything that Ryan will be able to climb on, in or under will have to be secured to the wall or be removed from the room. Most, if not all of his books and toys will have to be put in the closet at least at first. If we leave his toys and books out for him to access, I’m sure he would never go to sleep. Like I said earlier, “Ryan friendly”. I’m a google fanatic so of course I’ve been reading up on how to make the transition a smooth one. The one thing I have yet to find is how to secure floor or table lamps. There is no overhead lighting in Ryan’s room, so right now we have a floor lamp and two table lamps. Dean is thinking about putting up an overhead light & fan but we haven’t gotten to the “putting it into action” phase..it’s still just a thought. Yes, I could be overthinking everything and Ryan could be an angel and transition very well but I always need a plan… just in case.

We had Ryan’s physical therapy appointment yesterday. It was basically getting to know Ryan and assessing him and our concerns. After doing an evaluation on him, the therapist did recommend therapy once a week and that we go ahead and get him fitted for the night splint for his left leg. I’m not thrilled about the night splint, since he’s such a great sleeper and I’d hate for anything to interfere with him getting a good night sleep but if it will help with the stiffness in that leg and with him not toe walking then I’m all for it. I think he is going to have a great time at therapy, since it’s a new environment. They have a big room with all the toys and equipment a child could dream of. We went in there so the PT could assess Ryan walking up and down steps (he has difficulty descending stairs and will not do it without holding on to one of us—he will literally sit down and cry or throw a tantrum) and Ryan just went from toy to toy.

Last weekend we all got our hair cuts. Even Ryan. Not that his hair was long, but it did need to be trimmed up top. He was starting to look like he stuck his hand in a socket because it was sticking up and poofy! The first time we got his hair cut we went to a kid salon that had special chairs for the little ones to sit in such as a fire truck or an airplane and they also had a DVD playing. Ryan loved it but it's not that close to where we live so unless we're over in that area again, we probably won't have it cut there anymore. Not much scares Ryan so I felt confident he would be fine with just sitting in the chair on a booster. Our stylist gave him a lolipop (his first one by the way!) and he just sat there and let her cut.



On another note, I’m going out of town for a couple nights and leaving the boys to themselves. I’ll probably come back to a house full of new hot wheels cars and a few other toys Dean decided that Ryan had to have! Ha! I’m looking forward to a couple days away but boy, I’m going to miss my baby..make that babies-the hubby & child!

2nd Homecoming Anniversary

Two years ago today we brought our little preemie prince home after 69 days in the NICU. Instead of crying tears of fear like we were the day he was born, we cried tears of joy. We finally were able to start our life at home as a family. Some might think it's silly to celebrate a homecoming two years later but for us, it IS a celebration because unfortunately not all babies born premature get to come home. We are so thankful to all the doctors & nurses who cared for Ryan and for all of our friends and family that prayed for Ryan and are still praying for him.
9/24/07

9/24/08

9/24/09

New Videos

Here are a couple short videos we took this weekend. Ryan's coordination is getting so good and he's almost tall enough to get the basketball in the net by himself!

Busy days coming

We've finally got the physical therapy set for Ryan. It will be through the Children's Hospital but at a location right near our house..actually in the same building as Ryan's pediatrician's office. He will start that in a couple weeks. We have the appointment set to get him fitted for his night splint for his left leg but when we go to his first PT appointment, the therapist will assess him and determine if he truly needs or will benefit from a splint. I've been massaging his legs & stretching them as much as I can remember to do. Some days he seems tight and other days, there's hardly any stiffness at all. So, he'll have physical therapy one day, speech therapy the next, then preschool the following day. We originally thought we might get on the waitlist at preschool to have him go 2 days per week but we won't be doing that right now since his week will be pretty filled up.

Unfortunately, I think Ryan has inherited my seasonal allergies. Although, some would say he probably caught something his first day at preschool..I would rather believe the first theory. I had a sinus headache all weekend and Sunday afternoon Ryan started having a runny nose and coughing. He is also STILL getting his two year molars and they were bothering him a ton all weekend. We did go outside for bit this weekend so I'm sure that didn't help things with the grass pollen being high.

First Day of Preschool

Today was Ryan's first day of 2 year old Preschool and he had such a great time. I was excited for him to be going but nervous since he's never been in any kind of daycare or school environment in which I left him. I just kept imagining, him just wanting to play, play, play and not sit down to eat, color, or listen to a story. It's not like we never let him color or read him books..he just doesn't want to sit down long enough to do it. Well, actually he will color--for about 2-3 minutes, then he's over it. And he will flip through a book but usually not while sitting with Dean or I. If I do happen to get him in a quiet moment, most of the time I'll have to either read super fast before he flips the page or just make up a story as he flips the page. So, back to preschool--Yesterday was open house and my mom and I took Ryan to meet the teacher & assistant teacher and the other parents & kids. It was a come & go between certain hours so not everyone was there at the same time. We met a few of the other kids and Ryan had a great time playing with the cars & trucks of course. We stayed about 20 minutes and Ryan didn't want to leave. All he knew was that he was having fun playing and then I had to take him away from his fun. Once we got outside the classroom, he was fine and I told him he would be back today. This morning he seemed excited when I put his backpack on him.


Each child has a space on the wall outside the classroom with a clothespin that holds their nametag & all the crafts, art projects or any other paperwork. When we got there today, I got his nametag and the teacher was at the door to greet all the parents & kids. The basic premesis is that the parent says bye and the teacher takes the child in the class...no hanging around or going in the classroom, it just makes it harder on the child (and probably the parent too) if the "goodbye" is prolonged. Once I saw Ryan off, I quickly went to the car because I could feel the tears welling up. I barely made it to the car. I don't know why. Well, actually I do--I'm VERY emotional. Even though it's just one day a week for 3 1/2 hours, to me, it's a milestone of sorts. My baby is growing up. I'm sure I will be a total wreck when he goes to Kindergarten or gets on the bus for the first time! But for right now, this is a big step. I did some errands, came home for a bit and then went back to get him. Once again, the teacher met the parents at the door and sent one child out at a time. She asked me if Ryan was a big eater and I told her sometimes..depends on his mood. She said he ate pretty quickly and then was trying to take the other kids food. Well, he is skinny but I swear it's not because we starve him! He came out and had a big smile on his face when he saw me. I grabbed his picture from the wall that he had colored and we left.

When we were walking out the door, a guy said Hi to Ryan and told me he was the computer instructor and said Ryan was in his class today and had a great time. Ryan will be able to do computer class & music class on the day he is there. Apparently the computer class just introduces them to the mouse, keyboard and lets them play games on the computer. I would be very interested to see that class!
I figured he would be exhausted by the time we got home but nope. He was more interested in playing with his cars (yes, I got him a few cars as a surprise) then going up to take a nap. When he finally did go down for his nap, he only slept for a little over an hour. Maybe he was still hyped up about his fun day!