Is it Spring yet?

I really do like winter but with all the colds and germs Ryan has been bringing home from either PT or preschool, Spring can't get here soon enough! Early last week Ryan had another bought of congestion but it was manageable..or so we thought. We were all set to send him to preschool Thursday but Thursday morning before we left for my mom's house, he got sick. The vomiting kind of sick. After calling my mom and having her come to our house instead, I left for work but by the time I got there, Dean had called and said Ryan threw up twice more. So, back home I went. Mom and I took him to the pedi and he was put on an antibiotic. Early Saturday morning my mom woke up with the stomach flu and very late that evening, I got it. The stomach flu is horrible! I got no sleep Saturday night and to top it off, Dean started vomiting Sunday morning. I couldn't even lift my head off the pillow without being dizzy and nauseous. Luckily, Dean was able to get up with Ryan in the morning before getting sick himself. Ryan vomited once and had the poops but for the most part wasn't effected. We're all getting better but the soup & cracker diet is getting old.

Before all the flu mess came into the house, Dean took Ryan outside for playtime Saturday while my dad and I went to my BIL dad's funeral (it was so wonderful to see my sis and BIL as unfortunate as the circumstances were). Ryan loves his Lightening McQueen battery operated car and can't wait for him to start "driving" it more..another reason we can't wait for Spring.

We're still waiting for the fourth 2 year molar to break through. The other three have broken through but it's a slow process of them actually coming all the way through. This won't be one milestone I will miss. Ryan has had such a tough time with most of his teeth coming in...the first couple and now the last four being the toughest.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I like to do comparison pictures when holidays roll around so here's another. They sure don't make cute outfits for boys once they get out of the "baby" stage..hence just the red theme last year & this year.

Valentine's 2008 -6 months old

Valentine's 2009- 18 months

Valentine's 2010- 30 months old

Ryan was actually not feeling well today so I was surprised we got a smile out of him. He's still cutting 2 of his 2 year molars so he hasn't been wanting to eat much and his nose is running again. He really enjoyed the stickers & hot wheels cars we got for him as a Valentine's day gift.

No more diapers & pacifier!

Well, not yet but maybe soon! Ryan has really settled in nicely to his toddler bed so now we are on to the next phase of toddlerhood....potty training and getting rid of the pacifier.

As in the case of moving Ryan to his toddler bed, I am also not looking forward to potty training. It not only means he's growing up but it means when we go out, there will be many bathroom trips. No more, oh just let him pee in his diaper mentality. There are many views on how one should go about potty training their child, from starting early to starting later. Dragging it out for weeks or trying to train in 3 days. We decided we would just let Ryan decide when he was ready. Apparently, now is the time. We've been in the introductory stage for several months now...letting him sit on the potty every now and then. He was never interested in doing anything other than playing with the toilet paper or flushing the toilet and then playing in the water (aka washing his hands). We gave him an Elmo potty book a few months ago:

and I guess that's what prompted him to start flushing the toilet since it's a "sound" book and one of the buttons makes the flushing sound. Needless to say, I'm sure our water bill will be higher next month! ha! Last weekend he stood at the end of the stairs and said "bathroom". So, I asked him if he wanted to go to bathroom (just to make sure I heard him right) and he said "up bathroom". I took him upstairs, sat him on the toilet and low and behold, he pee'd in the toilet! Dean and I were estactic. We made a big scene, giving him lots of hugs & kisses and clapping. He got down, flushed the toilet and washed his hands (and didn't even play in the water!). He proceeded to do that twice more that day and has gone on the potty every day since. Our next step is to get a routine down and/or just let him try and go every so often. For some reason he's more focused when on the potty upstairs, so I imagine we'll be getting our exercise in.

Ryan and I were playing around a couple days ago and while I was tickling him, I was able to look in his mouth and saw a new tooth popping through! Finally! After almost 6 months..yes 6 month ago is when he started (he was chewing on everything including his whole hand!) getting his 2 year molars. Last night I also saw another one so we have 2 top molars coming in! I've been holding on, letting him still have his paci at naptime, bedtime and when he's just plain grumpy because I feel like it does soothe him and calm him down. Especially if he's teething, it probably takes away some of the pain associated with that (that's just my opinion on it of course). So, once all these molars come in, we will be taking away the paci. I've actually found, he doesn't use it as much, even when he's sleeping. So, maybe he'll decide when the right time is for getting rid of the paci too.

Fun in the Snow!

Sunday the sun glistened off the bright white snow and it was just beautiful. I can say that because since we don't get much of this, I'm not tired of it yet. I can't say that Dean think it's beautiful though. He had to go into work and shovel the sidewalks & entrance of a pretty big complex. After he had been gone 3 hours I finally called him to make sure he was still able to stand up straight & walk. Ryan & I kept busy inside watching Thomas the Tank Engine & Clifford Dvd's, cuddling on the couch and then Ryan did some of his puzzles while I did laundry & cleaned up the kitchen a bit. By early afternoon, Dean got home and we were ready to go outside. We went out in the backyard to check things out and to measure how much snow was back there. I didn't think to take a picture of the measurement but at any rate it was 6". No wonder Ryan had a tough time walking in it.

Then we went to the side of the house and started making a snowman. Boy, now that I'm older it sure does seem like hard work! It wasn't perfect snow for making a snowman since a lot of it was fluffy so we really had to dig deep and get the wet snow to help make it stick.

It's not the greatest to some, but it was to Ryan.

Of course, by the time we got around to getting a picture of me & Ryan, he was over the picture taking..seems to always work out that way for some reason (good thing we have professional family pictures).

Dean got out the battery operated Lightening McQueen car just to see if Ryan could ride it on the snow. That lasted about 5 minutes! Plastic tires & no traction=spinning wheels.