Ryan is 11 months old!

 "Look at me go"

 saying "kitty"- he sees Toby

 Ryan's new "serious" face

Happy boy!

Well, I decided not to fight the "sitting in the chair" battle for the 11 month pictures because frankly there is no keeping this child still for one second if he doesn't want to.  Therefore, I chose an easier route that he enjoyed and I got several cute photos.  Ryan is 11 months old and it's hard to believe how close we really are to that one year mark! It's almost scary how quickly the time has gone by.  This past month has been a big one full of "firsts" for Ryan.  He celebrated his very 1st Christmas, 1st time to meet Santa, 1st GP Holiday Lights, 1st Holiday Hayrides in our neighborhood, 1st New Years, 1st plane ride, 1st time out of TX to California, 1st Rose Bowl!!! (GO FROGS!)  Ryan had attended all the TCU home football games this season and the Frogs were undefeated. He also attended all of last year's home games in my belly except the Fiesta Bowl which he and I both had to stay home for since I couldn't fly that late in my pregnancy.  Therefore, since that was the only game the Frogs lost last year, we felt like he must be their "good luck charm" and  it was necessary for him to attend the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA with us.  Apparently it worked as the FROGS had a 21-19 victory over Wisconsin.  It was a great game! In December, Ryan enjoyed many family Christmas parties and was blessed with lots of fun gifts from all our generous family and friends. Santa also visited Ryan this year (though he made a loud entry down the fireplace waking Ryan up around 4:30am so we had a chat and asked him to be more quiet next year).  Santa brought Ryan his new Britax Boulevard big boy car seat (which we've installed in my car already), a Fisher Price music activity table (which he dances to!), a music workbench with hammer, a new dinosaur walk/ride toy (he currently walks around the house and dances to this as well), a wooden puzzle, a "That's not my Teddy" book, and some new plastic bowls and plates.  He must have been good this year! Ryan enjoys the view up a little higher in his new "big boy" car seat and is so entertained as he looks out the window at the passing cars. He also now likes to hit the door with his rattle and I decided to go ahead and turn on the child lock in the backseat for his safety since he can actually reach the door.

Our schedule has remained pretty consistent with last month I think with sleep schedule from about 7:45-8pm until about 7:15am.  Occasionally he surprises me and is up about 6:20am. He takes two naps during the day. One is between 1hr 15min-2hrs, the other is right at 1hr- 1hr 15min.  Starting the past couple of days after he turned 11 months old I am continuing the weaning process and dropped one more "nursing" feeding and added another formula feeding. I believe this will help the transition to cows milk next month and reduce pain on my part from any sudden stopping of breastfeeding. Now I am nursing only when he wakes up and before bed at night, almost exactly every 12 hrs.  Ryan is taking two formula feedings between 4-6oz each. I give them to him out of sippy cups, but occasionally he will get one from a bottle.  The pediatrician recommended going directly to the sippy cup since he was never really taking a bottle, but I like to offer it in a bottle every now and then because I feel like he drinks more milk that way and I want to make sure he's getting enough. From the sippy he usually takes about 2 oz then wants to go play, then back for another ounce, play then another ounce. So it's spread out more within an hour or two versus just sitting and drinking it all at once from a bottle.  Other typical meals for Ryan include: breakfast of oatmeal or cream of wheat with a 4oz container of fruit and occasionally toast or cheerios (rice and corn chex are new too!). Lunch is generally some of whatever I'm having (whole wheat toast and lunch meat/cheese, or dinner leftovers) and a 4oz container each of veggies and fruit.  Afternoon snack is typically puffs or graham crackers, cut up grapes or apple, and sometimes a yogurt. Dinner is usually whatever we are having plus any leftover baby food jars from the day and yogurt if he didn't have it for a snack. His favorite after dinner snack (while I get to eat) is cinnamon maple lil crunchies or arrowroot cookies. These are truly a treat for him!

Regarding Ryan's stats for the month, I will have to get back after Tuesday with the "official" weight since he has another ear check up then. As of Dec. 30th ear f/u appt Ryan was 22lb 7.5oz. We are assuming he's a little over 31" long, but won't get another height check until his 12 month well child which is Feb. 8th.  Poor baby unfortunately has had a recurring ear infection since the 2nd week of November. We have been through 3 rounds of antibiotics and can't seem to shake it. I am pretty positive it's still there as he's been putting his fingers in his ears a lot the past couple of days. Poor baby. He goes in Tuesday and we'll wait to see what the pedi says, but looks like we'll be scheduling a visit to an ENT soon. Boo! I do want him to feel better though bc I know it can't be fun.  We are also tired of the rounds of antibiotics, the Tylenol every night before bed for over a month, and occasionally numbing ear drops too. I just hate the idea of tubes, but perhaps it is genetic as my husband, Mike, also had them as a baby.

Luckily, the ear infections haven't seemed to have affected his hearing as he is understanding so many words these days and seems to be a sponge for learning! He has added several new words to his current vocabulary. I will only share the ones he added by Jan. 6th and the others will go to his 12 month post. This months vocabulary includes: "ouch", "uh oh" (his current FAV thing to say anytime he drops something or something falls down), "this" (as he'd like you to tell him everything you walk by- I think because he really wants to hear the words and it's a fun game), "yes" (actually in response to some questions), and "ho ho ho" (anything Christmas). It does surprise me so much at the words and phrases I say that he seems to understand such as: milk, night night, nap, time to go and bye bye (which he mimics), door, kitty, where's the cat?, can you bring me a book?, eat, snack, play, can you be sweet? (hugs), gentle, no bite, etc.

Ryan's major accomplishment this month though was his first 30+ steps in a row!!! It happened January 2nd and that's the date I put as his official 1st steps. The past month and a half or so he was taking 2-3 steps and trying it out, but I don't think they really count until now.  It was while we were in Hollywood, CA and were in my aunt and uncle's hotel room at the Renaissance at the time.  It was fun having a crowd around and we got several quick iPhone videos of him walking. Since coming home he hasn't taken more than 8-9 steps in a row and still prefers crawling as the fastest way to get around. However, he is getting more brave with taking steps on his own and gets so excited to try. I love the expression on his face when I can tell he is thinking about going from the coffee table to the couch or love seat and walks the 3 steps over and then basically lunges into the couch, but seems so happy that he did it.  With time and as his confidence grows I know he will be all over the place. For now his longest walking streaks are just between people with waiting arms.

Another new "obsession" you might say is climbing the stairs in our home. I had let him do this a couple of times before, once really early on I just put him on the steps to see what he would do. I was surprised even at like 8 months that he figured out how to get up them.  Then, at Thanksgiving his Grandpa Campbell let him climb the steps at his house and so it began.  Every time we go to my parents he wants to climb the stairs (theirs make me a little more nervous as they are spiral and all wood), and now he climbs up the landing on ours and stands at the gate banging on it and saying "Uh" as though to say "Come on Mom, I want to climb." So, I open the gate and up he goes. I did finally take one video the other day that is currently on YouTube. He does not know how to get down the stairs and is of course constantly supervised.

Other things that Ryan enjoys includes throwing ANYTHING, purely for his entertainment I think. He throws balls, cars, cups, wooden puzzle pieces, etc.  We have started controlling the throwing of his sippy cup by a game Mike started which we call "Don't drop it" where if Ryan leans the cup off the side of the high chair we will say "Don't drop it!" and he will laugh and then we ask him where his cup is and he holds it up and somehow it seems to distract him from just constantly throwing the cup.  Ryan is also finally clapping his hands together. He wasn't too interested in doing this until the last week of December. He always liked when I would take his hands and clap them together, he even flattened out his hands, but it wasn't until now that he claps on his own.  I can say "clap your hands Ryan" or "Yay, Ryan" and he opens his arms out really wide and then claps his hands together. It is soooo cute and he smiles really big as though he knows some big secret and I just love seeing that smile so I ask him to do it a few times a day!  In Pasadena, Nana (my mom) also taught him what a fish "says" one day while we were at the Long beach aquarium.  All afternoon when we would walk up to some fish she would say, "Ryan, what does a fish say?" then do her mouth up and down like a fish. I thought it was hilarious and didn't think he would get it. Sure enough, that evening he started doing his mouth randomly and I said, "Ryan, are you being a fish?" and he would smile. So, now I can ask him "Ryan, what does a fish do/say?" and he will answer by doing his mouth up and down several times then smile or clap. It is really funny and amazing to me that he picked that up so fast.

Lastly, we are already getting a taste of what the future might hold regarding temper tantrums. Ryan already seems to know all about throwing little tantrums. I have a feeling we might have some challenging times with him as a toddler.  He has this angry grunt/cry that he does and when he is mad or cranky and he will either throw himself backwards, bang his head into a wall (or person, toy or carpet) and sometimes will even bite to show his anger. So far he doesn't usually bite us, but the carpet or furniture. He has bit my clothes sometimes, but not usually during a tantrum just when he's wanting something or teething. We are trying to teach him patience and that he doesn't always get his way, but it's hard to know how to convey this to a baby. I've heard James Dobson has a book on raising a strong-willed child and I think I will probably have to read it as I know we will need some advice down the road.  We hope to curb this determined and strong-willed behavior in a positive way as we know it is possible.

So, month 11 was a busy one, but wanted to make sure I got in all of these memories for later since I seem to be forgetting things so quickly these days. Overall, Ryan is such a joy and a Momma's boy for sure and we love him so much! He absolutely lights up when Daddy gets home from work everyday and they have a very special bond through playtime and "rough-housing" already. It is so great to see our little family as we grow together. Hope you've enjoyed the update. All our love for a happy and healthy 2011. :)

~Emily