14 Months

14 Months!

We are totally loving the nice weather and enjoying playing outside with Ryan. Now that he is a little older, I feel like this summer is going to be so much more fun than last summer! We are able to take him to the pool and he can walk around and he is learning to kick his legs in the pool, it's adorable and he really loves it. He also enjoys flirting with the lifeguards.... He loves that he can walk now, he thinks he is such a big shot. He actually runs more than he walks right now, its very entertaining to watch. Besides the fact that he still wears a diaper, I don't feel like he is a baby at all anymore. A little sad, but it's really a lot of fun. I love watching his little mind work, and he is so smart!

A few days ago, I had one of the best experiences ever with my little boy. We were walking in our front yard and he reached out his hand for me and said "mama". He has said mama a million times, but hearing it in conjunction with grabbing my hand and walking with me was totally different. I used to see other moms with their children and just get so excited for when that would be me. He is such a sweet boy! He also gives the best hugs in the whole world!

He now has 7 teeth, the top 4 and 3 bottoms. The 4th bottom is coming through now and we are pretty sure he is getting his molars because he is a drooling monster and a little more high maintenance than usual. He hates teething rings and stuff, so thank God for baby Advil.

I am amazed at how much Ryan understands me. For example, if I ask him to bring me his ball, he will look for it, pick it up and walk it over to me. If he sees our dog, chances are he will go to her instead but I'll take what I can get :) I have to watch what he puts where though, I am pretty sure he threw my credit card in the garbage...along with Joe's play station controller. Joe is pretty lucky I retrieved that instead of leaving it there like I wanted to!

My favorite part about him getting older is listening to him learn new words favorite new word is cookie. Yes, cookie. He is definitely my son, the cookie monster. Yesterday he was sitting in his highchair with a turkey sandwich and he looked at me, shook his head no and said "cookie". I said, "okay, do you want a banana?" Again, shook his head no and said "cookie". I gave in and gave him the cookie, which I know isn't the best parenting, but he is just too cute when he asks for it. After I gave him the cookie he said thank you, so I must be doing something right! :) So far he can say; hi, bye, night night, truck, car, ball, dog, cookie, thank you (sounds more like tat tu, totally adorable!), and of course mama and dada! We just love our little smarty pants!

As I think I say every month, we just can't get enough of our little boy. No matter what happens throughout the day, Ryan just makes everyday a great day.

One Year Old!!!

Holy moly our baby is one! Well, actually 13 months now, I have been a bit busy for the updated blogging. I don't really even know where to begin. The last year has gone by SO fast, yet, I have no recollection of what life was even life without Ryan, nor do I even want to try to think about it! Every second of the last year has been truly the most amazing blessing. We absolutely love being Ryan's parents!

Joe and I wake up every morning and enjoy coffee together until Ryan wakes up. As soon as we hear a peep out of him, it's like a race to get upstairs and go see him. Usually I let Joe win because I get more time with Ryan than he does...and because Ryan ALWAYS needs a diaper change right when he wakes up. Soo, Joe gets to take care of that too :)

We had Ryan's first birthday party and it was awesome. We actually had two parties for him, one for family and one for friends. It was amazing how generous people were. He now has more toys than we know what to do with and tons of really cute clothes. We couldn't be more grateful for all the people who came and celebrated the days with us! Both were priceless events and I can't believe they are over!

Ryan is now walking everywhere. He started using his walker on Christmas day, took his first steps on March 6th, was up to 10 steps around 11.5 months and now at 13 months he is walking. He will still crawl sometimes, but for the most part he walks. He will walk around the mall with me and wave at everyone, he must think he is in a parade or something. He gets people smiling at him thats for sure!

He is a great eater! He eats pretty much everything that we eat. Some of his favorites are turkey and cheese sandwiches, chicken, yogurt, pizza, spaghetti and COOKIES. He is our little cookie monster. I still make him food and store it in the freezer. So far I have made him pasta with hidden veggies, butternut squash risotto, pasta with carrots, zucchini, broccoli and cheese and orzo with mushrooms and tomatoes. Our freezer is fully stocked with zip lock bags full of frozen food for Ryan. He uses his sippy cup now during the day. I still give him his morning and night milk in his bottle, but water, juice and milk throughout the day are all from his sippy. If I leave his sippy cup on the coffee table, he will walk over to it, pick it up and sake a sip, then put it down and start playing again. The first time he did that it shocked me! The boy knows what he wants!

He loves to play with all of his toys. He likes to stack things..legos, blocks, whatever. He also likes to put objects inside of things. It's cute when he puts the ball in the hoop and the block in the bowl, that sort of thing. It becomes slightly less cute when he put my brush into the toilet and a hair clip into the garbage....

According to baby center, after 12 months they are considered a toddler. I felt very saddened by this, but now that I think about it, he really isn't a baby anymore. Walking, saying a few words, eating real food, it's crazy!

I was able to enjoy my second mother's day this year. Joe and Ryan gave me a beautiful bracelet that has Ryan's birthstone on it. I love it and can add charms for any additional children, it was a wonderful present. Ryan got me a card that Joe said Ryan picked out for me, I thought he was just kidding until I saw the card. You open it and it starts singing "you're simply the best" and Ryan started dancing to the song. Needless to say, I now believe Joe that Ryan chose the card :)

We are looking forward to some nice weather so that we can finally enjoy being outside!

Matthew Herbert Nelson is born!

We have been blessed with a new family member! My brother Robert and sister in law Jen welcomed their beautiful little boy Matthew on March 22nd. After a weekly Dr. appointment, her Dr. said baby needed to be delivered via c-section...right now! As soon as we got that call, we frantically packed up our things to drive to Bloomington. Right before my mom got to my house to pick up Ryan and I, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket... text message from Robert with a picture of sweet baby Matthew. I cried for 2 reasons; one, I was overjoyed that he was born beautiful and healthy and two, because I wasn't there. My mom, Richard, Ryan and I drove down as fast as we could! All 2 hours, Ryan didn't sleep a wink...he must have been as excited as we were! We were able to go see them in the hospital that night and spent the night at their house. My mom, Ryan and I went back again a day later and spent a few days at their house helping out with their sweet baby. Our family is so lucky!!!

11 Months!!

Running around the house yelling with his walker
Basketball

Happy after a nap
Playing with his cousin Jackson, they are too adorable together
LOVES Penny!
Ryan's first pets, Henry and Nemo. Grandpa Nelson bought them for him, he likes to watch them swim around :)

Only one more month until this little boy is ONE year old! This has flow by faster than I ever imagined it could. Yet at the same time, I have zero recollection of what our lives were like before Ryan was born. I miss the newborn stage at times, but for the most part, watching him grow has been so exciting! Luckily, Robert and Jen's baby is due in less than 3 weeks, so I can hold one again soon! :)

Ryan took his first real step on March 8th and by March 9th, he was able to take 5 steps at a time. It's very adorable to watch! He can crawl faster than any baby I have ever seen, so I think he will prefer to crawl for a while. We'll see!

He still loves bath time! LOVES it! Sometimes if he is crabby during the day, I strip him down and let him play in the tub. The minute we get into the bathroom, he crawls up the tub and stands up and looks at me, he is ready to go! He plays with his toys, splashes around and likes to see the water go down the drain. Mostly, he enjoys standing up, and then sitting down trying to see how big of a splash he can make. Very cute...and also very wet. I have to have a towel on the floor next to the tub to soak up the water as well as a new shirt handy for myself.

One of his favorite toys is a little basketball hoop he got from Grandma and Papa Derus for Christmas. I taught him how to put the ball into the hoop. So now he thinks that everything that has a hole, needs something to go inside of it. Smart kid, right? Well, the other day he opened the bathroom cabinet, took the hairspray out, and then proceeded to drop it into the toilet... hilarious, but not exactly where I want my bottle of hairspray! He makes me laugh every day thats for sure!

He is a GREAT sleeper now! If someone told me 3 months ago that Ryan would be sleeping about 11 hours straight with no wake ups as well as napping twice a day, I would have told them they were crazy. But it's true! It's wonderful! Doesn't happen every single night, but for the most part, he is a great sleeper/napper now.

He is also a very good eater. Last week him and I went to Lifetime and after my workout I was starving. So we went into the Cafe and I ordered the turkey and swiss cheese sandwich for Ryan and I to "share". Well, that didn't work out so well, my little munchkin ate the WHOLE sandwich!! I'm sorry, let me correct myself, he was sweet enough to leave me the crust. Next time I will have to order more food!! He loves mac and cheese, grilled cheese, nilla wafers, yogurt, chicken, pasta, meatballs, bananas, I don't know why I am listing right now, he loves almost everything. This week I made him some pasta with hidden veggies to get him to eat more vegetables and luckily he loved it... otherwise I would have wasted about 4 hours of my life because thats how long it took to make it! Now it's all frozen into 2 oz. cubes in my freezer, ready to be defrosted when he is hungry. Feels good to feed my baby such healthy meals.

Now, we are just waiting for the weather to warm up so we can enjoy the outdoors again!

9-10 Month Picures

Family day in downtown Geneva- Amazing fondue!

Ryan's 1st Haircut! February 19th, 2011
Ryan zooming around the kitchen with his walker while Joe makes us french toast for breakfast :)

Just playing in his room
Standing on his own for the first time- February 10th, 2011
Blizzard of 2011
Family day downtown Chicago- Ryan's first trip to the Shedd Aquarium

10 Months!

Well, it is officially time to start planning Ryan's first birthday party! 10 months and counting. This is most definitely shaping up to be the best year of our lives. Having Ryan has changed and molded our lives in such a way that we can't even begin to fathom what it was like without him. I am with him all day, everyday, but still at night when we put him to bed, I actually miss him! Joe and I just watch him on the video monitor and talk about how cute and sweet he is. Then I say "I think I should go get him" and Joe says "babe, don't wake him up" and I say "okay, fine...." It's a dialogue that happens often :) He is just so very loved!

We took him in for a weight check at 10 months and he gained almost 2 pounds in one month!! At 9 months I received the go ahead to let him eat anything he wanted with a few exceptions. He LOVES food!! All food really, except for the normal baby food purees. I tried making it myself and tried Gerber, he hates it all. But take the kid to Costco, and he will eat every sample they give away! It's so adorable to take him there, he just sits in the cart and waves at all the sample ladies... they love him! He loves to wave at people and if he is having a hard time getting someone to notice him, he will put both arms up in the air. Then he usually starts clapping. It's like he is clapping at himself for a job well done. Whenever we say "Yay Ryan!" He immediately throws his arms up in the air too, it's so cute! It's his world, we are just livin in it :) This boy also loves to dance!! If I start either singing or put on the radio, he starts wiggling his little butt and gets a huge grin on his face and sometimes starts laughing or clapping. He really likes the Justin Bieber Baby song, gets him going every time. He will be embarrassed by this years from now. :)

He is sleeping soo well now. I guess after months and months of a rough sleep schedule, we were due some good nights sleep! He is still napping really well too, it's nice to have some sort of a "schedule" He naps everyday at 10 and then again at 2, we'll see how long that lasts.

He will go down around 8:00-8:30 at night depending on when Joe gets home from work and sleep until 7:00! It's wonderful!

He is definitely teething again, so we are just waiting to see when those little teeth will pop through. Lots of drool until then!

I started going to the gym a few days a week so that Ryan will have some interaction with other children when I leave him in the child center. It was REALLY hard for me to leave him in there the first few times. Joe had to literally drag me up the stairs to the fitness floor the first time. And the first time he cried when I left... I almost cried. My friend Dana who I have been working out with just had to assure me that her daughter Mia did the same thing in the beginning and now she loves it. So far, she was right. He is getting better everyday!

Great news in the Santilli household... Joe will be starting a new job March 1st. He will be the Sales Department Head at the Lifetime Fitness in Warrenville, which is over 30 minutes closer to our house! So now I can go workout there and we can visit Joe in the middle of the day. We are very very excited about the transition and very proud of Joe, he will be so great at his new job!

9 Months!

Ryan is 9 months old!! Time flies! Soon enough we will be planning his first birthday party! I am so happy that I keep this blog because I often forget what he was doing at what month, so some day I will have to print it all out and show Ryan what a good baby he is!

He is such a good natured loving little boy. He is crawling around like a maniac and standing up on EVERYTHING! He loves to cruise around the family room by holding onto the coffee table on one side and the couch on the other. He can walk the entire length of the couch that way. Ryan is obsessed with the stairs....obsessed! He can crawl up our entire flight of stairs (with me RIGHT behind him of course) almost as fast as I can. I can't believe how quick he is! He must know that Penny usually sleeps on the futon upstairs in the office because he will crawl up every step and crawl right into the office and pull himself up on the futon and look for Penny. The dog drives me nuts, but it is pretty adorable!

He has a little toy that he can walk with, I thought he was probably too young for it, but he pulled himself up on it and started walking with it on Christmas day. Shocked the heck out of me...

He still says dada all the time, but now he is starting to say mum a lot. Not mama, but mum. Especially when he is tired or crabby, then its more of an exasperated muuuummm. I love it :)

My favorite thing he does is when Joe gets home from work. If he is playing on the floor when Joe walks in, he crawls as fast as he can with a huge grin on his face all the way to greet him at the door. After a long day of work and an hour commute, it makes Joe's day every time!

He has finally started waving a lot. The other day we were out to lunch and he sat in the highchair staring and waving at ladies at the other table for a good 3 minutes. Then when he got their attention and they looked at him, he stopped. Go figure. He will wave back at me about 50% of the time, but he usually seems to just do it to other people to get their attention. Or he will cough, he thinks thats like saying" Hey, look at me, I'm over here!" He can clap too, but it is pretty rare. When he does, he usually only moves one hand to hit the other, so I dont know if it's quite a "clap" but Joe thinks it qualifies :)

He enjoys giving kisses, and by kisses, I mean opening his mouth and sucking on my face...it ends in a slobbery mess, but he is so sweet I can't help but let him drool all over me!

Still only 2 teeth, thats enough for him to be able to eat whatever I give him. I give him tiny pieces of bread a lot, and he chews on them like its a steak. Then opens his mouth for more. He loves puffs too. If I really need to get something done, I'll put him in his high chair with a bunch of puffs on the tray and put on channel 11. That works for about 20 minutes so I can get things done around the house, it's amazing!

At his 9 month Dr. appt. he weighed 15 lbs and 13ozs and was about 28 1/2 inches tall. He is only in the 1.5 percentile for weight, so we bring him in for a weight check when he is 10 months old. At the 9 month check up, he was given the okay to eat anything except for seafood, nuts and honey, so we are letting him try everything. Turns out, the baby who I thought didn't really like to eat, just doesn't want his bottles anymore. He thinks he is a big boy now! So put pot roast, bread, spaghetti, nilla wafers, any of those things in front of them and he will eat it all up! He loved pot roast so much that he literally put his face down to the table to eat it instead of picking it up with his little fingers, I guess he figured that would be faster? Who knows, but I think he will start puttin on a few lbs now :)

He is so much different than the teeny baby he was when he was born, but soooo much more fun now! Can't wait to see what the next month holds.