2-Year (22 Month) Checkup

Ryan had his 2 year checkup today, although he's just barely 22 months old. I am happy to say that this was the best pediatric checkup Ryan has had since birth! He didn't cry the whole time, and we didn't spend the entire time talking about my long list of concerns. Here are his growth stats:Weight: 24 lbs, 9 oz (16%) (Up from 13% at his 18 month)

Height: 34 inches (45%) (Up from 30% at his 18 month)

Head: 19 inches (47%) (Down from 64% at his 18 month)

Still a small guy but definitely growing!

I expressed my frustrations with timeouts. So far they don't work. Ryan giggles and thinks it is a game when I try to get him to sit on a chair for a minute when he's been disobedient. His Dr. suggested using the corner of the room for timeouts, and blocking him in sitting with my back to him. It doesn't even have to be a long time....1 minute at the most. But the point is to make it a non-fun and boring experience for Ryan. We'll try it and see what happens!

Ryan's Dr. said that we can switch him to lowfat milk once he turns 2. I'm still undecided on when I will make the switch, since he is on the smaller side and could probably use the extra calories for now.

We talked about Ryan's development, and other than his speech delays, he is doing really well. He was such a pleasant little boy at the appointment that he even waved goodbye to the Dr. at the end!

Day Trips

Last week was mostly spent with my 2 nieces and 1 nephew. We had lots of fun going on little day trips. I was all set to blog about it, and then our computer broke. We're back up and running now, with a return to normalcy this week. Here's a quick recap of our fun!

Half Moon Bay:

San Francisco:

Dunking Fun

Tonight Ryan discovered the fun of dunking his head under the shower while watching his tub fill up before bathtime. He thought it was hilarious!

25 Weeks Pregnant

And feeling like I'm 35 weeks pregnant!! Seriously, I don't remember feeling quite this large and tired when I was just 25 weeks along with Ryan.

My tiredness isn't really a sleepy tired (although I do have days where it gets hard to keep my eyes open). It's more of a fatigued feeling from having to move myself around all day. I just feel sluggish, like everything physical takes more effort than it should. I do remember feeling this way with the last pregnancy, just much closer to the end.

I am hoping that by making a few changes to my diet, I can get some of my energy back. I feel particularly uncomfortable after eating a full meal, especially after dinner. So I might try eating more smaller meals throughout the day. I also need to make a better effort at drinking more water and eating more produce and less sugar. Sounds simple, but it's so easy to rationalize one's cravings when they are pregnant and tired!

I also had a cold this week....my 4th time being sick this pregnancy. That may also be contributing to my fatigue. I'm going to see how I feel next week and if I'm still exhausted, I'll talk to my midwife about it.

Chili Beans

Unless you are the parent of an extremely picky toddler, you might not fully understand what I am about to say, and why it makes me so happy.
Ryan ate an entire plate of chili cheese nachos for lunch yesterday.
And I was such a proud Mama!
The fiber! The protein! The calories!
The resulting diaper change!

No and the Noodle

Ryan seems to have developed a little bit of an attitude. It is as if he has turned into a 2-year-old overnight. Case in point: Ryan has learned a new word. NO. He loves this new word, and loves using it all the time. Some of the time it's pretty cute, because he says it with such a determined look on his cute little face. Other times, like during a tantrum, it's not so cute.

Speaking of tantrums, Ryan has officially perfected the noodle. When he doesn't want to be picked up, he makes his entire body go limp like a wet noodle. Ryan is probably averaging 1-2 tantrums per day now. One almost always occurs when we leave the house. Ryan thinks we are going out the front door to play outside. When I pick him up to put him in the car and he realizes we aren't playing, the tantrum starts. He screams and hits me, and turns into a noodle. I have a feeling this little attitude of his is only the tip of the toddler iceberg.

24 Week Firsts

Sorry no 24-week belly pic! The only human being I saw today was Ryan, and he's not so good with the camera yet.

A few pregnancy firsts from this week:

~I got my first pregnancy leg cramp today. Holy heck that hurt!! I used to get leg cramps a lot before I had children, but I don't remember them being this awful. I actually tried to close my eyes and pretend I was in labor and see if I could relax and breathe deeply through the pain. Nope, didn't work. I wanted to scream.


~It has finally happened. My very first stretch mark. Two of them, actually. Right in the front of my belly, about 3 inches below my belly button. I can barely see them right now but I know they will get worse. I was so lucky not to get any with Ryan. Why now??

~I think I also got my first braxton hicks contraction this week. I never had these with Ryan. All of a sudden my stomach felt really strange, like the baby had moved and was pressing outward. When I felt my stomach, it was rock hard, like during a contraction. Kind of scary, but also exciting that my body knows what to do to prepare for labor.

Hand Holding

Ryan has two methods of holdings hands. The first is used 90% of the time. It involves him grabbing my hand and dragging me around the house, from one activity to the next. Sometimes he wants me to play with a certain toy, other times he wants me to give him something out of reach. The other type of hand holding is new to him.
When we are walking outside I often ask Ryan to hold my hand. And lately he has been grasping ahold of my finger, walking along next to me. So sweet!

Who Needs a Spoon?

New Due Date

I met with my midwife yesterday for my monthly checkup. After reviewing the results of my ultrasound and noticing that baby has consistently been measuring big, she officially changed my due date to June 7th. Just like that I lost 8 days of my pregnancy! That puts me at almost 23 weeks now. It's going by so quickly! Here are my stats from yesterday:

Total Weight Gain: 18 pounds
Blood Pressure: 126/76
Baby's Heartrate: 140 bpm

I was a little concerned about my weight gain. I gained 7 pounds this past month, whereas they recommend only 1 pound per week. I looked back at my blog post from when I was at this stage with my first pregnancy, and guess what? I gained 7 pounds in one month, bringing my total gain to 18 pounds. Exactly the same as this pregnancy. So I asked my midwife and she didn't seem concerned. She said she would only worry if my blood pressure was also increasing, which it isn't. When I was pregnant with Ryan, I didn't gain a single pound between weeks 24 and 30. Maybe that will happen again?

Baby is kicking quite a bit now, particularly right after I get up in the morning and right before bed. My appetite is pretty normal, although I'm starting to get my appetite back for chocolate and other sweets.

We really need to start shopping for the few baby items we need, as well as start setting up the nursery. I know the next few months will go by quickly, and I want to feel ready for this baby!

21 Month Sleeping Habits

I've had a few people ask me what I plan on doing differently with my second baby. Obviously the first thing that comes to mind is sleep habits. I think about Ryan's sleep issues a lot, and what I would do differently if I could go back in time. I know I've blogged a lot about sleep, but I want to have a way to remember Ryan's sleeping habits from different stages of his childhood. So here's an update on Ryan's sleep, at just over 21 months old. I'll use a recent example from Sunday night to give you an idea of what our nights and days are like.

7:30-8:00pm Adam and I try to slow Ryan down. We put him in his PJ's and Adam sits in his semi-lit room quietly playing, while I get ready for bed myself.

8:00 - 9:30pm We bring Ryan into our room to put him to sleep. After many attempts at getting Ryan to fall asleep in his own bed, we have realized it just doesn't work. We all lay down in our dark room. Ryan screams and cries when he realizes it's time for bed. We softly whisper to him and tell him it's time to go to sleep. Ryan stands up and plays with decorations on the wall above our bed. Adam lays him back down and firmly tells him it's time to sleep. Ryan cries and kicks and squirms. I rub his back and sing "Wheels on the Bus", "Twinkle Twinkle", "Hush Little Baby", and about 4 other songs. Meanwhile Ryan is trying to climb off the bed and play with my alarm clock. Adam starts trying to whisper "shhh" in Ryan's ear to relax him. Ryan does it back to him, and then starts spitting on him instead. We both tell him to stop, that spitting is yucky and not nice. Ryan screams and hits us. Adam and I both try pinning down his arms for a minute to see if this will calm him down. It only makes him scream louder. I turn on my alarm clock radio to see if the soft music will help. It doesn't. I try giving Ryan a massage on his legs. He climbs off the bed and runs into the hallway. Adam retrieves him and tells him sternly that it is time for bed. No more playing around. Ryan starts head-butting us. I see stars. We both tell him he has been very naughty, and that he should never hurt Mommy and Daddy. He giggles and tries to do it again. Adam and I try to ignore him for a few minutes and see if he gets bored. Instead Ryan climbs off the bed and tries to crawl underneath our bed to terrorize the dog. Next Adam tries gently rocking him in his arms while I sing and hum 5 more songs. Ryan screams and cries. Ryan is even more awake than he was 1.5 hours ago. Adam and I both realize we are getting very frustrated and it's time to take a break.

9:30 - 10:00pm All 3 of us watch the Ice Age cartoon on the couch. Ryan is finally sitting still.

10:00pm Ryan seems calmer so we bring him back into our bed. He cries, kicks, and spits. We take turns whispering, singing, rocking, patting. Ryan stands up. We lay him back down. Ryan climbs off the bed. Adam retrieves him. This goes on until Ryan finally wears himself out and falls asleep at 11:00pm.

11:00pm Ryan is finally asleep in our bed. At this point we try to move him into his own bed, where he will sleep for about 1-2 hours before coming back into our bedroom and climbing into bed with us. Many times we are too exhausted to move him to his bed, so he spends all night with us. Ryan will wake up 1-2 times per night, crying, kicking, getting comfortable. He generally falls back to sleep quickly, though.

6:30am Ryan is up for the day on Monday after 7.5 hours of sleep. He then goes all day without a single minute of napping. He is grumpy and whiny and clingy most of the afternoon.

While the above example doesn't happen every single night, it's pretty close to the norm for us right now. I do not understand where this boy gets his energy. I feel like I have tried everything to get Ryan to sleep better. Nothing works.

So in response to the original question about what I'll do differently with my second baby? I have absolutely no idea.

Saturday Photos

A day in San Francisco!And an evening in Pleasanton!

Foodie Friday: Homemade Zuppa Toscana

I had the pleasure of having lunch this week with my Grandma at the Olive Garden. We both had the "Zuppa Toscana" and agreed that it was delicious! Just the right amount of spice and heartiness from the sausage and potatoes, but lightened up a bit with the healthy kale. So when the manager came out and asked us how our meal was, I promptly asked if they shared their recipes with customers. And he promptly replied "No". But then I complimented him on how tasty the soup was, and he ended up giving me a verbal recipe right there on the spot! My Grandma and I stopped by Whole Foods after lunch, and you can guess what I bought. All the ingredients to make my own homemade Zuppa Toscana! Here is what I came up with:

Homemade Zuppa Toscana

1 lb Spicy Italian Pork Sausage

1/2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flake

1 tsp Crushed Garlic

4 Cups Chicken Broth

2 Cups Water

2 Russet Potatoes, sliced into thin half moons

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

1 Head Kale, stripped from stem and chopped

1) Brown sausage in large pot. Add red pepper flake and garlic once browned.

2) Add chicken broth and water. Bring to boil.

3) Add sliced potatoes. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

4) Turn off head and add heavy cream and kale. Season to taste with salt.

Pretty simple, right? It tasted really good. Not quite the same as Olive Garden's soup, but pretty darn close!

Muah!

Perhaps the cutest thing about Ryan right now is the way he gives kisses. If I ask him for a kiss, he will put his cheek real close to me, so that I can kiss him. While I kiss him, he says "Muah!". He will often go back and forth between Adam and I, "kissing" us. Ryan will even slobber on my belly if I ask him to kiss his baby brother. So adorable! He really does so many cute things these days. Except when he's in this kind of mood.

20 Week Ultrasound

I was so fortunate to have my 20-week ultrasound yesterday. The baby looks good and all his little parts are growing properly! The technician said that he was yawning a lot, but still moving around quite a bit. I remember Ryan was doing so much tumbling during his ultrasound that our appointment was almost rescheduled! Perhaps this means NullyBaby #2 will be a sleepy little boy!?

All along I've been saying that I can't imagine what another son of mine will look like. All I know is Ryan. Well, based on the pictures below, maybe they will in fact be twins!

Ryan

Nameless NullyBaby #2

Or maybe all babies look the same at this point? I don't really know!

According to my due date, I was 20 weeks and 4 days pregnant at yesterday's ultrasound. But based on the baby's measurements, I was actually 21 weeks and 5 days! This might mean that my original due date of June 15th is wrong, and the baby will come sooner. Or, this baby will show up on time or late and weigh like 15 pounds. Eeek! The baby has been measuring large at each appointment, and when my midwife saw that Ryan weighed 8 lbs 6 oz at birth, she commented that I may be one of those women who just has big babies. I weighed 9 lbs, 11 oz at birth. Sorry Mom!