14 Months and Running the House

Ryker is now 14 months old. He weighs 24 lbs and is almost 32 inches tall. He is quite the little dare devil. Ryker is always sporting bruises on his shins and quite often the side of his head. He also gets his feelings hurt very easily. He knows when he is doing something that isn't approved and when he hears the word "No" he gets so dramatic!

When it comes to eating... It is quite struggle. He is in between the period of wanting to feed himself table food, and still wanting the puree. He is sporting 6 teeth on top and 2 on bottom. So I am quite afraid to give him whole food because he can't quite chew his food. Apparently he is also afraid of this and it is my only explanation for why he is having such a hard time at meal time.

When he does eat, he eats a lot!

Ryker currently doesn't have any favorite toys because he is so busy playing with all of his toys at once! He absolutely loves the park and especially loves the kiddie pool in our back yard. We also had a friend over, Silas, who is 19 days younger than Ryker. It was so fun!

As far as our breastfeeding is going, I am still breastfeeding 3 times a day and how ever often Ryker wants at night. Ryker sleeps in his bed all night. He went from waking 3 times a night to eat, to once. I have conflicting emotions. But that is for me to deal with! I love my  little man, and my big man is pretty amazing too!

Trip to Utah

My sister Chelsea is getting married!

And to help feel a little included in the wedding planning process, I surprised her and Ryker and I flew out there last week for bridal showers and wedding planning. She was very shocked!

I learned very quickly that there is very little free time in the Durrant, and Bartholomew family households. Everyone has a schedule, they go, and go, and go, and go... Very little time was actually spent as family time. I slept at my mom's like usual.

I noticed that one of the biggest complications we experienced was not having a crib for Ryker. We had just gotten him into the habit of sleeping in his own bed every night. There was a crib at my dad's, but the side wouldn't stay up. My mom has a play pen, but Ryker never fell asleep deep enough to be moved to the play pen. As a result, he shared the bed with me. It took a whole day  trying to get him to sleep in his crib again when we got home.

To complicate our busy week at home ( in Missouri), Ryker developed a bacterial sinus infection, probably from teething. He seems to get teeth two at a time. It happened this way with his bottom teeth too. One tooth will break through and then go back in until the other one is ready to come out. So, he is on an allergy medication, an antibiotic, and iron drops because he is slightly anemic. We discovered the infection when he woke up one morning with a fever of 103.4-degrees. Our poor child was so cuddly and sleepy for two days after he started the antibiotic. Now, he is back to making lots of messes and is even eating more. While he was super sick, the only food he consumed was breastmilk. So, good thing I wasn't even close to weaning him!

Ryker is a growing boy!

In the past, I have complained about Ryker not eating very much, or sleeping.

Today, I take back all of my complaints! Although, I realize that the time to take them back and focus on cherishing the moment is gone, I miss my little cuddle buddy!

One of my favorite things, with choosing to nurse Ryker for as long as I have, is the instant comfort and cuddle time that only I can give. For nine months of his life, Ryker would not fall asleep with me unless he was nursing.

At the first of the year we moved Ryker into his own room and thus into his own bed. This was a huge step for me! I was so in love with my cuddly buddy and as soon as he was out of our bed, I felt lost! I have since recovered from that feeling because a good night sleep means more to my body than staying awake making sure Ryker is sleeping. So even though Ryker wakes up several times a night (three of four times on average), I miss nursing him to sleep and hearing his slow even breaths as he falls deeper and deeper into unconsciousness.

He has also become an avid eater! Yes... my little man has an improved appetite! He nurses about five times a day, and he is now eating two 6 oz fruits and veggies a day, and 2.5 oz of meat. He loves finger food, and he is so good at picking it up! I have even caught him breaking into the diaper bag, where we keep our "to-go" dishes for Ryker, and he pulls out the dishes and starts to mix and feed himself imaginary food.

So... For those who think that your trials are going to last forever, (like me and getting Ryker into his own bed), they don't. There are always lessons around the corner accompanied with blessings in all shapes and sizes!

SNOW!!!

For those who keep up with me on Facebook, you have probably read some of my posts about the snow. I am not going to say anymore without showing some pictures first!

Oh the Bruises...

Any of you who have raised a child know, they bump into a lot of things! Ryker is trying so hard to walk that he is constantly falling and landing on his face, rear-end, knees, you name it! Just this morning I discovered a bruise on the underside of his chin.

In other news!! Ryker has gained a full pound! He is being a very picky eater... as in... only finger foods make it in his mouth. So either new teeth are making their way out, or he is trying to figure out how life works !

Due to the high amounts of snow we are receiving today, this will be a short blog post.

9 Months Already!

You read that correctly! I have a nine month old baby boy...

Nine month stats:

• 28 1/2 inches
• 18 lbs 13 ounces (he lost weight in the last week due to being sick)
• 17 3/4 inch head circumference

He is so cute and silly! Ryker is learning all kinds of new skills everyday. His latest new skills involve pointing with his index finger, and feeding himself out of a bowl while attempting to wield a spoon. Ryker has also started to experience daycare! We, Justin and I, are now members of Total Fitness Gym in an attempt to better ourselves and our bodies. As part of our membership daycare is offered. So... I gave up my selfish attitude and decided that Ryker needed to gain some experience with other people while I gain some muscle.   He is doing so well! He now only cries right when I leave, but once he notices the animal crackers on the table he stops. Ryker also has two bottom teeth and is currently trying to cut both his top teeth!

This last weekend we also moved Ryker into his own bedroom! He is learning how to sleep in the crib, and is doing better everyday. Night-time, however, is a no-go. He will NOT sleep in his crib if the sun is down and his room is dark. So each night I let him cry for a little while and if he isn't asleep in ten or fifteen minutes he ends up back in bed with us.

Ryker has also developed his daddy's habit of being a Night Owl. Yes... My nine month old likes to stay up late! He usually drops at about 11:30 PM despite countless attempts of getting him in bed earlier. Ryker is also getting very good at saying "Daddy", "Dadie" (Sadie our dog), "Mooommmmyyy" (When he is really upset), and "Ueyi" (Suki our cat). He even started to attempt "Tigger" but it came out "igg  rr". I can't even tell you how fun it is to experience life with him and see how he grows!

Two weeks ago we had a pretty scary experience. Ryker woke up on a Sunday morning and instantly threw up. A few hours later he threw up again, and again. After several diarrhea diapers and a lack of wet diapers, we took him to the hospital fearing dehydration. Before we left we had Grandpa Furnell (Dennis) come over and Justin and Grandpa gave Ryker a priesthood blessing. Upon arriving at the hospital, we were triaged and ended up waiting almost an hour before seeing a NP. When she finally arrived, she attributed his symptoms to a stomach bug and suggested trying to get Ryker to drink some Pedialyte. Ryker has never needed to drink out of a bottle, so having an artificial nipple put in his mouth, he was not tricked. He did not drink the Pedialyte and what he was able to get in his mouth he threw back up. When the doctor was made aware of his case, he ordered some abdominal x-rays thinking there might be a bowl obstruction. While the nurse was putting an IV in my little man's arm the doctor came in and had some bad news.

The doctor was worried that Ryker had a bowl cesseption. This is an instance where the intestines fold in on themselves. So... Upon hearing this, an ambulance was dispatched and paperwork was being gathered to go to Columbia because this is normally a case of surgery to repair what had happened. While crying and visiting with our friends who work in the hospital, and not being able to nurse my suffering baby, on doctor's orders, we waited. And waited. pretty soon they came in with news that the ambulance would be at least an hour getting to us and they had paperwork allowing us to drive him up to Columbia ourselves.

After an hours long drive with our hearts pumping and our minds thinking only of worst case scenarios, we arrived at the hospital. They took us in right away, and redid the x-rays. After looking over the x-rays, doing a few tests, taking Ryker's vitals and calming us down, while being super optimistic, we had a diagnosis. Ryker did have a cesseption but from the time of the first x-rays, it had fixed itself. I can only thank our Heavenly Father for such a wonderful blessing.

I am also very grateful for the decision I have made to continue breastfeeding! Due to this decision and the doctor being a breastfeeding advocate, he sent us home saying that he was more confident letting me breastfeed to rehydrate him than to have him hooked up to an IV. So we were not admitted and we made it home by 5:00AM.

We have been so blessed to have people put in our lives to help us through our struggles and to help us become better children of our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have been given of the Gospel and for the opportunity I have been given to be a stay at home mom and to teach and rear my son in the ways of the Lord.

Late 8 Month Post

So... as many of you are well aware... Another month has gone by! Sorry for being late with this post.  Ryker is now 8 1/2 months old. He has developed so many skills! He pulls up next to things, crawls around...Everywhere... Eats more and more baby food, and we are now facing the battle of constant teething. Just last week we had a tooth make its appearance and then it disappeared. So after all those hours of no sleep, crying, and infants advil... There is no proof!

Ryker's favorite foods include:

• Sweet Potatoes
• Sweet Peas
• Squash
• Apples & Carrots (mixed... He won't eat them separate)
• And Lots and Lots of Rice Cereal!!

This next month we will be introducing meats and oatmeal. Hopefully it goes well and he eats and grows even stronger than he is now! 

Ryker has an adorable natural mohawk! His hair down the middle of his head is about two and a half inches long. He has also outgrown all 9-12 month clothes and is currently in 12-18 month outfits. He is sure a bundle of constant energy and fun!

He still sleeps in our bed, despite countless number of times keeping him in his crib. 

As far as Justin and I go... Justin has been picked as a Healthy U student for the 2013 year. This program gives him a trainer and a nutritionist at no cost to us. He meets with a group of 11 other people from the community all setting out to lose weight! So far he is loving it and we are adjusting to the new lifestyle that comes with trying to eat healthy. I have been advised not to work on weight-loss until after Ryker is done breastfeeding, so for now, I will just exercise and eat to be healthy! But... We are learning together and we are building skills and healthier bodies every step of the way.