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!