18 months old + photo shoot!

Wow, what a year and a half it has been! I could not be more blessed with the way things have turned out. Rayce has been a complete joy from the start. Sure he keeps me on my toes but I love every minute of it. I miss my once squishy, cuddly baby but he has grown into quite a character with a spunky personality. I absolutely adore him and I can’t believe how fast he is growing up.

One of our neighbors said to Ray the other day…”wow your baby is walking already?” Ray politely responded oh yea! Then she proceeded with “it’s seems just like yesterday when you had that it’s a boy sign in your front yard!” I instantly got teary just thinking of the day we brought him home and what an awesome feeling it was to be new parents.

I know I say it all the time, how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family but I say it all the time because I mean it. Life is good and I'm right where I've always wanted to be!

Happy 1 and ½ years on this earth Rayce! I cannot wait for many more…

He's come a long way!

There was a point in time when Rayce saw someone other than mommy or daddy he would instantly become hysterical. I’m not talking cry for a minute and get over it hysterical, I’m talking hold his breath, turn purple, on the verge of need a paper bag kind of hysterical. It was bad and for awhile it made it really hard to go anywhere, but gone are those days. I’m so happy with my big boy Rayce; today he stayed with Grandpa Ray for four hours while mommy got her wisdom teeth out. They had a great time together and I didn’t get any frantic phone calls advising me that I needed to come home. It was nice for a change. I think I could get use to this idea! :)

Clapping, Pointing, Waving

Finally, yes! At 17 months old I'm pleased to announce that Rayce is doing all the above. This may not seem like a big deal to some but if you have read some of my previous posts you know this has been a concern of mine for some time. At 9 months old I started to notice that Rayce was a little behind in some areas (mainly fine motor skills) and as time when on I got more and more concerned.

Ray and I have been working non-stop with him and it's nice to finally see results. He has been waving for a few months now. He loves to go bye-bye so whenever he hears "that word" he will wave. I wanted to be able to go to his 18 month check-up with a good report and this is definitely a step in the right direction. I knew he had it in him, I couldn't be more thrilled. :)

Big boy bath

After almost 17 months of life Rayce has graduated to the big boy bath. I know, I know you're thinking, why so long? The truth is I was secretly afraid of him drowning it was more convenient for me. But do not fear the big boy bath is here…to stay! Rayce loves it and I can no longer deprive him of such fun. This just means one step closer to big boy-ness and another step lost of my baby-ness. I think I’ll go sit and sulk. Hehe.



Too cute for words right? I just love him.

Molars, Ack!

This is the face of a molar teething toddler refusing to go to sleep. Looks fun right? For the past few nights Rayce has woken up whining, which is odd for him considering he has pretty much slept through the night since 9 months old. But, after a little rolling around and some help from Mr. Tylenol he’s back asleep and forgets anything ever happened in the morning. Whew! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, teething is rough. These are his first molars so I will cut him a little slack this time. And, to top it all off he is cutting two molars at one time. Fun, fun!

In other new I’ve been working intensively with Rayce on expressing himself and using one word phrases to pin point what he wants. As a result his tantrums have decreased drastically. I couldn’t be more thrilled. He still has his days, which is to be expected but I’ll take any improvement I can get.

Also spending time away from the computer has helped as well. I feel like I have a better hand on things in general. I hope all is well with everyone.

Hugs,

Where's Waldo Rayce?

Little stinker destroyed his room not 10 minutes after I finished cleaning it. I cleaned his room and proceeded to clean other parts of the house and I noticed it got strangely quite. So I went in to investigate and this is what I found. Notice, the table up side down, chairs thrown about, Mickey face down. What is a mom to do? Apparently nothing because I’m told this is typical boy fashion.

I recently read some encouraging words on babycenter.com about tantrums and toddler hood. The article read: your toddler may be easily overwhelmed by life's challenges and respond to them by dissolving into tears and screams. Don't ask him to stop — he probably can't. Instead be patient, available, and willing to offer him comfort or just your presence, whatever he seems to need at the moment. He'll get over it and be good as new if you just let him storm.

Ok great! I’m thinking that would work great a home but what about in public? Am I supposed to just let the storm pass while everyone stares? Because we all know people love to stare when your child is throwing a fit in the middle of a restaurant. I mean come on people as if it’s not bad enough, I don’t need an audience as well.

And he’s not even 2 yet!

16 Months

Where, oh where, has my baby gone? I now have a full-fledged toddler living with me. Walking and running still top the agenda, but now more complex movements have become the norm. When he crosses a room, he'll squat to pick up an interesting toy. Soon I fear he’ll be ambitious enough to figure out how to push a chair over to the kitchen counter so he can climb up for a better look — all the more reason to make sure my house is as childproof as it can be. Rayce is changing and growing at such a fast pace some days I feel, I just can’t keep up. It’s pure craziness. Lord help me get through toddler hood, I need you like never before!

Woody Woodpecker

My son is a woodpecker! That little sinker chewed up his crib. I guess teething got the best of him, he must have needed something to gnaw on pretty bad. It’s funny but it’s not, you know what I mean? Speaking of teething, Rayce still only has 8 teeth. It kind of looks like he has some coming through on the top but so far nada. Poor little guy, teething is rough. If it’s anything like wisdom teeth I feel his pain.

In other Rayce news: we’re trying to conquer tantrums. :/ I know it comes with his age and where he is right now developmentally but lord help me on some days. Rayce is one of those kids that you stare at, at the grocery store. He throws fits anywhere and everywhere. Yesterday we went to Lowes and he would not sit in the cart. Not only did he wanted to get out at walk around (which was fine) but he also wanted to push the cart on his knees. Imagine the looks I got from that one. Then after that blew over, he wanted to stand in the back part of the cart, not sit but stand! Oy! I tell you it has been a challenge but we will make it through, one way or another.

Little Climber

Keeping up with a spunky toddler is anything but boring. He challenges me everyday and always has something up his sleeve. His favorite thing to do is climb. He can now get on top of the couch, coffee table, and his chair, un-assisted. He loves to stand up on anything, I think it makes him feel big! I know what you’re thinking, omg Laura, that is dangerous. The good new is he knows how to get down safely and we haven’t had a fall yet. From an early age I taught Rayce how to get off of things backwards, you know, feet first. So now, whenever he tries to get off of something he turns around and plants his feet first. Works like a charm! I love my little guy. Isn’t he growing up quick? Too quick!

Who knew?

Rayce would still be entertained by his bouncer at 15 months old! I had it tucked away in the back bedroom and he discovered it and had a grand time in it. He loved it so much I had to take a few photos. He looked so big in it. I remember when he would drown in this thing. Ah the memories!

15 month check-up

Before I got abruptly cut off from my internet I forgot to give an update on Rayce’s 15 month appointment. He weighed in at 24.6 pounds and is 32 inches long. He is still down 2 pounds from where he was prior to getting sick so that was a little disappointing. Also he is developmentally delayed in fine motor skills and in his speech. His pedi didn’t seem as concerned as I was. She just said we would have him evaluated and nothing would probably come out of it. WTH? I guess because he is doing some things on target but not others. That would be my guess. I’m not as concerned about his fine motor skills as I am his speech because he doesn’t really say anything, at all. For awhile there he was attempting to say hungry but now he can’t quite get that to come out. So in the meantime I decided to delay some of his vaccines. Rayce stays at home all day with me. He’s not in daycare around a bunch of other kids and so at this time I felt it was in his best interest to hold off on the controversial MMR. At least until we get to the bottom of what is going on with him developmentally. When we get things figured out we will re-evaluate. Until then I guess that makes me a non-vaccine mommy. Although you may not agree I feel like this is the best for my child at this time.

15 months

Rayce is 15 months old today! He's a curious little guy. He likes getting into anything and everything. His favorite thing to do these days is to tear the house upside down right after mommy got done cleaning for 2 hours. I find myself constantly picking up after him because if I don't by the end of the night it looks like a tornado just got done blowing through here.

We have also been working on talking. Rayce has started to show more and more interest in talking so lately we have been working on that. So far he attempts to say hungry and bless you. He thinks it's the funniest thing when people sneeze and just the other day I caught him trying to say bless you after Ray sneezed. Too funny! Who thought their child’s first words would have been hungry and bless you?

On Thursday we are going for Rayce's 15-month checkup so stay tuned for that. For now enjoy a small slide show of some pictures from this weekend.

Sicky Poo

Rayce has been sick yet again. It all started last week, he developed a fever on Thursday. His fever has been in the 102-103 ranges for 4 days now so I went ahead and took him in to the doctor again. Of course, as I suspected, she didn't find anything visibly wrong. She said to give it another few days and if he isn't better to start antibiotics. She's thinking that he might have drainage problems. If he keeps getting infections then we will probably have to look in to thing further. I'm hoping it all passes and I cannot wait for cold/flu season to be O-V-E-R! I'm sure you all know a sick toddler is not the finest thing on the block.

Just a swingin'

It has been awhile since I posted a video of Rayce. This weekend we went to birthday party at the park and Rayce got some serious swingin' time in. I missed it because I was doing other things but daddy got it on video so, I thought I would share it with you all. He's such a big boy now, I can not believe how big he's getting. Enjoy!

Oh My Sweet Rayce!

Once again Rayce you cease to amaze me as to the extent of the situations you get yourself in to. This is a picture of a gap in our screen door that Rayce managed to get his head stuck in yesterday. I turned my head for a split second and the next thing I heard was screaming, the kind of sheer terror. I looked over because I wasn’t but a foot from him and saw his head all twisted of sorts. Somehow he had got his head in the hole and couldn’t get it out. I frantically started yelling for Ray, he was outside in the back of the house, but he wasn’t coming fast enough. So I started yelling help, HELP! I couldn’t get his head out. All I imagined in that split second was having to call the fire department to free my screaming son for the screen door. Finally, Ray arrived, just in time for me to get it un-wedged. By this time Rayce is purple starting to turn blue, (he holds his breath when he cries) I’m trying to calm him down, while trying to explain to Ray what happened. Oy! Rayce is fine; he only had a minor scratch. I’m sure this won’t be the last of incidents to happen but I just can’t get the image out of my head. I just wanted to die.

First Real Word

I’m pleased to announce that Rayce has officially said his first real word. Ready for it? No laughing! He says hungry! Of course he doesn’t say it just like that, he actually says “ungy”. Love it! He walks around all the time now saying ungy, ungy. I never thought this would be his first real word. I was thinking more along the lines of puppy or dog because he loves both. Oh well what can you do? Hungry it is!

I hope everyone has a great week. Our isn't starting out so good but I will save that for a separate post.

Happy Easter!

We don't need the Easter bunny around here! I love this kid he's my cute bunny. I hope everyone had a great weekend, enjoying all the Easter festivites!

Another update on Rayce

This is the smiling face I woke up to this morning. What a difference 24 hours on antibiotics has made. Oh how I wish I had taken him back to the doctor sooner. I struggled with is he just going through a phase or does he really not feel good. I mean there’s so much talk about how your child goes through these “phases” of not wanting to sleep. Rebelling because of separation anxiety. Sometimes you just get caught up in trying to do the politically right thing that you forget to listen your mommy instinct. My mommy instinct told me something just isn’t right but little voice in the back of my head said to just wait it out. I feel so guilty that he suffered for over a week. Ah if only he could talk. Anyway, he’s a brand new kid! It’s like nothing ever happened. I cannot tell you how nice it is to have my monkey back. I think all the sleepless nights are behind us, for now at least. Hopefully now we can enjoy the beautiful springtime weather and get back to “the normal life”.



That's my monkey!

Infected Adenoid

Since I got back from Las Cruces a couple weeks ago Rayce just hasn't been the same. We all look like zombies around here because we have been getting zero sleep. Rayce has been a mess. He refuses to lie down and just plain screams for HOURS. It once took him minutes to fall asleep and now we are going on 2-3 hours. It’s not just at night either it’s goes on for naptime as well. He's visibly tired; it's obvious something is wrong. So, I took him to the doctor again today. As you may recall I took him to the doctor last week because he mysteriously spiked a 104 fever well, I think this the answer to the mystery. The diagnosis is infected adenoid. So what are adenoids you ask? Your adenoids are a mass of lymphoid tissue situated at the very back of the nose, in the roof of the nasopharynx, where the nose blends into the mouth. Adenoids are part of the immune system. Like all lymph tissue, they trap infectious agents like viruses and bacteria, and they produce antibodies. My poor little guy. He also lost a pound since he was in last. His Pedi said at this point he should have been getting better instead of getting worse. I’m glad I took him in. Once again the mommies instinct was right. We got a prescription for amoxicillin and hopefully things will be back to normal around here in a few days.

Update on Rayce

Rayce is feeling so much better. His sickness didn’t last as long as I thought it would. With the way things started out I thought for sure I was in for a rough road ahead but thankfully him being sick was short lived. Thank you to everyone who sent get well wishes. Rayce is still not 100% but we’ll take anything we can get! He’s back to playing and jumping around and that’s all that matters. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.