Biggest Milestone to date!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7ppDi6qXJo

OK, so she IS sitting, eating solids, has 6 teeth and can say "dada" and "mama"-all pretty good milestones. But this is the one I was waiting for, the one we have been working towards-CLAPPING! We are a sports oriented family, we live to cheer for something, anything. We love throwing our fists up in the air, jumping off the couch and a screaming a big YAY!!!!! I would border on saying we clap and cheer way more than the average person-whatever that means!? So needless to say that on the biggest football weekend, the rivalries of all rivalries-SHE HAD TO CLAP. I honestly was getting nervous, she doesn't exactly perform on command....and it came down to the wire, but she did it-she clapped just about 1/2 hour to kickoff! WHEW-that was a close one...thankfully the game was not!
Enjoy the video above of her clapping-she's awesome!

I Hate to use the word "hate" but.....

Oh my...so Ryan gets to experience her first OSU vs The Team from Up North (Michigan) game and not to be outdone from previous years, we got dressed for the occasion!!! It turned out to be a very very good day:

The Ohio State University 42

University of Michigan 7

Yes, that IS how we like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Mama" no no....Ryan says "dada"!!!

0

Ok, so I don't ask much, I really dont. But come on now-I ask my daughter, who lets remind everyone, that I gave birth too, nursed for 4 months, changed unmentionable diapers, woke up countless hours during the night, loved, cuddled, fed, clothed, and cared for, while; through no fault of his own, her "dada" was out of town. So when I ask her to say "mama" you would think it would be easy, she is with her "mama" 18 of the 24 hours she is awake, but no! I ask her to say "mama" and guess what........ you guessed it, she said "dada"!!!!! Now I know that "dada " is an easier syllable then "mama" but still....where is the love????

The MOST annoying game in the world!!!

Steve has always been...what is a nice way to put this...ostentatious. That may actually be too generous. Since he was 6 weeks old he played this game with us where we get on the floor and he runs circles around us barking....sounds like more fun than it really is. It was cute before he truly "found" his bark, but ever since it is the most horrible noise I know, it literally burns my brain. Since Ryan has been sitting up on her own, we have begun playing on the floor more and more and Steve sees this has a good opportunity to introduce Ryan to this game. Now, in normal situations, I would end this game immediately before I get a migraine, however, Ryan happens to LOVE it. She giggles and coos, and smiles & laughs, she cant get enough, which spurs Steve on further and louder! If this sounds like the most obnoxious game ever, you would be right. But for now, there is no harm (besides my ears bleeding) and they seem to honestly enjoy this dance around each other and I like them to get along. So in short-whatever makes Ryan happy, makes me happy...and whatever makes Steve happy, makes everyone else miserable! :)

When it rains.....

So this poor child has been put to the test the last 5 days or so! She did get the Roseola and Friday night was scary not being able to get her temp down under 102. (As you can see one of our attempts above by soaking her knit hat in water and putting it on her-she was miserable) Finally some time Sat night, her fever broke and we waited for the rash, thinking the worst was over! Come Sunday, the rash appeared (I tried to get it in the first two pics, but you can barely see the rash-it was much worse in person) and we were relieved that Ryan was on the road to recovery. But Sunday night had to have been the worst night sleep she has had since being born! She was unusually fussy and was awake every 30 minutes! Knowing she had her shot visit on Monday, we held out and decided to ask the dr what we could do (again, incorrectly, assuming it was her teeth). I mentioned in my previous blog about the possibility that it was either an ear infection, or roseola-well, it turned out to be both at the same time. So she was up, not because of her teeth, but because her ears throbbed! We were given a new antibiotic and are now hoping for speedy recovery today! So, as of last week, this child has been cutting 4 teeth at once, caught Roseola and suffered days of insanely high temps, AND had a double ear infection! And as you can clearly see from the above picture-she smiles all the while! Such an amazing child!!! It could have been MUCH MUCH worse, her attitude saved the day!

Ryan's on FIRE!!!!!!!

So she woke up yesterday morning, everything appeared normal, when she got suddenly fussy for no known reason. I went to pick her up, dreading it for fear of interrupting her morning cartoons (you just don not interrupt Tog, Tizzie & Toot), and making matters worse, I quickly realized why she was so fussy. She was blazing hot. I found it to be seriously odd since she had just finished breakfast and I just held her like 15 minutes before. I took her temp, it wasn't too bad-102. Thinking it was from the onslaught of teeth she has coming in, we gave her Tylenol and the fever went down. We went into work and dropped her off at daycare. Well, at around 1:00 daycare called and said we had to come pick her up-she had a fever of 103.4 . I dont know how many of you reading this has ever felt a child with a fever like that, but I wasn't prepared for how hot she felt. It is insane. It certainly seemed like a cause for alarm to me. We got her into the doctor, who said it could be one of two things: double ear infection, or a virus called Roseola. He gave us antibiotics in case it was her ears, and if it is Roseola, he said she would have a high fever for several days, then once the fever breaks she will break out into a rash all over her body and that means she is clear of the virus and is no longer contagious. I am so thankful he mentioned that, if Ryan all of a sudden broke out in a rash all over her body like he was describing, I would have freaked out!!!

So for now, we are simply trying to keep Ryan comfortable, rotating Tylenol and Motrin, and giving her sponge baths.
Just so you know-she is amazing, she has barley cried once! She whimpers when she is about to go to sleep, otherwise it doesn't matter if her temp is 104, she is going to keep on smiling and laughing at Steve! Got to LOVE this child!!!!

The New and Improved Bath Time-Introducing Debbie the Duck Tub

Not that anyone really cares whether or not Ryan loves to take a bath except for me, Jamey and the Grandparents. It was just an excuse to show her stylish towel that she adores, and of coarse her brand new Debbie the Duck Tub. Why did we insist on naming everything? Do you have any idea how much stuff is in our house with names right now? I can't keep track....Debbie the Duck, Ollie the Octopus, Ellie the Elephant, Fee the Frog, Millie the Monkey, Larry the Lion, Jeffery the Giraffe, I seriously could go on and on. And they aren't even particularly clever names either.....This is what having children is about naming every inanimate object she owns...cause we are running out of names....

Ryan and her big fat cat!

If you think the camera angle is making this cat look much much larger than my daughter, you are incorrect. This cat IS much much larger than my daughter....by about 14 pounds (Ryan is 18 pounds) you do the math....Yes.. that is 32 pounds (hey-that's fast math). He is also 32 inches around, which means he could wear Jamey's jeans if he wanted to. Now that would be silly, I mean, where is he going that he needs pants-he hasn't been out of the house in years!

I was going to let Ryan "ride" him, but bless his heart, I think he has had enough humiliation for one day!

The Playground??? Really Ryan???

So of all the places we have taken Ryan and the things we attempt to expose her to, from the beach, to the mountains, concerts, festivals, etc.....it was the rickety old playground down the street that she LOVED! Bless her heart...she had a blast. Hey, whatever she wants!!!

Ryan is a True Patriot!!

This was quite a day for us-ELECTION DAY!!!! Ryan dressed in her finest red, white & blue for school. We picked her up early from daycare and off we were to vote. We had a wait, not too bad, but Ryan was once again perfect throughout. I know she isn't going to remember voting with mom, but it was important for me to take her! The night was of coarse celebratory as our candidate won! She however, missed the festivities and fell asleep on schedule. The next morning we ran out to get the paper and made sure we got "the shot" with the headlines!! OBAMA WINS!!! Awesome, awesome day!!!!! We feel hopeful and proud for the first time in a long time....reason enough to celebrate!!!

Buckeyes and Broken Hearts!

There are a lot of things I can protect my daughter from, or at least try. However, the heartbreak of being an Ohio St Buckeye fan isn't one of them. There is nothing I can do, she was born a Buckeye, just like I was. I lived my entire life dealing with OSU losses and the jokes for 28 years until they finally won the Championship in 2002!!! Sadly, in Ryan's brief life she has had to endure a loss to then ranked #1 USC and #2 Penn St. It is the life of a Buckeye...just when you have expectations of them, they flat out break your heart! So sorry for this Ryan!!!

A couple Grandmas, a Papa Joe and toys!!!

Ryan IS spoiled. I am the first to admit it. However, I am not the one spoiling her-it is her grandparents...ALL 4 OF THEM ARE GUILTY! Not that I can really blame them, they were forced anxiously to wait 7 years for their first grandchild, I suppose they are long overdue some spoilin fun. Nana and Papa Joe came into town for Halloween, took her trick-or-treating and bought her so much food, she will end up a Ryanrolypoly. Then my mom, known as just "Grandma" (which I love-old school), took her to the park and brought her all sorts of toys, books and stuffed animals...she didn't know what to play with first! If this was just a few random gifts then I hate to think what Christmas will be like!!! Isn't that the right of a grandparent though???

What am I going to do with all these teeth???

Eat an apple of coarse! Ok, so she really didn't technically "bite" into the apple, but she sure did enjoy gumming the thing!!!

I'm no cheerleader!!!

So thankfully it turns out our daughter LOVES sports. She was born the day after the NCAA basketball finals, during the Masters and her first few months were spent watching the NBA playoffs and the Olympics, of coarse. Knowing that she loves it so much we took her to a few GSU football games! The whole nine yards, so to speak, tailgating, team introductions, band playing, you name it! She had a blast each and every time.....I still dont have the heart to tell her GSU lost every game she happened to attend....

NO-for the last time she is NOT cute, she is a very scary spider!

Oh my goodness...sooo very very cold! This child, or rather black widow spider, sat so quiet and patient (much like a poisonous spider) until it was her turn to walk across the stage. Of coarse I was holding her, as I was her spider web, but still the girl is a trooper. It had to be 40 degrees and the wind was so cold, and yet not a peep out of her. I adored this costume, which took me a lot longer to make than I thought-why is it things are always so easy in theory? But she looked great, it turned out awesome and we got 3rd place. Stupid 3 yr old baby chick and a 3 yr old policeman robbed her of her glory. But I think everyone there knew who the winner was!!

Now, we went to the mall trick or treating and to seek revenge with another contest and she won 1st place for the Most Creative Costume...ahhh....revenge..validation....that is more like it!!

Now, the question is, what am I going to have her be next year???

Jenbug and sweet potatos

So in an effort to not only save money but to be healthier, I have begun making all of Ryan's solid foods. Just me, a few veggies/fruits, and a blender! I know, you think this has mess written all over it, and you would be correct. My once butter yellow kitchen is now a splatter art project filled with sweet potato/carrot orange, green bean/sweet pea green and applesauce/banana cream. It is pretty AND tasty! And Steve gets fed in the process!

Ryan and Steve

So many of you have asked me how the dog, our beloved (not really) dachshund Steve, is handling the new addition..... This picture kind of says it all! In Ryan's defense, he was about to take Mittens, her kitten blankie! For those who really know me, did she not get this look from her mother???

Her First 6 Months!

To sum up 6 months- SHE IS SUCH A GOOD BABY! She really is. She cries for only 2 reasons: hungry or tired-both of which are easily fixed! She smiles at the drop of a hat, or Steve's bark. She laughs in the face of danger, like when the PitBulls moved in next door. She enjoys standing and jumping more than anything, she will most likely walk before she crawls. She has 6 teeth (WOW) which many came in without her batting an eye (well, with exception to the top 4 cutting at once-that would be brutal for most and she handled it brilliantly). She has visited 5 states in her first 3 months (Fl, Ga, SC, NC, and TN), she has been to the beach and to the mountains. She started daycare at 4 months and is thriving in this educational and social environment. Over all she is a very happy, very healthy and extremely lovable little baby! Oh, and as of 11/1/08 she weighs 18 pounds and is 27 1/2 inches long. The dr seems to think she is going to be tall and lean...WHAT?????

Her Birthday!

So I suppose I should write something quick about her birth. First of all she was delivered by C-section April 8, 2008 at 5:47 PM. She weighed 6 pounds 8 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long. I will spare all of you the details of the nightmare that was the delivery, the hours of needless pain (where the hell was the dr for 2 hours anyway?), the epidural shakes and the C-section shoulder. Only to say that through all that, within what seemed like minutes, it was completely forgotten. It is truly the strangest phenomenon I have ever experienced! And just look at her!!