Not Mama

Ryan has been saying "namama" a lot these days to our befuddlement. What the heck is "namama"? Turns out he's referring to Justin. He went through a phase when he was calling both of us "Mama". And I would say "That's not mama, that's dada." Of course, being new to the English language, he doesn't quite get the negative. So he thinks I'm calling Justin "not mama". Hehe.

Despite the minor health setbacks Ryan's had recently, he's still a tremendously happy kid. Check out his new smile with all those teeth! (Photo credit: Rachel Summers).


Ryan's 2 favorite activities these days are building a pile of pillows to fall on and riding on his Sesame Street ride-a-long toy with Zach while Aunt Rachel pushes them. The funny part is when only of them gets to ride, the other follows behind crying. Ok, well it's not funny to them, but it's kinda amusing to us. Here they are enjoying the ride:

15 Month Appointment

Ryan had his 15 month check up this morning and passed with flying colors! We're still watching the wheezing and ear infections, but otherwise Ryan is perfectly healthy and developmentally on track. He walks and talks like normal 15 month olds and is still on his way to becoming a very tall and skinny boy. Here are the stats:

Height: 32.75 inches
Weight: 22 lb 5 oz
Head: 46 cm

One thing I found interesting was that the doctor told us we can start disciplining Ryan when he misbehaves. We're just supposed to put him in the crib for a 1 minute "time out" and walk away. 1 minute doesn't seem like a long time, but it still seemed kinda harsh for a 15 month old. We'll see if and when we implement the doctor's advice. I was thinking we'd start with the time outs around 18 months.

A Bad Week Gets Worse...

We all have our ups and downs, but unfortunately for Ryan his are all happening at the same time. So we all know about the ear infection and molars. Now let's add potential head trauma. (Ok, not really, he seems totally fine.)

Yesterday morning, I was getting Ryan ready for day care as we do every other morning. He was sitting on the changing table and playing "let's drop the clothes on the floor and watch Mommy pick them up" game. This went on for a while, he drops the clothes, I pick them up, he drops them again and laughs hysterically. On the 4th or 5th drop, I bent down and he leaned forward to see but lost his balance and came tumbling off the changing table. It felt like it was happening in slow motion, but at the same time, it happened so fast I can't really remember. I think I got my arm in there a bit, but really he fell and landed half in the open bottom drawer of his dresser and half on the floor. It looked awful. He was on his back (somehow twisting in mid air) with his head hitting the floor and his back hitting the edge of the drawer. I picked him up to comfort him (he's screaming his head off) and literally 10 seconds later he's forgotten all about it and playing with his toys. Thank goodness kids are resilient and flexible. I on the other hand am totally freaked out and can't get the image of my son being tossed about like a ragdoll out of my mind.

Anyway, he's fine thankfully and I'm trying my best to forget it. I think from now on I'll be getting him dressed on the floor, he's just a little too big and unruly for the changing table. And major kudos go to Justin for not yelling at me which I'm pretty sure would have happened if it was him instead of me. So I've learned a lesson in how fast these kids are, and Ryan has discovered gravity.

Another Month, Another Ear Infection

This was not a good weekend for poor Ryan. On top of being sick and having another ear infection, all 4 of his molars seem to be pushing through at once. I don't think I've ever seen him so miserable in his short little life. The good news though is that hopefully he's getting it over with all at once.

Quick development update: Ryan has added "yeah" and "all done" to his vocabulary and can go up and down the stairs easily. He's also pretty good at obeying commands like "wash your hands" and "go to your high chair". The best one though is Ryan getting our slippers. Now I know what you're thinking, no our son is not our dog, but given Ryan's penchant for shoes, it was inevitable that he would happily pick up this trick. All you have to do is sit on the couch, put your feet in the air, and say "Ryan what's missing?" He will then go get your slippers and try to put them on your feet. And he distinguishes between my slippers and Justin's. Pretty cool party trick - we'll have to get it on video one of these days!

Ryan Health Update

We just got back from our follow up appointment at the pediatrician's office. Ryan's ears and lungs are clear and healthy! The doctor did notice that Ryan has had 3 ear infections in 4 months, and apparently the criteria to be referred to a specialist is 3 ear infections in 3 months... so he's just shy. I'm ok with that though since I'm not all that interested in having to deal with tubes. Right now the ear infections don't seem that bad. They don't really bother him all that much, and he loves antibiotics. He just finished a 10 day course today and I think he's going to be bummed. He always makes the "more" sign when we give it to him.

As for his lungs, the doctor told us to give him some preventative puffs on his albuteral inhaler at the first sign of a cold to help keep his airways open. It appears so far that his wheezing is triggered by colds, which is bad cause he has them a lot, but good because it's not an everyday allergy thing. According to the doctor, kids usually outgrow wheezing from colds, so hopefully this is all temporary!

Ryan's 2nd Christmas... Technically

I've finally gotten around to downloading and organizing pictures from Christmas! This year the festivities started at our house for our annual ChristmaKwaNukkahWali SolstEid party. We had to skip hosting the party last year for obvious reasons, but were happy to resume the tradition this year. Our party is a winter holiday celebration with food, music, and decorations representing Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Diwali, Eid, and the Winter Solstice. We try to be all inclusive although admittedly we have no Kwanzaa of Eid food at the party. Maybe next year!


We spent Christmas this year in Austin visiting Ryan's relatives on his dad's side. Ryan had a great time meeting 6 cousins, 2 aunts, 2 uncles, and 2 grandparents! Here we try to get all 7 kids to sit still for a picture:

After opening gifts over several days in Austin, we made it back for one final Christmas celebration at home.

Click here for additional pictures from Christmas and I promise we'll try to take more pictures soon.

When it Rains...

Ryan, Justin and I spent another couple of hours at the pediatrician's office yesterday. Ryan had started wheezing again Thursday night, but not wanting to spend another night at the hospital, we decided to give him a nebulizer treatment and call the doctor in the morning. We arrived at the office at 4:15pm but weren't seen until an hour later. During that time, Ryan decided to run laps around the furniture. After about an hour of running around, he started having a coughing fit. Go figure. Luckily this is when we got to see the doctor. The nurse took his temperature, and low and behold, he had a fever of 102. He wasn't even warm when we brought him in. Turns out in addition to the wheezing, Ryan has another ear infection. The doctor then listened to Ryan's lung and decided he needed a nebulizer treatment. He gave us an inhaler and an antibiotic to clear up his ears and his lungs. Our doctor said it still is too early to diagnose asthma, that it may just be the case of a bad reaction to a bad winter, but that we were probably headed down that path. Ryan will be re-evaluated next week and we'll go from there. We briefly discussed preventative medications like Pulmicort, but he said it was too early and we'll have a better idea in the spring when this nasty weather stops. Keep your fingers crossed!