I Love Daddy!

2007-11-26 Ryan 13 months

Here are some pictures from the past weekend. Hope you all enjoy. Some are from Uncle Brian's 30th birthday party, Thanksgiving with the Flynn's and the Strattons and Ryan in his rocking chair. We are so happy to say that Ryan has started saying DADDY...Yay! He will now recognize Greg and call him Daddy instead of Da Da. It is so cute he gets so excited to see his Daddy now. So happy to say Greg missed the boat on the trip to India...his passport was going to expire next Feb and they denied his visa only allowing him to enter unless it was a dire emergency. So yay and his trip to China got moved back to next week so he can come to my Holiday party this weekend. We are so excited to have him home this week.

Ryan had his sing and sign class today. He is learning more and more...today he actually followed some simple instructions by placing some dishes in a container when it was time to clean up the toys. Also one of the girls in his class said "no no no" to Ryan as he was banging on some cabinets and she escorted him back to the circle to my lap....the teacher commented on how Lily was telling him to stop banging on the cabinets and return to the circle with mommy. It was so cute! He also loves to dance in the class too. As soon as the music was turned on he started moving his hips and swinging his arms side to side. We really have to get it on video it is soooo cute. He even danced for Frank, Teresia, and Sofia today (our next door neighbors)

So I wanted to share that it can be difficult to get groceries done with a grabby toddler. We went shopping yesterday and for some reason Ryan kept grabbing everything in close range of the shopping cart...weather it be those plastic produce bags, the produce itself, bags of anything you name it. I finally just gave him my cell phone to keep him happy he kept grabbing at my purse...then he thought it was so funny to throw it on the floor and then whine when I took it away I finally said enough but he whined some more and people started looking so I gave I gave in yet again. Then as I was loading up the car I almost forgot my cell phone in the back of the shopping cart that would have been disastrous I am sure it is bound to happen one of these crazy days.

Next stop was A & S fine foods for some meat...they have the best in town but to my dismay there were no parking spaces at the deli and I really needed meat...Darn it why did I pass up the meat at the grocery store? Anyways I had to wait until someone pulled out so I could pull in so Ryan in tow off to the deli we went....
Goes something like this.......
They sort of know us there and talk to Ryan and all was good he was standing near the glass peering through looking at all the raw meat there were a few people ahead of us and of course a few seconds before out turn Ryan found the shelve at his eye level with all the bags of single serving chips and he started grabbing and throwing them around the deli...I am chasing after him trying to put the bags back neatly on the shelf and I hear...
"next in line can I help you"?.....
I run back over give my order.....Ryan bolts for the canned goods...
I run back pick him up and now he starts to fuss trying to shimmy out of my arms....
I did not want to make a scene others started looking....I put him down....
"something else miss" From behind the counter...
I glance over to see Ryan is batting his eyelashes and flirting with the girl who came over to say hello. I think to myself good distract him from more destruction please....
I turn back and finish up my order. No sooner and I reaching to get my meat and I see Ryan going for the small green hand held shopping baskets and yes he toppled them all over...
CRASH they went lucky for for me the cute girl Ryan was flirting with said...
"oh how cute let me get that"...I am thinking to myself smiling while grinding my teeth yeah..really cute.

Note to self settle for meat from the grocery store...,,even if it is not quite as good as the meat from the Italian Deli....must learn to lower standards a tad to help improve efficiency while food shopping with a toddler.

So yeah my point was that I had booked an extra day with Polina today in anticipation of Greg;s travel plans I thought I could use the time to run errands because I thought it was going to be alone this week but as it turns out I was able to do some fun stuff for myself...went to the Gym, did a little shopping and stopped by work for an in-service on our new Optifast medical nutritional weight loss program we will be starting in Jan. Really looking forward to this program rumored to have a high success rate and patients lose on average 50-75 lbs in the first 12 weeks...seems still a bit unrealistic to me but we will see what happens. The patients will get their visits with us covered by insurance if their BMI is greater than 35 with co-morbid conditions such as HTN, Diabetes, High Lipids, and such. the patients have to buy all the food which consists of these really yummy shakes, bars, pudding, and soup.....and that is all they eat for 12 weeks. The best part is it is managed by a physician and myself so the patients will know what is in the food is safe. I tried the shakes myself they are quite tasty just don't know if I could eat only that for 12 weeks straight. They provide 100% balance of carbs/protein/fat and all the vitamins/minerals you would need. Dr. menon claims that he drank a shake for breakfast and it was so filling he was not hungry until lunch. Basically our new program is a healthy alternative to bariatric surgery. The people at Optifast claim to have 80-90% compliance and drop our rates are low providing we offer the proper encouragement and couseling on a week to week basis. I am optimistic about this new program weight loss has always been an extreme interest of mine clincially so I will keep you updated with the program.....geez between this and the diabetes study I will be busy...but busy is good! Good news the study is closed for screening..Yay! less work for me. Glad this job is keeping me on my toes and I am truly enjoying every second. How lucky I am to enjoy the work I do and still be able to spend time at home with Ryan....so what if it involves chasing him through the Italian Deli...

Not too much else going on here. We are just so happy to have Daddy home for now even if it is just for a little while. Hope everyone has a great week. And talk to you all soon.

Holiday Flynn Family Extravaganza

So our Thanksgiving holiday kicked off on Tuesday night. We packed up the car and picked up Auntie Jen and Uncle Paddy for the trip home to Medfield. Thanks to Auntie Jen for driving everyone safely. Greg and I were too pooped to drive. He had been away for a golf outing and did not get home until very early Tuesday morning then had to work and I had to work back to back days mon and tues to get Friday off so we were both a bit too tired to make the long drive to Medfield. We had strategically planned to leave after Ryan had his dinner and bedtime bath. We put him in his warm fleece jammies and off we went. About a quarter into the ride I felt a wave of panic that I forgot to pack Ryan's little blue bunny blankie and his pacifier both are needed to get Ryan to sleep at night. These were the last two items left to be packed from the morning... would we have to turn all the way around and head back to Fairfield to retrieve these precious items? Phew I founf them hidden in the side pocket to Ryan's overnight bag. Once I gave him his pacifier and bunny he fell soundly asleep in the back seat. Ryan uses these items for comfort at night and for naps. You would not believe all the gear we had to pack for the trip home... our SUV was so packed poor Auntie Jen could not see out the back. It took Ryan a little while again to settle down in his pack and play at Grammy and Granddads. We felt bad for the poor guy he woke up in the middle of the night to unfamiliar surroudings and go scared. Greg decided to sleep on the floor in Ryan's room so in case he woke in the night he would not get scared. What a good Daddy.

We enjoyed a leasurely moring on Wednesday it was such a relief not to have to fight the traffic the day before the holiday. Even better was we could hand Ryan off to Grammy and Granddad in the morning so Greg and I could get a little extra sleep. Grammy and Granddad took care of Ryan so Greg and I could do a little shopping at the Natick mall too. Then we celebrated Uncle Brian's 30th birthday and everyone came over for dinner. Auntie Erin made a delicious birthday dinner and we had cake too. Then Auntie Erin and Uncle Brian headed to East Granby to spend Thanksgiving with the Majewski's. We missed you guys but glad you had fun and we heard the turkey trot was alot of fun.

Thursday we spend a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Flynn's Great Gram and Granddad came over we also saw others from the Flynn extended family. Grammy Nancy made such a beautiful Turkey day feast. Ryan enjoyed his first turkey dinner with all the fixins. He got a little overwhelmed at first but enjoyed the company and seeing everyone. Ryan tired everyone out running around the Flynn house. Thankfully we were able to really wear him out so he napped and slept well...phew a huge relief for us. Dylan and Sabrina (the flynn family dog) even got along a little better this time around. He seemed right at home.

Friday we headed home to Agawam for my 10 year high school reunion. It was a lot of fun I got to catch up with a lot of old freinds. We did not stay that long it was really not our scene but it was nice to get out and see everyone.

Greg was suppossed to leave for India on Saturday but unfortunatley for him his working Indian visa had expired so he now has to renew it on Monday then head out. Lucky for him his boss's visa had expired as well so it did not make him look so bad. Yay we got to spend 2 extra days with daddy before he heads out to India and then to China this will be the longest time he will be gone nearly 2 weeks :(

So Saturday Greg and I got to enjoy a special date night while Grammy and Grampy gave Ryan his dinner, bedtime bath, and put him to bed. Such a good baby did not give them any fuss at all. Greg and I enjoyed dinner at Judies our favorite spot in Amherst brought back lots of good memories of UMASS then we went to movies and saw American Gangster......such a great movie I highly recommend it I mean we do not get out much and this was totally worth the wait! What a fantastic date night for Greg and I.

Now it is Sunday morning and Grammy and Grampy have already been up chasing after Ryan and they had a fun trip to the grocery store..Ryan loves to ride in the shopping cart! Greg and I got some much needed rest. Now sadly it is time to pack up the car and head back to Fairfield. Hopefully we wont hit too much traffic headed home.

Just wanted to say a special thank you to both sets of Grandparents for spending lots of time with Ryan so Greg and I could rest up. It will be a tough 2 weeks with Greg away but we have lots of activities to keep us busy. We cherish spending time with our families and yes they do adore Ryan as much as we do. It is so amazing how Ryan can capture the attention of everyone in the room and put a smile on their face. He is such a bringer of joy and this will be a Thanksgiving holiday weekend that he will never forget! We love you all and thanks again for everything!

Weekend with Grammy and Granddad

Weekend recap goes a little like this....Starting with Thursday we had a play date at Sophia's and Ryan had so much fun with all his girlfriends- Sophia, Caroline, and Lila. So funny to watch them all "toddle around" seems like not that long ago we were all trying to keep them from crawling off the picnic blanket now we are all trying to keep them from running away. These toddlers have alot of energy! Then on Thursday the mom's enjoyed a fun girl's night out at Sakura my personal favorite Japanese restaurant. It was so nice to get out with just the girls and not have to worry about entertaining the toddlers. I actually got to sit down to a nice dinner without interruption..gasp my first uninterrupted meal in a while. Greg and I usually inhale our food I hardly ever get to finish my meal these days because Ryan also inhales his food too. It was a fun night out something we have to do more often!

2007-11-18 Ryan 13 months

Friday the Flynns came down to stay with Ryan while Greg and I enjoyed a fun night out in the city for his holiday party. It was at Tuscan Square in Rockefeller center. The food was fantastic and all of Greg's co-workers were so nice. It was great to meet some of them. We even danced a little. What a late night though we did not get in until nearly 1 AM the latest we have been out in over a year. 2 nights out in a row was alot for me thank goodness the Flynn's took Ryan in the morning so we could sleep in a little. They really enjoyed their visit with Ryan. Even Auntie Jen came in from the city to visit for a while. We enjoyed dinner at Bangalore on Saturday night together before Auntie Jen caught her train back to the city.

Today we enjoyed a restful day at home Grammy and Granddad played with Ryan in the morning while I hit the gym and ran some errands. Greg left at 3 Am for South Carolina for a golf outing with Neil. Grammy and Granddad got to spend the day with Ryan. He is just bursting with energy and I think he tuckerd out his grandparents I know he tuckers me out everyday! Ryan just loves his grandparents so much and really enjoyed the weekend visit. Him and I were so sad to see them leave!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. We will be spending Turkey day with the Flynn's this year. Ryan can't wait to see his Great grandparents. Miss you all.

Finally on the Mend!

Hi So Ryan is finally on the mend. He had a little cold that started last Friday with a runny nose and little sad cough....no fever though. We have been cooped up for the past 5 days it was the first day Ryan has been out of the house except to see Polina on Friday and Monday. We spent a quiet restful weekend at home so Ryan could rest up. We decided to go to our music class today but skipped LLL meeting yesterday due to a runny nose. I did not want to be that mother who brings a sick child out. I even contemplated all day weather we would make it to music class today but we did and surprisingly he did well aside from a little whining and a slight cough. He is also drooling like crazy poor Ryan he is getting his eye teeth and first year molars all at once I can see the eye teeth poking through and I can feel the molars too. I did break down and I gave him his very first dose of Tylenol today due to the teething whoes....he was whiney and clingy after class and seemed so unhappy so I figured he was in some pain. It seemed to help ease him a bit he ate dinner ( 3 of Grammie's yummy meatballs, squash and whole wheat couscous and half an apple for dessert) no lack of appetite here and I figured if he had a sore throat he would not want to eat. I am guessing all the drooling is attributed to teething and not a sore throat. Anyways he went to sleep without a peep, thankfully.

We decided to start interviewing for a local babysitter for Ryan. Although I am sure his grandparent's don't mind the excuse for a visit to take care of Ryan we really do need someone local at night...gasp...maybe Greg and I could even go out together at night for dinner alone. Right now we have both sets of grandparents babysitting for our holiday parties but we really need someone local. So I decided to post flyers in search of a babysitter at Sacred Heart University in the school of nursing, education, and biology areas. I have already heard back from a few inquiries that seem promising. So I will let you know how it goes.


Update on the diabetes study...After 5 screened participants I have 2 patients who actually met the criteria to enlist into the study. They have passed the screening process and are now eligible for RUN IN which is a month long period where the patient actually has to take a placebo three times a day (they think they are getting the actual drug but everyone gets placebo during this time period to ensure compliance) if they have less than an 80% compliance with the placebo rate then they are disqualified from the study. Yes I actually have to count all the pills they return. Only then after they complete RUN IN are they actually randomized to the study. This study is really a great learning experience and I know we are trying to find a new drug for diabetes but it is sooooooooo much work and somehow I am stuck doing EVERYTHING......identifying the patients, screening the patients aliquotting all the blood for the lab (I feel like a chemist), and doing all the data entry (I am sooo not good with computers)...not to mention I have no idea what I am doing and I am constantly on the phone with the people from Harvard and GWU all the while I am supposed to be seeing patients and precepting an APRN student form UCONN. It is alot for me but let's just say my days seem to fly by. But I am sad to say it will be like this for a while.... once the patient is randomized to the study it is 8 weeks long plus a follow up period..the screening process alone is roughly 6-8 weeks so that will be until next Spring at least.

Looking forward to Seeing the Flynn's this weekend for a visit. They are watching Ryan so Greg and I can go into the city for his work party on Friday. It should be a lot of fun. We used to go into the city all the time and I can't believe I have not been since Ryan has been born. Hope everyone has a great week and Talk to you all soon. Hopefully Ryan will be feeling better by the weekend! Miss you all a ton!

Quote of the day....

Okay Greg and I woke up this morning and as usual Ryan was "babying" around as Greg calls it. Ryan was on his usual path of destruction! Loves to bang,hit, throw things around. He was throwing things in the dirty laundry bin and running all around upstairs. He took the phone and started pulling at the cords and trying to put them in his mouth.....Greg looked at me and said "Are we in the terrible two's early?" LOL LOL! Ha I told him welcome to my world on a daily basis! More to follow.

JF

Ryan's First Haircut

2007-11-09 Ryan 12 months

So Wednesday I decided to give Ryan's wavy locks a little snip...frankly I was tired of Greg always saying he had a mullet in the back. I really wanted no part in getting his haircut at all but one of Ryan's favorite past times involves him twirling his fingers around the hair near his ears in his highchair while he is eating thereby leaving caked on broccoli, melted cheese, sweet potato (whatever he happens to be eating that day) becomes permanently embedded in his sideburns until bath time. So yes we decided to give him a little trim. Surprisingly he sat still and those curious little fingers tried to grab the scissors a few times...gotta love toddlers with sharp objects. Anyways we managed to get through the first haircut but looking back now I feel so bad for poor Ryan. I took way too much off the top and left most of the mullet in the back..oh well as Greg says it will grow back right?! He is still cute even if now he has a bigger forehead. I think through all of this I have learned a valuable lesson that is to have your child's haircut be done by a professional or risk having them walk around with a "bowl cut on top and a mullet in the back" Checkout the pictures and see for yourself I really did not get a good picture of the back but I will try and get one for another post.

On another note we have managed to get our anorexic puppy Dylan to bulk up a bit...you can still feel all ribs and bones when you pick him up although they are not as prominent....I should open a homemade baby/dog food business I could make alot of money marketing this..anyways Dylan now eats slow cooked kosher chicken with carrots/celery/onion with chicken broth and whole wheat couscous with a scoop of dry kibble. I know this is pathetic but it is literally the only way we can get him to eat anything at all. I have tried every dog food under the sun from dry kibble to wet canned food..he even snubs his nose to all types of treats like the expensive organic pumpkin treats (which Ryan really enjoys I am embarrassed to say that I think Ryan has eaten more of the treats than Dylan has not really but Dylan hides them all over the house and you know who finds them and thinks they are cookies for him to eat..NOT)So I have resorted to once a week making a huge kosher chicken in the slow cooker with veggies and Greg, Ryan and I will eat it for dinner then Dylan will eat the left overs for a week then the process repeats. Well it beats throwing the food out...Ryan and Greg are so not big fans of left overs. So that is the story with Dylan we are happy to say he no longer needs his doggie Meclizine for shorter car rides 1.5 hours or less but I think the trip to Medfield this Turkey day will require us to drug him with half a dose...you never know we might run into stop and go traffic and that just sends him over the edge. He is so anxious in the car sometimes but lately he has really mellowed out, thankfully. But I am sad to say when it comes to having visitors over the house he still goes into full fledged ATTACK mode regardless if you are the mailman, the cable man, a friend, a neighbor...it is quite embarrassing but that is Dylan in a nutshell our favorite family pet would not trade him for a million dollars.

Unfortunately Ryan woke this morning with a runny nose sneezing and coughing...I think he caught a small cold. Polina said his nose ran like a faucet all day..poor little pumpkin. He acted like himself, playing, napping eating a ton as usual. I am not too worried I just to hate to see his little nose all goopy and runny and his poor little cough. Poor Ryan he was snoring like a freight train last night...At least I am pretty sure it was Ryan and not Greg... It is so sad to see your child ill even if it is just a cold. We had to cancel our plans for tomorrow we were supposed to head down to Stamford to meet our friends they have a 2 1/2 yr old and a new baby and the last thing we want to do is infect their entire family especially not little Arik. So we will reschedule for another time. Not too much planned for the weekend just want to rest up so Ryan gets better soon. Hope you are all doing well. Miss you have a great weekend.

XOXO RYAN

Happy Birthday Grampy!

2007-11-06 Ryan 12 months

Weekend re-cap (I know I am a bit slow it is already Tuesday) We headed up North this past weekend to celebrate Grampy Fred's birthday. Unfortunately Grammy Sharon was not feeling well over the weekend but thank goodness she is on the mend:) Greg made my dad a fantastic birthday dinner- chicken Marsala, lemon broccoli and rosemary roasted potatoes (Thanks Martha!) It was delicious and instead of birthday cake we had pumpkin pie yum. My dad, Greg, his dad and his friend John all enjoyed a round of golf at the Ranch on Sunday. We had a lot of fun even though hit was a quick visit. Grammy and Grampy took out my old rocking chair that I used as a small child and Ryan just loved it. He really enjoys rocking in the big "grown up" rocking chair here and at Grammy's too. He also amused himself with the laundry basket for at least a half hour. He kept climbing in and out and wanted Grampy to push him around in the basket. It was amazing that he actually knew how to get out of the basket all by himself...we only had to hold the sides of the basket so it did not tip over. But he knew to hoist his chunky legs over the side one at a time. Oh by the way just to let you all know Ryan know how to climb to the top of the stairs and get down on his own. To get down he goes backwards on his tummy...not that we are encouraging this at all but good to know. Polina actually had a split level ranch with 4 -5 steps that he freely goes up and down with supervision of course.

Ryan and I hosted a play group with others from the neighborhood today it was a lot of fun. We joined the Fairfield mom's club and they sort of section off the chapters according to where in Fairfield you live. That places us in the North chapter. I have to say this small play group is great! But overall the moms in this club are not that friendly and some are rather snooty and they did not make Ryan and I feel welcome to the few events we tried to attend. We prefer those our age in the play group. There are so many babies Ryan's age in the area most with in walking distance to the house. We had 9 month old twins, Billy and Allie, 10 month old Tommy, and 12 month old Max. Max and Ryan were so funny...all they did the entire play date was get into trouble together and eat Cheerios! The twins were so cute they just started crawling a few weeks ago and remained stationary for the first 45 minutes I think they were scared of the bigger babies either that or they were just taking it all in. This mom is a super mom she showed up at the front door with a baby in the Bjorn one on her hip and two diaper bags one on each shoulder! I was amazed at how she managed to get out the door the same way...I had offered to help but she said she was so used to managing them on her own...wow! I can now picture this mom in my mind every time Ryan and I are having an off day. I don't know how she does it. Anyways the playgroup was a success and everyone seemed to have a good time. We will be meeting every two weeks and it is nice because we can rotate hosting the group and we are small enough not to feel overwhelmed.

So Ryan had the all American dinner tonight. Parmesan chicken fingers- baked in the oven- another Martha recipe, Mac and cheese (from a box...come on I made the chicken fingers from scratch I did not have time for the homemade mac and cheese too..hey at least it was Annie's organic)and a broccoli/cauliflower puree combo...to my surprise Ryan still prefers his veggies pureed and will eat more this way...he is very particular about the texture of his food. Then I gave him a little homemade pumpkin bread for dessert which he loved. Then it was off to bed. Surprisingly the time change has not affected Ryan too much still sleeping well (knock on wood). Sorry I have to add this too. I have been trying to brush his teeth at night the pediatrician recommended we do this to prevent cavities. Ryan does not mind this at all afterward I usually give him the toothbrush to practice with and he sees me wetting it in the sink...so today he decided to wet his tooth brush in the dog bowl and stick it back in his mouth (gasp luckily I caught him in the act before the brush hit his mouth and I had just scrubbed Dylan's water bowl) But part of me was mad that he dipped his baby Einstein tooth brush in the dog bowl and part of me was thinking wow this kid is really smart that he wanted to wet his toothbrush. hence the new title of the blog...adventures in toddler hood. Kerri like Caroline and Reese Ryan is totally obsessed with Dylan and like Reese...Dylan takes so much abuse from Ryan pulling his tail and his hair and stealing his toys...I think he puts up with it because he is so terrified and does not know what else to do but stay still and take the abuse or run like hell!

Hope you guys all enjoy the rest of the week. Miss you all and hope to see you soon.

Get to know your neighbors

I just have to share this experience with you....yesterday I took the video monitor outside so Dylan and I could play a little in the yard while Ryan napped for 2 1/2 hours (YES!) and I noticed a little static on the monitor. At first I thought it might have been sleeping giant awakening but it was just static (phew!) so I decided to change the channel from A to B and to my surprise I got a clear view of what looked to be my neighbor's baby's crib (2 doors down). At first I thought this was really funny then I thought some more about it. What if they cold see/hear us too? Should we ditch our monitor? Just an FYI for anyone who has a video monitor your neighbors may be getting to know you a bit better than you think.

PS Greg and I are enjoying Ryan's Halloween candy he really made out with a lot of loot:)Too bad he does not know what he is missing.

XOXO RYAN