Our Last Hoorah....before baby #2

So Greg and I are very excited and gearing up for out last hoorah before baby #2. We are starting off in Boston for 2 nights I have a work conference and Greg has a Deuche Bank Golf Tourney (for work...what a cushy job...I am way jealous) Anyways then we head off to the cape for a long weekend sans baby to spend with 2 other couples both newlyweds...(ahh such bliss). SO that is a total for 6 days away from our little boy! Are we terrible parents? We have split up Ryan's mini vacation too 6 days with a highly energetic almost 2 y.o would be too much for just one party to handle so we have divided his trip among his loving Grandparents/Auntie and Uncle who are looking forward to their visits! He will be spending his first overnight with Grammy and Granddad, Auntie Erin, and Uncle Brian for the first half of the trip then will be headed to Mimi and Papa's for the second half. Hopefully he will be a good boy for everyone. We will miss our little boy terribly but we desperately need some adult time to ourselves! Thanks to everyone for offering to spend time with Ryan! Could not have done it without our families. Erin sorry for sounding like an overprotective mother!

Weekend Re-cap
Greg played in the labor day classic over at the Ranch Golf club all day Saturday so we spent the weekend at Mimi and Papa's. Ryan and I had such a fun day we took a nap went shoe shopping and then to church. With the cool weather this past week I tried to put his sneakers from last April on his chubby little feet and could barely velcro them so I knew it was time for some shoe shopping. Turns out he grew another half shoe size still an extra wide so it makes shoe shopping difficult not a huge selection but we did find a cute pair of sneakers in his size. Thanks Mimi and Papa for treating us! Then we headed off to church. This was my first experience bringing him to church (Mimi and Papa have brought him several times) He actually was quite good. Of course did not want to sit still but that is totally expected at this age. We went armed with snacks, water, and some keys to distract him. We was such a good boy!

Sunday we decided to try out Six Flags New England with Ryan. Papa had won 2 tickets from a golf tourney and he wanted Ryan to have them. Boy was it hot out but Ryan did not seem to mind he is such a little dare devil. Of course his favorite ride was the kiddie coaster. Greg took him on all the kiddie rides while I snapped photos. Ryan loved all the rides and of course wanted more. They do have a lot for toddlers but probably not work the money right now (our tickets were valued at $99). They have wiggles world and looney toon town with a lot for toddlers. Luckily Ryan is tall for his age and could ride all the rides with an adult. But after 2 hours he was pooped and looking like he had had enough so we headed back home for a much needed nap. Since he enjoyed six flags so much we are still thinking about taking him to Sesame Place in PA for his birthday. I hear it is only 2.5 hrs away and has much more for this age.

New Happenings
Ryan now uses many full sentence phrases more than 3 words in a row and will often ask for help when needed.

He will often call out "mommy more moo moo pease tanka".

When he starts whining for something we tell him to use his words and he will often tell us what is needed. It is like a new revelation in the Flynn house to actually be able to communicate with Ryan

Upon waking in the morning he almost always ask for oatmeal and blueberries his favorite. "mommy oatmeal booberries pease"

Trying to work on distinguishing between colors. Can now recognize blue and red and of course yellow (his favorite color)

Almost always tells us when he has pooed immediately requesting to be changed now if only he can tell us before so we can put him on the potty....

Will be starting school next week. We have a social a get to know everyone parents too on Wed. Scary to think Ryan is starting preschool already but I think he will get a lot out of it. It will be 2.5 hrs per day twice a week and the best part is it is right up the street from our house. I have mixed feelings about starting school. Our playgroup that was started when Ryan was only 4 months old is slowly coming to an end. We all met about a year and half ago and the 4 of us have been getting together weekly ever since. Two of our kids are starting preschool this fall. One is sadly moving away and the other my closest friend of the group started her first day back to work full time today and her daughter is in daycare. Most of all I will miss seeing the kids and all the new things that they do each week and of course I will miss our mommy conversations too. But Ryan has really enjoyed his weekly play dates with the "girls" and often asks for them throughout the week! I am so grateful to have met this wonderful group of moms and babies I don't know what I would have done without them! I am so sad that we will not have our weekly play dates anymore but I am happy to see our kids growing up. We have promised to at least meet for girls nights out at least monthly but it won't be the same. We do still have our Tuesday afternoon playgroup. And I know a lot will be different in a few months with baby #2. But I am a little sad and I hope we will all keep in touch!

Big boy bed update so far so good. Will occasionally wake in the night and Greg will go in to check but he rarely gets up from his bed. Naps are sort of so so sometimes he falls asleep on the floor but at least he is still napping.

Having some skin issues with Ryan... lately more than heat rash we think. Has patches of what looks like eczema on his face, back of his legs and his neck area. Still rubbing/itching is face a lot. We have eliminated nuts with little to no improvement. I have been using aquaphor with some relief. But we have an appointment with a pediatric allergist a week from Tues so hopefully we will get some answers. I have a feeling Ryan has inherited my terrible allergies.

Likely I won't have time to update until later next week...I will be busy packing and doing laundry. So hope everyone enjoys the last weekend of Summer! We are very much looking forward to our last Hoorah!

The Exhibitionist!!

Ryan is an exhibitionist! Lately he has been running around the house after his bath naked! He escapes just as we are drying him off...it is a funny site to see him running about squealing in delight! It becomes a challenge to get him to sit still long enough to get his diaper on and get him dressed! We end up bribing himwith baby powder....for some reason this child loves baby powder!

Ryan is slowly learning his numbers and colors too. Now he can recognize the difference between yellow and blue in the past his response was "yellow" to everything. He was holding two rocks in his hand today and when asked how many he had he replied "two" We are trying to work on colors and numbers everyday at bedtime. Still enjoying his big boy bed. Loves to go to sleep in it at night and miraculously has consistently slept all night for the past week in the big boy bed!

What a great weekend spent with family. Saturday we had a few friends and their little ones over for dinner. Greg put together a special "kiddie" dinner table for the kids to eat their dinner at and of course they all sat there for 0.5 seconds! But that's okay they did eat a little and they certainly had fun.

By Sunday we were all pooped! We enjoyed some family time at the park with Ryan and then we all took an extra long family nap. Then we headed to Silverman's farm in Easton for some peach picking. We ended up going to the petting zoo there instead and decided it was a bit too warm for peach picking. So we skipped it and headed to Westport for a little shopping but stupidly forgot our stroller. We decided to do a little shopping anyways and Ryan did listen to us and surprisingly held our hands as we walked down the streets. He ran around Vineyard Vines and started to lose it a bit so we decided it was time to leave....(did not really need to be spending money in there anyways)!

We ended up going out to dinner to our favorite Chinese restaurant in town Lilac House. Ryan is a huge fan of the steamed vege dumplings, miso soup, and chicken and broccoli...yum yum. I know the food is a bit salty for him but once in a while it is a special treat for us all. He was such a good boy at dinner. He kept repeating "Lilac House" while at dinner. We think it may be his favorite restaurant in town too.

Currently I hear lots of movement upstairs it is 7:50 PM and Ryan is supposed to be in bed.... I wonder if he is jumping in he is big boy bed?? Greg went up to investigate I will get a full report when he comes back down stairs..... We think Ryan is enjoying his new found freedom related to the whole big boy bed thing...... Scary to think our little boy is growing up so fast!

Pregnancy Cravings!

So I am almost 23 weeks now and I had a great check-up earlier in the week. The baby has a big strong healthy heartbeat and is measuring right one target. I have gained 8 lbs so far but it feels like a lot more! Of course I had to discuss my pregnancy cravings with the midwife (who was with me during labor with Ryan- my favorite in the practice) she is awesome. I talked with her about my weird craving for fish tuna sandwiches, all kinds of other fish salmon, cod, sole, and especially sushi (which I definitely cannot have) So weird even when I was pregnant with Ryan I craved tuna and all sorts of fish! In the first trimester the thought of fish actually gagged me but now I can't get enough of it. I am really trying to stay to the twice a week fish thing but it is so hard for me. I really wanted a tuna sandwich while at Panera with a friend on Wed but I knew that I had already had a tuna sandwich earlier in the week and that we were having fish tonight for dinner. Bummer! I settled on the sierra turkey instead but just not the same! I did have a california roll last week while out to dinner sans fish eggs...it was so yummy! I am hesitant to eat event he cooked sushi rolls and vege rolls just b/c I know they are prepared on the same surface as all the raw stuff. I also crave a glass of good wine with dinner which again I know is totally off limits! I know some women who will drink a glass or two in the third trimester but not me. I will wait until after the baby is born.

I also talked to the midwife again about a possible VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean section) I mean I had talked with my OB Dr. about this at a previous visit and he had strongly discouraged that. The midwife who is very holistic of course disagreed! She told me I had CPD (cephalopelvic disproportion) due to Ryan's posterior positioning in the birth canal that is why I had the c/s. She assured me that it was based on the position only that the widest part of his head was the presenting part which made a success vaginal birth almost impossible. And no pitocin this time around if I do decide on a VBAC this medication produces artificial stronger uterine contractions increasing the likelihood of uterine rupture which can be fatal....yikes! I just hate to go through labor again only to end up in surgery anyways. If I decided on a scheduled c/s I can make arrangements for Dylan and yran and there will be no surprises! But then again a repeat c/s has its risks too...it is major surgery and each time an incision is made scar tissue forms and the uterine wall is thinner at the incision site. This puts you ar higher risk of having complications with a subsequent pregnancy. I know again my medical background mostly works against me! It is scary when you know too much. I am leaning more towards a repeat c/s but still considering a VBAC have a few more weeks yet to decide.

On another note. I am feeling lots and lots of movement. This baby is very active just like Ryan. And in fact he woke me up last night with his little hiccups just in time to see the medal ceremony for the gymnastics around 12:30- 1 AM. Suddenly I think the hiccups annoyed him and he became very active either that or he really wanted me to see who won the gold medal last night! Glad I could see it even though I was half asleep and did not have my glasses on...

In other news Greg and I have a wedding tonight so Mimi and Papa are coming down to take care of Ryan... should be interesting how the bedtime routine goes in the big boy bed for them. All I have to say is thanks so much Mom and Dad be firm I know it is hard and most of all GOOD LUCK! I am sure Ryan will play all his tricks to try and prolong bedtime! Last night he fell asleep on the floor bunny blanket in hands by the gate and I transferred him to the bed without a problem. But again he slept well all night and I ended up waking him around 7 AM. He was a tired little boy. I told him you were coming today and he is so excited! Thanks a bunch! Looking forward to the weekend hubby will actually be around the entire weeekend no golf...What a shock this will be our first full weekend as a family in like 5 months! Looking forward to a relaxing weekend with friends and family!

Second night in the Big Boy Bed....

Second night in the big boy bed went pretty well. He went down without a fuss in and out of the bed a while then I heard him run and jump in bed and he stayed there all night until Daddy came home around 12:30. He took a shower and made a little noise and Ryan woke up calling for Daddy so Greg slept in the room with him last night but Ryan slept in his bed until this morning. I think they got up around 6:30.

This afternoon for his nap he jumped in the bed and I told him I was going downstairs for some lunch but he had to take a nap in his big boy bed. He stood at the gate for a while crying about 10 minutes. Then I heard him run and jump in bed and I just checked the monitor he is in the bed fast asleep. I think he is tired though we were over Christian's for a playdate this morning and the boys played and played and tired themselves out! Thanks for a fun playdate Christina! It was great seeing you and Christian!

I hope Ryan continues to sleep in his big boy bed. I am just glad he is still napping. Thanks for all the encouraging comments! Okay I will stop with the annoying updates and talk about something else tomorrow!

First Night in the Big Boy Bed a Success....

So Yeah our first night (sans Greg) in the big boy bed was a complete success! Greg is away for work but coming home tonight Yay! Anyways Ryan went down without much fuss last night. He was extrememly tired though. There was a lot of in and out of the big boy bed and finally I told him he had to get in his big boy bed and go to sleep I had to go downstairs now. He stood at the gate and cried only a few minutes then I heard him run and jump in bed and sure enough I looked in the monitor and he was asleep in his bed....Hooray! And the best part was he slept all night and then I heard him at the gate this morning....."Mommy out" So I went and got him and told him how proud I was of him that he slept in his big boy bed! He was very proud of himself too. Hopefully he will continue to sleep in the bed! Yay Ryan such a big boy!

Ryan and his Big Boy Bed!!!

Ryan likes his new big boy bed! (age 21 months)




Ryan are you getting sleepy yet??



Ryan likes his new bed but will he sleep in it???



Hmmm....I can actually get out?!?!?!....Who needs sleep really??

Okay Day #1 in the big boy bed...He is upstairs in his room NOT napping...playing??? Certainly NOT in his big boy bed sleeping. Has been up there for 20 minutes. Cried a little at first then played..then stood at the gate calling..."mommy please....mommy please out" Now crying again. Not sure if maybe this was a mistake I was hoping for at least "quiet time" Sadly the video monitor only shows his bed not the entire room so I have no idea what he is actually up to in his room. Not a whole lot for him to get into thankfully. I am going to try and attempt to ignore him a bit more and see if he gets tired enough to go to sleep (hopefully that is the plan anyways) I will give it a try and see...... Wish me luck!

First ER Vist...certainly not the last I am sure!

It was a crazy week last week sorry for the lack of updates. Last week Ryan tripped and fell tearing his face up and we had our first ER experience. Yes he tripped and fell and cut his face and I knew from the looks of the laceration he would definitely need a stitch or two. If I had taken the suturing workshop I would have done it myself (yeah right just kidding taking them out was pure torture enough for all of us especially me!) But anyways the people over at Bridgeport were very kind and gentle they kept us waiting and were slower than molasses...I mean we were there 2 1/2 hrs for a few teeny weeny stitches that took all of 5 minutes but anyways they did a good job and they were friendly and courteous. But trying to keep a rambunctious toddler occupied in a tiny room for 2.5 hrs was sheer torture and we were in a hurry to get there I grabbed the essentials only and did not put much thought into toddler entertainment. Greg and I were looking at each other wondering what the heck was taking so long! I mean the child was climbing everything in site and we thought to ourselves gee if we sit here in this tiny not so childproofed room any longer our child will need more that just a couple of stitches! Luckily the cheerios and snacks kept him occupied for short time but finally I went to the nurses desk to speak up. Sounding as polite as possible went something like this....

"Um hello excuse me our son is losing his patience a bit and getting a little impatient is there anyway we can move things along a bit....sorry I hate to sound pushy...Thanks so much!"

The nurse gave me a sort of confused look and said yeah he is getting his supplies together now...The kind of look that says geeze don't be so impatient lady! Obviously these people don't deal with toddlers regularly. I mean it is not like the place was all that busy I think we were the only ones there!

Anyways they literally mummy wrapped him and taped him to the table for the procedure and he screamed bloody murder it was really hard to watch! But it was finally over and Ryan, Greg and I were thoroughly exhausted from the mornings events! They told us to come back to get them removed but I did not want to put him through that again and who knows how long they would have kept us waiting! So I took a bunch of sterile supplies home from work and took them out myself...it was not pretty but it was better than bringing him back there.

Otherwise things have been fine with Ryan he did not seem bothered by the stitches at all. I just hope he does not get a big scar on his face. We all survived and he hopefully won't remember!

I think we have decided after this recent injury we will put him in a toddler bed this weekend. He is still climbing although it has improved I just feel like it is another accident waiting to happen. I bought a headboard to match his bedroom furniture and I am thinking of transitioning him to a toddler bed first then putting him int he twin bed. It just seems so big and high up for him now I think the toddler bed would be a better transition for him. His little friend has the fire engine bed and he climbed right in and got under the covers and would not get out of the bed so I am hoping he will like the race car bed.

Greg won his golf tourney yesterday so he is now the best player at his club. It was called the club championship and has been going on for two weeks. He played 18 holes on Sat and 36 holes yesterday to win the match! We are so proud of him but I am glad it is over. He promised to lay off the golf a bit for the rest of the season b/c he has not been around a whole lot this summer and we really need to spend more time together as a family! I am happy to have him around more often now!

Excited to be watching the olympics every night! In fact I have been staying up so late I am tired today! I just love it. Any other big fans out there?

Finally a few new pics!!

Ryan and his friend Lila at a play date last week



Ryan out to dinner using chopsticks



July 4th weekend

Beach Fun and random stuff too...

Since Daddy was golfing all weekend in a golf tournament Ryan and I decided to have a little fun of our own and ventured to the beach yesterday. It was a lot of fun and the perfect beach day. We got settled and Ryan ran off to chase some seagulls abandoning his beach pail and shovel. He ran all the way to the Marina and as I un-packed I kept my distance to see if Ryan would look for me. No he didn't this child has no fear of anyone and could have cared less if I was even at the beach with him or not. But finally I called out to him and he came running over only to get distracted again my the seagulls. It was really cute. Finally I talked him into walking back to the blanket with me and we made it back eventually. We decided to go swimming the water was really warm I noticed there were jelly fish in the water and I had read about it in the town paper that they were out early this year. I figured they were harmless there were a ton of people in the water. Funny just my luck as I was belly high in water splashing around with Ryan I felt a funny sting did not think much of it then it started to tingle and burn....and it was in a place where no jelly fish has gone before. The worst place you could possibly get stung. Oh well at least he did not get Ryan. I contemplated calling the OB but I figured what will they do anyways and it seems a bit better today. But anyways it was a lot of fun playing with Ryan at the beach :)

Ryan now refers to himself as Ry-Ry in the third person. Everything is Ry-Ry do. Ry-Ry this Ry-Ry that. It is really funny. He will actually now point to baby pictures of himself and say Ry-Ry. Before he would point to himself and say baby. For example he absolutely would not let ME give him some raisins out of the container this morning! He immediately protested Ry-Ry! So I gave in and he reached his little hand in to grab a handful for himself. I have also noticed he makes less of a mess (on some days) eating his morning oatmeal. Usually ends up eating most of it rather than missing his mouth and his bib (if I can get one on) was surprisingly left untouched this morning. Did I also mention for the past week Ryan has been insistent on sitting in his high chair again not his booster seat for meals. Funny we were just about to bring it down stairs and set it aside.

We were really surprised at dinner last night because Ryan inhaled all of his dinner at lightning speed. I made grilled salmon, carrots, zucchini and herb roasted potatoes and he loved every bite of the salmon and and veggies and even asked for more. Greg and I were so surprised. See last week it was a totally different story at meal times he would poke and push the food around and maybe take a few bites here and there. But for the past few nights he has been inhaling large quantities of food at mealtimes. I guess we better enjoy it while we can maybe he is going through a growth spurt because his appetite comes and goes.

So funny story about the zucchini....Polina gave me this enormous garden fresh zucchini it was the biggest zucchini I have seen. So I decided to make zucchini bread and I found a yummy recipe online and it called for 2 c of grated zucchini I was thinking oh wow perfect it will use alot of zucchini. Well 2 loaves later and even after grilled zucchini for 3 last night I still have half of this enormous zucchini left. What ever shall I do with it? Maybe make more zucchini bread and freeze it? More grilled zucchini? It was super yummy.

Oh I also wanted to thank mom for the green bags! They are so awesome and I highly recommend them. I was looking all over for them. I hear you can get them at CVS but I did not find them there in Fairfield. Well I happened to mention the fact I was looking of these bags and of course mom had some....she has everything! So she gave me some and I love them. I buy a whole bunch of produce and it stays fresh all week. The secret is these spectacular green bags. I put green bananas in them and they stay fresh all week. I take them out a day or two before I need one and it usually ripens well on the counter. I had used them for apples and nectarines too. You really have to dry the nectarines off first or they will get moldy. Don't wash the produce first just dry it off and place in these magical bags and it will stay ultra fresh. Apparently produce releases a gas which causes it to ripen quickly especially in warmer weather and these green bags apparently catch the gas or something and absorb it. This week I tried strawberries and grapes. Seems to be doing well so far. Thanks mom these bags are great! And I find we are wasting a lot less food!(Something we are notorious for) Oh I also wanted to mention I found this great fruit and veggie wash at Trader Joes that has grape seed extract or is it grapefruit seed extract? Anyways it is supposed to remove all the pesticides and chemicals and waxes from your produce. So while we do try to buy organic if we don't I don't feel so bad about giving it to Ryan if it is washed in this veggie soap. Just wanted to share.

Oh Thanks Auntie Erin and Grammy and Granddad for offerring to watch Ryn for us so I can attend my conference in Boston later in the month to kick off phase 2 of my diabetes trial. We are all meeting in Boston for 2 days to discuss the logistics of phase 2 and talk about the results of phase 1. Should be a lot of fun and Greg will be staying with me too to keep me company and to attend the Deuche Bank golf tournament.....(For work???) NO seriously I guess one of Genpacts's clints is hosting it and they invited Greg and some others to attend. What a cushy job! Anyways Ryan will enjoy some quality time with his Auntie Erin and Uncle Brian and His granparents too. Then my parents will take him for the long weekend and Greg and I will get to enjoy our "last hoorah" as we call it before the new baby. Our last true vacation that we will take alone for a long time to come. We are spending time with 2 other couples for the long holiday weekend for some rest and relaxation and lots of golf I am sure! Thanks family for taking care of of Ryan! What would we do without you?

Sleeping better now....

So this week Ryan has still been climbing out of his crib but much improved from last week. He is not actually getting out this time. We try and bribe him to put his legs back over and not jump out. I know it sounds silly but we pretty much do ANYTHING to keep him in the crib at this point. Greg was putting him to bed last night and I walked by and Ryan had a pillow, a golf book, and Greg's blackberry in his crib along with his usually "night night" stuff his 2 bunny blankets, his doll, and his blue blankie so there was a whole lot of stuff in his crib last night but hey it works for now. And he is napping better again I have to bribe him to stay in the crib at first even for naps too and he is napping between 1 1/2-2 hrs for us not as long as previously but it is better than no napping. And yes he is napping in the pack and play for Polina and apparently not climbing out.

How did this improved sleep pattern evolve? Well we pushed bedtime up an hour earlier. I guess we got a little layed back with daylight savings and summer and the days getting longer and gradually over a period of months we were slowly pushing Ryan's bedtime further and further back his summer bedtime routine started around 7:30 8'ish and by the time he was upstairs actually asleep it was more like 8:30 9 ish and I guess at this age they are super sensitive to that and gradually Ryan got more and more overtired. Then Greg and I were left eating dinner at 9:00 and having no time to ourselves to unwind because after dinner and cleanup it was nearly 10 PM and we were both exhausted ready for bed. Now this week our new routine is Ryan has his bath at 6:30 and he is upstairs in his crib at 7:00 and asleep by 7:45 and it is no nice. He is napping better. Behaving better and seems much more well rested. Alleluia. But we are still thinking of switching him to a big boy bed soon just to avoid a potential injury from crib climbing!

Yesterday Ryan went for his second haircut. I get a little sad each time we go because I feel like they are cutting of his little baby hair the hair he was born with. After each haircut so far he totally changes. He looks more and more like a little man and not a baby our little boy is growing up so fast!

We got our infant seat back this week. I had lent it out to one of the Dr's in the practice for one of his twins. It is still in perfect condtion. You know who jumped right in it and tried to buckle up when he saw it. It has been a real source of entertainment for him for the past few days. He really got a kick out of climbing in and climbing out and buckling the straps and trying to un-buckle them. I just had Greg bring it downstairs last night. Boy I never knew all this baby equipment could amuse a toddler for so long. It was like buying a new toy for him!

Just wanted to share the highlight of my morning today and pretty much for the past few weeks has been Ryan climbing in bed with me and waking me up with a cry out for "Mommy" and a great big hug and kiss. So sweet I cherish these moments! Have a great weekend!