Ryleigh's Eventful Tuesday

This is a little last posting, but I wanted to make sure I did post it.

Tuesday Tom and I were off (as usual) and we spent the whole day together as a family. We had a really good time. We went to lunch and then went over to my mom's house to go swimming. Ryleigh loves to swim. We spent almost 2 hours in the pool. Ryleigh tried out the arm floaties and she did great with them on!! After we were done swimming, we went home. Ryleigh took a nap, she was exhausted from the swimming. Later that evening, we went to Chuckee Cheese. Grammy joined us. Ryleigh had a really good time. I was impressed with how much she was into the games. She wasn't sure about Chuckee though. We sat at a table near him and she didn't take her eyes off of him. We ate, played some games ( I think her favorite was the Skee Ball) and then Ryleigh picked out her prize. Afterwards, we stopped at Cold Stone for some yummy ice cream. We had a very good day and we were glad that Grammy joined us that evening. Ryleigh was a little chatter box on the way home, but fell asleep shortly after we dropped Grammy off. We were all in bed by 10:10 that night, it was fun, but exhausting day!!

The Big Girl Potty Chair

At Ryleigh's 18 month check up I discussed potty training with Dr. Hammer. We agreed that since daycare won't help with the potty training until she is 2 and with the arrival of the new baby, to wait until I am on maternity leave to begin the potty training process. But she suggested getting a potty chair so that Ryleigh can have a few months of getting use to and learning what it is for. She is afraid of sitting on the big one, so she won't show any interest in wanting to even try it. Well, Saturday at my mom's, my sister and I were talking about potty training and so when I left there to go to Wal-Mart the conversation was still fresh in my head. I had to go back to the baby department to get wipes and we just happened to walk right past the potty chairs. So, I stood there for a moment, deciding whether or not to go ahead and get one. I decided sure, why not, what's the harm. Ryleigh and I picked one out, we got the one that plays music when you pee. When we got home, I took it out of the box and put it together and sat it down. I said to Ryleigh, "See your big girl potty chair?" She immediately started trying to strip down. So we took her shorts and diaper off and she also insisted on her shirt. She sat on it and then stood up and looked inside. Of course she didn't really pee in it. She played with it all weekend. She never did potty in it, but she knows what it is for. She knows what her potty chair is and what she is supposed to do in it. She insists on being totally nude though. She doesn't like it in the bathroom, so she had to keep it in the living room. This morning it was in the bathroom and she pushed it up against the sink to stand on it so she could brush her teeth. (she is so smart ;) ) Anyway, she now has a big girl potty chair and there is no pressure on her at all, but over the course of the next few months, she can begin to understand more and show more interest in potty training so that in February she will be more prepared and ready to start potty training. Unless, of course, she does it on her own before that... ha! I could only hope , right?

Oh and she did pee on the couch after she sat on her potty chair. oops.

A Night with Grammy

Ryleigh spent the night with Grammy Friday night. She had a very good time. She played so hard and swam so much on Saturday that she fell asleep standing up against the couch Saturday afternoon. I know Grammy really enjoyed their time together and Ryleigh did too. And mommy got to sleep in on Saturday morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was the best part! Grammy, we will have to do this more often!

Hello, My name is Ry-Ry

This morning Ryleigh and I were in the car on the way to work and I asked her... "Can you say Ryleigh?" She smiled real big and pointed to herself. And I said, "Yea you are Ryleigh, but can you say Ryleigh?" She looked up at me and says, "Ry-Ry!". It was so cute!!!!

She did say Ryleigh the other day, well, it was more like "Ryee". We just keep practicing. She will probably go to school thinking her name is Ry-Ry!

Good Bye 1st Trimester, Hello 2nd Trimester

My 2nd trimester begins tomorrow!! YAY!!!

I had a doctors appointment yesterday. We heard the heartbeat. The baby's heart rate was 165. Everything looks great and everything is going good!! I am starting to feel movement, just flutters. I wasn't sure at first since I didn't feel anything until I was 18 weeks pregnant with Ryleigh. But the doctor asked me if I was feeling movement yet and said that the second time mothers tend to start feeling the flutters a lot earlier (something I never noticed with Ryleigh because i didn't know what to be looking for) and I will also start feeling kicks sooner too! It's a very cool feeling. I still remember it all so well with Ryleigh and I am really looking forward to it again.

I will go back to the doctor Aug. 18 and then the next appointment will be in September, this is when we will find out if it's a boy or a girl. BTW: I am taking guesses of the gender for my pregnancy journal, add your guesses if you would like!!

How old are you?

Ryleigh is starting to be able to tell you how old she is by holding up one finger. She doesn't do it each time you ask her how old she is, but she can do it and will do it about half the time. It's pretty darn cute when she does do it. We will just keep practicing!

Is that a BUMBLEBEE that I see?

This morning I was in the shower when Tom and Ryleigh came in there excited about something. Tom said to Ryleigh, tell mommy what you saw outside. Of course, she just stared at me. Then Tom said that she saw a bumblebee outside and pointed to it and said "bumblebee"!!! We always have bumblebees out by our flowers and when she notices one, we will say that's a bumblebee. But today she said it all by herself!! It's such a big word for such a little girl. After about a minute or so, she did say it for me and it was so cute.

Her language development has really started to mature over the last month or so. She is adding new words to her vocabulary, though some of them we don't hear to often. Some of the words that she said before have started to become a lot clearer. And her gibberish in general has taken on a more mature sound. Before we know she will be talking in sentences!!!

First "school" pictures

Ryleigh had her first "school" pictures today. They had a photographer come to the daycare to take each child's pictures and class pictures. Ryleigh wore an orange summer dress and looked as cute as a button. She really isn't very photographic, so I am hoping they got a couple really cute ones. She just doesn't like to smile for pictures, I guess she got that one from her daddy because we all know I have the biggest smile in every picture I am in!! ha! The proofs will be back next week and I am really excited to see how they turned out.

Ryleigh is signing

Well, just one gesture, but it's sign language for something. She started gesturing it to me the other day at lunch time. I really have no idea what it means. After talking to Sarah, we are thinking that it means 'more'. I am sure that the daycare has taught it to her, so I need to remember to ask when I am there. But as of right now, I believe that Ryleigh is signing 'more' to us.

Chicagoland Speedway

We are leaving tonight for Chicagoland Speedway for the races Friday and Saturday night. We are just going to stay in Springfield tonight and then get up in the morning and go to Harvey (that's where we will be staying). It will be a very fun weekend. Hopefully it doesn't rain us out!! This should be an interesting first time experience for Ryleigh. We will be back late Sunday. Pray for a safe trip for us and NO RAIN!

I guess the toilet water doesn't taste bad.

These are two examples of how toddlers do not find anything gross.

A couple of weeks ago Ryleigh was in the hall bathroom and I was walking to the bedroom, as I walked by I just happened to glance over and catch her dipping her binkie in the toilet and sucking the water off of it. I yelled out to her and ran over, closed the lid and took her binkie and tried to tell her how gross that was. Of course, being only a year and half, she doesn't understand that, to her it was fun and it must have tasted good.

My little lecture about how gross the toilet is didn't do any good because yesterday morning I caught her dipping her tooth brush in it and sucking the water off of it.

Oh the things kids do...

Oh the poop....

Lately, Ryleigh has just been taking a shower with me in the mornings. It seems to be easier and more convenient and she doesn't mind at all. But for whatever reason, this girl has decided that it is ok to poop in the shower. She never once pooped in the tub as a baby, not once! Instead she waited until she got older and started taking showers with me to poop in the tub. This morning was about the 5th time she has done it to me.

The shower isn't the only place that she likes to poop either. If she isn't wearing any clothes, she will not keep her diaper on. So the other day, I am downstairs doing laundry and she stayed upstairs. I could hear her laughing and talking up a storm, was just as happy as could be. She had stripped down just prior to me going downstairs. I am assuming that she is playing with all the laughing and talking I can hear. But much to my surprise when I reached the top of the steps and looked over towards the windows in the living room, there was Ryleigh totally naked, squatting on the floor and underneath her was a big pile of poop. To make it worse, we had all been battling the flu and she still had diarrhea. Yep, all over the carpet and her since she thought it would be ok to sit in it.

I am still working on the stain....

18 months old already!!

Ryleigh was 18 months old this past Sunday. She had her 18 month WCC on Monday. She is doing fabulous!!!!! She FINALLY reached 20 lbs! 20 lbs and 3 oz to be exact!! She has now dropped to the 3rd%, but the pedi doesn't seem concerned at all. She has always been on the lower end of the scale and since 9 months has gradually dropped from the 10th% to the 3rd%. She eats well, so I am not sure where it goes. She is finally at average height, 31 1/2 inches. I guess I can still call her shorty though! ;) She only had one shot and will get one more at 2 and then she is done until she is 4!!!! YAY!

She is certainly a toddler with toddler behavior. She has developed a lovely attitude that takes a lot of patience! ;) Along with this scream that makes you wish you had ear plugs. Overall, though, she is a very sweet and good little girl. She is so lovable and hilarious to be around. The toddler stage takes a lot more energy to keep up with than the newborn who wakes up every 2 hours and doesn't let you sleep. She is learning so much and developing so quick. We are really enjoying her and feel so blessed that God gave us such a blessing.

We are preparing her for the new baby, but she is so in love with babies, that I am hoping that sticks around and adjusting will be a breeze. We will see when the baby is there all the time.

Oh, and a very well pronounced "MOMMY" has become her favorite word!! I love it!! She has called me some sort of version of mama or mommom for a long time, but it really melts my heart to hear this little tiny voice that sounds so grown up call me mommy (and other people and things sometimes).