ONE YEAR MARK

We survived the first year!!! Between deployments, last minute travels and moving across the country, it's been quite the journey. This boy has probably seen more than any other 1 year olds have seen. May he live the rest of his life full of experience and opportunity.

He's 1!

Ryan's first birthday was great! We had family come in town for the long weekend to celebrate with us. We kicked off the weekend with a trip to Atlanta's aquarium and Ry loved looking at all the fish and remained somewhat in tact for the dolphin show. Sunday was Ryan's actual birthday plus the party. Our house was a Dr. Seuss wonder world. I coordinated all food and decor to fit in with any of his books and the place ended up looking great! I really want to be a party planner one day, or a wedding planner or something, but I'll look more into that once we live somewhere for more than just a few months.

Green Eggs and Ham, Poodles with Noodles, Cat in the Hat Kabobs, Roast Beast Feast, 1 Fish 2 Fish have some Goldfish-only a handful of Seuss foods

The worst part about planning a birthday party when all the guests are in from out of town and staying with you is that there is no official beginning or end. I made everyone leave at 11 and enter as if they were just showing up (party was from 11-1). I didn't make anyone fake leave-ha! Instead, we all went to the pool and swam and came back to watch movies and play games. I wish the weekend could have lasted longer.

My sister and the boys left Monday and it was up to my bff and mom to spend the day together with me... Oh, what would three ladies do on a day off with a one year old boy? If you guessed SHOPPING then you would be correct. This boy is so incredibly loved. His wardrobe is entirely filled for the next size up! Okay, not entirely.. he could use some hats and shoes (the devil, in his eyes) and of course, once it comes out, holiday gear! I cannot wait for Colorado so he can start wearing his fall outfits (it's still hot and grossly humid out here.)

Oh, speaking of spoiled.. this kid got some AMAZING birthday gifts! Our house looks like a  toy store. Let's see.. he got a police car (which my mom is on the lookout for a policeman outfit for him to wear in it lol!), a ball pit fort with a tunnel leading to it, a personalized step stool (ours broke in the move so I'm extremely happy about this one!), a sports center (from mommy and daddy), giant building blocks, a new puzzle, and all that new clothes! You'd think he'd have enough at this point to play contently all day, but no. He still needs mommy as a play mate. Oh well. Safe to say that I'm getting nothing accomplished every day. Except aiding in the development of a child.

Ry has gotten so sweet! He figured out how to give kisses, so he'll come up to me, give me snuggles, then open his mouth and touch his lips to mine! And then he giggles when I kiss him. It is the most adorable thing he's done thus far. Just when I thought the first year was going to be the best of my life, he uses his first days of "toddlerhood" proving me wrong.

We had his one-year appointment yesterday. It was HORRIBLE. He did not want anyone to touch him. Lately, he's been hating putting on or taking off clothes, so it all started going downhill when we had to undress him. He didn't want the nurse measuring him, taking his blood pressure, checking his temperature, or anything having to do with touching him. And what made it worse was I went in to give him a kiss and he head-butted me and freaked out even more :( Then the doctor came in and wanted to check his body, the bump on his chin, and check his heart beat. Ry was not having any of it. He was miserable. And then.... came the shots.

At the aquarium getting photo bombed by the divers

This poor boy started his day off by falling into the door and getting a big bump on his head, head butting me, being traumatized by the doctor, then he had to get three shots. I was so annoyed at the technicians. They seemed like they'd never administered shots for a baby. At JBER, they had the bandaids placed and everything quick and ready to go. It was shot 1, shot 2, shot 3, close bandaids, done in 20 seconds max. These people were like.. okay, let's stick the needle in, then we inject the vaccination, take it out. Okay, where's the next one? Okay, stick it. Oh wait, my finger fumbled trying to push the injection, okay there it goes. Number 3 now. Got it in, let's push. All done. Okay, where's the bandaids? Gotta open them. Oh, there's blood dripping, I guess I'll put the bandaid there. Where are the other two? Let's open them. Okay, all done. Luckily for me, G was able to get off work to be there for the appointment so he was the one this time who held Ry down as Ry choked on his own tears. Such a traumatic day. He usually spikes a fever after shots so I'm holding my breath that he'll be okay this round since he's bigger.

As for his stats, he's a little shorty. He's measuring at 28.25 inches (the 8th percentile LOL!) and weighing in at 21 lbs 4 oz (26th percentile). Doctor said his growth curve looks good and healthy! Although, he claims they mis-measured last time because he "shrunk" which isn't possible. One thing that really annoyed me were these supposed milestones Ry is supposed to hit when he's one. I was asked, "Does he participate in a game of peek-a-boo?" My response, "Um.. we don't play peek-a-boo, so no?" I didn't realize that playing peek-a-boo was going to be apart of the one year old test. Or how about, "Does he wave goodbye?" "No, but he sometimes waves hello." Then we were asked if he does daily tasks. I didn't know what that meant... I mean, he's not vacuuming or anything. We just said yes. The technician didn't really know what it meant either.

Overall, he's such a healthy boy and of course, he's the happiest baby I know. Oh! He finally ate birthday cake. He picked at the icing and ate a few chunks of it. I think he was sugared out because once he got to the cake part, he was more happy throwing it around than eating it.

He took the whole cake!

I probably have a million more things to say but I am wiped. He's been waking up between 4 and 4:30 everyday and it's killing me. I haven't worked out in so long because I've been running around prepping for company and his birthday and now trying to recover. I am just tired and my energy is running low. I'll get back at it at some point. For now, I'm just enjoying play time with my little nugget. I can't believe he's one!!! I love him!