What does a doggie say?

-pretty simple answer, right?

wrong.

I have been teaching Ryleigh that doggies say "woof, woof". She has one book that says dogs say, "howl". And I'm sure if you asked random people on the street what a dog says, someone will probably say, "ruff".

What does a cat say? "meow", right? Nope, you'd be wrong on that one as well. According to one of Ry's books a cat says, "purr".

And don't even get me started on what a goat says!

Poor kids can grow up getting so confused. haha.

I think I am going to write an official animal sounds dictionary so then we can all be clear on what sounds each animal makes!

success. finally.

Ryleigh's doctors have been pushing her to drink whole milk for a while now. So, since she's one and she shouldn't have a bottle anymore we've been trying to get her to drink it in a sippy cup.

We bought 6 different kinds of sippy cups. She would not drink more than half a sip from them. We tried different types of tops.... straws, hard plastic, soft plastic... you name it, we tried it.

Thankfully, God put another mom whose son went through everything we're going through with Ry at my table at Mom's Time Out. He's small, and had to go for all kinds of tests and stuff too. She suggested Carnation instant breakfast. We bought some yesterday, and voila. Ryleigh eagerly drinks it, so now she's getting the whole milk, and the added vitamins and stuff from the instant breakfast mix. yay!

Coincidently, I put it in one of the very first sippy cups we got for her, and it's the one she uses the best. Of course. So I guess I'll keep the other 99 sippies for a future baby. haha

Are you kidding me?!

As I started teaching a student I have never taught before I was assessing how much remembered about a certain topic: probability.

I have the ability to see how my students did on previous lessons, so that I can kind of get a feel for how well they've been doing. This particular student seemed to struggle with probability for about 5 lessons, and then slowly improved, and got 100s on her 11th and 12th lesson on it (normally students only need 3 lessons on each topic)

I asked her, "Do you remember learning about probability?"
Her reply: "Nope"
Me: "Not at all? Cause your records say you have completed 12 lessons on it so far, and you've gotten a couple of 100s on it. Are you sure you don't remember?"
Her: "Nope not at all"

......

seriously?

Sometimes I feel like just banging my head against the wall

The hardest thing ever!

Ok, picture this. You discover your baby has an eyelash stuck in the corner of their eye, and it's irritating them and making them fussy. So naturally you try getting it out for them. So they're fussing because of the eyelash, and they're mad at you for putting your finger near their eye. And all the while you're fighting their little hands off as they're trying to pry your hand away from their face. And you start hoping their tears will help wash the eyelash away. But NO. It's like the thing is glued to their eyeball somehow.
Then after hours (minutes really) you finally get the stinkin' thing out! Ahhh.....

(Ok, well actually holding her down while she got 5 vials of blood drawn was 10 times worse, I just like to exaggerate cause it's fun :-)

In your face stupid doctors

Today, I was reading through the What to Expect the First Year book. I was reading about all the things Ryleigh should be doing by 12 months. I would like to take this list and shove it in the doctors faces who still insist that she has a problem, when really she's exceeding in everything... except for the weight thing, which totally is just in her genes.

Anyway... here's the list.

By the end of this month your baby should be able to...
-walk holding onto furniture (umm, she's been doing this for months now)

Your baby will probably be able to...
-clap hands or wave bye-bye (check)
-drink from a cup independently (another check.... when she actually wants the cup, which is rare)
-pick up a tiny object neatly with tips of thumb and forefinger (yeah, she is especially good at this when picking up something she's not supposed to have)
-stand alone momentarily (she can do that too)
-say dada or mama discriminantely (yes, and I'm pretty sure she knows how to manipulate us already)
-say one word other than dada or mama. Many won't say their first word until 14 months or later (Umm.... she already has a vocab of about 10 words

Your baby may possibly be able to...
-indicate wants in ways other than crying (check)
-"play ball" (she can roll the ball, but she prefers kicking it)
-use immature jargoning (yup... she talks all day)
-walk well (the one and only thing she cannot do!)

Your baby may even be able to...
-say three words or more other than dada or mama
-respond to a one-step command without gestures (check)

So there you have it.... This list gives me comfort during a time when I feel unsure. I must be doing something right!

My furniture man

Today we went crazy with boredom from yet another snow day. We had fun the first snow day. Baking cookies, finger painting, shoveling, and re-arranging the living room. But by today we had run out of fun ideas, other than just sit in front of the tv and stuff our faces.

In a quest to find something to do Ryan said, "I want to move furniture". Of course I thought he was joking, after all the complaining he did the other day when we re-arranged the living room. But nope, he was serious. Apparently he just loves moving furniture and has been missing it this week. Haha.

So we spent a couple of hours this afternoon re-arranging the bedroom. We also weeded out the closet and one of our dressers.... it's a bit ridiculous that we have 2 chests, 1 dresser, and a walk-in closet full of clothes! I have been really wanting to get rid of a ton of clothes..... I hate about 75% of my wardrobe. It was mostly bought during my college years when I had about 1 dollar to spend a week. Somehow I managed to spend all my money on clothes thanks to Rugged Warehouse, and ValuCity.... but none of it is quality.... or cute. I'm just scared that if I get rid of everything I dislike there will be nothing left.

Anyway. I've been going crazy stuck in the house, but I now have a newly organized, cleaned out bedroom as a result :-)

Ryleigh's newest talent

Talking on the phone just like mama!

Ode to Thursdays

Oh Thursdays how I love thee. You have all of my favorite things wrapped up in 24 short hours.

I start my day off with Mom's Time Out. It does not get any better than dropping off my peanut so I can go enjoy the company of other moms. We always have a good time talking, laughing and making crafts. And Ry always has a good time playing with friends in nursery.

Then in the evenings I have the unfortunate task of working. But, during Salao season I don't work on Fridays.... so, I get to cheer when work is over because my weekend begins!

And then I have a ton of favorite tv shows I get to watch. CSI, Fringe, Grey's Anatomy, and Vampire Diaries. There is just something about enjoying some time in the evening, sitting on the couch with Ryan, having Ryleigh sleeping, and just being totally lazy in front of the tv. I love it!

My Little Peanut

Ryleigh successfully turned one this weekend! We had a great visit from grandma and Auntie Laura. We got to go to the Discovery Museum, and Ryleigh loved seeing the fish tanks, and playing in the ball pit, and hugging all the stuffed animals in the "vet's office". We are super excited about getting a membership there, so we can go back whenever we want, we can also go to the "Please Touch Museum" for free. (I may be slightly more excited than Ryleigh about this, but it will be so nice to have places to go whenever we want without worrying about money!)

We also enjoyed a family party at granny and pop-pop's house. Ryleigh loved all her presents, and had fun squishing her hands in her birthday cake. Unfortunately she has a cold so she was a little extra sensitive the whole weekend, but overall I think she enjoyed herself.

As another fun birthday gift we got memberships to the aquarium. The three of us headed there today and Ryleigh loved seeing all the fish. She even pet a shark, and a starfish. We will definitely enjoy going back again once she can walk so we don't have to break our backs walking her all around.

On the downside of the fun birthday events Ry had her 1 year check-up today. She got 4 shots and it nearly broke my heart. She was miserable from a cold as it was, but they deemed her healthy enough to still get shots.

This was our first appointment with our new doctor. I do like her better. She did a much better job explaining things to me, and she was more open towards realizing that Ryleigh's size could be a result of genetics. She also let me know that Ryleigh seems to be eating enough, so it's nothing that I'm doing wrong (it was nice to get that reassurance). This new doctor recommended taking her to a gastroenternologist just to make sure everything's working properly. I like that idea a lot better than just jumping right into more blood tests. I'd rather eliminate other things first, rather than put her through the pain and torture of giving tube after tube of blood. The doctor also said that the gastro doctors will be able to discern whether or not she's showing signs of CF. Once all that happens we'll have to decide what to do next but for now we're just going to wait and pray.