A New Tooth

Ryan has been teething for what seems like forever. Yesterday one of the two teeth on the top popped! He is feeling so much better already and the amount of drool has gone down substantially.

Anatomy of a Tantrum

Pictures!

Here are Ryan and Uncle David eating snacks and watching ESPN, I am in trouble

His favorite game, opening and closing the front door

Someone loves their uncle

He is growing up super fast...

The Sweet Stuff

On Monday I was recovering from a pretty awful headache that I had all of Sunday. I was laying on the couch watching Ryan play. He glanced up from his toys to look at me, then he crawled over and gave me a big hug.
Is there anything in the world better then that? I think not.

Overheard in Target

Overheard while walking in Target "Mom, look at that baby’s hair!” .... she was pointing at Ryan :)

The Dreaded Moms Group

I have mentioned a few times before that I have been getting involved in moms groups in order to get Ryan and I out into the world. They are interesting to say the least. First of all, it makes me really anxious to go somewhere where I don’t know anyone. You show up and there is a huge group of women… those of you who have known me for awhile know that up until relatively recently I hung out with almost all men, walking into a room full of women still is significantly out of my comfort zone.
After the initial discomfort comes the truly terrible part. So you have to try and relate to a group of very different women. The goal is to make friends, really one friend would be fine. I feel like I am speed dating, I need to make this great first impression so that someone picks me. It is easy to blend into a large group and you have to make yourself stand out enough that you can make a friend. I haven’t dated in a long time and suddenly I feel like I am again. (I didn't like it when I was a teenager- I don't like it anymore now).
There is a fine line that you must walk when talking to other moms. First of all you don’t want to be the mom that brags “my little Billy has been doing that for months, he is so advanced.” You don't want to be friends with that mom either. Yeah not a good way to make friends, being a parent is stressful enough without knowing someone who makes you feel like you aren’t doing enough to help your child or that there is something wrong with your child. Secondly, you have to stay out of the drama. Imagine getting a group of hormonal, isolated, sleep deprived women all together. There are cliques, there are strong personalities, there is over protectiveness… I advise you just play dumb and pretend that none of it exists, get in, find someone who doesn’t seem too crazy and try to strike up a conversation.
I was in school for a very long time, making a friend in school is cake compared to making friends (not just acquaintances) in a moms group. In school you see each other all the time, in moms groups you have to make yourself available and even then the faces are always changing. In school you all relate to each other through your similar experience, you are all going through the same thing at the same time. In moms groups there are very different parenting styles, kids are different ages, parents are different ages, some moms are working some are not, just because two people have kids does not mean that they have anything in common.
Why you might ask would someone go to a moms group when there are so many…. Let’s call it difficult things about it. Well, being a stay at home mom can be isolating. I am not complaining, I love it, but it is a hard job. You can go for days without talking to another adult except your spouse when they get home from work. So you want someone you can hang out with during the day, someone you can bounce things off of, and someone who understands you. Also, being at home with Ryan I feel like he will be at a serious disadvantage in school if I don’t get him interacting with children his own age. So I put myself out there time and time again. I have been lucky, I have met a few really nice people, I hope I can continue to meet nice people and that the relationships I have already made continue to grow.
Just one of the many things I had no idea about until after becoming a mom (the list seems to get longer everyday).

Personality Pictures

As Ryan gets bigger I feel like I can't capture his personality in pictures very well. I am trying, but he has a pretty big personality. Enjoy my attempts!

Probably my favorite picture ever, I love the pose.
This is the only way he will sit in the stroller, he kicks his legs out from under the blanket and puts it up on the rail, he does the same thing to shopping carts.

Handsome Boy

He is emailing his friends here :)

10 Months Old

Ryan just turned 10 months old! It's kinda freaking me out.

People are Catching Crazy

I’ve decided that women are crazy. I know I have a lot of female readers, I myself am a female with all this said I maintain that women are crazy. I have also recently learned that when a woman gets access to a message board the amount of crazy doubles. I don’t know if it is the fact that you don’t have to face the person they are openly criticizing or if while sitting at home on their couches women are just generally pissed off (before anyone says anything I am aware that men are also capable of creating the drama… but my recent experience has been limited to women).
With all that said here is my story…
As I have talked about before, I recently joined a new moms group. Moms groups are sometimes hard to deal with, I will discuss more about the weirdness that are moms group but that is a different post. So I joined this group which is just starting up, it was created by a very nice mom who was looking for new friends in the area because she recently moved here.
The group has been in existence for about a week, in that time we have met up once at a coffee shop. This very nice woman who I have actually hung out with separate from the group has received numerous emails and message board posts criticizing the group. Some are mad because they think some of the kids are too old, some don’t want other kids touching their kids toys, some think it is ridiculous to cap the age, some don’t like the place we met last time… It seems to me like they have a lot of pent up aggression and are taking it out on this very nice woman who went out of her way and spent her own personal time creating a place where women in similar situations could come together to find companionship.
I don’t really know how to make the situation any better, if I get involved I will just be adding to the crazy. So all I can say is before criticizing someone or taking out your aggression on someone who doesn’t deserve it, take a moment and realize you are out of control. If you don’t like the way someone else is doing something, try doing it yourself.

My Favorite Boys

My favorite boys :) They have a similar sense of style!

Clapping!

Ryan learned how to clap today.
We were watching country music videos this morning and at the end of a Carrie Underwood live music video people were clapping and Ryan decided he could to! He thinks it's great, and watches his hands hit each other and smiles. Everyday there is something new!

Social Butterfly

So during my time studying for the bar I admit I wasn’t the most outgoing person. Poor Ryan probably spent 3 days at a time not leaving the house. Well, I am trying to remedy the situation. Today alone we went to a moms group in the morning and met a few wonderful new people (one of whom I might be meeting with again on Friday) and this afternoon we went to the park with a woman who I met at the bar exam (yes apparently during a stressful test I am still able to make friends) and her three children.
Ryan is blossoming so much; he is becoming social with other children, at the park he was actually playing a little bit with my new friend’s children. He was digging in the sand and crawling and playing with toys in the sandbox, he loved it. He cried when he had to leave an hour and a half later. It’s great to watch him interacting with other children, you can see him studying them and learning from them.
One of these days he is going to walk and he is going to start talking… it is crazy how fast it all happens. I hope I can continue exposing him to new and interesting things because whenever I do I can see his whole world change. If anyone has any good ideas of things to do with a 10 month old out in the world let me know, I am always up for new suggestions.

9th Month in Review (and a visit from Grandma Mason)

I love this picture... Ryan tries to figure everything out.

I want to give everyone a quick update on what Ryan has been up to in month 9! (Next week he will be 10 months old).
- He is starting to pick up sign language; so far he has “all done” and “more.” He gets confused about when to use all done, but we are getting it.
- He can stand without holding onto anything for a few seconds
- He waves “good bye” and “hello”
- He has certain favorite books and the second I start reading them he gets really excited.
- He has stranger anxiety with certain people and he doesn’t get over it easily ( it takes weeks or months and you have to do it on his terms).

- He has figured out what a camera is, he poses when I pull out the camera. He closes his eyes and gives a cheesy smile. After the picture is taken he wants me to turn around the camera and show him how it turned out. When I show him he always laughs.

This week we had lots of visitors. Ryan’s great grandmother on my side (as seen in the last blog). This weekend Ryan’s Paternal Grandmother and Great Uncle David came from Massachusetts. They were here for perfect 80 degree weather!

Grandma Mason!

Great Uncle David

A Day at Grandma's House

Swimming Round 2 with Grandma & Great Grandma!

4 Generations!

Ryan has a new favorite! Great Grandma Gr

He is about to splash me in the face in this picture

Great Grandma Gr, Mom and Ryan

Pictures

Ryan was having a milk drinking problem, he thought it was funny to drip the bottle of milk on his face, yes he did it on purpose. Goof.

Serious baby all dressed up to go outside (except for the socks.. it is a work in progress)

Apparently Ryan didn't think this movie was very interesting... granted Don doesn't seem that into it either.

Swimming Has Started Again!

Ryan has started swimming lessons again! He absolutely loves them. Today he was splashing, in fact we were the people that no one would stand near in the pool because he was so out of control. He was laughing and kicking and slamming his fists into the water. The teacher was trying to talk over him most of the time. The only thing that made him stop for a second was when he started giving the female lifeguard a smile... he is such a flirt.
The kid has no fear. You know that feeling when you choke on water and can't get your breath back, that feeling of panic? Ryan doesn't panic, he just waits, sucking in air until it finally goes down into his lungs. no crying. Crazy baby... hopefully he figures out how to be a little bit cautious before he is old enough to get into real trouble! Grandma and Great grandma (who is in town) might come to Thursdays lesson.
Grandma Mason is going to be here this weekend so she won't get to see swim lessons but I'm sure we will find lots of fun things to do, especially since it is going to be in the 70's!