19th month

Rylen is 19 months old. I am posting a bit late because I wanted to take his pictures in Hawaii. We have really noticed a big change in him this month. His verbal skills have taken a huge leap, though we still don't have many specific words to note. We are still getting our "lecture" with hand gesturing after dinner at night and this past week, he was definitely ready to give anyone a good talking to anytime they would acknowledge him. He had us rolling with his jabbering antics at breakfast. He has also become a lot more independent. Yet, at the same time, responds to our commands much better. We were able to practice "holding our hand" to walk somewhere and "stopping in his tracks" when he starts to run off. These are going to be huge when the baby comes. Rylen has also taken up jumping and has gotten a bit of air lately in his attempts. He also still finds it quite funny to spin and make himself dizzy. His physical skills always amaze us. Signing has kept up its pace and he was finding statues of elephants and signing it to us long before we located them at the resort.

Our theory will be tested now that we are at home, but we are starting to believe that the sleep issues were due to the double ear infections he left for Hawaii with. Once the medication hit, we had uninterrupted nights. Hopefully, that will continue here at home.

As for the flights to and from Hawaii, Rylen took them like a veteran. I had major anxiety over his ears and was hoping he would do well. To put it simply, Rylen had absolutely no signs of any issues on our way there or on our way back. He never pulled, tugged, or cried once. I was quite impressed. He took two naps on the plane there and then looked at books, ate, or interacted with family the rest of the time. On the way back, we had a red-eye flight and with a little coaxing at first, fell asleep and stayed asleep for about 4 hours. Then, he took some milk and fell back to sleep until we touched down in Houston. It was definitely a relief as I heard the crying babies around me. I definitely felt sorry for the parents, but was very glad that Rylen was not one of them. So, thank you to everyone for your advice and prayers. He flew with flying colors!

I feel as if I am missing accomplishments or developments that he has done lately as he seems to have really "grown-up" this month. Some are so subtle and others are just hard to describe. He is growing and amazing us every day. I know that I will have more to say on how big he has gotten once the new baby arrives. I will definitely be able to see the size difference then.

Here is his photo shoot from Hawaii! ENJOY!
19-month Photos