GO Mommy GO!!!!

On Saturday I ran my first 10K. I have been training for ten weeks preparing for this. I had a few goals for running: finish the race, run the entire thing, and finish under one hour. I am proud to say that I achieved all of my goals. I ran the entire thing, even when it got hard, I finished, and my time was 55 minutes. Not bad for my first race. I am so happy that I joined this running team. The trainer is awesome, the girls I run with are great, and it is the one thing I do for me. I'm not sure what I will do next, train for a half marathon, continue running 5 and 10ks or just be content with what I have achieved so far. At the finish line waiting for me was Sanjay and Ryan. What a great sight to see after 6.2 miles of nonstop running! I was so proud of Sanjay on Saturday too. I left the house at 5:45 and Sanjay got Ryan up, fed, dressed, in the car and to my race on time to wait for me at the finish line. Good job daddy!

Play date

Last week Ryan had another playdate with his friend, Lauren. This time they went to My Gym. The first thing Ryan did was go into the ball pit. His favorite part of this was taking two balls and banging them together to see if they made any noise. After a few minutes, I tried to take him out of the pit so he could explore. He screamed and cried, so back to the pit he went. When he had, had enough of the ball pit he crawled around to see what else My Gym had to offer. He went through tunnels, bounced on a trampoline and tried to climb up a slide. He finally found another favorite thing to do at My Gym; stare at himself in the wall size mirror. (He must get this from his dad!) He also enjoyed licking the mirror which made me cringe. One hour of free play tired him out, he slept the entire way back home. Thanks Lauren for a fun date!

O Christmas Tree

Last weekend we went to get a Christmas tree. There were so many beautiful trees, it was hard to choose. After about 15 minutes of looking, we finally found the perfect tree for our family. I am so happy to have a tree this year as we have only had a tree one other time since Sanjay and I have been married. We decorated the tree after Ryan went to sleep. It was fun to go through all of the ornaments. Each ornament on our tree has special meaning. They were given to us by family members, friends, or former students of mine. We also bought ornaments while traveling in India, and right after we were married. Having the tree is definitely getting us in the Christmas spirit!

My big boy

I took Ryan to the doctor on Wednesday to get the second round of his flu shot. While there, I weighed him. He is now 17 lbs. In addition to his weight gain, he now has 6 teeth. Can you believe it? He has four on top and two on bottom. Lastly, today we were just hanging out at home and I happened to look over at Ryan, who was making a lot of noise, and he was standing up by himself. He had his drum stick in one hand and his other hand was in the air. Now I know what all the noise was about, he was getting my attention to show me what he was doing. What a smart boy! He never ceases to amaze me!

Ryan's first injury

A few weeks back Ryan and I were at his music and sign language class. The studio has hardwood floors. Normally this is not a problem, but Ryan was very tired on this particular day. Class had ended and we stayed after to socialize. Ryan was crawling around like he normally does. I'm not quite sure exactly how it happened, but he fell face first onto the floor. Instantly I knew this was not a normal spill where he would recover within seconds. He did that heart wrenching cry with the ten seconds of silence before the next cry comes out. I quickly grabbed him and held him while he cried, assuming he had hit his head and there would be a bruise. When I was able to take a look at him and assess the damage, I saw it...blood! It is a weird thing when you see blood on your baby the first time. I was trying very hard to not pass out or cry myself. He had hit his two top front teeth on the floor and they were bleeding. He was not badly injured, but in the moment, it was horrible. The studio manager got an ice pack for him and by the time it arrived, Ryan had recovered. I had not recovered, but more importantly, he had. I know this is only the first of many injuries to come. I'm going to have to toughen up a bit, but it is really hard when this happens to your little one. This picture shows the little bruise he got on his nose in addition to two very sore top teeth.

Cabo

At the beginning of this month we went to Cabo. Sanjay's good friend got married and we took a much needed vacation. Vacationing with a baby is much different then it was when it was just the two of us. I was extremely nervous about the trip because the flight was long, and now that Ryan is crawling around, how would it be for him confined on a plane and in a hotel room? Ryan far exceeded my expectations! On the 2 hour flight to Cabo he was a model passenger. We brought toys, books, and lots of snacks. He was occupied the entire flight. We did leave the plane a mess with about a thousand bits of Cheerios left behind. Sorry nice flight attendants! We were in Cabo for a total of 4 days. We tried to stay busy and out of our hotel room. Ryan was happy riding around in his stroller and playing in the kiddie pool. Sanjay's parents came with us to help out with Ryan and enjoy a mini-vacation of their own. They watched Ryan while we went to the wedding and helped out tremendously throughout the trip. Our only hiccup on the trip was the flight home. We were "those people" with the screaming baby on the flight home. Ryan was inconsolable for one hour of our two hour flight home. He managed to throw up and wail at the top of his lungs for what felt like an eternity. I was so thankful that other passengers and the flight attendants were helpful and did not throw things at us. Sanjay finally got Ryan to sleep by walking continuously in the front of the plane. We made it through our first trip with Ryan to a foreign country. Looks like there may be more traveling in Ryan's future!

Halloween

It is better to be late than to not post any Halloween pictures at all. This year, for Ryan's first Halloween, we dressed him up to go to music and sign class. Most of the babies came in costumes. Ryan was dressed as a turtle. He really looked the part as he crawled around. On Halloween night our city had many festivities downtown. There was food, a live band, a parade, and bounce houses. We took Ryan in the stroller and walked around for a bit with our neighbors. We then went to dinner with some friends and their little guy. We ended the evening by stopping by my former colleague's house so she could see Ryan in his costume. By the time we got home to pass out our own candy, most of the trick-or-treaters had gone home. Needless to say, we have lots of leftover candy...bummer!

Mom the slacker

Life has become a little more challenging now that Ryan is mobile. In addition to that, he has chosen to stop taking long naps. This leaves little or no time for me to do much of anything. However, it has created more time for me to capture new and exciting moments in Ryan's life. Ryan is now 9 months old and each month I find myself wondering where the time has gone. I think I talk about this with each passing month. It is amazing how fast time has gone by. He is starting to turn into a little boy which means thoughts, sounds and opinions of his own. He has started to throw temper tantrums, which is really interesting. He will many times refuse to get in his carseat, and the stroller, forget about it! One of the only times he seems to be happy, when we are out, is when I hold him either in the Bjorn or on my hip. I know I should enjoy this because soon enough this will pass and he will want to do everything by himself.


Ryan had his 9 month doctor appointment last week. He is only 16 pounds. I feed this boy all the time, I promise. He is so incredibly active that he metabolizes his food rather quickly. He is eating so many different things now. However, I am still pretty careful with what I feed him. His favorite snack right now is Cheerios. He cannot get enough of these! He also eats oatmeal, eggs, toast, rice, most vegetables, some fruits, bread, and he will be starting meats in the upcoming week. Maybe I am just paranoid about him having a reaction to certain foods, so I have been careful, but as his mom that is my job, to look out for him. Needless to say, he is not even on the chart for weight.

Last but not least, yes I am a slacker. I have not posted our Halloween adventures, and we just returned from a mini-vacation in Cabo. I hope to have these posts up in the next few days along with some great pictures! Stay tuned!

Water baby

Ryan and I have started taking mommy and me swimming classes. It is a 25 minute class through our local parks and rec. The first day we went to class he immediately loved the water. He loved it so much he drank about a gallon of pool water that day. We are working on keeping his mouth closed in the pool. He moves his arms and tries to kick his legs. His favorite part of class is when the instructor puts out the floating bricks. Ryan tries to swim to reach the bricks. He can move his arms in a doggy paddling motion and tries to kick his legs. Really, I am the one doing all the work to reach those bricks. Man my legs are sore after each class!

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday, my friend Jessica and I took Ryan and Jessica's daughter, Lauren, to the pumpkin patch. It was beautiful fall weather in So. California, yeah right! It was about 85 - 90 degrees and the wind was blowing pretty hard. We still had a great time. We only stayed for a little over an hour, but that was enough time to choose the perfect pumpkin, see some animals at the petting zoo, and take lots of pictures. I think the babies had the most fun when we tried to take pictures with a pumpkin placed in front of them. They were very smart and quickly realized that if they pushed the pumpkins gently, they would roll off the hay and onto the ground. This kept them amused for quite awhile, and both mommies had to run back and forth placing the pumpkins in front of the babies while trying to take pictures.

The Climber

Ryan's new past time is climbing and pulling himself up. He will climb on anything and everything. He has been pulling himself up for about a month now, but I actually got pictures of him doing it this time. Ryan is so active these days. He crawls very quickly and pulls himself up into a standing position. It is amazing to watch him. I feel like every day brings so many new experiences and milestones. There is not a lot of down time for mommy and daddy. We take turns chasing Ryan. Another hobby of Ryan's is stalking poor Lucy. When he does catch her he pets her nicely. She returns the favor with many slobbering dog kisses. This just makes Ryan laugh. They are entertaining to watch. Ryan will be eight months old on the 8th. How fast time flies!

Busted!

Last week when Ryan woke up from his nap I heard him moving. He didn't cry so I thought I would peek and see what he was doing. Low and behold he had figured out how to pull himself up in his crib. His daddy did not lower the mattress on his crib quite yet. This is Ryan looking shocked as I walked in on him. His mattress has since been lowered, thanks to mommy!

Ryan Goes to School

At the beginning of the month I enrolled Ryan in a few classes at a local enrichment studio. He is in a music and sign language class, baby yoga, and a mommy and me class. I know it sounds silly, but the music and sign language class is said to encourage language and also a love of music. The baby yoga helps with things like gas and improvement of overall health. The mommy and me class focuses on different topics that are of interest to the moms, like teething, solid foods, etc. Maybe it is just a gimmick, but we enjoy going. It is also a way for Ryan to socialize with other babies and for mommy to socialize with other mommies. Here's Ryan and his buddy, Tyler.

UCLA... FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!!!

On Monday, September 1, the UCLA Bruins had a special guest at their season opener...Ryan Roy! Ryan went to his first Bruin football game. Our day began quite early because Ryan's daddy says,"You can never be too early to a UCLA football game!" So we arrived 5 hours before game time! This gave Ryan plenty of time to eat, nap, play, and eat again before the game started. We entered the stadium at kickoff. The roar of the crowd sent Ryan into a panic, and he had a complete meltdown. It took a few minutes to calm him down. It probably did not help that he was in the Bjorn facing outward looking at thousands of people and not his two favorite people; mom and dad! We were able to stay at the game through the 3rd quarter. For the most part Ryan was fine during the game, but when a fan yelled too loudly, Ryan lost it all over again! I would categorize this as a long, yet successful day. We made it home just in time to watch the Bruins win their first game of the season. Looks like Ryan may be their lucky charm as he has not been to another game and the Bruins have not won a game since. We will try to take Ryan to another game before the season ends. Let's go BRUINS!!!

Anniversary

I'm a little behind on updating. I feel like things happen and weeks go by before I am able to update everyone. As many of you know, Sanjay and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary on August 27 and 28. We went to Temecula to wine taste and have lunch a week prior to our anniversary. We also ordered a cake from the bakery that made our wedding cake. On the 27th, Sanjay picked up dinner and brought me flowers!!! He often talks about the fact that he was going to get flowers for me, but never does. On this day, he actually did. That made my day! So, here we are having lunch in Temecula. We did some wine tasting prior to the photo, so if we look a little out of it, you know why that is! Here's to many more years of marriage and two more kids?! HA HA! Okay, one more baby for sure...someday!

Back to School

I know this is supposed to be about Ryan's adventures, but I guess it is a little about me too. Those of you who know me know that it was always about me in the past, now that Ryan is here it's just a little about me and mostly about him. Anyway, school started last week and for the first time in ten years there was no first day back to school for me. No staff meetings, no inservices, no setting up the room, and making endless copies for the kids. It felt very strange knowing that everybody was going back and I was not. (I am not complaining because I have the best job in the world!) So, on this particular day, last week, I had to get out of the house and do something. Thankfully, I joined Stroller Strides not too long ago. They just so happened to have a spa day set up for the mommies and their babies. So, off we went! I got a foot scrub and learned a little about baby massage. After, we went down to the beach for yoga. This picture is Ryan's first time on the sand (okay on my towel, in the sand) at the beach. He slept during the yoga portion and woke up at the end of the class, just in time to take a picture. This definitely beats going back to school!

Ryan's Rice Feeding Ceremony

On Sunday we had Ryan's Rice Feeding Ceremony. Sanjay's parents, invited only family and close friends to this event. It was a nice, intimate gathering. In Sanjay's culture, from what I understand, the ceremony marks the first time a baby is given solid foods, namely rice or rice pudding in this instance. Also, at this ceremony the baby chooses their career path, or path for their future. Ryan was presented with a silver tray in which he had items to choose from. The object he picked up is said to determine his future career choice or path in life. He was able to choose from money which symbolizes wealth, a book which symbolizes a scholar, a rock which symbolizes some nature based profession, and a pen which symbolizes a writer or some sort of career relating to this, lawyer; etc. After touching the money, book, and the pen, Ryan picked up the pen with his tiny fingers. It was interesting to watch this. I thought he would pick up the book since we read each day, and he seems to be quite fond of books. Sanjay thought he would go for the money, big surpise there! Sorry Daddy guess he won't be an Investment Banker like you were! It will be interesting to see if this holds true for Ryan's future. Ryan was so well behaved throughout the day. He let everyone hold him and right after he chose the pen he started to nod off due to all of the excitement. Needless to say it was a great time. Sanjay's mom, Ryan's "Dima" prepared all of the food for this event. As usual, it all tasted wonderful! My parents, Wendi, Marc, Savannah and Ben were able to come and be a part of this also. They enjoyed seeing Ryan dressed in his kurta pajamas, or what I call, his Indian outfit. Thanks Ma and Baba for putting together a memorable Rice Ceremony for our precious son!

Vacation

Sanjay has been on vacation for the last two weeks so the blog has been neglected. We did so many things when he was off. Sanjay and I started off our vacation going out together without Ryan for the first time. He has gone out and I have gone out, but we have never gone together and left Ryan. So...Auntie Wendi, and cousins Savannah and Ben came over to watch Ryan while daddy and mommy went to an event for one of Sanjay's colleagues. I was exhausted by 9:30, but was able to tough it out until 11:30p.m., yes I am SO old.

Our next adventure took us up north. We went to San Jose to visit Auntie Kari, Uncle Gary, and cousins Madison and Gavin. On the flight up we sat in the very last row of seats on the plane. Ryan proceeded to flirt with the flight attendants for most of the flight. He loves the ladies already! When we arrived, the airline lost our car seat (go figure!). We were off to a bumpy start. Kari and I went to the spa to celebrate her 30th b-day and the daddies were left in charge. A little slice of Heaven on Earth! :) I think Sanjay said that was the longest five hours of his life, but all of the kids were alive and well when we returned. We visited Santana Row and Valley Fair (the mall, Nordstrom coffee) several times that weekend. It was lots of fun! Never a dull moment with 3 kids!

We then took a trip out to Ontario. I took Ryan to my former work to visit my colleagues. They were hard at work preparing for the upcoming school year! Yikes, it is here already! Sanjay and I decided to go to Temecula for an early anniversary celebration to wine taste and have lunch. Again, Ryan was able to hang out with Auntie Wendi, and cousins Savannah and Ben. We went to South Coast Winery and Ponte. It was great to reminisce about the day we got married, yet every conversation always comes back to Ryan. Go figure!! When we came back from the winery we took Ryan swimming at Wendi's. He really enjoyed the water, good thing because he starts mommy and me swimming next month.

Next, we were off to San Diego to spend some time with Uncle Bunty and Auntie Tripti. Ryan showed off his army crawling for them and how he puts everything in his mouth, even the Pottery Barn catalog! He really ripped a hole in that catalog! He also showed them what a good sleeper he is. He slept for 9 hours that night, a little less than his usual 10 or 11 hour nights, but I am NOT complaining! Thanks for letting Lucy stay, Auntie Tripti!!

Lastly, since Ryan is now 6 months old he had a rice ceremony today. More to come on this in the next few days along with some pictures. So it is back to work for Sanjay tomorrow. It will be nice to get back to our weekly routine. It felt like an extended weekend for the past two weeks. It has been nice watching Ryan and Sanjay bond during this time. Ryan constantly watches him and smiles waiting for daddy to look at him and say something. When daddy notices and talks to Ryan, he has the biggest gummy smile. It is adorable to watch! As I said, I have many pictures of our vacation to put on the blog. Stay tuned!

Oh No, Another One!

Another day, another tooth. Ryan now has two bottom teeth coming in. I noticed this morning at about 2 a.m. when he was crying uncontrollably for 30 plus minutes. I made the long trek downstairs to get him and it was back to mom and dad's room for Ryan. As I was putting the baby orajel on I noticed not one but two teeth. At 6 months and 4 days Ryan has officially started to get teeth!

New Tooth!

I am new at this blogging thing, so I really hope I can keep it up. Ryan just turned 6 months old last Friday, so what better time to start documenting all of the crazy adventures of our little guy. It is basically a place for me to brag about my greatest accomplishment...Ryan! He is now 14 lbs. and 4 ounces and currently in the 5th percentile for weight. However, he is 24 inches long and in the 50th percentile for length/height. He is a long and lean little guy! He has been rolling front to back and back to front since he was about 41/2 months old. He is now doing the "army crawl" and moves pretty quickly. The days of leaving him unattended to use the bathroom are long gone!

Today Ryan hit a new milestone. A new bottom tooth has broken through. Not only that, he slept 10 hours last night in his own room!!! Those of you who have spoken to me recently know how hard it was to move him to his own room, but we did it and we all survived to tell about it!