Some Late Fall Pictures

Halloween 2011, the fireman and ladybug


Hanging out in the stroller for Mommy's workout












Family picture on Thanksgiving



I like this one too!











The cousins

Regan is 13 Months old!

I told myself I probably could not keep up with the monthly birthday posts, and I was right. Although it keeps me accountable each month, it is hard to do. Part of the reason I would post Regan's monthly birthday pictures and stories is because I didn't want to have a second child with only a handful of pictures to look at when she was older and a baby book that was never updated. I'm trying to keep up with it, but each month just passes so quickly.

Regan is now 13 months old. She is not walking on her own yet, but she will hold my hand and walk or walk pushing one of her walking toys. She will stand on her own for a few seconds, then realizes no one is holding onto her and drops to the ground. Just in the last month I have noticed huge changes in her vocabulary. She baby babbles constantly, but in addition to that has picked up new words and some words have become more clear. Last month she would drop things and say "Uh." This month she drops things and says, "Uh oh!" Last month she said,"Ee I ee I," this month she says,"Ee I, ee I oh!" There are times when it sounds like she is singing part of the ABC's when babbling, but I think it is too early to tell. She says,"All done," very clearly as well as,"More" while doing the sign. She says,"Milk," and points to everything and says what sounds like,"What's that?" When I tell her what the object is, she laughs and points to something else and says again, "What's that?" She continues to say,"Hi Daddy!" very clearly and has started to say Ryan which sounds like Ry-Ry.


Some of Regan's favorite foods right now are cheese sandwiches, hummus on tortillas, yogurt, broccoli, peas, applesauce, waffles and pumpkin pancakes. She is a good eater and will, for the most part, eat what I put in front of her. She really likes to feed herself and would prefer that over someone feeding her.

Regan has become pretty independent. She enjoys playing alone and does not need anyone to play with her. She also enjoys playing with her brother, but is perfectly content on her own. Something new for Regan is she has become clingy. When I leave the room, she cries. Even if Sanjay or Ryan are still in the room with her, she cries. Her little personality is finally starting to come through. She has been scrunching up her nose when she laughs and making really cute, silly faces.

Ryan Can Read, Workbooks, and Candyland

A few months back I decided to start doing flashcards with Ryan. He is always eager to learn, and I enjoy challenging him. I looked up a website on sight words. I wrote the words on flashcards and introduced 4- 6 words to him each day during lunch and dinner. By bedtime he knew all of the words on the flashcards for that particular day. Let me remind you that this is a boy who would memorize books at age 2. He has this crazy ability to memorize things so I figured, why not take advantage of it. As of today he knows all of the preschool sight words and more than half of the kindergarten words.

Since we go to the library weekly and check out books, I started to choose books that had the sight words in them and are designed to help kids recognize the words and essentially begin to read. Although he does struggle with a few words, he can read the books that I bring home each week. I am absolutely amazed that he has taken to reading and flashcards so easily. Today he was in time out and when I went to get him I find him in his chair going through his flashcards. He just really enjoys reviewing flashcards and reading books. To him, it is another "game" that we play. He has also recently got a few preschool workbooks and cannot get enough of them. If I tell him there is no time to do a workbook page, it upsets him. I love the fact that he loves to learn and looks forward to it everyday. He really impresses me and I am so proud of him.

As an early Christmas gift, Ryan received Candyland. He loves playing the game, but with it comes the concept of winning and losing. I'm sure this may upset some people, but I really believe children need to understand that in games and in life people win and lose. I feel like these days schools and parents are trying to get away from saying that there are "winners" and "losers." "Everybody wins," is a line I often hear from others and it drives me insane. At some point, maybe not at 3 years old, kids need to learn that they may fail at something. They need to learn how to cope with it and how to move on.

Ryan and I played Candyland a few times the first night we opened it. As I won the first game he began to get upset, which I expected. I told him when you lose you don't pout or complain, at the same time, if you win, you don't brag about it or celebrate excessively. I said, when the game is over, win or lose you shake the other person's hand and say,"Good game." He is only three and a half, but he needs to learn that things are not always going to go his way. I understand this is a big concept for him, so we are easing into it. Needless to say, we probably play between 3- 5 games every other day. I can tell he gets upset when he loses, but tries not to let it show and is super excited when he wins. This is a learning experience for him, but also a life skill that he should be aware of at this age. Regardless of winning or losing, Ryan really enjoys spending that quality time playing games with his dad or me.

Regan is 1 year old!!

Regan turned a year old on November 5th! We had a small party with family and a couple close friends. When Regan woke up on her birthday, Ryan insisted that she wear the "birthday hat." Like the agreeable little girl that she is, she wore it with a smile.










I tried to get some pictures of Ryan and Regan together before the party. It didn't go well.













The Birthday cake









Time for Regan to eat her first cupcake!





Hanging out at the end of the party.








Happy First Birthday Baby Girl!!

A Year Ago Today

A year ago today, I was 39 weeks pregnant. I went to my weekly doctor's appointment. In the two weeks prior to this appointment I was 1 centimeter, then 2 centimeters dilated, respectively. I was sure my doctor would tell me, "This is it, get ready your baby is coming." But that is not what she said. Instead she told me I was 3 centimeters dilated. I was a bit disappointed because I was ready. She then asked me how I felt about being induced. I was happy and nervous all at the same time. I was at the appointment alone, so it was up to me to decide what I wanted. I told her that I thought it was a great idea, that I was ready. I liked the idea of knowing if I was induced I would know when to go to the hospital. I was so nervous about going into labor while Ryan was at school. What if Sanjay couldn't make it home in time? Where do I take Ryan? Who would pick him up from school? Would he be scared? With the induction, I was able to have a plan. My in laws would come to spend the night with Ryan, my mom would come to the hospital with Sanjay and me, my sister would come relieve my in laws so they could come to the hospital. After the baby was born my sister would bring Ryan to meet the baby. It was a great plan.

My mom came over that afternoon. My in laws came over shortly after. My bags were packed. I had to call the hospital at 10:00 p.m. to make sure there was room for me. We let Ryan stay up late that night. I had Sanjay take pictures of Ryan and me with my very big belly. I remember feeling overwhelmed with emotions; happy that it was finally time, nervous about the labor and delivery, a bit sad about how Ryan would react to not being an only child anymore. I said goodnight to him and tucked him in bed. I reassured him that he would see me in the morning and he would be able to meet his new brother or sister. I think he was more excited about his cousins coming to play with him the next day.

We headed off to the hospital; my mom, Sanjay and me. I was finally able to not worry about Ryan, knowing that there were bigger things to worry about. We, of course, arrived about 10 minutes too early and had to wait in the waiting room for 10 minutes. That was a short 10 minutes. At midnight they admitted me and set me up in a room. I, then had to change from my comfy sweats to the hideous birthing gown. The nurse came to put in my IV, the worst part by far. She put the IV in my arm and it hurt really badly. She had missed the vein and put it in a valve. Of course, they had to try again. I can't remember if this happened 2 or 3 times, but 2 nurses later I was on the brink of tears and they finally had it in. Of course I was trying to keep a brave face because I knew this was nothing compared to the pain I was about to experience.

The nurse started pitocin at 1:00 a.m. From then on, we just waited. My mom and Sanjay were able to get a little rest. I just felt nervous. It is hard to rest being hooked up to IVs and a fetal monitor. The nurse came to check on me several times throughout the night. She kept asking about my contractions. I could see them on the screen, but could not feel them. I had not had an epidural yet. It just felt like the baby was moving in stomach, but I never felt the pain of contractions.

At about 6:00a.m., my doctor called to check on me. The nurse told her I was having contractions, but was feeling nothing. I was progressing slowly, but just not in any pain, thank God! The doctor decided that the midwife on duty would come break my water to get things moving. As the midwife prepared, my water broke on it's own. At that point my doctor advised me (over the phone) that I might want to get an epidural and that she would be at the hospital soon to check on me. I got the epidural and my doctor arrived about an hour or so later. I kept telling her that I could feel the baby moving, but I was never in any pain, even prior to the epidural. I was not quite progressing, so she had me lay on my other side and said she would be back in a few hours to check on me. About 15 minutes later, I felt like it was time. I told Sanjay or my mom, (I can't remember which one) that I felt pressure. I remember them both looking at me like,'Really, now?' The nurse came back in checked me and agreed, it was time. My poor doctor probably made it out to the parking lot and had to come right back up. She came back in smiling. This was how it happened for me the first time around with Ryan. As soon as she left, he was ready to come. I will spare you the details, but she was out in 3 pushes. I remember the doctor saying,"Here's the head," my mom said,"Oh, it's a boy," then Regan was born and she said,"No, it's a girl!" I, and I think my mom and Sanjay, were in utter disbelief. I think we were all thinking it was going to be another boy.

And, now, 364 days later I cannot believe we are on the eve of Regan's first birthday. It went by so fast! Regan has been the best eater, the best sleeper, really good natured and just a sweet baby. She has fit perfectly into our family. Tomorrow we will celebrate her, and I know that everyone is always so happy to celebrate birthdays. I am happy too, but for some reason there is always a part of me that feels so emotional on my kids' birthdays. I think it is the miracle of it all, pregnancy, becoming a mom, feeling so much love for another human being that it is indescribable. Happy First Birthday to my dear sweet Regan! I am so happy that I am your Mommy, and I have the privilege of watching you grow up. I love you so very much!

Better Late Than Never

Ryan started his new preschool in September. He is so happy there, and we are very happy with this program. This preschool has the community feel that we were looking for. Parents at this school are involved in everything. Sanjay is the 2nd VP on the parent board. I am the room mom as well as involved in several committees. We love his teacher and Ryan has many nice kids in his class. His teacher is pretty impressed with how smart Ryan is. He can count to 140, then he will usually say, "I am done doing this." We recently have started doing flash card sight words. I am happy to report that Ryan knows 15- 20 sight words and will pick them out when we are reading together. I'm sure it is only a matter of time before he is reading to us.

Although Ryan is very smart, I am reminded daily that he is only 3 and does not know everything. We go over his letter of the week at home. Last week the letter was "C."

He will say, "Mommy, let's do 'C' words." To which I respond, "Sure." He will usually list a few of his favorites; cook, cat, clown, then says,"OK, Mommy, your turn." I will add things like; cloud, crackers, cup. Then my very smart 3 year old says,"Mommy, my turn (while looking out the window or around his room, depending on where we are) how about dresser?" "No, Ryan, dresser starts with the letter D." Then he will say," Book, teeth, paper, blanket, tree." I usually respond with, "Ryan you can't just look around and name everything you see it has to have the "C" sound at the beginning of the word, like CCCcomputer."
"Mommy, I am done doing this." Without fail we will have this conversation at least once a day, sometimes twice. It makes me laugh. He is happy to do it when he is confident with the words he knows. Once he starts to get them wrong, he is done. I'm sure he will catch on at some point. After all he is only 3.

Regan is 11 Months old!!

Each month it is more difficult to take Regan's picture. This month we tried a standing picture as well as a sitting one. Regan loves to pull up into a standing position these days. She stands everywhere, in her crib, in the pack n play, wherever she is playing, she is standing. She has let go only once and fell down and has not tried again. She has no interest in trying to walk which is fine with me. I'm not ready for her to be that mobile. This month she has been signing "more" and is babbling a lot. She loves to sit in her room and flip through books, she also likes when we sing to her. She especially likes it when we sing her the A,B,C's.

Regan has four teeth, 2 bottom, 2 top with a third top one coming in. Her second top tooth came through right around her 11 month birthday. She kicks her legs like crazy when we lay her down for diaper changes and will try to flip over immediately. When we try to stop her from flipping over, she gets very upset and yells. She is determined to get what she wants, and is quite strong too. She is still a good eater and a good sleeper. Although she has always been a one nap girl, I am happy to report that her one, one hour nap has now turned into one, 2- 3 hour nap. I think all of the moving around makes her extra sleepy.

Regan gets very excited when she sees people she recognizes. Each morning when I bring her in to see Ryan and Sanjay, she squeals with delight and waves to them. When people she doesn't recognize talk to her, she smiles at them and lays her head on my shoulder. She is a sweet baby. I cannot believe she will be one in a month. TIme has really gone by so quickly!