Happy Birthday to Ryan!

Can you believe it's been a year? We are so blessed to have Ryan as a part of our family!

Ryan's Occupational Therapist came over today and brought him the sweetest little white bear. When you push on his paw it glows and rotates through several colors. Dee Dee's visit was actually the best part of the day, at least for me. We had the sweetest conversation today. Ryan was a little unhappy about having to work on his birthday. But, we worked with him for a while, and then I let him rest in my arms. When Dee Dee was preparing to leave, I laid him down on his blanket. He obviously wanted to sit up. (He kicks, tightens his tummy and tries to move his body when he wants to sit up.) So, I sat him up. He looked up at Dee Dee ... really looked at her ... and then told her all kinds of things.

I wonder what he was telling her. He was so intent on communicating with her. He smiled several times and really looked at her. It was one of the sweetest moments I have seen with Ryan. It was as if his little spirit just knew exactly what she needed to hear and wanted to tell her all about it.

We love Dee Dee! We love that she has blessed our lives so much during this year. We love that she has helped us to learn so much about Ryan and how to best help him.

But yes the day was about Ryan. We love our Ryan and we're so proud of all the progress he has made. He has many reactive smiles now. He works hard to communicate with us. I wake up each morning to him saying, "Uuuup, uuuuup, uuuuuup." Then I get up, I walk to his crib and tell him that Mommy will right back. He then quietly waits for me to come back. No crying or yelling at me.


However, I actually love to hear him cry. You might remember that Ryan didn't cry at all for the first 10 days of his life. Even now, he seldom ever cries. So, when he does cry, it just makes my heart happy.

Ryan is also doing better with sitting and with his head control. He's still a little bit of a bobble head but it's definitely getting stronger. He also doesn't get mad about tummy time anymore. He can now roll from his back to his tummy, but he can't quite make it back to his back.

He has a couple of favorite toys that he can now hold and can akwardly bring to his mouth ... a rainbow colored koosh ball, a neon green/yellow ring thingy, and a white washcloth. Yes, a washcloth.

He still doesn't visually track objects or look at them in normal light, but in a dark room, he can track his neon green slinky, and a few other objects. He also loves a piece of slinky neon green fabric. His vision therapist calls it his snake fabric. (You can imagine how I feel about that!) I just call it his green slinky fabric.

He loves Deborah's bright pink ball, and Deborah loves all of his toys, especially his piano and his basketball.

Ryan adores Daddy, loves Mommy, snuggles with Jessica, feels saved by Jacob, loves being fed by David, needs rescued from Johnathon, and is friends with Deborah. And, now, Ryan is ONE!