The cow says mooooo!

So, Ryley has been doing so good with his speech therapy lately and we are seeing him try to use a lot of words now. If you ask him what the cow says, he'll say "mmmmmmmmm". He hasn't quite mastered the "o" part yet b/c of the muscles in his upper lip. He'll also "meow" for the cat and "woof" for the dog. Now, everytime he sees a dog he starts "woofing" lol It's so adorable! We were in Target trying to check out and there was a big picture on the wall of a dog and he was woofing and pointing at the dog. lol. You can also point things out to him and tell him to go get it. He's beginning to understand a lot more words and hopefully will be saying them soon.

He also loves to watch his Baby Einstein dvd's. We have about 10! He likes cartoons on tv as well. Mostly just Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, and Sesame Street - especially ELMO! He LOVES to read and I swear I read some books at least 20 times a day. He already has an extensive library!

We have a large bag of Mega Blocks that he's been obsessed with lately. He loves to watch you build something and then he wants to tear it down. Ryley also LOVES to take daily walks in the park behind our house. He stops and picks grass and flowers. He points to the planes that fly by overhead and also acknowledges the sound of the train.

He's growing so fast I can't believe it! I really miss him being a little cuddle baby, but I do have to admit that it is really fun to be able to interact with him more now.

Ryley's post op

So Aug 12 was Ryley's post op and 3 weeks since he had his cleft palate surgery. Dr Gottschalk said everything looked good, and that he could go back to eating normal foods again! yay! Ryley was given an all liquid diet for those 3 weeks and he did very well but he was so glad to be able to eat his beloved fruit puffs again. He loves those things! A week or so later he was be able to try using a sippy cup with a valve. It proved to be much harder for him than you might think. He's never been able to create suction, so it took some practice. Finally he has learned how to suck and loves his sippy! He drink so much more now that he can do it on his own and not have us hold and help him.

Ryley's cleft palate surgery

July 21, 2008 was Ryley's cleft palate repair. That was such a hard, hard day. We were so nervous, but were a little more at ease because we new what to expect this time around. He was in surgery for a little over 5 hours. When we were taken to the PICU afterwards he was already awake and fighting the nurses. He was still groggy from the anesthesia and was bleeding from the mouth. He was more awake than I thought he was going to be, though. I was really glad for that. It helped to see him somewhat like himself and not confused. He was on morphine every 2 hours, and tylenol with codeine every 4. He slept the whole night in my and Ryan's arms. We took times switching off so we could get some kind of rest. Those chairs were the worst! Ryley wasn't allowed any liquids for the first 24 hours after his surgery. When he finally was able to have some apple juice he was so excited! He was kicking with excitement when I showed up beside his crib holding the container. He downed it and wanted another. After that he wanted formula. It was wonderful that he had such an appetite. He watched some baby einstein dvd's and let everyone cuddle him. He also tried to play some in his crib! Because he was doing so well, we were released shortly after around 2pm.

First blog...

So, I joined blogger a while ago but never got around to posting. I am going to try this, so I am going to just dive right in.

My life was given a purpose the day my son, Ryley, was born. He has been the biggest blessing to me and my husband. We have been through so many struggles with him this first year, and are undoubtedly facing a whole lot more before his cleft palate journey will be over. Even with the struggles of the first year, I wouldn't trade my life for anything else in this world. Hopefully, if this blog works out as planned, I'll be able to share some of our wonderful yet challenging life with you.