17 months

Rue.

You are 17 months.

And so far summer is amazeballs.

You are so fun.

Water is your best bud, as can be clearly seen in the picture above.

Last week I took you to a 'splash pad' and you were in heaven.

You talk gibberish all the time, and more and more we can hear clear words starting to form.

"UP"

"Apple"

You even said High Chair yesterday...of course it wasn't super obvious but I heard the effort!

We have nicknamed you Caption Destructo because, well, as the name implies, you love to destroy. Throwing things down the stairs is your favorite activity as of late.

You are still my little shadow, following me around the house. It's cute and annoying. But I am choosing to focus on the cute ;)

You love puppies and kitties and motorcycles and trucks. And sidewalk chalk.

Enough gushing for one day, but I just want you to know, we love you A LOT. And we like you too. I think we'll keep you.

xo, Mama

15 months

My little sweetness.

You are 15 1/2 months now.

I hate it when I am late for 'month' posts...I feel as though someday you will read this blog and notice that I was usually a week or so late and you're gonna call me on it. Well, ya know what? I was busy cleaning your butt, picking boogers out of your hair, and stepping on cheerios.

I have grown to love those things.

You know what else I love?

You.

Everything about you. Your 8 teeth.

The sweet days, I love.

The days you drive me insane, I love.

My ABSOLUTE favorite part of 15 months:

YOU PUT YOURSELF TO BED.

You get tired, rub your eyes, walk upstairs and grab the bars of your crib. Then you shout MAMA! and you plead with these little pleading eyes....as if to say PUT ME IN and LET ME SLEEP !!!

Can I have it any easier?? You may not sleep long at all...but at least the getting there is good.

You LOVE your belly button. You have a hard time finding it because your potbelly is so big, but you know it's there and you try to lift your stomach up so you can see it. You like my belly button too, which is only cute when we are at home, because you like to pull my shirt up.

You have started to like food again, which is HALLELUJAH chorus awesome. When I ask you 'is that good?' you don't say 'mmm' instead your eyes get really wide and you nod your head slowly up and down. You are certainly very expressive.

The last few months have [in general] been so amazing, fun, & fulfilling. So much so, that daddy and I are getting our heart strings pulled and the thought of making another one just like you [in general] makes us smile.

I love you Rumi.

xo, mama

14 months

'look Ma, no hands!'

My sweet Rue!

I am getting used to the word 'Toddler'.

I guess that's because you've grown so much since your birthday.

You have 4.5 teeth now [the .5 part is a gem of a story, to be shared later]

You love to climb the stairs....up and down, and up and down. I let you.

YOU LOVE DIRT. Getting it under your nails, in your diaper and your favorite...in your mouth. When we go into the backyard and you get really, really dirty, I make sure to strip you down before we go back inside. Then you run around in your diaper with a dirt-stache. It makes me laugh.

You still love to be naked, but you don't love food so much anymore. All the things you loved last week, now you loathe. Gotta admit I get very frustrated and feel helpless. I am sure there is a verse in the bible 'baby cannot live on Cheerios alone...' ?

New words: "waattzzzz zzaatt?" "shheeeze" "sshoooooooooze" "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh booyee"

Translation: What's that, Cheese, Shoes and OH BOY.

One new thing: you lay down on your belly as you play with toys. It's very little boyish, as I imagine someday you will play with army men or lego's in the same manner.

You and I had our first art time. It was so sweet. When I put the colored pencil in your hand and showed you how to mark the paper, you moved the pencil from your right and into the left and started drawing. Makes me think for sure you are a lefty. I hope it sticks!

Well, your naptime is almost over and I have plenty of things to do before you wake up. I love you so much little man!

xo, Mama

1 year old!

You aren't just 12 months, you are ONE.WHOLE.YEAR.OLD!

It makes me smile...and apparently makes me cry too. As I was checking out at the grocery store I told the cashier 'I am buying all this food for my sons first birthday!' and then totally.started.bawling.

I know being your mother makes me partial to liking you, but I think you are pretty dang remarkable.

You wake up with craaay-craaay morning hair. You must take after your dad in that department because my hair looks perfect every morning [at least that's what your daddy tells me]

You can walk now...just this week! But it's not a normal front walk - it's sideways like a crab! 'Walk like an Egyptian' is your new theme song :)

You say 'mama' now...just this week too!

You share your food with me [which as times is really gross because you like to put things in your mouth then share with me]

I can see your little sponge brain soaking everything up.

You and I roll your favorite ball back and forth...it's a game. It's crazy to me that we can play games!

You absolutely LOVE peek-a-boo and when we play you belly laugh. It's my favorite.

You have totally rocked our world this year little man. Daddy and I are better humans, and a little more grown up too. Today we will give you lots of gifts, but you are our greatest gift -

The one and only Ruehl Grayson.

I love you.

xo, Mama!

ps...does this mean I have to say my baby is a 'toddler'?

11 months (10 days late)

11 months?

how did that happen??

well my little man all I have to say is: leaps and bounds.

you're growing up in leaps and bounds.

you and I have conversations now.

I ask you 'how did you sleep baby' and you reply 'addsubbbs bueejah mmrrm leedibuh rroooo rrooo.'

which I interpret 'I slept beautifully mama love rue rue'

we have conversations like that all the time, and I look forward to the day that I can actually understand you.

on your 11th monthiversay you were very sick and threw up on me and then you made it all better by taking your first three steps. It was miraculously fun to watch. You haven't tried it again though, so I am enjoying the last few weeks of you crawling, ever.

just this weekend you became a sweet little snuggle bug. I will rephrase and say you've always been sweet, but you have never been a snuggle bug. Out of the blue you crawled up to me and nuzzled your head in my neck. And then later that day you crawled up to me and put your head on my knees. And you haven't stopped the spontaneous snuggling & nuzzling. I am SO happy about it too. Another new development is whenever you see a blanket you will dive headfirst onto it, lay flat and wiggle around like a fish, all while smiling and giggling/squealing/shrieking with delight. So I purposely leave your soft blankets around the house, cause it's just so.darn.cute.

you make me very proud. I love getting to know the little amazing person that you are.

happy 11 months of life!

xo, Mama

10 months [alternatively titled 'Hide Your Daughters']

eat your heart out world, my baby is TEN months old today!

Kiddo, I spend my days watching you grow, learn, fall down, and relearn.

You are breath-takingly adorbs.

With each day you seem to take on new words, new babbles, new phrases.

Just today you sang to me nearly verbatim the tune of 'oh christmas tree'.

I only started singing you that song YESTERDAY.

(although strangely enough, you STILL don't say Mama)

You have just 2 teeth, count em, 2.

You are a FOODIE if I've ever seen one!!!

You actually get MAD at me if I don't give you the food that I'm eating.

So far the only thing you have ever spit out in disgust is brown rice cereal, which I assume is because quite simply it's tasteless and awful.

I find that so endearing ;)

Someday we will travel the world together and you will learn all the names of amazing foods and we will eat it ALL.

Until then, I will keep giving you my lentils and watch you chomp with glee.

I love you Rue Rabbit.

9 months.

you are 9 months old muffin!

biggest month marker so far because you have lived as long on the outside as you did on the inside.

that makes pregnancy seem like an eternity!

you climb the entire flight of stairs in under 10 seconds.

this happens of course when I am fixing you a bottle, and forget to put the gate up.

suddenly you are at the top and my heart skips a beat.

you have graduated to a 'big boy' bath and you L.O.V.E. bath time.

splashing around, playing with your toys.

you are still sporting 2 bottom teeth, but we are rooting on your top four which seem to be come in together. ouchie.

you love to eat puffs, and it only took you a day to get your pincher fingers down pat.

you have great motor skills.

sometimes in the morning as you wait for me to come get you, I hear you singing.

other times you are really quiet and when I peek in your room to see what you're up to, I find you standing in the corner of the crib, holding the curtain back and peering out the window.

daddy and I think you are RAD.

xo,

mama

8.5 months!

This is a half month shout out to my baby boy...because this blog has turned unto my virtual baby book.

You are nearly 8.5 months and last week you said 'dada' for the first time.

It was out of nowhere!

One minute you are quietly sitting in the shopping cart as I avoided crashing into the gobs of stuff at Bed Bath and Beyond [I loathe that store, it makes me claustrophobic]

and you start....

'ddddaaaaaaaadaahhhh. DDddaaaadddda.'

So it looks like Dad won the battle of who's name you would say first.

[gahhh]

You are in 'explore the world mode' allllll thhhheeee tiiiimme.

It's really fun and really tiring.

But I wouldn't quench your zest for life, for anything.

You LOVE food and you smack your lips like a fishy when you see us eat.

Just yesterday your friend Eva spilled her cherio's on the ground, you gobbled them up so fast; it was as if manna was falling from heaven down on you!

I say this with all honesty, I have so much FUN hanging out with you.

When you crawl around my feet as I sweep, or hang on to my legs as I cook, it melts me.

Or my favorite: when you are in the middle of your fun, you pause and look around the room till you see me and we smile at each-other.

I love that at such a young age you are already look to me for acknowledgment and approval.

You make my heart sing little bear.

xox, Mama

[here's proof that even cartoons hate Bed Bath & Beyond]

8 months!?

my little man.

you are 8 months old!

I've always said you were a quiet baby, but the last few days you found your lungs

[and I mean that in a positive way]

your latest thing is shrieking and screeching.

you open your mouth wide and stick your tongue out really far and SHRIEK.

it makes your dad and I laugh out loud.

your smile is contagious.

you are getting cuter by the day.

you love other babies.

you follow me around as I sweep the house like I am the most fascinating thing in the world.

you have two teeth! :)

...and to risk sounding redundant...

i think you are amazing and I LOVE YOU.

xo, mama

7 months old

sitting like a pro.

crawling like mad.

squealing with delight.

scaling the coffee table.

standing up in his crib.

getting his fair share in bumps and bruises.

fearless.

happy 7 months little dude!

seriously, I'm crawling

Look at the seriousness on his face!

Crawl Face from Yana Banova-Brink on Vimeo.

my house is a giant choking hazard

the coffee table has been cleared.

the rocks from the fake fireplace have been removed.

the pretty breakable things have been moved higher up...

...'cause this boy is cra-cra-crawling! The skooch-along army-crawl has been in the works for about 3 weeks, but yesterday he finally got the real crawl. The 'one uncertain arm followed by one uncertain knee, followed by a more certain arm'....and voila. I'm so proud.

And I'm also paranoid. Now that he can get places, I realize my house is one great big giant choking hazard. So the official baby-proofing began yesterday. Because, I am tryyying, but I don't know when kids begin to understand the word NO. Or NO-NO, as I say it. So I'd rather just move the chemicals and small inedible objects. We can learn the meaning of No-No later.

What he lacks in speed [at the moment] he makes up for in passion. He crawls with PURPOSE people. His determination makes me laugh. Goodbye knees of milky skin, hello rug burn red! Speaking of rug burn knees - his only pair of leg warmers were dirty, and I needed a quick fix. So I took some old socks and cut the toe parts off. I reincarnated my hole-in-the-toes Wonder Woman socks into crawlers for Rue. I'm so crafty & cheap it kills me.

He's also standing up in his crib, pulling himself up onto the coffee table and attempting to climb the couch. Like it's a rock climbing wall and he's been doing it for years. Is this normal at his tender age of 6 months 3 weeks??

.

.

.

{and now onto some thoughts that have nothing to do with this post, but are gnawing away at my brain nonetheless}

I don't know how long it takes for one's hormones and feelings to go back to normal [whatever 'normal' is, or was] but I'm still not feeling 100% myself yet. Seems like mom's who had 'postpartum' or barely scraped by the first few months take longer to adjust emotionally. Baby boy is 7 months old next week, and I am shedding no tears. I love him more than anything, but wow....what a RIDE it's been. I am hoping my next child doesn't do me in the same way. [Wow, did I actually just say 'my next child' out loud?? I must be farther along in my recovery than I thought] haha. What are your thoughts moms? Am I normal in still feeling 'out of it'?

Looking to the future with hope in my heart,

Yana

hold me closer Tony Danza [or was it tiny dancer?]

My kid. Doing his thing. Walkin' his beat. Shakin' his groove.

NEVER STOPS MOVING. EVER.

Enjoy!

xoxo,

Y

Rue 'flash dance' Brink from Yana Banova-Brink on Vimeo.

the first weeks

I planned to have this video done months ago, but 'life' got in the way.
Here it finally is, my first edited film! My baby was so little then, and now he is just about crawling! It's unbelievable. I should start working on a crawling video...it should be finished by the time he's walking. Haha.

Enjoy!

Baby Ruehl - the first weeks of life [on the outside] from Yana Banova-Brink on Vimeo.

sentimental gushy wooshy

I began drafting a post yesterday to commemorate Ruehl's '6th months on the outside' and as I looked at all the photos [of my very skinny baby who resembled Benjamin Button; such an old soul] and videos [wow, does my voice really sound like that?] ... can I just say, YA'LL, I got so freakin ooshy gooshy melty sad happy feelings going on.

In my mind, he was just born yesterday! [sort of] and now WHAM-O, he's half a year old.

6 months:

He is such a chilled kiddo.

He loves to sleep 11 hours a night, sans interruption.

He rolls all over the place.

He started eating brown rice cereal.

He can feed himself a bottle.

He is a HUGE flirt.

He cuddles.

He began 'rocking'...I think crawling is just around the corner.

He doesn't like to sit though...too much of a mover.

He's my little bebe webe.

I'll continue working on a photo/video blog...let me just get a Costco sized tissue box out and I'll finish it.

Mom FAIL

Baby rolled off the couch.

We both cried. A lot.

15 weeks

My little Ruester is cooing and talking to himself like crazy, he's fascinated with blankets and loves to put everything in his mouth. But the big milestone this week: Rolling! My babe rolled from his back to his stomach! He's been nearing a complete roll for a few weeks but his shoulder kept tripping him up. Finally, he conquered. I'm such proud mama bear.

I don't have video of the first roll to show you, because well, it was such a surprise! But I promise I'll snag a video soon....

I love watching him grow up!

xx, Y

'the light at the end of the tunnel is brought to you by Nutramigen'

Day 4 of Nutramigen, a lactose free formula.

HE IS ALREADY A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BABY.

Yesterday he took three [count em, THREEEE] naps, one of which was 3 hours long, and the rest of the day he was HAPPY. As in, didn't cry all day. Which was, the FIRST day of his life that he didn't cry. I am still in shock and awe.

The formula is expensive, but to see his happy little face all day long, it's so worth the money.

Poor Kid, he had so much tummy/gut pain that he would just cry cry cry after he ate. So to get him to calm down, I would feed him again. Which would make everything worse. I knew he wasn't colicky, but I couldn't figure out what was wrong. Thank God for Pediatricians who know their stuff.

[I am bumming about not being able to breastfeed him anymore. Last Friday when it was feeding time, I habitually sat down on my 'spot' on the couch and started to unhook my bra, when I realized....'I'm not breast feeding him anymore' it hit me like a ton of bricks. I went and fixed him a bottle, cradled him in my arms, began to feed him, and cried. Tears of joy, and sadness. Joy that he is not hurting anymore. Joy that I got to nourish him with my breasts and build up his immune system. I wish I had savored up every drop our last feeding. But I keep telling myself that my arms and kisses, love and words will nourish him.]

I'm sure there will still be rocky days ahead, but I'm saying hooray, hooray for the light at the end of this dark three month long tunnel.

all my love, Y

12 weeks old

new milestones this week:

finding his feet.

sucking his thumb. [in a true comfort himself kind of way]

almost rolling onto his belly. Those shoulders keep trippin' him up!

[don't worry little buddy, you'll get it soon]

Another thing I'm proud of:

my kid is SUCH a poser.

le sigh. I heart him.