Raymond is sick this weekend. We are calling him Weezy because his breathing is really labored. Someone has to be holding him most of the time and he stays up late cause he has a hard time staying asleep. He wants to snuggle but he’s so uncomfortable that he ends up throwing himself on the floor. I think he has Croup but I’m hoping he’ll be better tomorrow and we’ll never know. I keep forcing him to take a bath to clear his sinuses and throat. He’s not interested in food. Fortunately he likes water and is drinking enough to stay hydrated. We miss our happy little crazy little buddy 🙂

I already posted this pic but he is just TOO cute and I am missing that smile.

loves to play with his sisters and brothers

Ray is 18 months this week!! The kid is just funny. He needs a hair cut. He makes us laugh. He understands so many things. Cute, cute little guy we have on our hands right now. He is just starting to talk and try to mimic what we say. He loves Gogurts and treats. He still loves his bottle and does not love the sippy. He sleeps with the big boys and they get him out of his crib every morning. His hair is super long but I can’t bring myself to cut it… If he thinks he’s got your attention he will Ham it Up – he loves to get all of his siblings laughing. When he gets crazy you can put him in his booster seat at the table and he will usually chill for quite a while. Especially if you give him a chocolate chip or 2. Having a little sister will be a big adjustment for our Ray Tom – I foresee lots of instruction on being soft and nice and not pushing her off of my lap. He loves to snuggle with his blankets. He loves to go bye bye. He is our best sleeper. He is crazy at church or anywhere that he feels confined. He loves to play with Q-tips and thinks it’s fun to get his hair combed. I successfully created another Momma’s Boy – even though I tried really hard not to.

EAT DIRT and then suck your thumb 🙂

I’m afraid we will see a lot of this throughout the summer 🙁

this guy is sooo big!

Ray Ray, where are you?? somewhere in the recent chaos of my life, My baby just turned into a little boy! he WALKS. He tries to talk. He grunts yes or no. He snuggles baby dolls. He is a terror at church. He gives awesome hugs. He plays and climbs and teases and giggles. He signs more and duck and Hi and Bye. He loves to play ball. He squawks at you until he is able to communicate what he wants. He loves to be outside. He tries to feed himself with a spoon. If anyone is having treats – he wants treats. And his smile and facial expressions are still to die for. LOVE THIS BIG 14 and 1/2 month old.

I am having technical difficulties with adding pictures to the blog so I am testing if I can do phone pictures or if this has issues as well. Isn’t Raymond adorable right now? His smile makes my day.

WE HAVE A 1 YEAR OLD! AND HE IS ADORABLE 🙂

even 1 year olds know presents are exciting

yea – it’s my birthday

He had lots of help opening presents

We had a pretty chill day on his birthday. We sang to him a lot and made him a basketball cake. (I have to do sports cakes when they are little because they never seem to choose sports once they have an opinion.) I took the kids shopping that morning to pick a few presents – that’s not typically our style but it was fun. When Ben got home from work we opened presents and ate cake and ice cream.

Aunt Tracie MADE this angry bird shirt! the whole thing – not just the cool bird!

excited for his cake!

Ray loved the cake. I think this was his 2nd piece. Yeah!!!

1 year old info: Raymond is a great sleeper. He sleeps 12+ hours at night and he takes 2 naps during the day. He doesn’t need to be put to sleep. I still wrap him tight and put him in his bed and he goes right to sleep. He does suck his thumb which is nice and convenient right now – hopefully it won’t be too hard to stop. He is a  Perfect 5th child in that department. He is a happy baby. He often has a big smile on his face and loves to play. He will just follow the kids around, even disappear in the toy room for an hour. He is our most active baby. He gets into the tupperware and cups daily. He goes for the fridge or dishwasher whenever they are open. We had to lock the sink/garbage cupboard to keep him out. Raymond is a big eater. He likes his bottle but he is not satisfied until he’s had something to chew on or sink his teeth into. He loves bread and bananas. He eats whatever we are eating. I switched him from formula to whole milk and he is doing great. Ray Ray is really good at going up and down stairs. He isn’t interested in walking yet. He can stand up if he doesn’t realize he’s doing it but he’ll sit right down once he realizes it. He can pull himself up and walk holding on but mostly just crawls. Ray Tom is also our most scheduled child. I can count on him being hungry when he wakes up and I can count on a morning nap and an afternoon nap and he goes to bed at 8:00 with the kids and he sleeps all night. Really the perfect 5th child. He likes singing and dancing and playing catch. We love him so much.

Raymond learned how to go down the stairs! YES!

On Saturday afternoon he tumbled headfirst from the upstairs to the living room. We were all sad. Later that same day he showed up downstairs without anyone’s help. So we started watching and sure enough he has learned to turn himself around at the top and scoot down! He is slow and sometimes it takes him a few times to get turned around the right direction and he lingers with his head over the edge a little too long for comfort but, he can do the stairs.

I am excited because he won’t need me to rescue him multiple times a day. It’s also a little bad cause he has full reign of the house now. And he is our worst trouble maker yet. He has already been into the toilet more times than the other 4 kids put together! We are learning to close bathroom doors at all times. He loves any drawers and cupboards and everything still goes directly to the mouth.  He keeps us busy.

He has a mischievous little smile to go with his actions and he just makes you smile. He refuses to walk but he can stand up while holding on to things and is always pulling himself up to reach whatever the girls have tried to put out of his reach. Our little Ray will be One year old before we know it!