1 year old

Happy first birthday Rylee girl!  This year has been one of the most fulfilling of our lives.  We couldn't be happier that you chose to join our family.  The absolute joy and love we feel for you is unlike any other.  We love you in a way that only a parent can love their child.  We love you, Ry Ry!

At one year Rylee,

-is walking all over the place!  The last thing she needs to really learn is how to stand up without pulling herself up on something first.  She walks with her hands up in the air and is still a little wobbly, but she can walk from the kitchen to the bathroom, takes a little break, and then takes off towards the living room.  Girl is determined to keep going and going and going...  She usually has a toy, kitchen utensil, a sock, or a combo of all of them in her hand as she walks around.  It is the cutest, funniest thing!

-loves walking around and around the ottoman in the front room.  She babbles and "talks" while she goes around (usually counter-clockwise) and continues to do it long enough for mama to get the dishwasher loaded or get dinner started.  She'll stop every so often to clap without holding on, laugh at herself, and then continue on while babbling and talking.

-loves putting food into your mouth.  Especially when she's done eating a certain item at dinner and then she'll start feeding it to you.  Clever girl.

-has recently discovered metal bowls, pots, pans, and tupperware in the kitchen!  It's a magical thing for her to be handed a wooden spoon and a metal pot to bang on.  Best entertainment EVER.

-is getting a little more picky with what she eats.   One week she'll eat peas, the next she shakes her head "no" and will spit it out if it gets in her mouth.  Then the next week she's all about peas again.  Silly girl!  She'll almost always eat the following: Bananas, waffles, pancakes, yogurt, applesauce, veggie straws, Cheerios, and butternut squash mac and cheese.

-gets the cutest smile on her face when someone she recognizes walks through the door and frantically starts waving at them.

-raises her arms for when she wants to be picked up (mainly when she wakes up in the morning and wants to get in the tub).  It's one of Daddy's most favorite things she does.

-speaking of the bathtub, Rylee still LOVES baths!  Daddy will start the water going in the tub and once Rylee hears the water, she'll book it to the bathroom, pull herself up next to the tub, and put her hands up for Daddy to put her in the tub.  Hilarious.

-has 6 teefies with a couple more on the way!

-stands on her tiptoes to reach something that's just out of reach.

-still mauls her stuffed animals and nuzzles her head into them.

-is in full on tantrum mode.  She flails around, arches her back, and pounds her feet into the ground while full on crying and screaming.  We've learned to just put her on the carpet where she won't hurt herself and let her finish it out.  It usually doesn't last long and she gets over it fairly quickly.

-hates shoes.  Perhaps she gets this from her Great Grandma Billings?

-will nap in the car again.  But has stipulations on when she'll fall asleep!  She'll only fall asleep if she's in the car during her afternoon nap.  But hey, we'll take it!  She did a 6 hour car ride to Boise just fine with only a couple of stops and one nap and she stayed happy the entire time!  That's our girl!

-has kept the nicknames: Rylee Girl, Ry-Ry, Peanut

11 months.

This time last year I was scrambling to finish sub plans for my 2nd grade class, finding the perfect dresser to use as Rylee's changing table, and T and I were into the third week of our 6-week prenatal class (procrastinators!).  And now we have this sweet little girl who has captured our hearts and wrapped us around her little finger.  Rylee has changed our lives and made us "mama" and "dada."  Life has become better and so much more pleasurable with our little Ry-Ry.

1 month from today we'll have a 1 YEAR-OLD! Say what?!

at 11 months Rylee...

- can say and KNOWS what "mama," "dada," and "nana" (banana) mean.

- still eats everything in sight.  Everything.  She loves graham crackers, guacamole, peas, cheese sticks, Cheerios, roasted carrots, pumpkin pancakes, and eggs.  We still have yet to find something she won't eat.  Oh.  And Pickles!  Girl loves her a good pickle spear!

- still nurses up to three times a day, but oh how she loves her solid food! 

- refuses binkies and bottles (ever since her top front teeth came in!) and it hasn't made much of a difference.  She sleeps just fine and is almost ready to be weaned to cow's milk anyways.  Knowing we won't have to wean her from a binky is peace of mind for her mama and daddy!

- loves getting raspberries blown on her stomach and an attack of kisses all over.  Though she still refuses to give actual kisses.  We're working on it. 

- does the following "tricks": waves goodbye, can sign "please" when she wants more food, can make the touchdown sign, blows kisses, knows what an elephant says, claps her hands, and knows most of the patty-cake song.

- dances to music (especially "Daniel Tiger" opening credits and "All About That Bass" songs.  Girl gets down when she hears either one!)

- tries to "sing" (sounds like humming) when we sing.

- has grasped the meaning of "no" and has gotten good and stopping from doing something when we firmly say "No!" to her.  Though there are those times she stops what she's doing then goes right back to doing it a second later.  It's a work in progress.

- loves bathtime and all of her bath toys.  Until she tries to stand up in the tub and we say no.  Then it's a full on tantrum until she's out of the tub.  

- the aforementioned tantrum?  Yeah.  They're starting to happen outside of the bathtub too.  

- still gurgles with her spit in the back of her mouth when she's happy.  Sounds like a little piece of heaven when she does it. 

- has been in Nevada, California, and Idaho (and obviously Utah...).

- still loves going on walks to the park and swinging and going down slides.  Such a happy girl when she's outside.

- has 6 teeth!  Her front teeth gave us a run for our money when they were coming in- a traumatic week for both Rylee and mama and daddy.  But ever since they broke through, her other teeth haven't given us any trouble except for a little fussiness.  Thank goodness.  

- gets a new bruise on her head at least once a week.  Girl loves exploring and figuring things out.  Which means a few bonks here and there!

- is so over crawling and wants so badly to walk on her own.  Some of her happiest giggles and smiles come during her nightly "walking" practice going in between mama and daddy.  She's up to taking 7 steps on her own!  Girl doesn't just walk either, she runs!  So so cute.

- loves putting a blanket over her head and playing peek-a-boo.  Repeatedly.  

- makes the cutest elephant noise when you ask her the question "What does the elephant say?"

- has retained the nicknames: peanut, Ry-Ry, Rylee girl, otter pop 

10 months.

As much as I love seeing this little girl of ours grow and develop, I feel a little denial creeping into the back of my mind when I think of my baby girl turning one in exactly 2 months.  Miss Rylee is no longer my helpless little infant and is looking more and more like a "big girl" every day!

At 10 months Rylee...

- is crawling!  No more scooting around on her head and the heels of her feet (which I kinda miss... it was HILARIOUS when she did it).

- pulls herself up onto everything.  Did I say everything?  Because I mean ev-ery-THING!  Kitchen chairs, the kitchen table, couches, beanbags, bookshelves, end tables, bed frames, cedar chest, cribs, drawers... anything that her long little fingers can reach with the help of her tiny little toes on their very tippy toes.  Baby-proofing is going on at the Kussee home like nobody's business.

- is in the process of growing and popping out her top two teefies!  Teething is not for the faint-hearted.  Good thing this girl is made of tough stuff!  She's only had one rough night of being up because of those vicious-bony-enameled-white-daggers torturing her gums.  Poor thing.

- on a similar note, is loving anything cold and hard to gnaw on.  Frozen waffles, frozen peas, frozen bananas, frozen otter pops (to just gnaw on, not to eat) are among the many things we've tried.  The waffles are a life-saver at the moment.  It might help that Ry-Ry loves any new textures too, which means waffles are her new love!  Maybe a trip to Waffluv is needed in the near future (for Ry-Ry and her parents...).

- In addition to frozen foods, she loves cheese quesadillas, scrambled eggs, Cheerios, peas, bananas, chicken, cheese sticks, baby puffs, yogurt bites, apples, cubed sweet potatoes, graham crackers, homemade whole wheat bread (her favorite!), and whatever is on Mama and Daddy's plate at dinnertime.  Girl loves her food.  Just like her mama and daddy.

- waves bye-bye!  It started out as a backward wave (waving to herself) and has slowly evolved into the right waving technique of curling her fingers and waving her whole arm.  It's adorable.  And has melted many a visitor in the Kussee home.

- eats everything in sight (except for honey, strawberries, citrus, and nuts- per doctors orders about waiting until she's 12 months for those).  She's also become a stink about feeding herself!  Finger foods to the rescue.  I feel like we need a drop cloth at every mealtime.  Here's to keeping the broom handy!

- smacks her lips when she likes something she's eating and wants more.  Cutest little thing!

- still loves her Mr. Bear.  All stuffed animals really.  When she's happy to see them she grabs them, bends in half, and nuzzles her face into them and laughs.  One of the cutest baby things I've ever witnessed.  The girl loves animals- stuffed and alive!

- loves smiling.  When she grins, it's a full on wrinkle-your-nose-and-crinkle-your-eyes smile.

- loves when Daddy comes home!  She listens for every sound at the door around the time he usually gets home.  No matter what she's doing when he gets home she has a special smile for her Daddy!

- loves going on walks in her stroller and being outside.  This girl loves so many things already- it's going to be so fun to see what she ends up liking as she gets older!

- splashes during bath time and thinks the rubber ducky song is the greatest!  Especially when we sing it in Kermit the Frog's voice.

- nuzzles and cuddles into our chests  which gets her just about anything she wants.  Is it just me or are baby cuddles on of the best feelings in the world?

- babbles all day long saying mama, dada, nana, baba.

- took her first two steps on March 7th!  I can barely handle how fast she's been growing up this past month.

- loves loves loves to R-U-N.  She loves holding onto our fingers and running all over the place.  Her little legs really get going and it's hilarious to watch how fast she gets going.  I have a feeling that once she really gets a handle on walking by herself she'll skip right to running.

- is learning the meaning of "no."  In so many different ways.  Especially when it comes to not going near the toilet or the garbage in the bathroom.

- is a little attached to her mama.  But not so much that we can't leave her with a babysitter to go on a date every week or so.  With all of this teething and daylight savings going on, the girl gets what she wants.  She does great with a babysitter, until they try to give her a bottle.  She'll still go down to sleep pretty easily for a babysitter and she does just fine eating solid food for them.  So she doesn't starve to death until she gets fed the following morning....

- has kept the nicknames: Ry-Ry, Rylee Girl, Peanut

9 months.

At 9 months Rylee...

- has her 2 bottom teefies!  The top ones keep playing tricks on us and going up and down like a pair of Oompa Loompa's on crack.

- eats EVERYTHING in sight. Winter Squash, peas, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, string beans, avocados, carrots, applesauce, pears, peaches, mangoes, bananas and the bits of yumminess off our plates every so often. Girl loves her food!

- eats her food like her daddy.  Takes the biggest bite, chews (if needed) the least amount of times possible, and swallows.  She’s her Daddy’s little girl.

- likes to be swaddled again when she goes down to sleep. With a blanket over her eyes. With her binky (which she ends up spitting out when she’s good and asleep).  She’ll also fall asleep in our arms during church while nuzzled on one of our chests.  Which is still the best feeling in the world.

- speaking of binkies, she still doesn’t care for them much unless she’s bonked her head or if she’s going down for a nap.  Which is absolutely fine with me!  It will make weaning her from it a breeze in the future.

- likes long walks to the duck pond and hearing the ducks quack and flap their wings.

- has a new found love for swinging. Swinging in swings, swinging from our hands, just plain swinging. Swinging OUTSIDE is always the preferred method.

- loves looking at her reflection in mirrors, the oven door, windows, anything that shows the cute baby on the other side that wants to play with her! Girl has narcissistic tendencies. And we love it! I how she always gets excited and loves how she looks when she sees her reflection.

- loves playing with toys. Anything soft and cuddly or that makes noise and she's all over it. And I mean ALL over it. She lovingly mauls her teddy bear every time she sees him.

- loves the silicone whisks and brushes in the kitchen.

- has a knack for picking up her yogurt melts, baby puffs, and peas with efficient ease that makes them disappear within seconds of getting on her tray.

- scrunched up her nose and full on SNORTS when she's extremely happy about something. Which usually means she's doing her vertical "clapping" at the same time. Just about kills us!

-s till scoots around on heels of her feet and the back of her head.  She is, however, teetering on the edge of a traditional crawl.  She’ll get in the right hand and knees position, rock back and forth, and move her hands forward.  She’s still attempting getting her legs to move at the same time.  I’m really in no hurry for her to start crawling.  I fear that once she starts it’s officially the end of her “baby era” and she’ll move into toddler stage.  Eek!

- needs her sleep.  If she’s had her 12 hours of sleep at night and a couple of good naps during the day, she’s a happy and incredibly energetic little gal.  If she DOESN’T get her naps (which mostly happens on sundays) then she can be a bit of a drama queen and clings to mama and daddy.

- shamelessly flirts with every baby/child/adult in the grocery store.  Shamelessly.

- loves grocery carts and her stroller.  Maybe it will extend to anything with wheels in the future.  She loves to be moving and grooving with people around her.  Such a social butterfly already!

- loves playing the “pat pat” game.  She pats everything from the floor, to her toys, to giving people fives.  Anything that has substance to, she pats.

- loves the "Rubber Ducky" song when she takes a bath.  Over and over and over again.  We're more than happy to appease her with it!

- has started waving.  She bends her little fingers and waves at herself constantly.  Which usually turns into a yelling session at her hand numerous times during the day.  We catch her holding her hands in the air and screaming while she looks at them and moves her little baby fingers.  It always makes us crack up laughing no matter what we’re doing.

- Though she knows “mama,” “dada,” “baba” and other baby babbles, her go to these days is “dada.”  We tell her to say “mama” all of the time and she’ll just smile, shake her head, and say “dada” again.

-still gets called Ry-Ry, little one, baby girl, otter pop, Rylee girl, and peanut.

8 month update.

at 8 months our Rylee Girl...

- is such a good sleeper!  She loves to sleep and usually gets 11-12 hours of sleep at night and another 2 naps (each 1-2 hours long) in during the day!  We've been lucky with this kid.  She came to us as a good sleeper.  Don't ask us the secret to a baby who sleeps well.  You'll have to ask Rylee that question!

- loves to splash in the bathtub and has started getting some serious distance on her splashing!  Tyler or I usually ends up with an arm that gets soaked by the end of the first "Rubber Ducky" song.  

- is slowly starting to rock back and forth on her hands and knees and is revving up to get crawling!  She still loves to scoot around on her back using the back of her head and her heels to propel her backwards towards the object of her affection at that time (usually her stuffed bear or stuffed seal).  

- has started making little wheezing sounds to get someone's attention if you're ignoring her.  Especially her Great Grandma Kussee.  She couldn't get enough of Great Grandma during our last Sunday dinner.  She'd wheeze and then giggle and laugh when Grandma would turn and look at her!

- is still a pro at eating.  Everything.  Her favorites are still sweet potatoes, green beans, and applesauce, but she downs everything else she's given.  Girl loves her food!

- has started to get a little clingy to her mama and daddy.  She's started throwing a fit when I'm not in the same room or if she can't see me.  However, she still does just fine when her aunties, uncles, or grandparents come over to babysit while we go out for a couple of hours.  Funny goose.  The doc says it should just be a "phase," so I'm crossing my finger sand hoping she does grow out of it eventually.  For now, it's a little flattering and secretly makes her parents smile (unless the laundry is screaming to be folded and she's screaming to not be left alone)...

- babbles day in and day out.  Her stand-by favorites are "babababa," "mamamamamamama," "dadadadada," and a couple of "wawawawa's."

- loves to snuggle.  Props to our little Ry-Ry for being the cutest little snuggler on earth.  

- has started reaching for people when she wants to go to them.  She usually reaches for mama or daddy, but has been known to go to an uncle or auntie.

- loves gnawing on anything soft that soaks up her drool.  Her cloth headbands, washcloths, her stuffed animals tags, flippers, and ears.  She improvises and makes her own teething toys...

- has the cutest squeals and laughs!  We can't help but laugh whenever she does.  It also leads to numerous tickle torture sessions every day.  I can't help myself.

- loves electronics.  She loves the opening song of "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" and thinks it's so funny when we talk on the phone.  She loves listening to her grandparents and daddy on the speaker phone.  It must be because we rarely let her watch T.V. and play on our phones.  But, when needed, Daniel Tiger does sing to her a few times a day and she giggles and claps.

- has created her own way to clap (as our instagram friends have witnessed).  Rather than clapping with her hand coming together horizontally, this girl claps vertically by slapping her palm and back of her hand together.  Cutest.  Thing.  Ever.

nicknames: Smiley Rylee, Ry-Ry (most used), Otter Pop, Peanut

 (this is such a Ry-Ry picture.  Behind all of those laughs and giggles she is our analytical and serious baby when she's figuring things out.)

Merry Christmas from the Kussee's!

We didn't quite make it in time to sending our Christmas cards out by snail mail this year... so digital Christmas cards it is for 2014!  

We have been abundantly blessed this year.  Rylee Girl has been our perfect little present for the past 7 months.  Every day she wakes up, it's like unwrapping a new gift with how much she changes and develops!  We have loved every moment with her and we make sure not to take our time with her for granted.   We are so grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ and His birth.  He is the Ultimate Gift.  The Prince of Peace.  Our Savior and our King

/ / "A thousand times in history a baby has become a king, but only once in history did a King become a baby." / /

#ShareTheGift

7 month update.

at seven months Rylee...

-has tried copious amounts of pureed food including butternut squash, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, green beans, peas, bananas, applesauce, pear sauce, mango, carrots, and avocado.  She has literally started inhaling said foods with a new abandonment! 

-is eating snacks!  She snarfs down little baby puffs and freeze-dried yogurt bites like no one's business.

-still loves playing with Mr. Bear and her Awkward Seal.  She squeals with laughter every time they come into her sight and she gets to gnaw on them.  

-has finally mastered rolling over both ways.  

-has become accustomed to scooting around on the backside of her head while laying down and propelling the rest of her body with her arms and legs.  She created her own way of getting from Point A to Point B and is sticking to her own ways.  She has no interest in crawling (which I'm perfectly fine with until after Christmas when the tree comes down!) or being on her stomach anymore!

-wakes up and immediately begins talking to herself and making her cooing sounds in the morning.  More often than not, she's one happy girl in the morning (definitely gets that from her Daddy!)

-is ticklish under her chin, behind her neck, under her armpits, and up and down her belly and back.  It's quite the sight to see when she gets into a laughing fit- hands down the cutest thing and makes us laugh just as hard along with her!

-loves all animals that walk on four legs.  She's entranced by them and stares them down.  She's gotten good at doing her "pat, pat, pat" game instead of pulling on their fur (though puppies little ears make her lose all sense and she just HAS to tug them).

-is starting to reach out when she wants mommy or daddy.  Melt my heart goodness.  The fact that she realizes that we're her favorites makes us secretly smile behind our hands.  

-loves the Christmas tree and the Christmas lights in the house.  A tree AND lights in the house?!  It's Rylee's dream come true!  She spends a good portion of her playtime under the tree swatting at branches and the toys we hang from the lower branches.  

-had a week span of waking up in the middle of the night, but went right back to her regular schedule of going to sleep around 8 and not waking up until 8 the following morning.  Ry-Ry is a gem of a baby- we've almost always had a good 8 hours of sleep since the day she was born.  Oh beautiful, beautiful sleep.

-loves, loves, LOVES drinking out of cups.  She does a decent job of it too!  She starts gulping down water and stares us down if we ever get a cup or water bottle anywhere near our mouths.  Hilarious.

-takes at least two, 1-2 hour long naps during the day.  

-loves interacting and playing with anyone in the general vicinity, but also values her own independent play time.  

-has a favorite trick!  Rylee collects and saves up the spit in the her mouth and lets it go to the back of her mouth where she gurgles it and makes the cutest sounds with it.  We call them her "happy sounds" and love listening to her smile and laugh as she does them.  It takes serious skill.

-has a TOOTH!  It broke ground last weekend and has only brought about a stuffy, runny nose with it.  Yay for little teefies!

-is loved by everyone who comes in contact with her.  She has blessed our lives so much- more than we could have ever comprehended.  She is our spunky go-getter baby and we have loved every minute we've spent with her.  Many people say they wish they would have spent more time loving and enjoying the first few months of their baby's life- I can honestly say that we have embraced and completely enjoyed every moment we could have squeezed out of Rylee's first 7 months.  We have no regrets and we appreciate the past we've had, completely immerse ourselves in the present with her, and look forward to the future.  Oh how we love our little Rylee Girl!