Week 30

Independence...

This week will go down in our memory as the week Ryan has demanded independence.  "I want to do it by myself" was his phrase of the week.  From making his own chocolate milk to going to bed, Ryan wanted to do most things by himself this week.  Considering our original appointment with Dr. Bock was originally scheduled for last week I can't imagine where we'd be with Ryan right now.  I doubt we would have been able to keep up the diet without the support of a doctor and the tests he performed.  I know for one thing, we'd still be feeding Ryan eggs.  But fate has been on our side, and we can chalk up another win for Ryan this week.

One morning Ryan went downstairs to "start breakfast" for him and Julia.  I was about a minute behind them and when I got there he had already taken his rice milk out of the refridgerator and poured himself a glass.  He had also set up 2 bowls and 2 spoons and took the chocolate syrup out to make chocolate milk. 

Each evening this week he wanted to put himself to bed.  He instructed Phil and I to remain downstairs and he was going to go do it all by himself.  He set up a step stool to turn on his music, he turned on his nightlight, lined up the entourage of stuffed friends and hopped into bed.  Now of course I couldn't just let him go up there by himself and not tuck him in and give him a good night kiss.  So I gave him a couple of minutes and went up to his room to check on him.  I told him I wanted another kiss goodnight.

Ryan has also been more independent getting dressed, putting on his sneakers (which is a big deal for him to do on his own!), and washing his hands.  He did a great job getting his injections this week and was adament about being the one to place the empty syringe in its special container after showing it to daddy.  Not only has Ryan been doing things for himself, he's been doing things to help us too.  Over the weekend he spent about half an hour helping Phil and I do yard work.  It was boring work but he helped us without complaining.

During the week we went to the Radio City Christmas Show and Ryan had a great time.  He was entertained the entire time and did a nice job following directions and staying put in his seat.

Ryan has also been doing a lot of pretend play the past few days. Here is a picture of the picnic he set up for his "friends". And he set it up, ALL BY HIMSELF!

DC