Its About Time

Goodness it has been such a long time since I last blogged.  I have been meaning to every day and then something comes up or I am so stinking exhausted.  I could really come up with a thousand excuses, and I have an excuse every time I think about blogging.  A big reason I haven't blogged lately is I get to feeling over whelmed with all that I need to catch up on with my blog and then don't have the time or energy to sit and back track over the last many months.  So as I sit here, with Ryder finally asleep, his dinner cooking away on the stove and my living room a disaster (seriously, cleaning up after a dog who gets bored home alone all morning and a recently mobile baby can be quite the task) I figured I may as well drink some caffeine and put something down as a blog so Ross can stop pointing out that I haven't blogged in a while :)  Love that guy. 

I have been thinking recently, as life is going 90 miles a min, all that I want to remember from these past few months.  And yes, the majority of it is about my little bug.  He is growing up way to fast.  (If someone has methods on slowing him down please let me know.)  So I figured I will do some bullet blogging of things I want to remember, as long and my juices are flowing and my baby is asleep (hopefully I don't burn the carrots.)

• by the time Ryder was 6 months old he had his first 8 teeth.  Teething for him was really pretty easy, thank heavens.  His last 4 came in all at once and he was still the same happy little boy.  I was so afraid that him getting all these teeth in 2 months that it would change him, he wouldn't be my little baby, but really, he is still the same lovable little boy, just with razor sharp teeth that he likes to sink into my shoulder.  Lately he will play with my hand and try very hard to get a finger into his mouth and he will laugh and laugh when I put it to the side of his mouth when he tries to chomp on it. 
• this little boy has a fake laugh.  I thought he was too young for something like this, but he has his fake laugh and at times he will think something is kind of funny by try not to smile.  He will lay on the floor in the living room with his toys and do his fake laugh.  He does something every day that cracks me up laughing and this is usually one of the funniest things he does.  Sometimes when driving I will hear him in the back seat just laughing away, his real laugh, at nothing in particular.  I love his laugh, especially when I can get him laughing really really hard.
• 2 weeks ago, at 8 months old, Ryder started crawling.  He immediately went over to the coffee table and started pulling stuff off.  Then crawled to the electrical outlet and tried to stick his finger in it.  And to think I thought he was a handful before.  He exhausts me.  He doesn't ever sit still, not even when he is sleeping.  Church is the most exhausting.  Its during his nap time and he won't just sit on my lap and play with a toy.  He has to be standing, trying to crawl over my shoulder, trying to stay in my arms but grab at his dad's tie.  I need to start looking for things to keep him entertained and quite in church.  Yesterday during the sacrament prayer he stuck his lips to my ear and yelled as loud as he could.  I may have yelled too but it was hard to hear anything for a while. 
• Last Saturday Ryder got his first haircut.  He has needed it for a while but I have been holding off.  Finally it was time, I was tired of constantly brushing the hair out of his eyes.  The hair at the crown of his head would reach down over his nose, yeah, a little long.  The sides hung down over his ears.  I really like his new haircut, you can see his eyes much better.
• In March we went to Disney Land with my parents and my oldest brother and his family.  It was a lot of fun and Ryder did really well.  On the drive out and back he did really well and only had one melt down each time.  Now that he was a little older it was a lot of fun to be able to take him on more rides.  He got to do almost all the rides we went on, except the really big ones.  I have always liked Disney Land but its very different taking my own family and sharing these things with my own family, even though he was too young to really care.
• I am really blessed to have people watching Ryder while I am at work that love him.  I didn't want to take him to a day care with a lot of little kids.  I have been lucky to find people willing to watch him in their home and it makes it a lot easier to leave him knowing they love him and care about him.  The best part of my day is when I pick him up and the minute he sees me he gets so excited and his face lights up.  Then as I head to my car the baby sitters always stand at the door and yell goodbye and that they love him.  Its so nice to know that if I can't be there for him during that short time that someone will be there to love him. 

I know there is so much more that has gone on in the 3 months since I blogged last, but I am done for today and I need to get some carrots pureed and some broccoli on to steam.  I will try to get some pictures off my many cameras and share.  One thing at a time.

6 months

I can't believe its been six months since this little guy has joined our family.  It seems so short and yet fast at the same time.  I don't remember what it was like not to have him in our family and I marvel at him every day.  I can't believe how far he has come and how much he has learned in such a short time.  He has been eating rice cereal for the last month and has loved it.  He sits like a little bird with his mouth open when he sees me getting it ready and will hold his mouth open when he is ready for more.  On the 9th we added peas to the mix and will do a new veggie every 4 days or so.  He took to peas without a 2nd thought.  I was hoping to a weird look with the first taste but nothing.  He did scream when he was done with the peas, he just wanted more.  He eats so much too.  He will generally eat a full jar of baby food.  I don't want to over feed him but according to the pediatrician I should feed him until he doesn't open his mouth for more, or if I feel like he has had enough.  However, he has only gained a pound or so in the last 2 months so I guess he isn't over eating that badly.  He dropped from the 99th percentile in weight to the 89th, so maybe he is slowing down.  His head though is still at the 98th percentile.  He is now 28 inches long and since his car seat is for up to 22 pounds and 29 inches long we figured its probably time to graduate him to a convertible car seat instead of his carrier, which I will miss for the convenience but not for the weight, that thing was a beast to lug around sometimes.  Ryder has become very adept at rolling over.  When he is at home and I lay him on the floor he immediately rolls to his stomach.  Now that he can put himself on his stomach he doesn't mind it, but when I would put him on his stomach he would kick up a fuss.

This last week was a beast of a week with him.  As much as I love the little guy I don't want to have another week like that one.  He was cutting 4 teeth at once (started getting 2 more on the bottom then the two on the top started to come in) and then had to get his shots.  Generally he is pretty good when he gets teeth but he has never had 4 at once.  Then on Friday he had his 6 month immunizations and Friday night he was not happy.  His screaming was louder than the Metallica concerts I have been to.  It took orajel and tylenol to calm him down enough so that he could sleep. 

The next step he is working on is sitting up.  He was doing really good this morning sitting up and balancing on his own.  He isn't good enough that I can set him down and walk away, one day.  He is also trying to get up on his knees when he is on his stomach.  I was putting toys just out of reach to encourage him but then he would push himself backwards away from them.  One day he will get it and he will never hold still again.

When we are out with Ryder we routinely get one of 3 comments, that he has a lot of hair, that his eyes are so large or that his smile lights up his face and radiates.  I think he is the greatest thing since sliced bread, even now when he is up way past his bed time.  I couldn't get him to sleep so he is cuddling with me on the couch while I blog.  He is pretty content, except when he tries to type.

Pictures Y'all

Here are just a bunch of random pictures from the last few months. Most will be of Ryder cause well, he is so stinking cute.

This was how we survived the plane ride, getting him so sleep through most of it.  He did really good, except for the few times he had a diaper blow out on the flight.  One plane had a changing table in the bathroom and the other didn't.  I had to close the toilette lid and lay him across it, not very comfy.

 I don't remember if I put any of his Halloween pictures on here so just in case, the cutest monkey EVER!

 I finally moved him to his crib when he was 4 months old.  I wasn't quite ready yet but he had pretty much grown out of the bassinet.  It took a little time for him to get used to the space in the crib and then he couldn't hold still to sleep.  We had to keep moving him so he was facing the right way and even with all the moving we still woke up to him at a different angle.

We went to see the lights at temple square and loved them. It was a couple hours past his bedtime so I thought he would sleep through it but he was wide awake watching the lights.

 His first time with solid food.  He wasn't too sure of the rice cereal and gave me dirty looks because I wasn't nursing him.

One of my favorite things is to take his socks off when he is sucking on his feet.  He is never sure of the texture and how it feels and its fun to watch his facial expressions as he moves his lips and tongue on the toes.  He still prefers to chew on his feet through socks.  One day I had to change his socks because they were saturated with saliva.

Blog-apoloza

Its been a while since I have blogged.  I could make excuses but I have just not done it.  I have read and kept up on other people's blogs and I have been thinking about blog posts that I need to write but I just haven't done it.  I have been meaning to do monthly updates on Ryder and during the day I would rather spend my time with him than to blog and when he is in bed, well, its not on my mind.  So, this is going to be a super long blog and it will just be a bullet blog.  Sit back, here we go.

4 month update

• On November 28th Ryder got his first tooth, and then a week later, exactly, he got his 2nd tooth.  I was afraid it would ruin and diminish him being a baby but he is still just as cute.  I didn't realize how long it would take for them to grow, 2 months later they are still not in all the way.  Which I am more than ok with cause he is a biter and those little teeth are super sharp.
• He was so close to rolling over, I thought for sure he would by the end of the month.  He would roll onto his side and stretch out and be so close but just not go all the way. 
• He was learning to use his hands and to grab at things.  He had a very good hand to mouth reflex.

I know a lot more happened this month but I am a slacker and haven't kept track and need to be much better on keeping these up.  Maybe I can make that a resolution for this year.

5 month update

• This month Ryder got his first airplane ride.  H was such a champ.  On the flight to Louisiana he slept most of the way, thank heavens.  All the other flights he did pretty good too, especially considering he was so off his schedule.  He had his first hotel stay and his first time at Disney World.  He was pretty patient while waiting for rides, as long as he could people watch.  He was able to go on the haunted house, Peter Pan, Nemo and the people mover. 
• Ryder finally rolled over.  He did it once from his stomach to his back and once from his back to his stomach.  I don't think he realized how he did it since he has only done it a couple of times.  His favorite time to try to roll over is when I am changing him or getting him dressed. 
• He discovered he can get his feet into his mouth.  I have to change his socks occasionally because they are so saturated in saliva and his feet would freeze.  It also makes it very hard to change him because as soon as he is on his changing table his feet go into his mouth and its hard to unfold him to change him or dress him.  A couple times I took his socks off when changing him and the look on his face was priceless the first time he got his bare foot in his mouth.  His tongue and lips were carefully touching the toes and his eye brows were knit in confusion.  I just laughed and laughed which furthered his confusion.
• He also got sick for the first time in this month.  Before we left for Christmas we took him into the doctors.  He wasn't congested but sounded very hoarse.  And when we got back from Christmas he was back in the doctors with an ear infection.  That one wasn't fun but he really loved his medication. 
• I think my favorite part of this month was his laughing.  I spent so much time getting him to laugh and just sitting and listening to it.  The best sound in the world. 

Like A Champ

On Saturday we took Ryder swimming for his very first time.  We researched pools within a reasonable distance from our house, found one that was heated, got him a swim float so he could safely enjoy the water and off we went.  We got there, got him dressed and ready to go.  When I got out to the pool Ross met me at the door and said we can't use the floater for Ryder.  No floatation devices allowed, but they had life jackets we could use.  Ryder is not yet big enough to safely wear a life jacket.  But it was OK, I was just going to hold him.  Then I got in the water.  There is no way it was the promised 90 degrees.  It was pretty cold.  It wasn't too bad for me but I was concerned about how Ryder would take it, he fusses when his bath water isn't warm enough.  But he did great.  We ended up in the 0 depth kiddie pool just sitting.  Ryder sat between my legs, leaning back and with his butt floating.  Towards the end he started to relax a little and was kicking his legs trying to figure out what he was in and what he could do.  We are going to take him a couple more times this winter so he gets used to it for this summer.

Doesn't he have such a cute little gut?

Looking Back

I was looking back over the last couple of posts and the pictures of Ryder.  I can't believe how tiny he was.  He looks so small.  I know he is bigger but I think its also the other changes that I am noticing more and more from the pictures.  Unless he is asleep he never holds still.  He could lay and kick for hours and hours and his arms never stop moving.  I am excited for the time when he learns about his hands, and when tummy time isn't such a horrible ordeal.  As much as I don't want him to grow up I am excited to see what he becomes and what his growing personality will be like.

3 Months

I really can't believe Ryder is 3 months old.  It seems like he was born just a few weeks ago.  I'm not sure that I am fond of how fast the time is going.  I have wanted to do monthly posts on Ryder so that I can keep track of all the changes he is making, so when I finally start on his baby book I will be able to remember all that has happened.  That and he is growing and changing so fast.  He is already in 6 month clothes and almost ready for size 3 diapers.  He has learned how to use his feet to kick in his bouncy chair to make the plastic mobile on the chair move.  He has started to learn how to use his arms.  He doesn't know how to work his hands yet but he will make a fist and push the mobile, he figured out how to use his arms.  He has a playground thing that he lays on the floor on his back and it has dangly toys that he can push to make sounds and its so fascinating to watch him concentrate to get his arms to move right to hit it.  When we first started with this toy he would lay and kick his feet, he had no idea how to hit the dangles.  He is just learning too fast.  I think my favorite development with him is his laugh.  His smile is so great but then when you can get him to laugh its so contagious.  On the down side, he fights sleep and does not like to sleep during the day.  I have been trying to get him on a sleep schedule but he fights it and then is grumpy.  He is still so cuddly too, especially when he is tired.  About a month ago he started sleeping through the night and I really hope it lasts.  I know I am biased but he is the most amazing little guy and I love to watch him learn and discover things.