One Word Wednesday

**Curious**

Bouncy Bouncy

Ryder’s new favorite thing to do is bounce in his jumper.  He will bounce and bounce and have so much fun.  His little legs are getting so strong, he can really get going fast.  Sometimes it looks like he might bounce his way right out of the top!  So today when we got home, he bounced…

And then he crashed!!

I can’t believe he can fall asleep in this thing!  I just let him sleep, I thought he’d be really upset when he woke up, but nope, he lifted his head, looked around for a second, and just kept on bouncing!

7 Months Old!!

Another month, just like that!  Ryder has come such a long way from the tiny little baby I delivered 7 months ago.  He is so interactive now and really understands things.  He knows when people are talking to him, he knows when things are funny, he knows when he’s not happy about something, it really just amazes me how much his little brain has picked up on in just 7 months. 

He’s really starting to push his limits, I constantly find him challenging himself.  If he’s playing with his toys, he always reaches for the one that is furthest away, he’s very strong-minded and is figuring out ways to get what he wants.

He’s so much fun to be around and has such a sweet, happy personality.  We love him so much and are enjoying every second of watching him grow.

Seven Month Photoshoot:

 

7 Month Stats:

• Ryder weighs over 15 pounds now.
• He’s wearing 6-9 Month clothes and size 2 Diapers
• He’s sleeping an average of 10 hours a night!
• He moved up to Stage 2 foods for breakfast & dinner, with 6 oz bottles in between.
• His favorite thing to do these days is bounce in his Jumperoo!
• His favorite song is the Itsy Bitsy Spider
• His favorite book is Thomas the Train – he likes to press the buttons and listen to the train sounds.
• He drinks from a sippy cup…and had his first finger food today!!!  See pictures below, he ate a smashed banana!
• He can sit unsupported with supervision, he is still very wobbly.
• Still no teeth!  Any day now (I know I’ve been saying that for months!)'

Here he is eating his first “real” food, he couldn’t figure out how to pick it up and put it in his mouth, but he enjoyed rubbing his hands in the banana and squishing it all over the place.  He chewed every bite I put in his mouth and swallowed, just like a big boy.  He was cracking me up when he was chewing though, check out these facial expressions:

Every month brings more and more fun stuff.  Even though it’s sad that he’s growing up so fast, it’s also fun and exciting and really gives us lots to look forward to.

A Day Away From the Baby

Saturday morning Alan & I decided to go shopping at the outlets across the Bay Bridge.  We dropped Ryder off with Nana and headed out.  We got to the outlets and spent too much time there spending WAY too much money…but boy did it feel good!  We haven’t been shopping in a long time, so we definitely splurged.  I have felt pretty spoiled since Ryder was born because we haven’t had to spend a single dollar on clothes (or diapers & wipes) thanks to everything I got at the baby shower and hand-me-downs.  But the time has come where we’re in a different season and he’s moving up to new sizes, so it was fun getting to go pick up outfits for him.  Here is some of his new winter collection:

Shopping for him was the easy part, shopping for us is what took so long.  But we got some good stuff, stopped and got dinner, then headed to our next stop.  Ryder switched locations too, he came back home and Yaya was there so she could do his nightly routine with him, you know how I am about that schedule!

So, our next stop was to my BFF Kristen’s house for her Birthday party!  Her Birthday is actually on Halloween, but I guess she wanted to start the festivities early this year.  All of our close friends were there and it was nice to get to hang out with everyone and catch up.

Me & the Birthday Girl (she loves me, can you tell?!)

Lindsay’s cute little baby bump

  These are my besties, I love these girls!

So that was our day away from the baby.  It was fun, but he was asleep by the time we got home, so in the morning I couldn’t wait to get my arms around him and tell him how much I missed him. 

Sometimes I wish I could just put him in this backpack and take him with me everywhere I go!

What Is Going On??!!

It is the 16th of October and this is only my 7th post of the month!  What is going on?  Well I don't have an excuse, besides the fact that work has been super busy, I've been spending all of my time in the evenings with my little one, and when he goes to bed, so do I...which has left no time for blogging (okay I guess I did have an excuse).  But, since you asked, I guess I'll fill you in on what has been going on!


Sleeping


Ahhhh, sleep...I almost let that word slip out of my vocabulary, but Ryder has so kindly allowed it back in!  I've been afraid to mention it on my blog (you know how that goes for me), but I am very happy to report that Ryder is in bed by 8:00 at night, I wake him up at 6:15 during the week, and on the weekends he sleeps until 7:00.  Do you hear what I'm saying?? 8 PM - 7 AM!!  He has been in this routine for over a month now so I think it's safe to write about it.  Hopefully he won't make me eat my words this weekend!  He really sleeps so well.  I rarely hear a peep out of him through the night, just a few sighs here and there.  The only bad thing is that he scoots himself all the way up to the top of the crib and I can hear him bumping his head over the monitor, so I jump out of bed, run in his room, slide him back to the middle, then I get back to bed.  That happens about two times a night, so I'm still waking up, but I can deal with that.  I took the bumpers off and am really considering putting them back on to help with this problem.  He also takes 2 naps during the day, 1 in the morning for 2 hours, and one in the afternoon for 2 hours. 

Eating

Ryder has eaten all of the Stage 1 foods (even prunes!) and has become a pro at chewing and swallowing, so I moved him up to Stage 2 this week.  So far he has tried the stage 2 peas, sweet potatoes, and the apples & blueberry mixture for breakfast.  Stage 2 is just a little thicker and he was definitely ready for it.  He loves to chew, even when he's not eating anything.  If he sees Mommy or Daddy eating something, he just watches us and starts chewing.  It's so funny!  Oh and of course he LOVES drinking out of his sippy cup.  He loves drinks and thinks that every drink should be his drink.  Here he is trying to steal Nana's coffee:

Mobility

Right now, we're working on teaching Ryder how to sit up by himself.  He's doing better and better every day.  He's still wobbly and can't be left sitting unattended, but he has started to use his stomach muscles to balance himself and sit up from a reclined position.  He rolls all around the floor using that technique to get to what he wants.  Sometimes when he's on his tummy he'll pull his knees up and then kick his legs out straight, that's how he scoots.  He usually only does that when he's sleeping or mad...and that's as far as we have gotten with crawling.  He's really sturdy on his feet and balances his weight well.  I let him stand up and hold onto his toybox, he likes to play with his cars like that, but I always sit right behind him for support. 

Health

Ryder got sick for the first time 2 weeks ago, he came down with a little cold.  He still has some of the congestion, I took him back to the Doctor so she could listen to his chest and make sure it wasn't in his lungs.  She assured me that he was fine, he just has congestion in the back of his throat that he doesn't know how to get rid of.  He has no other symptoms and it really hasn't slowed him down one bit.  I have to admit though, all this flu talk has really started to make me nervous!  We've made the decision not to get Ryder the swine flu vaccination and are relying on prayer for us to stay healthy, or be able to fight anything that comes our way.  Preferably the first option!  We see the Kidney Doctor in a few weeks and are very anxious to see how that goes.  We still have some concerns stemming from all the blood work that was done a few weeks ago...but I'll save that for another update, when I actually know what's going on!  Oh, and, speaking of kidney's...

Kidney Walk

The Kidney Walk is 3 weeks away!  Team Ryder is growing and is doing such a good job raising money.  As of right now we have 25 team members and have raised $735!!  This puts us in 3rd place for raising the most money for the walk so far!  We're having team shirts made to wear the day of the walk, so if you want to walk but haven't signed up yet...get on it :-)  We're hoping to place the order by next Friday.  You can log on to http://walk.kidney.org/goto/teamryder to join or donate! 



Usually when I blog, it's about new things that have come up, and I forget to update as old things change and progress.  Needless to say, I'm glad I got all of that out.  So, that is what has been going on...aren't you glad you asked?!

One Word Wednesday

***RIDIN’***

All Bundled Up!

If there is one thing that I have loved about the weather the past few days, it is seeing this sweet little boy all bundled up!  I’ve been getting to try out new hats, layered outfits, jackets, shoes, socks, slippers…this cold weather has opened up a whole new world for us.  Up until now, Ryder has been for the most part a barefoot baby, with just a onesie or a romper, so getting to put all of these different accessories on him has been fun!  The best part is that he doesn’t even mind.  He could care less if there is a hat on his head or slippers on his feet.  He’s just an easy going little guy…

   

   Ryder’s First Pair of Tennis Shoes!