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Just testing. I upgraded blogger last nighta nd weird things are happening!

6-month check-up

Okay, so he's really 6 months and 10 days. But today was our doctor visit, so this is when you get the 6-month update.

Ryan is weighing in at a whopping 17 pounds 6 ounces. I truly thought he would be over 18, but not yet. And he's 25.5 inches long. Proud to say height has moved up from the 5th percentile to the 25th, and weight is still at 50th. Not to shabby for being compared to those who are, technically, 6 weeks older than you!

Everything else looks great. Dr. Walters said we should be feeding him more solids than we are (we were doing mostly bottles with some solids thrown in for good measure), so we'll be upping his menu this coming week. We still have 3 foods left to try (pears, squash, and prunes) before we can say we've tried all of the 1st step flavors. And then the fun will really begin! All kinds of food combinations to try! :-)

Have a great weekend!

P.S. I don't think I shared our State Fair adventure here. Let's just say that Ryan and I are BOTH glad that the fair is only once a year. :-(

ryan is a parseltongue

Okay, unless you are a Harry Potter fan, this post will make no sense to you at all.

Ryan and I often chat while he's on the changing table for a diaper change or to get dressed. Yesterday morning we were chatting and he was talking in his little whisper voice. S's are an easy sound and he was doing lots of s's, plus blowing bubbles and raspberries of course. But it dawned on me that the sounds he was making are just like the sounds Harry made when he discovered he could speak parseltongue! My little wizard. :-)

halloween

so, we were going to do a baby yoda costume for ryan this year...until i saw this.


oh my goodness, is that the cutest thing ever? i know i'm going to hate myself for it when i start sewing on all of that ribbon for the mane, but you only have your 1st halloween once, right?? luckily ryan has a nana who is a whiz on the sewing machine...otherwise, who knows what this would end up looking like! :-)

jabber jaws

ryan loves chit-chatting with us and telling us all about his day. his conversations usually involve a few excited screams, some humming, and some raspberry-blowing. well, last night i had put him down into his pack & play bassinet so i could use the bathroom, and when i came back in he was on his belly with his head up looking at the door. i said, "hey baby!" in my best joey-impersonation, and ryan said, "mama!" in his cute little whisper voice.

good boy! :-)

babywearing

i'm so exited! i finally ordered my babyhawk yesterday! i went with a reversible one, and these are the patterns i chose.



i hope it's pretty in real life! i should have it in time for our trip to florida, which is what i was hoping for so i can carry ryan in it at the airport and on the plane. our hotsling just isn't working for us anymore because it's not adjustable...he's getting bigger, and i'm still getting smaller. i also got invited to join an indy babywearing group on yahoo! who knew!? jess from the BH customer service happens to live in indy and noticed my location on my order form.

off to get ready for work. it's been one of those weeks! can't wait for the weekend, although i may end up working. ick.

lots of updates

I'm a bad blogger. I get mad when I visit blogs that haven't been updated, yet I leave mine neglected for weeks at a time. It's just hard to find time to download pics from the camera, edit them, upload them, and then try to be funny and witty. :-)

Anyway...lots of updates. Possibly not in chronological order, but I'll do my best.

July 1: Ryan becomes Catholic! Even though his mama isn't, Tony asked if Ryan could be baptized at St. Malachy and I agreed. Thanks to Jenni and Jason for agreeing to be Godparents!

Not the best pic, but the best one that was on my camera. People were supposed to be sending me the pics they took that day, but I haven't gotten any yet. Ahem! :-)

Crazy picture, this next one, but check out those eyes! So glad Ryan's eyes seem to be staying blue! Most pics I have of them, he has red eye, so I was SO excited to see this one. Even though he looks like one of those scary dogs on the greeting cards that have the huge heads and little bodies.


Rolling, rolling, rolling... yup. We had done it once or twice before, but now we can officially classify Ryan as a roller. Um, yeah. He was on his back when I went to use the bathroom. Guess the bed is no longer a safe haven!


First trip to the zoo. We went with Jenni, Leah, Kaden (Ryan's best friend), Jon, Angie, Isaac, and Rose (Ryan's girl friend). Ryan liked the elephants and this is us on the train.


And last but not least...drumroll please...we're eating solids. We started rice cereal at 4 months, and have now added bananas (picture 1) and green beans (picture 2) to our menu. Bananas were a huge hit, green beans seem to be tolerable (not as yummy, but more fun). :-)



Okay, Ryan is getting too wiggly for any more one-handed typing. Ta ta for now.

why do dumb people have to ruin everyone else's fun?

I really, really appreciate the people who take the time to leave a comment or send me an email about my blog. I do. Even if I don't know you, I always appreciate your kind words. But some dumbass keeps spamming my site with retarded comments, so I've switched the blog over to the moderated comments feature, which means your comment will be emailed to me and then I can either approve it or reject it. If you post anonymously, which most of you do, and I can't tell who the comment is from, it may get rejected. Unless, of course, your comment is about how cute my little guy is. Those will always make it through! :-)

Okay, I may be crazy, but I'm seriously considering switching to cloth diapers. Do you have any experience in this? If so, send me your thoughts!

Ryan's first trip to the zoo is on Sunday, so look for updated pics next week! He's going with his best friend AND his girlfriend (plus their older siblings), so it should be quite an adventure! Have a great weekend!

best friends

Ryan had a built-in best friend when MY best friend Jenni gave birth to her little boy Kaden, just a few weeks after Ryan was born. Kaden's big sister Leah just turned 2, and we took these pictures of the boys at her b-day party. Don't they look like they'll be up to no good in just a few more years? :-)

new pics

We had Ryan's picture taken on June 24 and got the prints last night! I couldn't wait to share! Isn't my guy just the cutest thing you've ever seen?

karen katz

I am in love with these books ! I ordered the Daddy and Me one for Ryan to give to Tony for Father's Day and it is awesome! I put the rest of them on my Amazon Wish List (where the link above goes to), in case you ever need to buy me a present. :-)

weekend

We went canoeing with some friends yesterday out on Sugar Creek. It was a lot of fun, despite being a little chilly and rainy. Haven't grabbed the pics off of my camera yet, so I'll post a classic Ryan pic for your viewing pleasure.

Ryan's baptism is this weekend, so we've been busy planning and preparing for that. Thank goodness it's finally almost here because at the rate my little guy is growing, he might not fit into his outfit for much longer -- and it's a 6 months! We also had some new pictures taken this past weekend...can't wait to see how they turn out! Not much else to say, but I feel like I've been neglecting my blog, so I wanted to get a new post up. Have a great day!

short, fat, with a big head

Yup, that's my boy! Just got home from his 4-month check-up...he's 14 pounds, 10.5 ounces (50th percentile), 23.5 inches (5th percentile), and his head circumference was 41 cm (75th percentile). Sheesh. I guess looking at Tony and me, the kid had no hope of being tall. But 5th percentile? Come on! ;-) He also got 4 shots, so we're gearing up for a long, feverish night.

very cool

I so want this for above the piano in my living room. View other options here.

cracking me up

Ryan entertains me daily...he's such a happy baby! These pics are part of the album posted below, but I felt they deserved some attention by themselves. :-) Enjoy!

getting ready for father's day

Just thought I'd share the mini-album I made for my dad for Father's Day. I tried to use mostly newer photos of Ryan, but threw in just a couple of my old favorites. Digital kit is from Shabby Princess and font is Susie's Hand. What are your plans for Father's Day?

a tale of three pees

Came home last night to quite a sight. Ryan was buck naked on the changing table, the pile of clean clothes next to the changing table was wet, and Tony was holding wipes and diapers and I heard "Oh no!" coming from our bedroom. Apparently, daddy got peed on. Not just once, but three times. He was changing Ryan's diaper, and pee 1 happened, getting Ryan's outfit wet. Off came the outfit. Diaper was not yet put back on. In the process of removing the outfit, pee 2 happened, soaking the pile of clean clothes. Yet the diaper was still not put back on. This is when I walked in. A wipe had been placed over his boy parts, but since wipes are already wet, they aren't very absorbant. In the midst of pee 3, Tony removed the wipe, not knowing pee 3 was happening, and the changing pad and carpet then got wet. Needless to say, we did some major cleaning and Ryan got put right into the tub. I think daddy finally learned to listen to mama when she says to always keep him covered! :-)

a girlfriend already?

I just had to share this photo that Angie sent me this morning! The little girl in the picture is Ryan's future wife, Rose! Aren't they a sweet family? Jon must have been behind the camera.

Oh, and I just wanted to point out that this photo was sent to me instantly via Hello. If you haven't downloaded it yet, you should. Right now. Seriously. Go do it. And then let me know what your username is. GO! And make your life easier by downloading Picasa, too.

hats

Poor Ryan had to wear hats nonstop for the first couple of months of his life. Then once we were able to regulate his body temp better, we gradually stopped wearing them. We had a couple of cold mornings lately where we needed to bring them back out, and now that summer is here, the kiddo got a new sun hat for when we are outside and can't stay in the shade. He actually loves this hat, despite the expression in this picture. But I'm sure he'd rather never wear another hat again! :-) 

full belly

Well, we tried rice cereal for the first time last night. Ryan has decent head control and can sit up if we support him, so we thought we'd go for it. His pedi wanted us to have tried it by his 4-month visit, which is June 13. I had to dig around a bit to find the one baby spoon we have (will be shopping for dishes and spoons this afternoon), but finally found it and we mixed up some cereal. Ryan sat propped up in his vibrating seat and seemed intrigued by what was going on. Tony fed him his first bite so that I could man the camera. We just put a little bit on his lips at first, and he licked it off. Then we put a little on his tongue and he kind of smacked it around a bit. He seemed to like it, although after awhile he got a little frustrated by how long it takes to eat off of a spoon, so we put the rest in a bottle with a fast-flow nipple and he finished up all 5 tablespoons that we had made. We'll try some more tonight! Haven't had a chance to get the pictures off my camera yet, but I'll add them to this post as soon as I can.

seriously mama...

enough with the picture taking already!

13.4

Yup. My little peanut is tipping the scales at 13 pounds, 4 ounces, and is 23.5 inches long. Tony snuck him in for a quick weight check today, and Dr. Walters stopped by to peek at him. She said he was just perfect. But we already knew that, right? I had been worried because Ryan is going longer between some of his feedings, but doesn't always eat more to compensate. I needed the reassurance of the weight check, and now I feel much better. I could SEE that he was doing fine, but wanted to confirm it, you know?

Ryan and I met his future wife the other night...my friend Angie gave birth to a little girl: Rose Abigail. Congratulations! And if anyone finds a blue puppy bootie at University Hospital, give me a call. ;-)

Off to pump and order a pizza. Have a great weekend everyone!

Oh yeah, one more thing! SO EXCITED that the clothes I was wearing before I got pregnant are now loose on me! Yahoo! I LOVE nursing/pumping! :-)

happy (belated) mother's day!

This past Sunday marked my first Mother's Day...what an emotional, wonderful holiday! We had a low-key day, meeting my mom and Terry for breakfast, doing a little shopping, and then vegging at home, napping, and doing a million loads of laundry. Ryan got me a new digital camera (mine was 5 years old and only 1.3 megapixels...yikes! Now I'm hooked up with 5.1), and my mom and Terry got me a gorgeous necklace with a little mother-child charm.

I don't have too many pictures of me with Ryan, since I'm usually the one behind the lens, but I made a point of having Tony take some of us on Mother's Day. It's hard to catch the little one smiling, especially with the lag on point-and-shoot digitals. But he's about to crack one in this picture...honest!

I hope all you moms out there had a wonderful day, too!

i'm it

• What's in your fridge?

Not much. Lots of condiments, breast milk, cokes, 2% milk, various juices, probably some expired hamburger, bagged salad, pudding cups

• What's in your purse?

Since I'm actually carrying a purse now that I'm back at work and can't keep the diaper bag with me, I just have my wallet, my keys, sunglasses, my phone, bc pills, and a spare pair of contacts

• What I wear now

During the week: work clothes. Although, I'm pleased to say most of them are from before I got pregnant and they are big on me! During the weekend: jean capris, cute tops, flip-flops, and my sling.

• What's on/in your DVR/DVD?

Watched "Brokeback Mountain" this weekend. And I have a Billy Blanks Tae Bo Total Fat Blaster DVD right now from Netflix.

• What's in your car?

Too much crap. Tons of blankets, the car seat base, lots of Burger King bags (have been stopping there every morning after dropping of my handsome guy at his baby-sitter's), stroller, phone charger, travel bottle warmer, winter accident kit

Now tag, you're it. If you don't have a blog, post your answers in the comments section.

are you there?

I've had a couple of people tell me recently that they check my blog often for updates on Ryan. If you're reading this, post a comment so I know you are out there. I don't want to spend time uploading photos and writing out posts if no one is reading....

easter

We had Ryan's picture taken with the Easter Bunny. Luckily he slept through the entire process...I'm not too sure how much he would have liked having that scary big head so close to his face! :-)


I have to go back to work on Thursday. I'm very sad...it's been so great getting to spend so much time with my little man. I hate to think about what all I'm going to miss out on. Luckily my mom and Tony's aunt are going to be doing the baby-sitting for us.

Ryan's 2-month check-up was fantastic...he's up to 10 pounds 2 ounces and is 21 inches long. He's achieved all of the milestones that "normal" 2-month-olds should be achieving, but he's on the low end for height and weight, of course. We go back to the doctor in June and by then Dr. Walters said we should have at least tried to give him some cereal mixed in with his milk...oh my gosh! The kid is growing up WAY too fast!

bliss

a baby snuggling against your chest about to fall asleep and typing one-handed. these are the moments i'm cherishing lately.

6 week milestones

Gosh, it's been awhile since I've posted! I can hardly believe that Ryan is 6 weeks old already (well, 6 weeks and 1 day, actually...)! He's getting so big! Here are some of his milestones:

• still loves his hands and must have them out of the blanket and near his face at all times
• is eating 3 ounces every 3-4 hours
• still hates to burp and rarely does
• still has nasty-smelling gas, but only poos every 2 days
• sleeps like his mama (at least one hand thrown over his head)
• smiles in recognition of mama or daddy's voices
• only cries when he's hungry (so far, knock on wood)
• is pretty good about sleeping, although he's spoiled and will only sleep in the swing wendy bought him...so we carry it back and forth between the family room and our bedroom each morning and evening. he refuses the bassinet now, unless it's just for a nap in daddy's office
• loves bright colors and lights
• loves to be read to (current favorite book is "does a kangaroo have a mother, too?")
• is starting to venture out for brief outings, but still not in overly crowded/public places
• has outgrown his preemie clothes and is wearing newborn sizes now (although we have to roll the sleeves up a little...)
• eyes are still blue, but have lightened a bit
• has more nicknames than I can keep up with (peanut, peenie-weenie, peanut butter, panini, ryno, rye...just to name a few)
• holds his head up for several seconds at a time
• likes to pretend he's holding his own bottle (always puts his hands on both sides of it while he's eating...too cute!)

Yup...he was ready for some lunch and mama insisted on a diaper change first. :-)

so in love

It's so amazing to be a mom. I still can't believe that I am one! And I knew that I would love this little guy a ton, but I didn't realize how much. I also didn't realize how much more it would make me love Tony...knowing that we share something so special. We've had several really great conversations while staring at Ryan since he's been home, and we're both just amazing at how much having the little guy at home makes everything better...our relationship, our general outlook on life...everything.

Favorite recent picture:

I wonder what he was pondering? The kiddo just loves having his hands up by his face. I can't wait until his body temperature REALLY stabilizes...I have a ton of 8x10 frames just waiting for baby body part pictures...but I feel bad stripping the little guy down knowing he'll be getting cold pretty quickly. But soon. Soon the kiddo won't have any problems...he just needs a little more body fat.