Ryder plays catch

So this is a little video of Ryder playing catch. He actually gets the concept---you sit across from him and toss the ball in his lap and he will try to throw it back to you. He totally loves playing catch and will seriously do it for like 10-15 minutes (which in baby world is a long time to be entertained by something like that!) Sometimes he has a really good throw, but he's still learning his motor skills because sometimes he doesn't let go at the right time because the ball will go straight down or even backwards. So cute!!

Ryder's girlfriend

Last night, the Starkey clan came over for dinner and to hang out for awhile. We hadn't seen them in months, so it was really nice to catch up with everyone. I had to post these pictures below because they are too funny!

Ari giving Ryder a smooch :)

I love the shocked look on Ryder's face in this picture....maybe he's not quite ready for first base yet....ahahaha

Thanks for coming out Teri, Eric, and Ari!!

Baby's First Christmas!

We had a wonderful first Christmas with Ryder. Lots of family time, laughs, and of course: presents! We found out this year that Ryder is now at the start of the age of BIG toys. I swear, everything we got came in a GIANT box!!

Anyways, we headed up to the Haskins' cabin in Park Rapids on Wednesday afternoon. It's so nice and cozy up North at this time of year--worth the drive. We spent Christmas day opening gifts, eating appetizers and then headed off to church. First thing Christmas morning, we packed up and headed to Maple Grove and spent Christmas with my side of the family. It was so nice to see everyone...and again...Ryder was spoiled rotten (or, as Joe says endearingly "blessed not spoiled")!! Lots of gifts, but I think more kisses for him than anything. There are so many people on my mom's side that he's rotated from person to person. He did so well though, never complaining---even as he's cutting two teeth right now! He's such a good boy. Here are just a couple pictures for you all:

Our little santa!

The cozy fireplace at the Haskins' cabin.

Packed to the gills (mostly Ryder's gifts) on the way home.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas as well!!

No changes at physical therapy

We had Ryder's monthly PT appointment on Wednesday this week. Long story short, he has not gotten worse but he has not gotten better either. Also, since he still is just sitting and developmentally has not done anything different, Nancy (the therapist) said that there is not much we can do new until he progresses more. So we have the same exercises to do along with a few exercises that are new that are not aimed at strengthening his neck, but at getting him to progess developmental-wise. For instance, we are working with him on moving from sitting to all fours for crawling. We are also supposed to start working on him kneeling infront of the steps to start to strengthen those fat legs :) So for now, there are no changes, but at least he hasn't gotten any worse I guess.

Well everyone enjoy the weekend!! ...I work all.weekend.long. BOOOOOOO.

Family time

Every year after Christmas, my grandparents (my mom's parents) go to AZ for the Winter, so we were very happy that we were able to find a time that worked for both of us that they could come down to spend the night. See, the Johnson side of our family is rather large and they all fight over who gets to hold Ryder...he is so loved... So it was really nice that they were able to come down and spend some quality one-on-one time with him (and us too, of course). They came down yesterday around lunch time and stayed till Ryder's morning nap today. It was probably the sweetest thing ever that happened when they were leaving today. He was tired and was ready for his nap and when they were about the walk out the door, I came over so they could say bye one last time to Ryder and as my grandma reached over to kiss his cheek, Ryder leaned over to her with stretched out arms and as she scooped him up, he wrapped his little arms around her like he was giving her a hug. And then, my grandpa took him to give him one last kiss bye and he did the same thing to him where he wrapped his chubby arms around his shoulders and it looked like he was hugging him. It was so sweet, and I know they just loved it too!

Ryder and his Great Grandma Bunny

(I am pretty sure Ryder's head is almost bigger than Grandma's!)

Ryder and his Great Grandpa Bob

A little extra shot of Ryder as "The Tin Man" with a gas funnel on his head (don't worry, we just bought the gas funnel and it had never been used before...)

Baby dreams

The other day at my 3rd annual Christmas cookie decorating day with my girlfriends, we were discussing Ryder's sleep habits and it came up that sometimes he'll wake up in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder (the kind of cry he has when he gets his shots) but yet, his eyes are closed and he's not awake when you go in there. My friend Camille brought up the good question, "What could a baby possibly dream about?" I mean, they have so little experiences to draw upon. My answer was that he must have had a bad dream that all the milk dried up in mommy's boobs. That's my guess at least! Then this morning, Ryder woke up at 6am and cried and cried and even cried harder after I left the room when I gave him his paci (which usually he falls right back to sleep with the paci). So because I wasn't ready to get up yet, I brought Ryder in our bed with Joe and me (I always said I would NEVER do that...which I normally don't--infact that was only the second time I've ever done that...BUT, I've learned that you do what you have to do!) Anyways, Ryder fell right back to sleep the minute we put him between us and it was so cute, not long after he fell asleep, he started laughing in his sleep. It was so stinking cute, Joe and I were trying to be quiet as we laughed together over how sweet it was. My guess of what he was dreaming of: a room filled with boobs bursting full of milk :)

To answer the question of whether or not babies dream, and more importantly, to find evidence supporting my theory that babies dream of boobs and milk....I took to google.com! I found out that babies spend 2x as much of their sleep cycles in the REM (rapid eye movement) stage of sleep, which is when humans dream. Experts say it's safe to assume babies dream, but unfortunately, we 'll never know what they dream about since they obviously are unable to tell us. Here's a cute little article blurb that I found, and I couldn't agree more with the author! (taken from parentdish.com)

"Babies dream," says Dr. Charles P. Pollak, director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital in the New York Times.
....because infants have REM sleep," Dr. Pollack says, "it is a well-based inference that babies are dreaming in REM sleep."....
But what do babies dream about? Dr. Pollard does not even hazard to guess. Dr. Pollak says that asking him what babies dream about "is like asking whether your pet dog or cat is dreaming, because they can't communicate, and you can't ask. We presume that infants dream infantile things, but we don't really know what it is that they dream." My old dog used to bark while she dreamed and her feet would move like she was running. Clearly she was dreaming about what she spent 80 percent of her day thinking about (chasing squirrels). I will state on the record that my baby dreams about nipples. Gigantic pink nipples atop rapturous breasts....

The article continues for a short while after that, but I laughed right out loud when I read the above bolded sentence. I laughed simply because I totally agree that was what Ryder was thinking about this morning when laughing happily in his sweet, sweet baby sleep :)

We feel dumb....

A couple of weeks ago, our neighbor knocked on our door and handed us an invite to a neighborhood Christmas party. When we answered the door, I was holding Ryder and our neighbor said, "yeah, bring the little guy if you'd like". So we automatically assumed that it was a family Christmas party and that everyone was bringing their kids. The party started at 7pm (which I did find odd considering most people in the neighborhood have young kids...) so we had ryder take a late afternoon nap so he could stay up later than his usual 7pm bedtime. When the wife answered the door and saw all three of us standing there, she looked a tad surprised but welcomed us.

Instantly I felt like an idiot as I looked around and saw that our neighbors were all there and there were NO children. Yeah, sweet. So everyone was asking us if we got a babysitter for after he went to bed, etc. Joe and I basically were like, uhhhh....no. So I went home at 8pm and put ryder to bed and am sitting here writing this blog entry about feeling dumb (thanks neighbor guy). Joe is still next door visiting with neighbors and then in about a half hour, I'm going BACK over there (since i was only there for 45 min in the first place) to play the games they had set up and visit--and joe will come back here and stay with Ryder.

How dumb. Especially considering we EASILY could have found a babysitter between both of our parents. My guess is that the neighbor guy who came over to give us the invite had no clue that his wife was probably telling people that it was adults only. I should have figured it out when I saw the party started at 7pm....whatever. Anyways, party etiquette is always so hard, especially when someone hands you an invite that has nothing written on the front as to who is invited (i.e. "The Haskins Family" vs "Joe and Carly Haskins") Oh well, what are you going to do.

Well I should probably call Joe so we can rotate. How dumb. (can you tell I'm annoyed??)

On a positive note: my girls are all coming over tomorrow for santa exchange/cookie decorating/vikes game. Yaaahooooooo!

Lazy??

After discussing how I never want to work I asked Joe tonight, "When did I get so lazy?!?" I used to have such good work ethic and was always about working hard. But his reply is just one of the many reasons why I love him so much. He said, "you're not lazy, your priorities have changed." Ahhh, so good that he can make me feel better about never wanting to work

In a way, I guess he is right (or at least that is what I'm telling myself so I feel better about it! haha). I mean, I work hard when it comes to family, ryder, the home, etc. And that is not easy work!! I used to think that stay at home moms didn't do much, but until you actually live it...you dont know! I couldn't imagine working full time AND having to run a family--that's like two full time jobs. Kudos to the women out there who do both!! It makes me really appreciate my mom. I do come from a family where my mom always worked when I was growing up, so I always thought that was just how it was and how it would always be. I feel very fortunate that I am able to work so part time and stay home most days with Ryder. Just another reason to thank the Good Lord and his many blessings :)

Speaking of blessings....

From three to two...

Ryder has never been a great napper by any means. For the last few months he takes three naps a day. One relatively long one (one hour or sometimes, if I were lucky, an hour and a half nap) in the morning and then two short ones in the afternoon: One half hour nap in the early afternoon and then another half hour or 45 min nap in the late afternoon. Well for the last week now, he has been skipping the last nap of the day. At first I thought I wouldn't like this, but he has started to convert to two longer naps instead. This is a good thing because I can actually get some stuff done around the house. And rather than stay up two hours in between naps like he used to do, he stays up three hours between naps now. He has a really good schedule working now (anyone who knows me, knows that I like this).



You probably don't care, but I'll write it out anyways! He wakes up around 630, but I get him out of his crib between 7 and 730. Then he goes back down for his nap around 930 to 10am. Then he sleeps for an hour and a half. then he goes back down again for another nap around 130 to 2pm. And then he sleeps for another hour and a half (or like today, an hour and 45 min!). Then he's to bed for the night by 7pm-715pm. Of course, I'm sure now that I have said this is his new "good schedule" he'll change it. But hopefully not!!


Anyways, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our families. I ate plenty...and then some. It wouldn't be a good Thanksgiving without overindulging, right?! Now on to my favorite holiday: CHRISTMAS!! The tree is up and I have about ten presents under the tree already wrapped..ha! This week's chore: get all of our Department 56 snow village up. So exciting! And of course as tradition follows, it is the third annual December Girls Get together at my house: cookie decorating and secret santa this Sunday!! I can't WAIT! Have a good week.

Here's a picture of little bubba in his Christmas pjs!

A bad Letter

Yesterday we got a letter in the mail from our Pediatrition Maggie. It was a letter to all her families saying she was going to leave the clinic to focus more on her own family. Is it sad that I seriously got a little misty-eyed?? I mean, yes I think it's wonderful she has the opportunity to be with her family, but in my own selfish way I am thinking..."hey, what about Ryder?! What about Joe and me!!???" haha. It is hard to find a good pediatrition, and Maggie was no exception. She had THE BEST bedside manner with not only Ryder, but Joe and me as well. She was so reassuring and comforting; a very important fact when it's your first child. She seriously reminded me of a grandma or something. I mean, she was probably only in her mid 50's so it wasn't like she was old but you know what I mean--she just had that sweet, caring grandma vibe from her. So now we have to start looking for a new pediatrition and I am not looking forward to that. The first pediatrition we had SUCKED. We did NOT like her at all. Anyways, the hunt is on now....Like I said, it was a bad letter to get in the mail.

Happy Thanksgiving to me x4

This year I have four, yes four, Thanksgivings to attend. Some may think this would get old, but I love love love holidays, more specifically family time combined with food. Could it get any better?? Friday was my first Thanksgiving feast, and it was with my girlfriends. You know, I love our little family and our day-to-day activities and I wouldnt trade it for the world--- But I will say that I really look forward to GNO..Girls Night Out...every month. It's the only time I typically get to see my girlfriends, so I relish it! We all draw names at the beginning of the year and each pick a month to plan one day of hanging out with the gals :) This month it was at Jenny's place. We did the whole meal: turkey, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, salad, and of course PIE! It was a great night filled with a LOT of laughing. I must have been one wild girl because I looked at the clock and didn't even realize it was 10:40 at night--wooooahhhh everyone!! Watch out, Carly is getting crazzzzzy!! By the time I got home and pumped and got into bed, it was 1130. Now some may say I'm now officially an old lady, but when your child wakes you up early early early...THAT IS late! haha.

Today was the second Thanksgiving feast with the Bartlett side. My grandparents came down from Alexandria and got to see Ryder, which was nice considering they only get to see him once every couple months or so. Again, good food, great company...perfect! Ryder even enjoyed a little of the food. He had a little red jello--he thought it was yummy. He also thought tiny bits of pie crust were the best thing he's ever had. You should have seen how excited he got waiting for the next taste :) He's his mama's son, that's for sure! Oddly enough, we finally found something Ryder didn't like to eat: mashed potatoes. Yes, I find that odd--you'd think he'd love them considering they are so simple. But he had one bite and then refused the rest. Ha, he always keeps you guessing.

Thursday we'll do Thanksgiving with the Johnson clan (my mom's side) and then we'll head up North Friday after I get off work in the morning (yuck) and do Thanksgiving with the Haskins. All in all, I would say I'm one lucky gal to have enough friends and family to have FOUR fantastic Thanksgiving meals ;)

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!!

Physical therapy again..

If you didn't know, we are doing PT only once a month now and today was Ryder's November appointment. The problem with going to PT only once a month is that you don't think about going to the appointments as often and therefore don't think about doing the exercises as often...which in turn leads me to NOT DOING his PT exercises as home. Can you guess what happened at our appointment today?? Yep, his head tilt is a tiny bit worse. He was tired when we went, which typically means it is going to be worse anyways, but she said that she could tell when he was sitting and playing with stuff infront of him that it was worse than last time. DANG it!! Bad mommy :( Oh well. I guess that means the Physical Therapy Nazi is back, as Joe refers to me. If his head weren't so darn big, we would probably be okay. hahah. it's so much weight to hold up straight, can you blame a guy?

Anyways, I attached a couple pics below. The first one is of Ryder "brushing" his teeth (aka chewing on the brush) with the toothbrush that was given to him by Joe's lifelong dentist Dr. Yaeger. The second pic is a shot of Ryder's three teeth he has. they are spaced out and slightly crooked...good thing he's so cute, that way he can pull off his crazy-man teeth ;) hehe.

He looks kinda drunk in this picture...

While mommy is away...

Daddy and Ryder play!! I LOVE my boys...here is an adorable video Joe took of him and Ryder goofing around while I was sleeping after work the other day.

First snow

Only in Minnesota could Joe mow the lawn three days ago in shorts and a tshirt and then two days later, be freezing his butt off while shoveling the driveway. Even though it was pretty cold, we bundled Ryder up in his new snowsuit and hat and took him outside to watch dad shovel. I can tell it's going to be hard during the winter because Ryder LOVES being outside. He could be outside all day long if it were up to him...he just stares at everything and never makes a fuss about anything. But when we're inside, I swear he gets bored looking at the same toys and being in the same dumb living room all the time. We'll have to get creative I guess. Anyways, we snapped a picture of Ryder sitting in the snow for the first time. He loved it!

A little snuggle time with daddy...a great way to end the day :)

Something new every day

At seven months old (yes, SEVEN!!), Ryder learns or does something new almost every day, I swear! I will give a little update for you friends and family members who do not get to see Ryder regularly. Over the last month, he has started to shake toys. At first it was this slow up and down, up and down gross motor movement. Now he actually shakes toys fast when he knows that they make noise. It's really cute.

Also really cute?? When he turns toys over in his hands while examining them. He gets that big bottom lip that I call his "thinking lip" puckered out...stares hard at the toy and turns it over and over in his hands looking at all sides of it. :)

What else...oh, he basically sits up on his own now. The only time he takes a tumble is when he looks up at something. He doesnt quite get the concept of looking up with just his neck/head...he looks up using his whole body, which is why he tumbles backwards!

If he wasn't such a chub, my guess is he would be crawling really soon. He constantly wants to move and get things out of his reach, but since he can't move...he just gets mad and squirms a ton. It makes him sooo mad...I laugh because it's funny when he tries to throw his body in the direction of something, but at the same time kinda feel bad for him because he gets so frustrated!!

Something that happened just tonight finally that clicked for him is the concept of picking food up and feeding himself. I have tried every couple days over the last few weeks to get him to learn this skill, or at least get the idea of it down. I put these "melt away" yogurt bites that melt really quickly in the mouth on his tray. At first he just flung them all over and pushed them around the tray without putting them in his mouth. I thought this was really weird considering he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth, but then when I put food infront of him...he didn't. So I waited. I tried a few other times, and he did the same thing...and when I would put a small piece in his mouth to show him it was food, he would push it immediately to the back of his throat without chewing and he would cough and choke. Okay, still not ready. Then yesterday I tried it again and he finally figured out how to pick up the small pieces in his hand, but he couldn't get the skill of transferring it from his hand to his mouth. I wanted to show Joe tonight what I was "working" on with him, and he actually put a bunch in his mouth...AND chewed too! It was really cute. I could tell he was kinda pumped about it.

Crazy how time flies huh??

Ryder's 6 month photos

I know many of you have seen Ryder's 6 month pictures on Facebook, but for those of my family members who have not...Auntie Anna/Grandparents....here are a few!

I am seriously insane....

.....over Christmas shopping! I know, I know...some might say, "it's freaking November 3rd--why are you Christmas shopping already??" My answer to them is that I absolutely love love love Christmas shopping for other people and I can never start too early. I get so excited thinking of a super great present for someone. And I seriously pride myself on finding and buying something that someone I care about will truly love to get. I can officially cross two people off of my Christmas "to do" list as of today: my father-in-law, Paul and my sister-in-law, Amy Grace! I also bought two other gifts as well!! Joe thinks I'm crazy and just shakes his head. He thinks we should get through Thanksgiving first. But for me, the second Halloween is over, it's fair game. And as for over-shadowing Thanksgiving, I dont see it as that. I think Thanksgiving just gets me even more excited for Christmas when you're with family and it's cozy warm inside the house while you're nice and fat from all the food....

Anyways, happy shopping everyone!!!

Jumperoo

A few months ago we bought Ryder a "Jumperoo". He fits in it much better than he did when we first got it, so we can actually use it a lot more now. Not only does Ryder love it, but we love it too. Especially now that it is getting colder outside and we can't spend as much time outdoors (which Ryder LOVES). It gives us something "new" to do when playing on the floor or sitting on the couch/in the bumbo or walking around the house gets old. Now he can sit in the Jumperoo and bounce, kick, play, scream, and of course: laugh at Daddy!

And please ignore my bad video recording skills. I'm working on them....

Nick was in town!

This past weekend the three of us headed up North to the Haskins' cabin. Joe's mom's cousin, Nick and his roommate Jon, came in from California to do some hunting with the Haskins boys. It was a perfect weekend with great weather. We bundled up Ryder and were able to take him outside a couple of times. As always, it was really great seeing Nick---and he will be back up to MN over Thanksgiving as well! Here are some pictures from the weekend below.

Mommy and Ryder gearing up to go outside and put up Christmas lights

Nick and Ryder finally get to meet!

Ryder in his snowman hat!! So cute.

Ryder in a coon-skin hat--it was Uncle Logan's from when he was a little kid.

Happy Halloween!

For Ryder's first Halloween, he was the cutest lion cub around! After being up North over the weekend, we stopped by my parent's house so they could see him in all his lion glory. It was nice that Ryder's great grandparents and some cousins could be there to see him too, as well as his Uncle Dave :) How could you NOT think this is cute?!?

He likes it....

Oh, he really likes it!....

Okay, time to take it off...haha
(yes, his face is absolutely SMASHED in this thing....)

Teething DOES suck!

Everyone always says that teething is the worst thing in the world and it sucks so bad, blah blah blah. Well, I was fairly excited last week when Ryder broke his first tooth with barely any fussiness. I thought, "woo hoo, I have one of those freak children that you don't even know they're teething and one day you look in their mouth and they have a tooth!"

Apparently I was wrong! Ryder's second bottom tooth is almost through the surface, but not quite yet. Joe and I can definitely tell he's being bothered by it because he's been more fussy than usual the last few days. But the most noticable difference in him is his sleeping. Last night he was up every hour to an hour and a half! It was like we were back to the first couple weeks after he was born. I didn't have to go into his room every single time he woke up, but I would say about five times I had to go into his room last night. I knew it was teething because his little cheeks were flame red and whenever he woke up he cried (which he normally doesn't do), and it was a pain cry. Poor buddy! I really hope that tooth breaks through soon so that he can have some relief. Tylenol seems to help a little, but not much! Oh, and the poops are fun too....they say that teething does not give kids runny poop, but I swear all that extra drooling does because Ryder has had some fantastic blow outs and gross poos lately. All of you really wanted to know that, didn't you?!?! Well I work tonight, so let's hope that he does better tonight for Joe since Joe has to work tomorrow too....

Go Vikes!

Not long after Ryder was born, Joe ordered him a Favre jersey. He finally fits in it! He had it on all day, along with his game face :) Go Vikes!!

Already rockin` a beer gut...

This weekend went all too fast, as usual. Friday evening, Amanda and Jayna came over to see Ryder and me. It was a much needed girls only time (plus Ryder). We headed over to Waconia to the Mocha Monkey and got some gelatto before coming back to our house to get Ryder ready for bed. I'm pretty sure Amanda and Jayna were pseudo-papparazzi since they took so many pictures during feeding and bath time! I don't blame them; he's so cute! As you can see, he enjoyed all the attention from the ladies:

Amanda and Ryder (they didn't even plan to match either!)

Jayna and Ryder

Saturday was the wedding of family friends Chris Petersen and Alissa Lindell. It was definitely a very good time! My parents watched Ryder, so we knew he was in good hands and we were able to have fun. If you can believe it--Joe, Logan, Amy Grace, and I danced for quite some time too. And no, that wasn't a typo: Joe's name was supposed to be in that group of names. I am pretty sure it was the longest time I have ever had Joe on the dance floor. I must say, he was actually pretty decent out there AND I could tell he was having fun too ;)

Today was the perfect lazy Sunday: crappy, rainy weather combined with some good family hang out time along with some football....it just doesn't get much better than that. I LOVE lazy family days!! Back to the reality of Monday...boo reality. I hope this week goes fast. This weekend we are heading up North to the Haskins' cabin and it is also Ryder's first Halloween. He's going to be a lion!!! Stay tuned for pictures.

First tooth!

I swear for the past few months that Ryder has been teething. And last week I noticed two pronounced bumps on his bottom gums. And then this morning his cheeks were especially red and hot and he just acted very disinterested in almost all activities. Not fussy, but just not as happy as usual. Well this afternoon we figured out why: he finally cut through his very first tooth! It's his bottom right tooth and we can tell that his bottom front left tooth is not far behind. Poor buddy! He didn't even really act that upset over it--what a good boy :)

I actually got kinda sad....he's growing up so fast! He can sit up on his own for longer periods of time. Only with fast movements does he take a tumble now. Also, he has learned that if he shakes toys, they make noise. It's so cute, he does this really slow up and down arm movement with toys in his hand and gets excited when they make noise. Oh, and one other thing that has progressed is his eating of baby food. Before he wouldn't eat more than two bites before rejecting all baby food from the jar. He HAD to have it mixed with rice cereal to eat it. Not anymore! Now he eats everything (I think he's storing it all in his cheeks....). I also slipped him a few teeny crumbs of banana bread yesterday and he was going nuts he loved it so much! I'm sure that's not the appropriate thing to be feeding him, but whatever.

Anyways, well back to work tonight. This whole work thing is over-rated.

PT

Today Ryder went back to physical therapy after not going for 6 weeks. I totally thought that he was a little worse, because whenever he sits and leans forward--he has a tilt. See the picture below as an example of how his head tilts to his right (it's of Finn Starkey and Ryder at a play date a few weeks ago).

It might look a little worse than it actually does because of the camera angle being slightly off-centered, but it's a fairly good example of his head tilt. Anyways, when we went to PT today, Nancy (the therapist) said that when he's sitting and looking straight ahead, he has NO head tilt at all!!! He started at a 17 degree head tilt at two months old, and six weeks ago at his last appointment his head tilt when sitting and looking straight ahead was 6 degrees. So Joe and I are really pumped about that. Nancy said that once he started playing and leaning forward that he had a slight head tilt (it's definitely even better than a few weeks ago when that picture was taken above), but she's not too worried about that. She thinks it will correct as he gets better at sitting on his own.

I did mention to her that I was concerned that he wasn't pushing himself up onto straight locked arms yet when he is on his tummy. Nancy replied to this by saying, "well, he's got a LOT of weight to hold up. He doesn't do it because it's too hard!" She said he eventually will but since he's such a big guy, he has a lot of weight to put on those little shoulders to hold himself up. She said not to worry, which is reassuring.

On a side note, Ryder took a TWO HOUR nap this morning. Now some of you might not think that's a big deal, but I do because he has never taken a two hour nap before. Ever. Ryder is a 3 nap a day kinda guy, with one long nap about 1.5 hours and the other two naps are somewhere between 30-50 minutes. Today he had two naps: one 2 hours and the other 1 hour. I hope he likes that better and will cut out the third nap and just take two longer naps. I would LOVE that so much more. I realized how much you can get done in 2 hours!! 2 hours is a loooong time for a mom :)

Ryder's 6 month appointment

Today we had Ryder's 6 month appointment with our favorite pediatrition in the whole wide world, Maggie. She is seriously awesome. If you don't like your pediatrition, go to the Spring Park location of Wayzata Children's Clinic and see Maggie. She's so reassuring, calm, knowledgable, and sweet. She makes Joe and me feel very comfortable.

So, for Ryder's stats:
At four months, Ryder weighed 16.2lbs and was at the 70th percentile. At six months, Ryder weighs 20 POUNDS and is at the 90th percentile! At four months, Ryder was 25 and 1/4 inches and was at the 65th percentile. At six months, Ryder is 27 inches and at the 70th percentile for height. His head is currently at the 80th percentile. Our pediatrition was wondering where the line backer came from..haha. He's a big boy!!! We did talk to Joe's mom though, and she said that Joe was 20lbs too at six months and then at his one year appt, he was STILL 20lbs because he started moving and grooving. So I'm guessing Ryder will start thinning out over the next few months as he starts moving around as well. (Maybe??)

Otherwise, she said he looked really healthy and really ridiculously handome (I agree!). We're going to restart physical therapy for him too. His next appt is this thursday. I'm somewhat worried because I feel like his head tilt has gotten a little worse since he's been doing more (supported) sitting and he's upright more too, which is a lot of strain on those little neck muscles. We'll see what they say on Thursday, I guess.

What else...oh, so it's not like I have any other babies to compare Ryder to as far as development. Ryder screetches and makes sounds here and there, but it's not like he's babbling and cooing all the time or making "razzing" sounds like most babies do at 6 months. Maggie said he's a quiet little guy. Also, most babies at this time are pushing their upper body up with straight arms when they are on their tummy, which Ryder doesn't really do yet either. So I hope he starts yapping soon and pushing himself up! I mean, I know all babies develop at different rates...so I shouldn't get worried. But if you know me, I like things to happen when they're supposed to and on time... I guess Ryder has his own schedule and is giving Mom's plan the big old middle finger!! That's alright though ;)

Cry baby

Before I had Ryder, if I ever heard a sad story about a baby I would feel sad and say, "oh that's horrible" but then move on and not think about it again. Now that I have Ryder and have experienced the way you love a child, I cry over every single sad story about a baby. Even stories that are neccessarily that sad. And on top of that, I can't get my mind off of the stories either.

First example, tonight I was reading my friend Camille's blog: The Style Handler. She had a cool posting of jewelry that has Braille on it that was created by a family to raise awareness of the need for more blind people to have the skill of reading braille. As I read her blog, I learned that the woman who designs the jewelry line started it after her 2 month old was discovered to be blind at his well baby 2 month check up. Yes, most people would agree that that is very sad. But I started thinking about that poor baby who was living in darkness for the first two months of his life and no one knew. I'm not sure what knowing would have done (maybe the parents could have talked to him more/describe things more, I have NO clue!!), but I just kept thinking about this poor baby who was in the dark...I sound like a crazy woman, but I can't stop crying thinking of that poor defenseless blind baby. In fact, Joe probably thinks I'm crazy when I'm sitting here updating my blog while intermittently crying!!

Other random examples lately: hearing about a TWELVE year old girl that my friend Amanda councils at a junior high who is pregnant--and keeping the baby. Did I mention her mom isn't around to help?? That baby has NO chance. It's not the baby's fault, and I think about how sad it is for that baby to not have the same love and support that Ryder does. Another one I heard from the photographer that did Ryder's newborn photos, and recently his 6 month photos. A client of hers had a baby die of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) at age 5 months. Let's just say that this past week if Ryder sleeps even five minutes longer than he normally does for a nap, I'm running up the stairs to check on him to make sure he's breathing. Again, I'm crazy. And I'm sure some of you remember the story on the news recently where I man drowned his 6 month old baby in a wash basin....

I know this is an incredibly depressing blog posting, but I just want to know if I'm the only mom out there who reacts so emotionally to hearing sad stories about babies!?? Because I'd like it to stop. I think Joe would as well. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm sitting around 24/7 sobbing and searching for sad stories on the internet to cry over, but when I do hear one it really gets me for a little while. Maybe that just shows how much I love my little Ryder and would do anything for him. Or maybe I'm an overly emotional hormonal looney. HA!

Apple Jack's Orchard

Today we met my parents at Apple Jack's Orchard in Delano. It was so incredibly nice (in fact, we were sweating it was so warm)--we couldn't believe it was October! Apparently I'm still learning and had a brain-fart mom moment because I forgot a stroller!! So we had to carry that chub-monster around! haha. I'm a dummy.

There were a lot of things to do and see: turkeys, goats, chickens etc. There were pony rides, hay rides, little train rides for the kiddies. There was a live band, face painting, food, pumpkin patches to pick pumpkins, and of course there were lots of yummy apple desserts!! Ryder was too young to really enjoy this, but he had lots to look at and examine. We decided that we'll have to make it a tradition to go there every year. I'm sure Ryder will love it next year (and each year to come).

My parents with Ryder under an apple tree

My lil punkin leaning up against some pumpkins

(and yes, he has a muffin top over his diaper...)

Family photo!

Flash Me Friday: your staples in your pantry

This week's Flash Me Friday is all about staples in your pantry/cupboards. If you want to participate, head on over to Jen's blog for details!

Rice cereal is a MUST in our house. Ryder loves his cereal! In fact, he won't eat regular baby food without having it mixed with cereal. He literally takes one bit, makes a face. Takes a second bit to see if maybe he was mistaken by that intense flavor. Then by the time we try to shove a third bite in his mouth of just baby food from the jar, he refuses to open his mouth. Stinker pants!!

This shows our messy, disorganized pantry. Staples you can see:

bottled water--we are non-environmentally friendly and go through excessive amounts of bottled water (well, mostly joe does).

Cheez-its---a family sized box is always in the cupboard.

Frosted Mini Wheats are always in the cupboard (need help going to the bathroom? These help!)

And peanut butter. Joe and I go through a big tub of PB every few weeks. It's a big problem of mine. My name is Carly and I'm addicted to Peanut Butter....

Enjoy this gorgeous weather and have a good weekend!!

Happy 6 month birthday, Ryder!!

Tomorrow is October 7...which means....my baby is SIX MONTHS already!! Where does time go?? Seriously!? It's funny, I used to think that I was totally a newborn person---that I would love the newborn phase the most-how small and cuddly and sleepy they are. But then I had a baby and found out that the newborn stage is just: eehh. That's all, just so so. I am pretty sure that right now is the BEST time with Ryder yet. He is still imobile so there is no chasing him around yet, but has a fantastically fun personality. He's giggly, chubby, kissable, and his little personality is really showing.

Today we had Ryder's 6 month professional photo session with the same lady who did his newborn photos when he was just 7 days old. Unfortunately we had to wake him up from his nap early to get him to the session on time, so he was still a bit sleepy. He wasn't cranky or fussy, but he just wasn't as smiley as he normally is. I think also since Paula (the photographer) was new to him, he just was staring at her. No smiles. No frowns. Just staring. haha. It was funny. I think he cracked a few smiles off here and there and she might have gotten some. Fortunately he's cute even when he doesn't smile, so we're good. As soon as we have the pictures back, 2 weeks she said, I'll post them! Also, Ryder's 6 month doctors appt is next Tuesday. Stay tuned for an update with that. How chubby could he possibly be?? At his 4 month appt he was 16.2lbs. I'm guessing he's 18lbs or so?? No clue, we'll see though.

Go TWINS!!! Beat those yanks!

Bouncing around in his new "jumperoo"

Check out that fuzzy hair coming in finally on top of his head!!

Grandma Sharol took Ryder to the park. He LOVES the swing. And he has a large face, too.

Happy Anniversary

Two years ago from tomorrow was one of the best days of my life: our wedding! (the only other day that can compare is the day Ryder was born). It's funny, I was telling Joe the other day that I feel like we have been married way longer than two years (haha, I know that sounds bad) But I didn't mean it in a bad way. I think there are two reasons why I feel like that. 1) this winter we have been together for 7 years (wow) and 2) SOOOO much has happened in those first two years of our married life. It's funny, it's almost like it's seemed super fast and long at the same time...does that make sense?? Like, time has just flown by but at the same time it seems like a long time ago when I think about specific events. Nevermind, hard to explain.

Anyways, for our anniversary we went to Fitger's Inn in Duluth. We dropped off Ryder at my parents house (they couldn't have been more excited if they tried, I swear) and we headed up North. It was a gorgeous drive-the leaves were sooo beautiful. We had a really good time in Duluth. The weather was PERFECT, the food was great (room service for breakfast!! My first time!!), and the company better. I couldn't think of a better way to spend some quality R&R time with my love! You know, I don't want to brag (but I'm going to anyways...hahah) but I really honestly think that Joe and I have the best possible relationship. (bold statement, I know). I feel so lucky to have knocked it out of the park with Joe. He's supportive of me, he understands me (often better than I know myself, I swear!), he is so incredible as a father and a husband, he's affectionate, loyal/trustworthy, laid back and easy going (love that!). He makes me feel good about myself, he makes me feel like an equal partner in our relationship, and he's obedient (Just kidding, I threw that last one in there to make sure you were paying attention). Relationships take work and I feel like Joe works just as hard as I do to make our relationship stronger and better all the time. He makes it easy to love him and love our little family life together. I can't wait to see what the next year, ten years, and even FIFTY years bring for us!

This is us on the way home from dinner

A view from our hotel room window
Joe eating breakfast in our hotel room in the morning sun.

Happy Anniversary Babe!! (and happy anniversary to our friends Eric and Teri, 10/3/2009!)

Flash Me Friday: Fall decor

This week is simple: Flash your fall decor.....the reason it's simple?? I have none. haha. Not even a pumpkin yet or anything :( I typically only decorate for the Christmas season, but not usually any other holidays. I'm sure as Ryder gets older, I will definitely be decorating more because he'll love it. But for now....I probably won't!

I'm really excited because tomorrow morning Joe and I are going up to Duluth for our 2 year anniversary, which is on Monday. We are staying at Fitger's Inn. I'm excited because we can SLEEP/EAT do whatever we want all saturday and most of sunday without having to schedule around Ryder, wake up with Ryder etc. BUT it's mixed emotions because it's our first time where both Joe and I are gone from him over night. My parents are watching him and couldn't be more excited. I know it will be good for not only Joe and myself, but also Ryder. Have a great weekend everyone!!

Random updates

I've had a few people ask me about updates regarding Ryder's physical therapy and also Ryder's sleeping habits now...so I thought I'd update.

We actually haven't gone to physical therapy in about a month and a half. Not because he doesn't need it right now, but because of our insurance. I received a letter in the mail saying that our insurance would cover 6 sessions of physical therapy. Well, when I received that letter, we had already had 6 sessions! So I quickly cancelled the last appt because I did not want to pay a billion dollars (well not a billion, but it's like $300 almost PER HALF HOUR SESSION!---$500 for the initial consult!) And the last few sessions we didn't do a ton of new things because he's not developmentally at the next level--crawling or sitting on his own. (although he's almost there sitting on his own. but as soon as he reaches for something, his fat face gets sucked down by gravity and he hits the deck..haha) After we missed the last session last week, Ryder's PT lady (nancy) called us and asked what was going on. After I talked to her, we decided that at his 6 month well-baby check up, we'll ask our pediatrition to re-submit to our insurance company and we'll start another round of PT. Apparently this is really normal and the insurance company only allows so many sessions at once before they make you re-evaluate with your doctor as to wether or not you still need it. So ryder's 6 month appt is in two weeks and we'll start up in october again with the therapy. If worse comes to worse, Nancy said she would be willing to have us send in pictures of Ryder so she can evaluate his head tilt and would give us things to do over email. How nice is that?! She's so sweet, we love her and so does ryder.

Next update: sleep! I am getting more of it....and so is Ryder! After that week or so of zero sleep "teaching" ryder to sleep, he's done really well. We put him to sleep around 730pm and he will get up for good around 7am. (sometimes earlier with dad, but mom just lets him hang out in his crib for awhile because she's not ready to get up at 6am!) Typically he wakes up once around 4-5am but either puts himself back to sleep within a few minutes or we give him his paci and he goes right back to sleep. So like I said, he does really well with sleep now. Mom and dad are elated! Even better though: I officially have trained my boobs that if I pump at 10 before I go to bed, I can make it to 7am to feed ryder WITHOUT getting up in the middle of the night to pump. Yessssssssssssss! Between getting my nights mostly back and our evenings after he goes to sleep for the night where Joe and I can actually hang out together, I feel like a whole new woman! I'm sure now he'll start teething and it will be all over, but that's how it goes!

Dinner time is "mmmm" time :)

I had to post a little video of Ryder eating (well, two videos). It's so funny when he eats, he makes this "aammmmm" noise every time he takes a spoonful. hehe. And half way through the video, he gives a really cute laugh to Joe when he's feeding him. Melts my heart :) BUT the next video is even better below...it involves taking a poop at the dinner table..bahaha!

Cute

He's so cute, it's a crime... Someone call the baby police.

The old Boob vs Bottle debate

So, I'm constantly going back and forth in my head on to continue to breastfeed or just go to bottles. Inevitable, I always end up sticking with the boob. But I think I'll make a pro-con list here for each:

The Boob

Pros:

1. It's SO good and natural for Ryder (#1 reason)

2. It doesn't require mixing/preparing

3. It's always the perfect temperature

4. You don't have to wash as many bottles as you would if you did bottles only (you still have pump stuff and the bottles that you pump into that you have to wash though)

5. It doesn't have to be packed up and brought with you wherever you go

6. It burns major calories (a very close second the the #1 above...I love naughty food)

7. Free

Cons:

1. I can never stray too far from either Ryder or the pump. It's like a ball and chain.

2. I have to always wear clothes/bras that have easy access to the boob

3. Even though Ryder is sleeping through the night, I still have to wake up once in the middle of the night and pump. So no full night of sleep

The Bottle

Pros:

1. I could be gone longer from Ryder (not that I want to be, but you know...)

2. I could wear normal clothes and real bras

3. I could sleep through the night

4. Joe could do feedings too, not just me!

Cons:

1. Can be expensive

2. I would have a LOT more bottles to clean

3. Ryder seems to not do very well with bottles and being gassy/fussy. We've noticed that after I work my weekend of three days in a row, he is really a gas man and has tummy troubles. I think it's because he's not used to having so many bottles (and all the air that comes with them)

4. I would have to start working out and eating better (boo!)

Anyways, so after reading everything again, I think I'll just stick with the boob. It's what I know. It's what Ryder knows. I figure if I can make it to one year and just switch him over to regular milk at that time, then I won't have to do formula. Plus, I can eat all the xmas cookies and thanksgiving pies I want over the winter....bhahaha. I'm terrible. Oh yeah, and the main reason: it's good for Ryder........

I guess I will continue to go back and forth all the time. I think whether I did bottle OR breast, I would complain about either one. I'm a professional complainer, in case you didnt know. It's generally just a pain in the ass. No offense Ryder boy.

Flash Me (last) Friday: what's around you

Once again, LATE LATE LATE on my FMF! Oh well. I haven't been on my computer since Thursday during the day. Thursday evening we went out to eat with the Haskins fam and the Graves. The Graves are long time family friends of the Haskins that are from England. It was great seeing them (as we only get to every couple years). I then worked Thursday night (boo!). When I got home from work, we loaded up the car and headed up North to Park Rapids to the Haskins cabin for the opening of grouse hunting. So what was around me this weekend? Fall air, fall leaves, and fun times! Here is a cute picture of taking Ryder out for a walk in his warm fall flannel jacket thing. I love it!

I love this pictures that Grandma Amy took by the lake. If you notice, his hat says "I hunt for hugs". Very appropriate for the opening of grouse hunting!!

Happy Birthday, Joe!

Today Joe is 27 years old. Officially in his late 20's! I remember celebrating his 21st birthday back in college. Odd that I remember what I got him back then: a Polo sweatshirt, metallica poster, Aqua de Gio cologne, and a THUMB RING and brown leather NECKLACE from Express (bahahha on that last two!). This year is a bit different. Joe said this morning when I got home from work that it doesn't even feel like his birthday. There just is something to be said about a birthday when you're younger and have nothing going on in life! Back in highschool and college, a birthday was a big deal. In college, you hung out with friends and made a point of inviting everyone out to have a good time...usually at a bar and EVERYONE came because it was a great excuse to go out....to a bar ;)

Anyways, this year is a bit different. Joe had a long day of traveling (to Eau Claire, WI!) and his gift is a bit different as well. This year he got some new Under Amour workout shirts and an iTUNES giftcard from Ryder. He really didn't "need" anything he said. But at least we're going out to eat tonight with the Haskins clan and the place we're going has a Haskins bday classic: red velvet cake!!

Not ready for winter

Although I do love the fall and the crisp air it brings, it's like a double edged sword because I know what is to come next :( I absolutely hate the cold and winter. Well, I take that back...I like the winter till January 1st. THEN I hate the winter. I should be like all the oldies and head south for the winter. I think my grandparents do it the best: they leave the week after xmas and come back the end of april.

So I guess I'll just enjoy these last few weeks of good weather while I can. I know I did this weekend. Saturday we had a wedding outside--perfect weather. And Sunday we celebrated Joe's bday with my family. We ate sitting outside on the patio at Granite City, and it was fantastic! I can't believe Joe is going to be 27. FYI: that's old.

Sorry no flashing last week, I got a little busy. I will do it this week though, so stay tuned! And here's a random pic of Ryder that always brings a smile to my face (I guess, which one doesnt bring a smile to my face, right?!?)