Too Many Toys :)

Ryan loves to join us at the table these days for meals. While the normal family table rules stipulate "No toys at the table", Ryan is the exception, since he can't eat with us right now and all. The boys took advantage of the exception and piled every toy they could find on the high chair tray for Ryan to play with haha :)

It reminds me of the time Cashel piled all of Kendrick's toys on him back in the day ;) Ohhhhh baby Kendrick - what a cutie pie :)

4 Months

Overall...

We're busy as always, and trying to enjoy our busy summer as much as possible. It's go-go-go around here: Before we know it, we'll have a whole house of big kids around here and we'll wonder how we got to that point, I'm sure.

Highlights of this past month include:

1. Father's Day
2. Strawberry Pickin' at Schumacher's Berry Farm
3. Ropte Family GTG at the Farm
4. 4th of July
5. Annual Church Picnic
6. Weekend
   

We've really enjoyed this past month, but we're pretty sure the best of the summer is yet to come! We're excited to have a little more downtime for sure!

How Baby is Doing

Ryan continues to grow like a weed, and we've ditched taking the bucket seat out of the van now that he finally has good neck control. How on earth this little dude has gotten so big so quickly I don't know. He is solidly in 9 month clothes and size 3 diapers. I've pulled out all his 12 month clothes, actually, because he kicks the feet out on his 9 month pjs if he stretches his legs all the way out. It's unreal! We're still struggling to get him to keep his fingers out of his mouth. We've been trying and trying to get him to take to the binky, but we're pretty sure it's a lost cause. I bought him a munch mitt on Amazon that should arrive this week, which I'm hoping will work so that at least he's chewing on something that isn't his fingers.

At the beginning of this month, Ryan slept 10-11 hours a night (8pm-6:30am usually) and took 3 solid naps a day, two of them being an hour and the other one being 2-3 hours.. He is awake and alert a good chunk of the time. He continues to sleep in his crib at night and the pack 'n play at daycare. However, the last week or so, he has been working on teething and has been up in the night again. We're thankful that he at least

Just as I was typing this update earlier, Ryan rolled from front to back for the first time! I saw him trying and grabbed my camera and caught it on video! Of course, as luck would have it, the video is super bright and not great quality, but I still have it! We're excited over here, and hoping that it will bring a good night of sleep for all of us now :)

It's crazy just how much we all love this little guy. I can't imagine him being anyone else, and I really can't fathom how we've gotten by without him all these years so far :)

How Mama is Doing

Aside from the past week of more questionable sleep, I've been doing pretty good! I'm not going to lie, though: Although I know I'm probably dipping into bad sleep habits for the little guy, I am absolutely LOVING the part where I'm waking up next to this little guy again :)

I feel like I could really use a day here and there of time with just Ryan again; A sort of repeat of maternity leave occasionally. But really, I feel like I could use those times with each of my boys one on one. Life just feels like it is suddenly moving by at such a rapid pace that when I blink, my kids age like crazy!

I've been really struggling with diet this past month, and have put on a few extra pounds, which is frustrating when I was really wanting to be DROPPING weight, not gaining it. I purchased a fitbit halfway through the month and so far, I've gained 4lbs, so I'm not sure it's very effective ;) It doesn't help that my feet have been really really sore as have my knees. It makes it hard to get out for walks much and running is laughable at the moment. I'm hoping to really reign in my diet and drop some weight to hopefully alleviate those issues. Getting older is no fun!

How Daddy is Doing

We've been really glad to finally have Mark around more this past month, and more active with the boys! We all needed a little more Daddy time for sure, so we're glad that planting season is finally over and done with :) Granted, we've still been busy with Mark's softball schedule a regular thing on Tuesdays. He really loves softball in the summer and basketball in the winter with farm work to balance out the "off seasons".

I just adore watching them interact and watching Mark be Daddy :) He's always pushing the limits and doing goofy things with the boys, teetering just on the brink of freaking me out, but he's also really good at making sure they're safe, so I guess I maybe just need to chill out sometimes :)

How Big Brothers are Doing

These guys are seriously like a little wolf pack. They all have each others' backs and are just a riot to watch in action. Ryan is a lot more active and alert around them, so they have a lot of fun with each other. Cashel especially just adores little Ryan and is always so kind and gentle with him for the most part. He has his moments, though...

Kendrick has had a pretty good turnabout from last month. He's still "Kendrick", as we say: A little tornado most of the time, and he's just really hot and cold these days. But he's really starting to come around this month, however, and isn't quite as aggressive, thankfully! I have a feeling that once Ryan is able to play a little more, their relationship will develop a lot more.

4 Month Appointment

Ryan had his 4 month appointment on July 11, and he did great! He is now a whopping 17lbs 12 oz (same as big brother Cashel at this age) and 25.5 inches tall. He also has a 16 inch head circumference. He is off the charts in all measurements, which is a total surprise to all of us, I know haha

He took his next round of immunizations like a champ with no reactions once again (yay!), and we scheduled his 6 month appointment for September 12.

Firsts: Ropte Family GTG, Beach Bash, Independence Day :)

Ryan celebrated his first Independence Day weekend with a CRAZY busy weekend of fun! The weekend consisted of his first Ropte family GTG at the farm all day Saturday, our annual church picnic on Sunday morning, his first Beach Bash in Worthington on Sunday evening, and his first fireworks display on Monday night. He did seriously wonderful until the last 30 minutes of Monday night. Considering he had 3 nights in a row being up at least 2-3 hours past his bedtime, I was pretty impressed. Hopefully we don't pay too hefty a price tag for it this week!

Ropte Family GTG

Church Picnic

Worthington Radioworks Beach Bash

Independence Day