This was a rougher month than we've had so far in the sleep department, so working through that has been a challenge. We're beginning to see only one feeding in the nights again, so Mama is starting to resemble less of a zombie, thankfully. We had a fun family vacation to Lake Blackwell at the end of July, and LOTS of time with family and friends.
Highlights of this past month include:
- Ryan's first night away from Mama and Daddy while Mama and Daddy had a much-needed couple days in Sioux Falls. (recap here)
- Lots of time spent at the pool with our family and also with the Studes.
- Swimming lessons for big brother Cashel. (recap here)
- Family Vacation to Lake Blackwell near Alexandria, Minnesota (recap here)
- Celebrating Daddy's 37th Birthday (recap here)
- A Week with Mark's siblings and their families here in Windom (recap here)
- Four days with my Mama at the farm with Ryan and I while my sister and her family took a vacation. (recap here)
Ryan is doing so well right now! He is just the happiest baby you would ever meet. He very seldom cries (usually only if extremely hungry, which doesn't happen often), and even with all the teething he's been working on this month, he hardly is fussy.
We hit the famed
4-month sleep regression really hard earlier in the month (just after the last update), but once getting back from our vacation to Lake Blackwell, he started doing significantly better. (Can I get an 'Amen!'?) I mean, we're talking some nights being up every 45 minutes to an hour. Mama was a zombie!
We are really big into rolling back to front now, although front to back seems to be less interesting than it was last month. It's like he just forgot how, so now he'll roll over onto his tummy in the night and act like he doesn't know how to get back. Ryan is also beginning to sit unassisted, but only for a handful of seconds at this point.
He's still eating great, although he seems a little fussier lately when nursing at times, and sometimes he has been biting a little, which hurts! I usually nurse him around 5am, then again before we leave the house around 6:30am to top him off. He then takes 2-3 5oz bottles at daycare during the day. If he hasn't taken a 3rd bottle by the time we pick him up, I nurse him right away when we get home. He eats again around 7:30 and then is out for the night, so I guess if you were to say that all feedings are 5oz (give or take), he's eating about
25-27 fl oz a day.
We jumped up to
12 month clothes halfway through this month (WHAT?!?) and although some of the pjs are still a tinge long in the legs, he's filling everything out easily. We're still solidly into
size 3 diapers.
We are totally doomed with the finger sucking, although we've tried pulling his fingers out of his mouth for what seems like a thousand times. Here's to hoping he doesn't keep up with that as long as Daddy did: Until 2nd grade!
Beyond being insanely way too busy this past month, I'm doing pretty good overall. I feel like we're constantly moving at the speed of light around here, but I thoroughly enjoy the times when we get the chance to slow down and just breathe.
This is probably my favorite phase of development for babies: That phase where they aren't quite moving (or at least not fast), but can entertain themselves for a good solid 20 minutes so I can get things done like make supper or fold a load of laundry without feeling like I'm neglecting him as much. But the smiles and giggles and "talking" just makes my heart overflow :)
I'm in such a huge rut with my eating and complete lack of working out right now. It's kinda a big nasty cycle: Feeling overwhelmed with things so that even if I am really really great with my eating all day, by the time all the kids are in bed and we're getting ready for bed, a huge bowl of ice cream sounds good, and I completely derail any progress I've made throughout the day. I've been at a stalemate just a couple pounds below pre-pregnancy weight for months now, and although that sounds awesome, I was really way overweight before even getting pregnant, so something has got to change. I'm hoping this coming month, what with us not being so busy and the weather hopefully calming down, I'll have a little more time to focus on myself. I know the first part has to be entirely my diet, as the extra weight has REALLY made my back and feet sore, so running is a pipe dream at this point, and walking more than a mile is sorta off-limits as well. On the up side, at least my biceps are rock hard from curling all these heavy boys. I'm pretty sure I never curled 50lbs regularly before, but Cashel is now 53lbs and Kendrick around 45lbs, so...
Daddy has been B-U-S-Y this past month.
Between work really ramping up with a new pilot and then prototype build at work, keeping him EXTREMELY busy during the days at work, softball games, our week-long vacation to Lake Blackwell (in which he baited LOTS of fishing hooks for the boys), his 37th birthday, and lots of family time over the past week, he hasn't had a lot of downtime.
A few weeks ago, he missed a pop fly to the sun and ended up with a black eye for a couple weeks, which, thankfully coincided with our vacation, so he got a week off from softball. It has healed nicely now, but he got a lot of strange looks and comments for a while.
He enjoyed spending some time with his brother, who he hasn't seen in a year, this past week. He also got to visit with his sister, although it hasn't been quite as long since he had seen her, as they were just up this way for Memorial Day weekend. Mark made it out golfing with Daniel while he was here, and we also joined them for Vikings Training Camp up in Mankato for an evening. He also really enjoyed the tractor pull in Worthington this past week with his Dad, after three crazy days and nights with the two big boys all to himself. He sure enjoyed the break!
He sure does love these boys, but man does it ever wear on a guy over time. These boys love to crawl all over their Daddy.
I have a feeling it's gonna be all WWE up in this house before too much longer - yikes! Oh man is it fun to see these three interact, but I find myself constantly having to keep an eye on Ryan if big brothers are even just home at the same time these days. They're always trying to pick Ryan up, and we're ALWAYS finding them in his crib if he's in there.
Cashel is by FAR the most gentle with Ryan.
One thing is for sure: The kid will never be short on toys. Big brothers make SURE of that.
Kendrick *can* be really sweet with Ryan, but as he's beginning to skip naps at daycare occasionally, he gets a little rambunctious in the evenings now, so we have to REALLY be watching him with Ryan.
Both boys just LOVE to make Ryan laugh and talk and giggle and smile. It's adorable to watch them together :)
Cashel likes to pick on him here and there, and it's really funny to see him treat Ryan just like a normal-sized person. He makes lots of faces and is silly with him. It makes me super nervous, though, how he likes to roll around on the floor with him. Ryan seems to REALLY enjoy it, but it still makes my heart skip a beat in a not so good way when he does it.
I'm nervous for the months ahead, when Ryan begins to start moving where he wants to go when he wants to go. It's about to get REALLLLLLYYYYY busy, and not just schedule-wise. I can only hope he holds off on actually walking until after harvest. Yikes!
