Firsts: Baby Food

We've tried a couple times now to feed Ryan something other than milk, as he seems very interested in food while we're eating. We've discovered, however, that oatmeal cereal, squash, and a Pears/Oats/Quinoa pouch are not at the top of Ryan's list.

His first food was at 5 and a half months: First oatmeal mixed with breastmilk, which didn't go well, then squash, which went even worse!

We did try a couple weeks later with a Plum Organics pouch of Pears, Oats and Quinoa, and it went slightly better, but we still only made it through a few bites before he was just done.

4 Month Sleep Regression Woes

I was pessimistically optimistic (does that even make sense?) that Ryan might beat the system and bypass the 4 month sleep regression, unlike his big brothers. But, alas, we've hit it squarely in the head, and whoa doggies is it killing me slowly.

We went from him sleeping straight through from 8pm-6:30am to now needing a dream feed to get back to sleep at 10, then ending up in bed with us by midnight and waking up every 90 minutes (or in some cases, 45 minutes - oy!) all.night.long. Aside from our first night at home when he was a newborn, he has never slept this awful. I'm a zombie. It's nuts!

I really wish I had written about this (and about hair loss - it's ridiculous!) with previous pregnancies so that I could recall exactly how long it lasted, but I feel like I might just fall over at any moment these days.

Some days it gets better and he only wakes once or twice, but then as soon as I utter the praise from my mouth after a better night, we have another night like last night, where he was in bed with us by midnight and ate 3 times before 4am.

Seeing as how this is my third go-round, I'm so thankful to know that it will get better over time, and that gives me the strength to keep on going after nights like last night.

He's lucky he's SO darn cute!

5 Months

Overall...

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:

1. Ryan's first night away from Mama and Daddy while Mama and Daddy had a much-needed couple days in Sioux Falls. (recap here)
2. Lots of time spent at the pool with our family and also with the Studes.
3. Swimming lessons for big brother Cashel. (recap here)
4. Family Vacation to Lake Blackwell near Alexandria, Minnesota (recap here)
5. Celebrating Daddy's 37th Birthday (recap here)
6. A Week with Mark's siblings and their families here in Windom (recap here)
7. Four days with my Mama at the farm with Ryan and I while my sister and her family took a vacation. (recap here)

How Baby is Doing

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!

How Mama is Doing

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...

How Daddy is Doing

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.

How Big Brothers are Doing

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!

Milestones: Rolling Both Directions

While Ryan has been rolling from front to back for a month now, he has just begun over the past few weeks rolling from back to front! It's really adorable :)

I caught the first time he did it from front to back, although the lighting was really bad, but here it is:

I've yet to catch him rolling back to front on video, mainly because every time I try, he has one of his big brothers around. But he's doing it all.the.time, so I'm sure we'll capture it before long.

He isn't SUPER fluent about rolling both directions all the time, but you put him on his back, and it's almost instantaneous that he's on his belly. He just seems to forget that he can also roll onto his back once he's there.

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.