A Few of My Favorite Things & 3 Months Old

I can't believe my little baby is 3 months old! Where did the time go? I can't help but be amazed by how much I love this little person. I never knew I could love like that. It gives me a small glimpse of how much our Heavenly Father loves us.

As I was staring at my beautiful child this morning I started making a bit of a mental inventory of all the things I love about being Ryker's mom. Here are just a few of the reasons I love being a mom.

Baby smiles! I love how smiley Ryker is in the morning and practically all day long. How can I possibly get upset when in the middle of the night he decides it's play time and starts cooing and smiling at me?

Cuddle time. Ryker is such a cuddler! It melts my heart when he has his little arm wrapped around me and he snuggles into my neck or chest or shoulder, or any part of me he can.

When he's really hungry and I give him his milk he makes this adorable sound that sounds like he's saying, yum, yum, yum. It's so cute and funny!

Peaceful sleeping angel. I love watching my little boy sleep. He's so adorable and peaceful. Plus he makes the cutest facial expressions ever! I only wish I could see his dreams.

Watching my tiny boy suck his thumb. It has to be one of the cutest things ever to see my tiny baby suck his little thumb!

When he's really in the sucking mood and my hand, arm, or fingers are nearby he just goes for it and starts to suck on me. It cracks me up!

The way he reaches out to touch me. If he's laying down and I'm nearby he reaches out to touch me. He always wants to be touching me when possible. So cute.

When he's crying (something I wish he never had to do) and I come into his view to pick him up, he immediately starts to calm down when he sees me. It's like he thinks,"Oh good there's Mommy, she'll take care of me."

Dressing him up in new outfits. It's so fun dressing my baby! He's like my own personal doll. And not matter what he wears he looks adorable.

There are so many more things I love, but these are a few of my favorite things (yes I am singing the Sound of Music song in my head while I write this).

Here are a few pictures of my 3 month old boy taken this week:
Mommy's Bear


Daddy's Boy


Still the littlest of the cousins, but he's starting to catch up!


Ryker and his cousin Milo love each other already. Look, they started holding hands on their own. Shortly after this they took turns sucking on each other's hands. It was hilarious!

Changes

Adam just got a good job here in Salt Lake working for the VA. It's great because they work with his school schedule and he gets school credit for working there, plus we still get all of the great health, retirement, and other benefits of working for the federal government. So thank you to Adam's dad for helping him get the job!

And randomly, here's my new favorite picture of Ryker. He's so darn cute!

Week of Firsts for Ryker

This was a great week for Ryker filled with lots of firsts for him. He got to go to church for the first time this week. I was really nervous about taking him, but we just decided that it was time. I was set on not letting people touch him though. Turns out I was worried for nothing. Since I only went to this ward for 3 weeks before I got sick, then bedrest, then had the baby, no one there really knows me so no one made a fuss over him. Don't get me wrong, I'm not whinning here, just stating the facts. I was expecting everyone to be excited to see my adorable baby and just to swoon over him, but no one even paid any attention to him. Oh well, that's probably better for him anyway, less chance of getting sick that way. And for me it was fun because I got to dress him up in church clothes and he looked adorable! Here's a picture of him after we got home from church.

Next week I'm going to take him to where I used to go to church. They know and love me there and are excited to see my baby. They've been asking for weeks when I'm going to come visit, so now I will!

Anyway, a wonderful thing happened this week, Ryker finally started sleeping more than 3 hours at a time. One night Adam got him to sleep 6 hours straight! He did it while sleeping on Adam's chest, but still, 6 hours was awesome! I snuck out & took a picture of them. It's dark because I didn't want to wake them.

Anyway, 2 other nights this week Ryker slept for 5 hours straight in his own bed (must not be as comfortable as Daddy) but then Adam could actually sleep better in our bed. It looks like he's going to make this a habit. I know I'm praying he does!

And finally, we started reading Ryker books this week. Adam read him his first book and he really liked it! He even started smiling as soon as Adam opened the book and started reading to him. Here's a cute picture where you can see him smiling at the book.


I sure love my boys!

A week in the world of Ryker

We took a family walk this week, which was interesting. In the beginning I was pushing Ryker in the stroller and walking Shady. Adam was walking Rolo. Then I decided I didn't want to hold onto Shady incase she saw another dog (she's a great walker until that happens, then she goes crazy) so Adam then got to walk both dogs. Anyway, it was fun and we got back home just in time for it to start raining and then snowing later that night. Here is a picture of Ryker in his outfit he got to wear on our walk. Adam is holding him. I love this picture!


Ryker's doctor gave the go ahead to start bathing him every other day, and Ryker has been loving it! One day this week I was getting ready to start running with the intention of bathing Ryker afterward. Well he decided he didn't want to wait, so while he was lying down he spit up and then rolled his head in it. So yes, he got his bath right then. He hair was all goobery from the spit up and I was not going to wait. Here's a picture of that bath. I know you can't tell in this picture, but Ryker really does love his baths.


Another fun thing, this week Ryker got to spend a little time with his cousins. So my sister-in-laws and I decided to compared the cousins (they're Ryker's age) and he is definitely the littlest. Chloe in the middle was born the same day. Milo on the left is almost exactly 2 months older. Chloe is in the 90th percentile and Ryker is in the 10th. Maybe one day they'll both migrate more toward the middle, but for now Chloe could totally take him. :)



And I am finally getting Ryker to smile for the camera. Here's a cute one. He was happy to be with his cousin!



Ryker rolled over again this week and I kind of caught it on camera. Here's my attempt of that. The first picture is when he pushed himself up and the second is toward the end of him rolling over. You can see he's not too happy in that one. He doesn't like that I keep putting him on his tummy.

Melissa's New Adventure

I have decided to train for a triathlon. I know many of you are thinking I'm crazy, and you're probably right. So, to track my path of craziness I have started a blog dedicated to this specific journey. I didn't want to monopolize my family's blog with it, so this seemed like a good idea. I know no one may be interested in reading it, but it will be a good way for me to track my progress, and maybe I'll even be lucky enough to inspire someone other than myself along the road. So if you're interested in following my new adventure, feel free to check out my new blog. Here's the link
http://strivingtriathlete.blogspot.com/

2 Months and Still Little

Ryker had his 2 month appointment (a couple days early) and he is still little, in the 10 percentile on height, weight, and head size. He now weighs 9 pounds 10 ounces, is 21 inches long, and his head is 36.6 cm. He is however very strong for his age. He can already hold his head up, roll over, stand up while I'm holding him (which sometimes makes it difficult to dress him because he won't bend his legs), and hold himself up during tummy time. My favorite thing about him being 2 months old is that he is now smiling all the time. I just love me some baby smiles! Only problem is that I have yet to catch them on camera. Anyway, here are a few pics from this week.


Strong Boy during tummy time


Wide awake in mommy's favorite outfit


Cute boy taking his nap



Ryker and Grandma Dalton

Best Baby Invention Ever! All Mother's With Babies Should Have!

So, I swear no one is paying me to write this blog, but I have to do it. It's too valuable for mothers with babies or who are soon to have babies.

A few days ago my lovely friend Heather Canterbury posted on her facebook page about a great baby carrier called the Sleepy Wrap. I've tried a Baby Bojor, didn't really like it. I tried a sling, again, not so much. My little baby Ryker is a cuddler and he likes to be held all the time. I would love to hold him all day, but I need to do things, like eat, vacuum, do laundry, do dishes, etc. All of these things are difficult to do while holding a baby.

On top of all of that, Ryker has been sick, therefor he has been excessively fussy. Like along the lines of colic fussy. He literally has times where he cries for hours without end, and there is absolutely nothing I can do to console him. Yesterday was one of those days. He pretty much cried all day, with a few 10 minute breaks. Needless to say it was an incredibly hard day and I cursed all sick people in the world for the possibility of getting my baby sick. I didn't discriminate amongst sick people, I cursed them all because it could be possible that somehow they contributed to my baby's sickness or that someday in the future they may contribute to getting him sick. Yes I know, I'm crazy. But you try holding a screaming baby for 8 hours and see how sane you are.

Anyway, at 5pm I got an email from UPS saying that they delivered my Sleepy Wrap to the front porch. I ran upstairs, handed Ryker off to his Aunt Maria, and ripped open the box. I then read the instructions to try and figure out how to put the thing on. It was a little difficult, but that was probably because my brain was fried. After I got it on right, I put a crying Ryker into my Sleepy Wrap. Within one minute he completely stopped crying. Within two minutes he was out like a light! He remained asleep for the next two hours, waking up only to eat. In that feeding he ate 3 ounces! That was a miracle in itself since all day he wouldn't eat much, maybe only an ounce at a time.

Once he finished eating, got burped, and then got a clean diaper, it was right back into the Sleep Wrap. He immediately fell right back asleep. He slept there for another hour while I cleaned up and got ready for bed. Then I took him out and put him in his bed where he slept for another three hours! When he woke up a 1am for another feeding he ate about 2 and a half ounces, but then he started with the screaming again. I tried calming him and nothing was working so I put him back in the Sleepy Wrap and he fell asleep again within 5 minutes.

When Ryker got up this morning he was actually pretty happy, even smiling at me a few times. After about 15 minutes he started getting fussy, so I put him back in the Sleepy Wrap and he settled right down. This time he just looked around and enjoyed the scenery for 15-20 minutes before falling asleep. He is currently in his Sleepy Wrap while I type this blog.

If I haven't convinced you yet that you need a Sleepy Wrap, then you must have a baby that is never fussy. Even if your baby is never fussy, this is the best baby carrier I've tried. He's so close/tight to me that I can do stuff without him getting in the way. All the while he's happy as a clam in his shell. So, if you don't already have one of these, you should get one! It's the best $40 you'll spend! Here's the link: http://www.sleepywrap.com/