Ryan and his Daddy

Stare down...

At Arts in the Park...

Getting some culture at the Fine Arts Museum...

Resting in the kitchen floor...

all things RYAN: 10 months

Double digits! It's hard to believe. He's weighing in at 20 lbs, up only 1/2 lb from last month. He continues to be an incredibly happy little man! Here are his most recent quirks and happenings....

~ He's advanced from army crawling to actual crawling, though sometimes the tried and true army crawl is just plain faster

~ He's clapping more and more. I love it when he stops crawling to clap for himself.

~ He survived his first virus :(

~ Of course it depends on the brand but he's wearing close to the recommended sizes. Usually 12 mo tops, 18 mo bottoms (cloth diapers give him quite a little ghetto booty), and 18 mo for jumpers since he's so tall

~ Little by little he's been pulling himself up. Mostly he makes it up on his knees. Only once has he made it to his feet. The usual routine is to sit where he wants to stand and look at me, aka the sucker, until I stand him up.

~ He continues to be an excellent eater. However, he refuses to touch any foods that don't feel like a cherrio or puff. He still only rarely sips from his sippy cup and he outright refuses a bottle.

~ He got 2 more teeth, for a total of 4. This month he got his top left incisor and his top left canine, neither of which caused any problems coming in. In fact, just like the last 2, we didn't even notice them until they were all the way in.

~ He's such a copy cat. You put something on your head, he puts it on his head. You kiss, he kisses.

~ He still loves Mazie and she still finds him only tolerable.


~ He's always used his feet as an extra set of hands but now he actually holds his books with said crazy monkey feet.

~ His favorite toys, as of the moment, are his dump truck with mega blocks, his HABA block set, and his Playschool pop up thingy.

~ He loves to hear me sing, and trust me, he's the only one. The ABC's and the itsy bitsy spider are big hits.

~ He loves to be chased while someone holds him. He laughs hysterically at this. Of course, he may be laughing at the crazy way we say 'I'm gonna get you' over and over...

~ He is still the most loved baby ever!

A visit from Grandma & Grandpa Hayes

"Look what they brought me!"

We went out to eat and, of course, to look at the fishies...

Then to pick strawberries...

"Look Mom, berry"

PlayGroup PlayDate

Ryan met up with Bianca, Chloe, and Charlie at Maymont Park. It was an absolutely beautiful day. Before the others arrived I snapped a few awesome pics of my sweet angel.

It's getting harder and harder to get these babes to cooperate for a quick pic. Notice how Ryan is smiling for the camera.

Ryan's still being a good sport about getting his picture taken...

"What are you doing Charlie?"

"Oh, no you didn't! I'm outta here."

Just the boys. Keep in mind Charlie is 3 months younger than Ryan!

All babies and mamas had a great time!

sick little bunny

I'd hoped to make it past his first birthday before he caught his first bug, but no such luck. It's a miracle he made it this long considering the germs Chris and I (but mostly Chris) bring home from work. In fact, in the almost year Chris's been out of the hospital and in an office he's caught more things than all times combined in his life, ever (or at least that he can remember). Getting back to Ryan...he caught his first bug. I've since learned my mommy thermometer is accurate, and that Ry's temperature comes down quicker with ibuprofen than with tylenol.

Just when I thought his fevers seemed to be over and done with they showed up again, and his snotty nose continues to persist. Those years of holding down kids to suck out their noses finally came in handy. Ryan certainly thinks its a form of baby torture and tries to alert the neighbors when a tissue (or worse, the bulb syringe) comes near his face. Hopefully, we are in the homestretch. Poor baby!

Here are some pics of Ryan opening his Easter basket his Nonna sent him. Ryan is typically all smiles, all the time. The lack of smiling is telling evidence of this sick bunny.

After thoroughly exploring the basket we went outside to swing where he nodded off for a few minutes...sooo not his usual style.

The next day...still playing with the box and packaging Nonna sent!

Sweet Sleep

For the first couple months (of life) Ryan slept in a sleep chair next to our bed. Then he moved to his pack 'n play in the corner of our room. For a short while we moved the pack 'n play to the office/playroom connected to our bedroom. After gearing up for him to move to his room downstairs (our room is upstairs) we decided it was not logistically ideal so we moved his crib upstairs to the office and there it remains.

Thankfully, Ryan has been a good sleeper for many months now, but over the last couple months his sleeping routine has been particularly sweet. Our routine is as follows:

~Chris bathes Ryan
~Dry off, brush hair, lotion up, diaper on, jammies on
~Chris and I alternate holding him and reading a bedtime story
~Chris carries him upstairs, gets him in his sleep sack, they exchange kisses, and Chris passes Ry to me as I wait in a nearby recliner, and then he turns on the sound machine on his way downstairs

Until a couple months ago I would breastfeed Ryan before laying him down. But about two months ago he decided he longer wanted to breastfeed. He simply refused and there was no going back. So, our routine continues and Chris still hands Ryan to me and leaves the room. Here's where it gets particularly sweet....Ryan snuggles me for about 5 seconds until he tries to play. At that point I turn on his crib aquarium and he nearly leaps from my arms to his crib. I hold up his glow worm for one song and then lay it next to him for another as I leave the room. No fighting. No crying. To top it off, he still hums himself to sleep. Such a sweet sound!

Then before Chris and I go to sleep, we stop by Ryan's crib to see what crazy position he's landed in and admire our perfect baby.

And because I don't have any related sleeping pictures, here are some unrelated but super adorable recent pictures...

happy{star}birthday

In an effort to create some family traditions, my Mom and I made this birthday banner for Ryan (and perhaps his future siblings). I admit, I brought the idea and my cutting skills to the table, Mom did all the sewing. Go teamwork. I can't wait til Ryan understands his birthday and gets excited each June 27th when he wakes to his special banner hanging in his room.

I see holiday banners in our future...the ideas are endless!