5 Months

Sweet Ry 9/18/11 - Pic by Emma Rose

Ryland turned 5 months young on Sunday 9/18/11 and boy how he has grown!  Not only is he now up to 14.5 lbs and wearing size 6 months, but he's also able to balance himself sitting up, holding his own bottle and sleeping through the night (roughly 8:30pm-6am).  Go Ryland!  Our little guy is so active we think he'll be crawling in no time.  He rolls over without a problem (belly to back and back to belly), he finally loves being on his tummy, and he is scooting!! Scooting consists of lifting his butt in the air and slowly inching forward.  We definitely can't let him out of our sights, he's a baby on the move!

5 months young! 9/18/2011

We have the same hair! 9/18/2011

I've got something to tell you...dude what's up with your hair?  9/18/2011

OMG we absolutely love his hair! It's definitely one of his defining features besides his huge, gorgeous eyes. Almost everyone who sees him asks us if we style his hair like that on purpose. Nope, that's all natural baby! You just never know what his hair is going to do after a bath, sometimes it lays down, sometimes it stands straight up!  His hair has a slight wave/kink to it, I'm thinking he got that from me. :)  Sometimes I have the urge to put something in his hair...he has so much of it I just want to play with it.  Too bad I can't use bows or hair clips...giving him a mohawk is about all I can do.  Maybe I'll spike his hair out all over the place like a punk rocker! 

It's electric! 9/18/2011

Bath time! 9/15/2011

Fun in the tub 9/15/2011

About a week ago we started putting Ryland in a sit-up position to see if he could maintain his balance.  Sure enough he could hold himself up for a good 30 seconds to a minute.  He would even lean on his hands if need be to keep his position.  The hubby captured a great video of him sitting, which I'm hoping to post as soon as he's done editing it.  In the video you will also see him grabbing his feet.  He started that a few weeks ago.  I only wish I was as flexible as Ry, though sucking on my toes doesn't sound nearly as appealing to me as it apparently does to him.  ;)

This pose is for my mommy - I'm casting a spell on you! 9/18/2011

Sitting like a big boy in the high chair 9/18/2011

A few weeks ago we finally got serious about putting Ry to bed earlier (8:30 pm vs 10pm).  We decided to try out the Ferber method, a CIO technique where we check on him in progressively increasing intervals (5, 10 and 15 min increments).  Thankfully it only took 2 nights for him to adjust and we never let him cry for more than 15 mins.  All we had to do when he fussed was lay our hand on his chest for a few mins for him to calm down, then we could slowly exit the room.  Now we can put him down in his crib awake and he'll put himself to sleep.  I'll still occasionally rock him or hold him until he sighs (his signal he's ready and relaxed) and then I'll lay him down and he'll be out in less than 5 mins.  It's great having a full nights sleep again. 

I luv sleeping on my tummy 9/15/2011

Ry has also come to love sleeping on his tummy.  Now when we put him down at night he immediately frees his hands from the swaddle, rolls over and falls asleep on his stomach!  He's quite the little Houdini.  Sometimes I'll even rub his back, which puts him to sleep even faster.  Now that he's moving around so much I decided that a video monitor was in order to watch him at night.  It's been a life saver!  The monitor saves us countless trips upstairs in the middle of the night since our master bedroom is downstairs.  It's surprising how much he moves around during the night, sometimes we find that he's rotated 180 degrees from where we left him. 
 

Sweet Little Monkey. 21 weeks - 9/13/11

Ryland is now fully on formula as I stopped pumping when he turned 5 months.  He's also moved up to 6-7 ounce feedings every 3-4 hours.  We've definitely noticed that he's bulking up more with formula than he did with breast milk.  His legs and cheeks have filled out and he definitely feels heavier.  He also recognizes his bottle and will reach out for it hungrily when it's time to eat, even holding the bottle all on his own until it becomes to heavy for him.  Next up - rice cereal!  Our Dr had told us to keep Ry on milk until he was 6 months before introducing solids, of course that was at his 4 month appointment when he was getting only breast milk.  I think he's ready for the next step now that he's taking more of an interest in us when we're eating.  I could have sworn he wanted my Chuy's chip the other day!

Big bro and lil bro 9/18/2011

Ryland finally met his Great Grandma Elizabeth and 2nd cousin Scarlett this month.  He was awesome the entire time and didn't cry once.  Here are a few pictures from our trip to Killeen.

Visit with Great Omi 9/11/2011

Family photo with Great Omi 9/11/2011

That's my toy!  Ry and Scarlett, 2nd cousins 9/11/2011

Saturday is game day around here.  Ryland is usually sporting UT or MSU apparel and enjoys snoozing during halftime or playing in his pack n play during commercials.  I think Juju enjoys cheering on the teams with Ry.

Ry and Juju watching football 9/17/2011

Ryland is all about toys now.  He's constantly grabbing anything within reach.  It's so funny watching his excitement over a toy; his eyes become huge and his little body starts shaking with delight.  We also have a squealer on our hands!  When he sees something he likes or when he's just having a good ol' time he'll use his lungs at full capacity and hit those high pitched squeals, bury his face into your body, and bring his fists excitedly up to his mouth.  He's also taken to trying to climb up your body when holding him.  I can't believe the agility and strength our little boy possesses.  He is such an active kid, makes sense since mommy and daddy are too!

Pack n play fun 9/17/2011