Rylan 6 Month Summary

Sep92012

I seriously cannot handle how big Rylan is getting. I feel like with Brandon (our first) I couldn’t wait for him to crawl, talk, eat real food, etc. But with Rylan, I’m thrown off when he starts growing up. He’s at that perfect little age where he’s still really portable (no plethora of toys or ipads needed for a quick trip out), but engaged enough to have fun with. I’ve never been one of those overly emotional mothers, but after packing away some of his “6-month” clothing that was too small, I got a little teary eyed. My sweet baby is growing up!

[Read more…]

signature
· Filed Under: Baby Summaries, Our Family · Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Rylan 5 Month Summary

Aug52012

Oh, my happy little boy! Rylan really seems to be growing up so fast, some part of me wishes he could stay this precious little baby forever. Having the experience of already having a baby has taken a lot of the pressure off this time around. You aren’t questioning every decision you make, or stressing about the little details like you did with the first. It’s quite a relief actually, and I find I’m truly able to enjoy Rylan at this stage.

This was a pretty exciting month for him. He went on his first plane ride down to Georgia to see my family (was excellent and slept most of the way), then was showered with attention once we got there. I feel bad that he might not be getting as much attention as he should when we are at home, but I guess most parents of multiple children feel that way. If he is starting to fuss, usually all it takes is for me to look at him and he breaks into a huge smile, like “Yay, you’re still here!”. I hope he’s just as easy to appease as the years go on!

Rylan is a determined little fella. I’ve called him my little snapping turtle since he was born, as he has a way of inflicting serious pain on any appendage he can get his mouth on. Most of the time he can be found with his two right fingers in his mouth, happily sucking away. He finds ways to grab a hold of things (hopefully toys) that I would have thought far out of his reach. The other day he grabbed Brandon’s cereal bowl and yanked it out of his hands. Not an easy task stealing cheerios from a 2-year old.

“Please share!”

Sleeping has been stellar. Still 12 hours a night and 3 naps. He’s super attached to his lovey and generally doesn’t cry at all as long as he can get his hands on him. He’s been rolling over from stomach to back for some months now, but found he had rolled from his back to his stomach in the night after waking him up one morning in GA. A side note for new parents – try not to freak when your baby does this the first time. If they are able to get to their stomach on their own, then they will be fine once they are there. Try and work with them being able to consistently get turned over to their backs during the daytime, so that they will have this ability (and you will have the reassurance that they can) during the night.

I totally stopped breastfeeding in the last couple of weeks. I had wanted to make it to 6 months, but it ended up being time for both of us. Rylan is a big boy and seems to get hungrier everyday. We’ve even taken to adding rice cereal to two of his bottles. He got some cereal on a spoon one morning while on vacation, and I will start him on more solids soon (much to the horror of my pediatrician – they strictly believe in waiting till 6 months). His reflux is rearing its ugly head again, and we are back to wearing bibs for most of the day, even after increasing his medicine dosage. It’s no fun – let’s just say I have a love/hate relationship with my washer dryer.

Here’s a typical rundown of his day:

  • 7:30 am – wake-up, get dressed and bottle (8 oz with 1/2 tsp rice cereal)
  • 7:45 – sit in bouncy chair as we have breakfast
  • 8:15 – watch mommy do laundry/chores
  • 8:30 – playmat time
  • 9 – out and about, will sleep on & off in the stroller (at home naps from 9:15-10:45/11)
  • 11 – “play” with Brandon
  • 11:45 – bottle, then hang out while we have lunch
  • 12:30-2:30/3 – nap
  • 3:15 – bottle
  • 3:30 – “play” with Brandon (tummy time)
  • 4:30 – nap
  • 5:30 – independent play in play pen
  • 6 – dinner with family
  • 6:40 – bath
  • 7 – bottle (8 oz with 1/2 tsp rice cereal)
  • 7:30 – bedtime!

Happy 5 months sweetheart!

signature
· Filed Under: Baby Summaries, Our Family · Tagged With: ,

Rylan 4 Month Summary

Jul62012

Rylan is just as sweet and easy going as ever. I swear 2nd babies must come out knowing that they have to share the spotlight. The biggest change this month would be his sleep consistency. He now goes down easy as pie at bedtime, and will generally fall asleep on his own for naps as well. He pretty much only ever cries when he is tired, so I know he has to go down before he reaches that point.

With Brandon, I was very adamant about always having his naps in the crib, but that just isn’t possible for Rylan. Instead we usually do his morning nap in the stroller then his last 2 in the crib. This seems to be working fine for him and gives us the flexibility we need to get out of the house during the day. Because I’m not always having him in the crib, if he is having a rough time going to sleep (rare) or wakes up 45 minutes into a nap, I will move him to the swing and let him finish his nap there.

Rylan loves to play peek-a-boo, and has even figured out that if he pulls a burp cloth up and down in front of his face we will finally catch on and start playing it with him. He also loves to be lifted up and down, which is giving me some killer biceps! If he isn’t holding something he will grasp around with his hands until he finds something. His bib, fingers, shirt – this kid just has to be holding something at all times.

Our highlight lately is that he is now old enough to go in the exersaucer, aka the circle-of-neglect. Glad we discovered this, since when Brandon was that age I was stuffing the thing full of blankets and towels trying to keep him upright. So far, Brandon seems more interested in it than Rylan, but I’m sure he will come to love it as much as we do. :)

Here’s a typical rundown of his day:

  • 7:25 am – wake-up, get dressed, and bottle of BM (7.5 oz)
  • 7:45 – sit in bouncy chair as we have breakfast
  • 8:15 – watch mommy do laundry/chores
  • 8:30 – playmat time
  • 9 – out for a walk/run or trip to the park in the bjorn or stroller – will sleep most of the time
  • 11 – “play” with Brandon
  • 11:30 – bottle (7.5 oz) then hang out while we have lunch
  • 12:30-2:30/3 – nap
  • 3:15 – bottle (7.5 oz)
  • 3:30 – “play” with Brandon
  • 4:30 – nap
  • 5:30 – independent play in play pen
  • 6 – dinner with family
  • 6:40 – bath
  • 7 – bottle (7.5 oz)
  • 7:30 – bedtime!

Happy 4 months precious boy!!

signature
· Filed Under: Baby Summaries ·

Rylan 3 Month Summary

Jun62012

 Time seems to be flying by since Rylan was born. Life with a newborn can be chaotic, but throw a toddler into the mix and it seems like every minute is filled with some kind of craziness. In an effort to remember these times that are so easily forgotten (what with the lack of sleep and insane amount of effort it sometimes takes to make it through an hour let alone a day!), I’ve decided to do periodic updates on the kids. 

Rylan turns 3 months today. Sometimes I feel like we just had him, but most of the time I can’t even remember what our lives were like before he arrived. He’s the perfect little addition to our family. He’s generally a very happy baby, especially in the mornings. He will wake-up all smiles, regardless of the kind of night he’s had. This has given us a bit of reassurance as we recently sleep trained him. Letting him cry was really difficult, but seeing his bright happy face in the morning let us know that all was forgiven and forgotten. Though usually not for long, this kid can really scream when he wants something. He reaches octaves we never heard with Brandon. The fact that he calms right down the minute he gets what he wants and pastes a big smug grin on his face has Brad and I a little nervous about his manipulation skills. Lord help us in the teenage years!

In the past few weeks he has started grasping small items, like a rattle and has also rolled over from tummy to back a few times. He’s moving around so much in his crib that we actually had to put bumpers on to keep him from hitting his head! He loves to watch Brandon, but he especially likes the tv – ugh! I don’t let him watch it but for the 30 minutes that Brandon watches Elmo or Special Agent Oso. Rylan actually had a long “conversation” with the Oso stuffed animal the other day. It was very cute.

Here’s a typical rundown of his day:

7am – wake-up and bottle of BM, get dressed and hang with mom as she finishes dishes/laundry
7:30 – sit in bouncy chair as we get Brandon up, fed and dressed
8:30 – out for a walk or trip to the park in the bjorn or stroller – will sleep the whole time
11 – bottle and tummy time, look at the mobile in the crib while mom showers
12:30-3 – nap at some point and play time with mommy
3 – bottle and play with Brandon once he’s up
4:30 – nap
6 – sit in bouncy chair at table while the family eats dinner
6:40 – bath
7 – bottle
7:30/8 – bedtime!

* Last week was the first time he went all night without a bottle. He would wake-up 1 or 2 times in the night and cry for a few minutes for a few nights, but now he’s sleeping solid for at least 10 hours. If he wakes before 7, we will turn on the mobile and let him chill in the crib while we finish getting ready.

signature
· Filed Under: Baby Summaries ·
« Previous Page