6 months old..!!!????? No Way....

That's right, Ryker turned 6 months old a few days ago. He is growing up so quickly and learning new things. He loves to sit up and play with his toys as well as move all around the kitchen in the walker. With help from the walker, he has come to me a couple of times when I've called his name. As for crawling he hasn't quite figured out how to get up on both his hands and knees at the same time, but he is getting close.
Like most babies Ryker loves playing with paper. I'm excited to see if he will open his gifts on Christmas. I know he will probably play with the paper rather than the toys, but it will be so much fun!
At his 6 month check up he weighed in at a whopping 19 lbs 10 oz and is 27" long. We don't think the nurse stretched his legs out fully when she measured him because that would mean he only grew 1/2 and inch and it seems he grew more than that. Oh well. While we were there Ryker got not only his 3 immunization shots, but also the flu and H1N1 vaccinations. I also got the flu vaccination and was a wimp about it, but Ryker only cried a little while getting all 5 of his shots. Maybe I need to take lessons from my 6 month old on how to be tougher.

I don't have many pictures of him since I posted them a few weeks ago, but here are a few.

Random pictures

Since I haven't updated the blog recently and don't have much to say, I will just post a few pictures. I can say that our Thanksgiving was great. We spent time with both families and enjoyed every minute and bite of it.

A few times I've laid Ryker down to play or nap and once he's gone quiet I've checked on him and this is what I've found.

I see a foot. I guess he really is under there.


I had to make sure he was still breathing.

He pulls the covers over his face and then flails his arms and breaths like he's hyperventilating.

I found my feet!!

My first sippy cup. How am I doing????

I bought him this snowsuit and was disappointed when I put it on and realized he would be too tall for it in a week or two. I thought he was so cute in it that I had to take a few pictures before I returned it.

Look I have a hat just like Dad!!

My first time wearing a tie. What a cute little man!!

The two best looking men ever......and they're mine!!

Ryker is already 5 months old!!!!!

I can't believe how quickly Ryker is growing up. He amazes us more and more every day with the things he learns. He is starting to get to toys out of his reach either by doing a tummy wiggle thing or rolling. I've only noticed he's done a complete roll three times, so he hasn't quite mastered that yet. He is getting more coordinated and will shake the rattles and actually play with the toys. The last few days he has discovered he has a voice and he can make a lot of cool sounds. He's trying out the alphabet and is loving it. It's not going to be too much longer before he starts putting the sounds together and making words.
I love watching him grow and discover new things, but at the same time I always want him to be my little baby boy.
Ryker definitely loves his dad and they are just so cute together. Jacob can get him to laugh at almost anything he does. It is so amazing watching them together and knowing they are mine and will always be.

Halloween

I'm a little late in posting this, but here it is. For Ryker's first Halloween we dressed him up as Tigger. He was the cutest Tigger I've ever seen. We had a little get together at Grandpa and Grandma Orton's followed by one at Grammy and Poppy Whetstone's. It was so much fun getting all the cousins (except Luke and Kimber who we miss SO much) together in their costumes. For some reason we didn't get a picture of just Ryker in his costume :(

I'm awake, really I am

I've been waiting for the day that this would happen and here it is.

Pumpkin party

For FHE Jacob had the great idea of carving pumpkins. When we bought them they were so cheap we decided to make a little pumpkin family to match our own. Jacob made some hot chocolate and we had a great time!!

Ryker loved playing in the pumpkin guts we gave him and laughing at his dad while he was picking his pumpkin's nose. Yummy!!

4 months old!!

I can't believe it has already been 4 months since Ryker came into our lives. Things have changed so much, but yet it doesn't feel like much has changed. He fits into our lives like he has been a part of it forever.

We had his 4 month check up yesterday. He is still a big boy weighing in at 17 lbs 4 oz and 26 1/2 inches long. He is in the 90th percentile, but is slowly becoming average size.

Ryker is doing more and more every day. Yesterday he rolled from his stomach to his back and I got it on tape. How did I manage that you ask?!. Well, he was laying on his stomach and had pulled his legs up underneath him and pushed up twice and I wanted to get a video of it. Of course he stopped once the camera came out, but I caught his first real all-by-himself roll over.

He has been all smiles since Jacob returned home after being gone for 6 days. The second he heard Jacob's voice he got a huge smile and hasn't stopped smiling since. He has also watched Jacob like a hawk all day. One time when Jacob was holding him up facing him Ryker started touching Jacob's cheeks and nose and mouth with the most control of his hands that I've seen. He had the most curious and quizzical look on his face. Our little boy is growing up so fast which makes me kind of sad, but it's fun watching him learn new things.

Ryker also got his first taste of real food. We went out to eat and Jacob gave him a few little bites of his sweet potato. It took a bit of work for Ryker to swallow it just because he kept pushing it out of his mouth. His facial expression never changed so we're not sure if he liked it or not.



Since I haven't taken many pictures of him I thought I would post a few short video clips of him rolling over and playing with his new found body part...........his lower lip.

Sorry for the length of the videos, I don't know how to shorten them.

Ryker is 3 months old...a few weeks ago..

For some reason I just can't seem to blog very often and end up missing Ryker's monthly birthdays.
As an update, Ryker is 3 1/2 months old now and is starting to giggle and interact more. He loves being in his bouncer and is grabbing at the toys and actually bouncing rather than just wiggling around.
I don't have many pictures of him (bad Mommy), but here are a few.

I left Ryker sitting up in the corner of the couch and when I checked on him a minute later this is what I found. He was chewing on the toy. This is the first time I've seen him chew on anything except his tongue.

Check out my cool hairdo!!!

He loves his bouncer. He is starting to grab the animals and spin the toys. He's growing up so fast!!

JDRF

A few weeks ago some friends of ours held a motocross race to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. A little over a year ago they found out their son, Riley, has Type 1 Diabetes. He loves racing motocross and felt a race would be a great way to educate people and raise money for research. We had a great time watching Riley race and are so proud of him for not letting this get him down, but instead he has fought back and is doing all he can to help others and help find a cure.
Here are a few pictures of Riley (#15) racing as well as some cute kids as young as 3 years old.

Riley

Riley catching a little air!!

This racer is 4-6. I didn't know they start out so young.

This little guy is only 3 years old. He's too small for the ATV and has to stand to stay balanced.

If you have information to share, would like to help Riley in any way, or just want more information on Type 1 Diabetes please visit his website at http://type1racing.webs.com/

2 months old.....a few weeks ago

I'm horrible!! I can't believe I didn't post anything about Ryker's 2 month check up.

Our cute little man was a whopping 15 lbs and 25 inches long. He is healthy as can be and is so much fun. He was having a rough day and had been crying for about an hour prior to his appointment. He settled down long enough for the doctor to do all his checking and testing before he started screaming again. We got him calmed down before they came in to give him his shots. With Jacob holding his hands and me holding his legs he got three shots and cried while he was getting them (what a horrible thing to wake up to). Once the shots were done Jacob picked him up and he was calm and went back to sleep. What a tough boy we have!!
Here of some cute pictures of our Ryker...

What a cute kid!!

There's the smile we love to see!!

How can he sleep like that????

Crawling off the cushion