6 Months!

Dear Ryan,

Today, you turn 6 months old and it is hard to believe you are already that old! Yet, I can't imagine life without you. You just become more fun and more joyful with every passing day. Daddy and I are so enjoying watching you change, grow, and develop!

You can do lots of things now that you couldn't do when I wrote your last letter. Your biggest achievement is that you can now sit all by yourself. You look like such a big boy when you sit and play with toys all by yourself. I still put the Boppy around you (because sometimes you lean too far in one direction and you topple over) but you really do have rather strong ab muscles :)

 

You get closer and closer to crawling every month. You are trying soooo hard these days. You now push up onto all fours, rock back and forth, sometimes move your legs forward, or your arms backward, but you are not yet coordinated enough to move your legs forward AND your arms forward. After a while you give up, and then you flail on your belly (arms and legs kicking) like a little bug. It's sad and adorable at the same time!

You're also really babbling so much more! You've always been a "talker" but now you say things with different inflection and emotion and you seem to know exactly what you're saying. You can make consonant sounds as well as vowel sounds. You say, ba-ba-ba, and la-la-la. Just the other day you started doing this funny thing where you make a very serious face, move your mouth around in a very funny way and say "A-ba, A-ba-a-baaa!" It is difficult to describe, but it is VERY funny. You had the entire family laughing hysterically on the 4th of July when you started doing this.

This month you also figured out how to turn on your mobile in your crib. We have yet to determine if you do it on purpose, but quite a few times, when we've gone to get you after a nap you have the mobile on, toys strewn about, and a huge smile on your face. You almost always wake up soooo happy!

Speaking of waking up, let's talk about your sleep. You had a few setbacks during the month, but in just the past week you really seem to be settling in to a "schedule" of two 90 minute naps and sometimes a brief evening nap. You had started waking up twice during the night (which Mommy and Daddy did not appreciate!) but you seem to be back to just once again. (YAY!) Maybe someday soon you'll sleep alllllll the way through the night!

Your schedule currently (give or take a half hour here or there) is usually as follows (and dear readers, I am aware, this is completely boring. But I put this in here simply for my own reference, so I can later go back and compare):

7:00 am:    Wake up! (play, dance, etc).
9:00 am:     First nap of the day
10:30 am:  Wake up! (play, read, run errands with mommy.)
12:30 pm:  Eat Solids (current offerings include Avocado, Bananas, Peas, Pears, Apples, Peaches, Carrots,
                 Summer Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Prunes and soon, Green Beans. Avocados are your favorite!).
1:30 pm:    Second Nap of the day
3:00 pm:   Wake up!
4:00  pm:   Eat again
5:00 pm:   (Sometimes take a brief 30/45 minute nap) Daddy Comes home (yay!). Eat dinner with Mommy
                 & Daddy (i.e. Sit in your high chair and play with toys).
6:30 pm:   Go for a jog with Mommy & Daddy
7:30 pm:   Bedtime routine starts with a bath (your favorite time of day).
8:00/8:15 pm: Asleep for the night

It's a good little routine we've got going! Actually, it's a good little life we've got going! I love you so much Ryan!

Happy Half-Birthday!

Love,

~Mommy