Thursday, October 28, 2010

4 Months Old

Rylan is 4 months old today (ALREADY!). I remember thinking that our first few months with Carter were the longest few months of my life. This time around, time has just flown by. Life is so much busier with two kids.


Rylan is still a big boy. His 4 month checkup isn't until November 8th so I don't know his official weight yet. However, when I've weighed him at the house, I'm getting around 20 pounds right now. I get comments every time we are out about how big Rylan is. It's amazing how different his build is from Carter's.

And for the last few weeks, Carter and Rylan have been wearing the same size diapers (size 3).


Rylan's eyes are getting darker. They are still dark blue on the edges, but the centers are getting more and more brown flecks.

Rylan has great dimples. It's usually not too difficult to get him smiling and showing them off.


I think Rylan is getting close to getting some teeth. He chews on his hands constantly. He will usually hold one hand in the other and bring both up to his mouth. Occasionally he'll start actually sucking on a few fingers. Rylan also started finally holding and chewing on his Sophie Giraffe last week. The giraffe is the only toy he'll hold on to for more than just a few seconds so far.

Rylan doesn't use a pacifier much. He actually never used one at all until my dad visited and he stared trying to give it to him. Rylan will usually spit it out unless I hold it in his mouth. And it takes him a few minutes to actually start sucking on it instead of just trying to push it out with his tongue.


Rylan does not spit up like Carter did at all. He's a very normal baby when it comes to spitting up and that makes him so much easier.

I've been able to finally make Rylan go longer than 2 hours between feedings during the day. We still only make it 2 hours about half the time, but the other half is closer to 3 hours between feedings.

Nights haven't improved much though. I've been feeding Rylan and putting him down in the playyard in our room around 8 pm every night. He will then usually wake up around 1 pm (sometimes an hour earlier or about 30 minutes later) to eat. After that he wakes up every hour or two. When he wakes up, I usually will move Rylan to his bouncer. When he wakes up in that (he usually sleeps about an hour), I'll feed him.

Our plan is to finally put Rylan in his own room staring tomorrow night. The only reason he's not already in there is because I don't want him to wake up Carter. I was hoping we'd get to a point where Rylan was sleeping longer before we moved him. When he is in our room, I can get to him before he really starts crying and wakes up Carter. I'm not sure I'll wake up as quickly when I'm only hearing Rylan over the monitor. I'm really nervous about moving him but I'm hoping he'll sleep better in his own, quiet room.

Like Carter, Rylan doesn't take naps in his crib, just his bouncer or carseat. Because I like getting Carter out of the house as much as possible, Rylan doesn't have much of a schedule. He is still taking short naps between most feedings.


I still wouldn't say Rylan is an easy baby, but he's so much easier than Carter was. He's pretty easy to get smile out of. As long as you are giving him your complete attention, he's happy. Often complete attention means holding Rylan and swaying. His preferred position is facing outward so he can look around.

Rylan will also sometimes chill out by himself for a bit. He still loves the mobile in his crib and will stare at it for up to 30 minutes before he gets bored.

Rylan is still generally good in the car, as long as it's moving and we haven't been in it for hours. He doesn't automatically fall sleep now, but he will look around and chew on his hands or giraffe for a bit until he gets bored.

Rylan is also usually good when we're shopping. He's often easier than Carter who doesn't want to sit in the cart anymore. We usually don't stay out for long, but I'm able to get done what I need to.


Rylan is getting closer to rolling from his back to his stomach. He'll get his arms up when he's chewing on his hands and turn to the side. He'll get his hips starting to turn and then fall back to his back.


Rylan has a couple of patches of cradle cap on his head like Carter did. There's one scaly patch near his forehead and another at the crown. Hopefully they'll clear up soon.


When we go to Baby Bookworms at the library, I've been having Rylan on my lap and doing the movements with him. Since he's facing outward, I don't get to see his expressions, but he seems to at least be content during the class.


We just think Rylan is so sweet and we love him a bunch!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Playdate

We had a playdate today with Meredith's kids, Blaine and Hudson. Sarah and I used to walk with Meredith a lot last year, but Meredith went back to work and we unfortunately lost touch. But Meredith had another baby a few weeks before Rylan was born so she's taking some time off again.

We had a great time catching up. And Blaine and Carter seemed to have fun playing together once they warmed up to each other. It took Carter awhile to remember how to share. I guess that's what happens when we don't have any playdates for a month!

Blaine has grown up so much in a year!


And baby Hudson is adorable!


Carter has been chewing on his hands all the time lately. I thought he was just copying Rylan (who also chews on his hands constantly). Meredith suggested that Carter may be getting his second molars. Sure enough, I checked this afternoon and both of his bottom molars are about half way in. I was brave enough to stick a finger in Carter's mouth and it felt like his top molars may also be starting to break through (or are at least getting close).

I don't see any of Rylan's teeth breaking through yet, but his bottom gum is starting to feel a little harder and rough so he may be close to cutting his first tooth.

I tried putting Rylan in his Bumbo chair this afternoon since his thighs are starting to thin down a little. The first time I put Rylan in the seat, I thought it was stuck on him because it was so tight on those thighs. He fit a little better this time, but it was still a little bit of a challenge to get it off of him.



The crazy thing is that Carter fits into the seat better than Rylan!

NC Trip - Day 4

On Monday (October 18th) we went to the North Carolina State Fair. Brian's parents both had to work for half the morning so we took our time getting ready.

We got to the fairgrounds around 10:30 am. The fairgrounds are across the street from NC State's football stadium and basketball arena (which is where we parked). Brian and I went to the fair only once in college. We lived just down the road though (we would sometimes walk to football and basketball games).

Monday was a super sunny and warm day and with the number of people at the fair, you'd think no one in Raleigh works. It was CROWDED! We had the double BOB stroller and it was really hard to maneuver it through all of the people. And most of the time the stroller was empty because I had Rylan in the Bjorn and Brian was carrying Carter. Though it did come in handy when Carter needed a nap and as a shield to give me a little privacy when I needed to nurse Rylan.

Our first stop was at the old farm machinery and children's barnyard. Carter loved all the animals (which was our main reason for visiting the fair).

Rabbits:


A cow:


Carter started asking to eat so we went ahead and ate lunch. Because frying random food is so popular at the fair now, we figured we had to try something. I decided on fried mac & cheese (the other options, such as fried oreos, just didn't sound good at all). The fried mac & cheese was actually really good (the side of ranch made it even that much better)!


We decided to go completely redneck and also get a turkey leg.


After lunch we moved on to the large farm animals. We saw lots of cows, goats, sheep, and pigs.

Carter and me watching the cows getting washed ...


Checking out a cow ...


Carter trying to touch a goat ...


Carter really liked the goats, but I think he thought they were sheep ...



Chicks:


"Look at those donkeys!" ...


Carter fell asleep after seeing all the animals so we strolled through the crafts area until he woke up.


After Carter woke up, he checked out the sheriff cars and helicopter (he wanted the helicopter to go up) ...


Brian and Carter trying to figure out what's up with this pig ...


We considered taking Carter on some of the insanely expensive rides, but (luckily) he was too short for everything we saw, including the small kid rides (they had a 36" minimum). Brian and Carter did enjoy this ride ...


because they got wet too ...



Next we checked out the petting zoo, which was actually just a bunch of little goats. Carter loved touching these guys.





Then we checked out the King Action Sports Stunt Show at the Grandstand. This was a BMX and Moto X show. The speakers were really loud so Rylan and I watched from a distance, but Carter LOVED it!


Before leaving, we decided we needed to let Carter do something fun so we let him take a pony ride. He loved that too!





We finally left the fair around 4 pm and we were all completely worn out. Brian and I expected to only be there a couple of hours but time just flew by.

When we got home, I took Charlotte for a short run because she'd been in her crate a lot with us gone all day on Sunday and Monday. Then Brian's parents made a really nice dinner of steaks and vegetables on the grill, but unfortunately both boys completely melted down at dinner and no one really got to enjoy it. We quickly gave the boys baths and got them off to bed a little earlier than normal. Even though it got a little rough at the end, we had another fun day!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

NC Trip - Day 3

On Sunday (October 17th) we went to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. This is another zoo that is part of the reciprocal program with the Knoxville Zoo so we got in free with our membership.

Luckily Rylan slept later (to 5:30 am) so we weren't so tired. However, he was nice enough to poop all over me right before we left. I had just finished feeding Rylan and had laid him on my lap with his head at my knees when I realized that my legs were wet. Rylan had shot tons of poop out the back of his diaper. There was so much that it was dripping down my legs when I stood up. It was very, very gross.

Once that was cleaned up, we were on our way! Brian's parents took their car since our family is now too large to all fit in just one of our cars with two additional adults. We left around 9:30 am and expected Carter to sleep on the hour drive, but he didn't. Carter knew we were going to the zoo and kept making his monkey sound the entire drive. It got a little annoying after awhile. Rylan slept the whole way though so that was nice.

The North Carolina Zoo was designed so that the animals found on each continent are grouped together. So far the zoo has only completed Africa and North America (they ran out of money a long time ago and I don't know if they are going to add more any time soon).

Here's a picture of Carter on the bridge to the zoo entrance ...


We did Africa first. The animals have huge habitats so there is a lot of walking between exhibits. We brought the BOB stroller, but I had Rylan in the Bjorn most of the time and Brian ended up carrying Carter a lot. Carter was very attached to Brian our entire trip and wouldn't let anyone else hold him most of the time.

We had great weather. Not too hot but super sunny. We actually had amazing weather our entire trip. I got out very little of the winter clothes I had packed.

Carter hanging with a chimp ...


Me with my boys ...


Another chimp ...


And finally a real chimp ...



This is how Carter tries to sit on Charlotte. He's only been successful once (she usually escapes before he can do anything like this) ...


Checking out the elephants ...


Rylan was really good the entire time we were at the zoo.



Carter got super excited when he saw the carousel so we had to let him take a ride. He kept saying "aahh, aahh" (his monkey sound) whenever he passed by me.


After lunch we did the North American animals. Most of the animals were out where we could see them, but most weren't very active.

A family photo ...


We stopped by the Garden Friends Playground to let Carter play for a little bit. He's getting really good at climbing ...




We finally headed out around 3 pm. Everyone was a little worn out from all the walking and Carter chasing, but we had made plans to meet up with some friends near Greensboro.

When I was little, my family lived across the street from Bob and Cathy and they have twin boys (Matthew and Steven) that are about a month older than me, as well as a girl (Jessica) a few years older than us. Matthew married a friend of mine (Kari) and they had a baby girl (Anna) on June 1st. None of them have ever met our boys so Bob, Cathy, Matthew, Kari, and Anna met us at Hagan Stone Park (link) in Pleasant Garden.

Carter slept on the drive to the park and Rylan screamed until he passed out from all the screaming. Rylan was unfortunately in a bad mood the rest of the day but Carter had fun playing.

Cathy and Bob with Anna and Rylan ...


Cathy, Kari, and me with Rylan, Anna, and Carter ...


Me and Matthew switching kids (notice how much bigger Rylan is compared to Anna!) ...


Carter had lots of fun playing with everyone. He took Cathy on a walk to the lake and they threw sticks into the water. His favorite person though was Matthew. They played on the playground for awhile. Carter even went down the slide a bunch (he's been very anti-slide lately).

Carter collected sticks for awhile too. This was his mac daddy find ...


After about an hour and a half, we all headed on home. Brian, the kids, and I stopped by Moe's on the way back to the house for dinner. The boys did great at dinner but Rylan was super fussy again in the car. He cried himself to sleep though eventually, again.

We got back to the house around 7:30 pm, let Carter play with the toy cars for a little bit, and then got the boys off to bed.

Target Withdrawal

I have been having some serious Target withdrawal. With having family here for a few weeks and then going to North Carolina for a week, I've only been there a couple of times in the last month. I usually go a few times a week. And I always do a quick run by of all the aisle ends to see what is on clearance. I know, I'm obsessed.

I finally made it to Target this afternoon and was super excited to find some great stuff for Carter at 75% off.

We are set on cool sidewalk chalk for next year ...



And I found a few fun activities for indoors this winter ...


Everything cost less than $4 - I love a deal!