Weekend with the Cousins

We went to the lake this weekend with the Horton clan and the Ryan clan (sans my brother Grant who couldn't join us) so needless to say, Ryan and Callie got tons of attention from all of their cousins. Kristen and I took Olivia, Jack and Ryan down early and spent the day Friday playing dime skee ball in Osage Beach. It's a true throw-back to 1950 and we had a great time. Friday night my sister and her family met up with us and we enjoyed an evening out at Coconuts which is an outdoor restaurant with a beach where the kids went swimming after dinner. We spent lots of time at the pool, Todd gave all the kids jet ski rides and they all went tubing behind the boat. Saturday night, we went to Jolly Rogers for my niece Katie's birthday dinner. She's the oldest of all the cousins, and turned 10 this weekend! We had a fun time together and hope that Grant's able to join us next year.

Ryan had his 4 month check up last week and I learned my lesson the hard way after his 2 month immunizations so we were well-prepared with Tylenol this time and had no troubles. He also started cereal this week and -after a few failed attempts the previous weeks - is now taking to it pretty well. His sleeping is still on the fritz so no repeated nights of nice long rest for us quite yet. I've been visiting child care providers last week and this week so hopefully we'll be able to nail down those plans soon!

Oh, and we got a new camera!!!!

(Ryan, Jack, Katie, Jon, Maggie and Olivia in their pirate pose)

(Katie celebrating her 10th birthday at Jolly Rogers with their parrot Corona)

(sister Michelle, me, Todd, sister-in-law Kristen, brother-in-law BD)

(Olivia, Ryan and Jack in Osage Beach)

Happy 5th Birthday Callie

Callie officially turned 5 today. She is the perfect dog for us and has been such a wonderful addition to our family. We love her sweet disposition and she truly is the best family pet we could have ever asked for. Here are some of our favorite old pics from when we first got her and then one of her all grown up.

First Father's Day

Sorry for the delay in posts but last week was very hectic around here. I had a conference in town so Ryan got to spend Wednesday afternoon with Popo and Grandma Marcia then Thursday and Friday (and Friday overnight!) with Grandpa Steve and Grandma Jane. Friday night, Todd graduated from Centurions which is the Chamber's leadership program he's been in the past two years. It was a very fun evening, and we'll miss getting to see all our friends through Centurions as often. Saturday morning we headed off to the lake to celebrate Father's Day and had a great weekend.

Ryan is doing much better now that he's had his full course of antibiotics. We speculate that he may have had the ear infection for a while but didn't run a fever so we weren't aware. His eating has been noticeably better since he got rid of the ear infection so we hope that continues.

He turns 4 months old today so we tried some rice cereal and are headed to the doctor tomorrow for his next round of immunizations. We're also checking out child care providers so hopefully we'll have something nailed down in the coming weeks.

Under the Weather

Ryan woke up with a fever this morning and didn't eat normally yesterday so we took a trip to the doctor and found out he has an ear infection. We're glad that's all though because Todd had the stomach flu earlier this week and we assumed he might have gotten that. They weighed and measured him while we were there and his stats at 15 1/2 weeks are:

weight = 17 lbs, 3 oz (94th percentile)
height = 26.75 in. (98th percentile)

So, he's gained exactly 10 pounds since birth and Jane just dug up Todd's baby stats which are very similar. At 17 weeks Todd was 17 lbs, 14 oz and 26.5 inches so he not only looks like his dad, he's growing like him, too.

Blowing Raspberries

Ryan has taken to blowing raspberries now and if he's in the right mood he'll mimic the sound you make while blowing them. He's getting more and more personality everyday. With the added personality comes more delightful moments of smiling and cooing but also more moments of being fussy and wanting attention. He continues to hate tummy time but is showing small improvements and continues to like the exersaucer and jumpster where he can stand. His poor little head is pretty flat in back so we're working on that and hope it either rounds out or he grows some hair over it:)

Our friends the Fitzgeralds came to the lake with us last weekend with their 10 1/2 month old Abby. She was an absolute doll and did a fantastic job on the boat and even went for a couple swims in the pool and lake. While I don't wish away any phase with Ryan, after spending time with Abby, I do look forward to when Ryan's that age and life is no longer just about eating and sleeping.

First Swim

First of all, sorry for the lack of pictures but our camera started acting up shortly before Ryan was born and officially now only takes video and no pictures. We're in the process of getting another but havne't gotten around to it yet and are bumming off other peoples' cameras in the mean time.

We have a pool at the lake now and Ryan went for his first swim. The water was pretty cold and he didn't love it, but didn't hate it right away either. I don't know if I'd call it a success but he did okay and lasted about 10 minutes before he'd had enough.

The little guy decided a few weeks ago that he didn't care for breast milk any longer so we've been transitioning to all formula and he's actually been sleeping better and less fussy overall. He usually sleeps about 7 hours, eats and goes back to bed for a couple hours which has been great. Of course, once we tell people this, he goes back to having a shorter night and fusses just to keep us on our toes. Little stinker. We continue working on tummy time but he is definitely not a fan so his head is still pretty flat and he hasn't even hinted at rolling over. He has however discovered his voice and has started to mimic a little, too.