3 Months!

This stretch from 2-3 months has been so fun. Ryan is a wiggling machine and loves to give big smiles when we talk or sing to him, or when he sees himself in the mirror. :)

He's still loving his play mat. He gets so excited when he sees his face in the mirror. It's like he's so surprised that "his friend" is there every time he wants him to be. And Tally loves laying next to him while he plays, which is so cute to see. Ryan is just starting to notice Tally and stares at him on occasion as if he's trying to figure out what he is. And then Tally usually gives Ryan a big kiss on the face before we can catch him. It's pretty sweet though, even if it is a little gross.

Ryan is growing like a weed! We love his chunky everything- baby man boobs and muffin top included.

He clearly loves to eat. One of my favorite things he does right now is take a break from eating to look up at me with the biggest grin that takes over his whole face, as if to say his little life couldn't get any better than it is in those moments. I also love the way he lets out a frustrated squeal when I try to burp him in the middle of a meal. It sounds like his feelings are hurt that I'm making him pause.

Another love for this little man is books. It is the cutest thing- he sits up on the couch and actually turns his head to look at both pages as we read- ha! We just laughed the first time he did it. And he wiggles his arms and kicks his legs when he gets really excited about a page. It is so sweet.

My fave

He loves this one mirror in our living room. We'll sit him up on our laps facing the direction of the mirror, and he just smiles so big. I don't know if it's the design, or if he can see a reflection off of the glass, but he just loves it.

He loves working on bringing his thumbs to his mouth and seems to be favoring the right side. Sometimes he goes for the whole fist and actually choked some the other day from shoving it in there so far. Mama switched him to the paci after that. ;)

He was sleeping through the night, but has started a new trend in the past week of waking up to eat anytime in the 3 o'clock hour. Then he'll go back to sleep until anywhere between 6:45-7:30. I really don't mind that middle of the night feed though. It sounds crazy but when he started to sleep through the night so early, I kind of felt like I wasn't ready for it- like I didn't have a chance to know that the middle of the night feeding was going to be short-lived. So now I'm up with him for about 20 minutes and taking it those sweet moments with him. He usually stays asleep but always gives the biggest smile when I put him on the changing table and he wakes up. It's the sweetest. And those snuggles in the rocker before I put him back in the crib might be my favorite.

 

Right now we're working on napping in the crib and falling asleep for his naps on his own. I laugh that this buddy would be the perfect candidate for co-sleeping and/or being worn 24/7 so that he could snuggle and eat whenever he wanted to. I'm just now getting better at letting him cry some, but I do a lot better when someone else is with me encouraging me that it's a good thing to let him cry some before he falls asleep. :)

He's not a huge napper in general right now. He sleeps anywhere from 15 minutes - 1 hour each cycle and has been giving a long stretch of wake time in the evenings before Matt gives him his last meal and we put him to bed. But he's happy and playful so we're going with it!

At night, he's been eating between 7-9 ounces and then goes to sleep so peacefully. Some nights, if he slept right before his last meal, we'll lay him on his back in the crib and let him kick around for a little bit, and then we go in and flip him over when he starts to make little grunting sounds like he's ready to go to sleep. Other nights, he falls asleep with the bottle, like he did last night, sweet love, and then we just lay him down to sleep.

In the morning, he often flips himself over once he's awake and then makes noise for me to come get him. Since he's become so much more aware of sounds, he startles more easily, so when Matt went in to get him one morning, he said, "Morning buddy!" and startled Ryan and he gave a big frown and then started crying! Poor guy! Haha, Matt felt so bad. It's amazing how quickly he changes. I feel like just a week ago that wouldn't have happened.

One of our favorite weekly events is playdates with Aunt Dre, Reynolds, and Teagan. And sometimes those playdates turn into even bigger events when Steph, Cait, and their sweet kiddos join!

We also love our visits to Nonna and Papa's house! Whenever Matt has a work dinner, we try to sneak away to Monroe for a sleepover and some fun time with my parents. :)

This month, one of our former UpStreet girls from church, Ava, came to visit us and meet Ryan. She was so sweet with him!

We also got to celebrate Evie's 2nd birthday. She loves "Baby Ryer" and asked to snuggle with him and take a picture. Sweet love!

I'm not sure what the joke was, but it apparently was not as funny on the left side. :)

These buddies have had many a playdate but still don't know the other exists. ;) One day!

Ryan is still working on his love/hate (okay it's mainly just hate) relationship with his carrier. And mommy is still working on building up those back muscles so she can handle swinging him to sleep in it. ;) But what I love the most is the way he snuggles the bear that Noah gave him while he's trying to fall asleep. Makes me melt. :)

On our way home from Greenville, Matt read Ryan stories to help him make the last stretch home. And then all three of the boys passed out. :)

We also took a trip to Austin to visit my former students and friends. Ryan was so great but by the end he literally passed out in my arms when a group of students came over to see him! It was hilarious- like he just couldn't do it anymore and had to retreat. His head just fell forward in my arms and he slept. Sweet buddy.

Another one of Ryan's favorite activities is bath time. He could relax in his little green tub for hours. Most days he takes his bath in the morning, but sometimes we'll do it at night too if we're trying to buy some time before his last meal. He'd be happy to bathe before every meal I think. 

Watching his dad's tennis match:

And sound asleep after I wore him through a lunch out:

I love how peaceful he looks in these pictures- it almost looks like he's faking sleep!

Best daddy ever. :)

We love this buddy beyond words. We've had the most fun these past three months and know that it's just gonna get better and better.

Tomorrow I'll post the photo shoot pictures and outtakes! 

I figured this post was a little lengthy as is. :)