Hi there! Sorry my mom doesn't write on here very often...I keep her pretty busy :)
She got 3 more shots. It was not as bad this time as it was the first or 2nd time. She was fairly happy and alert the day of the appointment, and she only cried as she was being stuck and she was pretty much fine after the stick. The doctor is always totally enamored with little Ryan (it is understandable - she is irresistibly cute) and this time was no different. When we told her that Ryan has started having tantrums when a toy is taken away or falls out of her hands, the doctor lit up and exclaimed "That is GREAT!! That is a 9 month milestone!!!" I am happy that she is "advanced"...but come on....of all things to be advanced at, she chooses throwing fits. How nice.
Don't get me wrong, Ryan is still a happy baby. But for several weeks there, she was teething, and was basically a completely different child. She was extremely fussy, and completely pitiful. Her poor gums were hurting her so badly, and she didn't understand what was going on. I try to be completely patient with her and do all I can to make her feel better, but a screaming inconsolable baby can really take a toll on the nerves!
She has 2 teeth now, the bottom middle two. After she cut those two teeth, we started to see her coming back around to her happy, playful self. She started refusing food at one point, which was completely frustrating and heartbreaking for me. I had force feed her through screams and tears several times, but gave that up in a hurry. I figure she won't STARVE, and there is no point in making mealtime a miserable experience. She still took a bottle, so I knew she was at least getting the nutrition she needed.
What? No food??
I suppose that she was not eating due to her teeth hurting her, however - I started making all of her baby food with all organic fruits and veggies. I don't think that is why she was not eating, but perhaps the change in flavors made her uneasy. I have been reading and researching a lot on health and food lately, and without getting on a soapbox here, basically we have decided to eat as organically as possible. I just want to have as much control over the things we are eating as possible and not eat a bunch of junk food with ingredients that we can't even pronounce. We are transitioning slowly - it will be years before we are ultimately where I would like to be, but I can already tell a difference just in the past several weeks. It helps out at the grocery store too! Since the healthy and organic food is more expensive, I am much more careful about what I buy and don't make a bunch of impulse buys. I just get what we need and that's all.
Ryan's favorite foods so far are bananas with berries, and squash. I have been trying to get her to 3 spoon meals a day, and then bottles after and in between. I found some organic baby crackers that basically dissolve in your mouth, and she LOVES them. I love them too, because they keep her VERY happy and entertained in her highchair, giving me a window of time to do dishes, cook, clean, etc. It is adorable and amazing to watch her look for the cracker pieces on her tray, reach for them, wrap her little hand around a piece, and put it into her mouth. She is very smart, and figures these things out in no time flat!
Ryan likes to play with her toys, but she seems to like to play with things that are not meant to be toys even more. Her absolute favorite thing is paper. She loves to crinkle it and tear it in her little hands. We have to really watch her if she gets a piece, because everything goes straight into her mouth, and paper will get soggy and eventually fall apart and could be swallowed. She likes to chew on rubber spatulas, and mommy's phone is especially captivating.
Did I mention how EASY sitting up is?? Why does everyone think it's such a big deal?
Ryan has discovered how to bounce in her excersaucer. It is SOOO cute. She gets the biggest grin on her face and jumps up and down, bouncing away. She will do it for about 10 to 15 minutes before she gets tired of it and wants to be picked up. She knows what the word "bounce" means, and if you tell her to bounce, she gets really excited and jumps, jumps, jumps!
Me and Brother Grimm...he's so handsome!
Ryan had her 6 month photo shoot a few weeks ago. I took her to the same girl that did her newborn photos. I know that I could have just done them myself, but this photographer has TONS more studio supplies than I do, and I really just wanted to sit back and let someone else do it anyhow. My friend, Brianna, went with me. I invited her because she is an aspiring photographer, and I thought that the experience would be helpful for her. She ended up being a HUGE help - getting Ryan to smile, holding her for me when I was busy fetching something, helping pick outfits and backdrops....we had a lot of fun. Ryan was "okay" during the photos....not GREAT, but not horrible either. She doesn't LOVE the camera, which is unfortunate for me, since I take a zillion pictures of her.
A few of my 6 month photos
My photography business is starting to get more and more attention. I have had several people book sessions, and lots of emails inquiring about my services. I have been going out and shopping for supplies for my studio - I have backdrops, flooring options, and lots of cute headpieces for babies. It has been a lot of fun gathering these things, and Ryan has been modeling for me so I can test everything out.
Modeling for mommy
On March 6th, we were "Welcomed Home" at our church. We have been going there over 6 months, but it was never officially announced that it was our home church. Over the past month or so, we have had new members declare it as their home church each Sunday. The pastor would call them to the front to welcome them home. It is kind of a new thing I guess, and since they never officially did it for us, they did it then.
Dave is working a lot, as usual, but he is finally in a position that he really enjoys. I am usually starting dinner when he gets home, and he spends time with the babe while I finish that. Then we eat together, and then it is time to start the baby's nightly routine - eating spoon food, a few minutes of playtime, bath, bottle, and (hopefully) bedtime. There is so much going on all of the time that the days seem to fly by.
Still no sleeping through the night. She made it from 11-7 one night last week, but then she was up once every hour the very next night. We are frustrated about it, but we will make it. It's hard because I have tried everything I can think of...we started her back on cereal in her bedtime bottle, and she will take it now. (she refused it when we tried a while back). We make sure that she has a super full tummy by bedtime. We wear her out completely - she is almost falling over asleep at bedtime some nights. We have tried different types of outfits for her to sleep in, thinking maybe she is uncomfortable, hot, cold, etc. I prop a toy up next to her to trick her into thinking that it is one of us laying with her. We have had her in the crib and in our bed. We have a humidifier, a fan, a white noise machine....she just can't quite make it through the night. She sleeps good in the morning, however. She will sleep from 4-10am most mornings. We just need to back that up a little...10-6 would be just about perfect.
Guess what? I'm gonna be crawling ANY day now!!
Ryan is READY to crawl. She wants to SO badly. She pushes up on her hands and knees and tries SO very hard to move, but just can't quite figure it out. She does the "inchworm" and wiggles on her belly to get around. She will also roll across the room to get to what she wants! (usually Grimm's tail!)
Right now, Ryan's thing is "ROAR!" Daddy like to lay with her and make lion and dinosaur sounds, and she will do it back to you - completely intentional. So, technically, she is kind of "talking" already....her first non-official word is ROAR. Sometimes it is a little scary in the middle of the night...she sounds a little possessed, quite frankly.
I started giving Ryan apple juice in a sippy cup. The first few days I would hold it for her and show her how to use it, then I started just putting it on her tray in front of her. She grabs it and gets it to her mouth, no problem, but she can't quite yet understand that she has to tilt it UP to get the juice out. She is getting there though!
"Walking" to my bath!
She is out of her baby tub and onto the regular bathtub! Baths are SO much quicker and easier now! Dave and I don't have to traipse all over the house collecting bath supplies anymore. It is all in one place and can stay there. She can splash all she wants, and it doesn't make a huge mess across the kitchen floor. We have a couple of bath toys for her, but after a week or so, I took them away - she throws one hellacious fit when it is time to get out and you have to take her toy away, so to solve that problem, I just don't give her a toy in the first place :) She entertains herself by splashing. She stills loves her bath! It's the "afterbath" that she hates...especially the nose cleaning!
A few more shots that I just LOVE from Ryan's 6 month photo shoot
THE END!
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