Felix

Ryker has recently started staring at a certain spot in our living room and communicating with it. He will laugh, coo and smile at the same spot no matter where he is sitting. He doesn't do this in any other area in our house so I am convinced that it is some type of friendly spirit or ghost. Ryan is a skeptic (of course) but I think he secretly believes. I have named the entity Felix. Welcome to our home Felix! All we ask is that you play nice.

3 Months and More

It has been a while since I have been on here so just wanted to do some quick catching up. Ryker is 3 and 1/2 months now and growing so fast. He continues to make new discoveries and is starting to develop skills like gripping and reaching for things. He loves to stand up, so he has super strong legs. He is laughing out loud and recognizes his mommy and daddy. He has also become more aware of Dulci. He still loves his swing and enjoys taking baths and being outside. He went for his first swim last weekend and loved the water.

We went to his ENT appointment and it turns out that the procedure is a little more complicated than we had hope. He will have to be put to sleep for a short amount of time so that the doctor can cut and stitch his tongue. He does not have to have an IV, they will use gas to put him out. That is the scariest part. The appointment is scheduled for August 12th.

His weight at the time of the ENT appointment was 14 lbs 10 oz. and he was 25 inches long.

Ready, Set, SCREAM

I was thinking today about next semester and having to find a babysitter for Ryker. I know that it is not until January but as he was screaming for no reason, I began to think how can someone else do this. It is going to be scary having someone that I hardly know watching my baby. Sometimes his screaming gets overwhelming for me and I love him with everything I am. How is a stranger going to handle it? It makes me wish I lived closer to home so that we had family and/or friends as an option. We have to start really looking for someone so that we can get to know them as much as possible. UGH!

Check-Up

We took Ryker in to see the doctor about his suspected tongue tie. The doctor said that he is tongue tied however he does not know how bad it is (apparently there are degrees). He is going to send him to the ENT doctor so that they can decide how to treat it. He said that it is not an emergency because he is able to eat and is not having any physical issues. We just want it taken care of so that hopefully it will not cause any problems with speech. Dr. Pollard also looked at the spot on Ryker's head and confirmed that it is a Mongolian Spot (which is a benign, flat, congenital birthmark with wavy borders and irregular shape). Everything else seems to be good with the little man. He now weighs 13 lbs 8 1/2 oz and 24 3/4 inches long.

North Georgia

We are on Ryker's very first mini vacation in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia. The cabin we are staying in is BEAUTIFUL! He got to meet his cousins Justin, Teresa, Wayne, Ty and Emma for the first time. The ride here was long, it took around 6 hours for a 4 hour ride but he did better than expected. He is definitely a better morning traveler. By the time we arrived we were all exhausted which could be the reason Ryker slept for 9 hours straight. He went to sleep around 9:30pm and didn't wake up until 6:30am. I almost woke him up at 4am but I decided against it. This would be an awesome pattern of sleep for him to adopt! That is all that has happened so far. I will update on the rest of the trip and the ride home.

BTW Ryker found his hair on Friday July 2nd! He plays with it when he is falling asleep. SO CUTE!

Moving On Up

Ryker is officially wearing a size two diaper now. I can't believe how fast he is growing!

Tongue Tied Baby:(

Thanks to my mama I have realized that my poor baby is tongue tied! She pointed out his heart shaped tongue and now I have noticed other signs of it. We have a doctor appointment on July 6th to make sure and hopefully have it corrected. From what I have heard all they do is clip underneath his tongue and most babies are fine right after. I find this hard to believe because it seems like it would be pretty painful. Most babies that are tongue tied have trouble breastfeeding so I guess we are lucky that Ryker has done so well. I will update after his appointment.

2 Months Old!

Ryker is 2 months old today and getting so big. We can't believe how different he looks from when he was born. He is starting to develop so much personality and he has a hot temper (can't imagine who he gets that from). He is the happiest in the morning hours and smiles and coos a lot. He still enjoys bath time with daddy and feeding time with mommy. He usually wakes up one or two times at night however he does have bad nights when he is up every two hours. Most of the time he is completely insane when it is time for bed, he fights sleep terribly.

We have been venturing out of the house a lot more lately and Ryker does really well. He loves to take rides in his stroller aka The Cadillac. Ryan and I read Ryker stories every night from his expanding book collection (his Aunt Courtnie added several books when she visited). He still loves to be sung to and laughs when you clap and dance in front of him. We are trying to limit his television watching by turning his swing (which he loves, thanks Aunt Weedy) away from the TV. I am sure this will come to screeching halt when he becomes a little more mobile.

Dulci has recently started giving Ryker kisses however it is rare. She pretty much ignores him and he just stares at her when she is near by.

Ryker's favorite place to be (besides on the boob) is his changing table. It is the strangest thing. When you put him on there to change him he starts laughing and smiling. So many people told me that a changing table was a waste of money but it is worth it just to calm him down. For the people who do not know, he is a screamer! I do believe he is the loudest baby I have ever met and there is very little that will calm him when he starts. We love the changing table!

This has been such an amazing, interesting, exhausting, and scary two months. I can't wait to see how Ryker continues to grow and change. He is truly the best thing that me and Ryan have ever done and we are so thankful for every day with him.

2 Month Check-Up

Yesterday was Ryker's two month appointment which means he had to have shots:( He also has his very first cold so we wanted him checked out for that. The doctor said that the cold pretty much had to run its course. We should continue to watch for a fever and could put the saline drops in his nose to help clean him out. The shots were horrible. He had to have three (apparently it use to be five but they combine some now). He did well but it is so hard to watch. When we got home he slept for several hours then woke up VERY cranky. I gave him his first ever dose of Tylenol. Last night, he pretty much was either asleep or crying. He seems to be doing better today.

He weighed 12 lbs 10 oz, 24 inches long and his head is 15 cm. We are so lucky to have him and can't believe how fast he is growing.

Ryker's 1st ER Visit

We had a huge scare last night. At about 10 pm I was in the shower and Ryan came in to tell me something was wrong with Ryker. He was making this strange cry/cough, was salivating a lot, his skin felt clammy, and seemed to be breathing funny. He was not acting like himself either. We tried to talk to him to get him and I tried to nurse him but he was not responding to either. At this point, we call 911 but after five rings Ryan decided to drive. I held Ryker in the back seat because at this point he was falling asleep and we were not sure if we should let him. Ryan drove to the hospital at Fort Gordon, I am pretty sure we got there in record time.

Even though Ryan called ahead and told the 911 operator that we were coming in, the man at the admissions desk was a complete idiot. I had to be pretty mean to him and the first nurse and basically walk into their offices but it worked because they took Ryker back. Of course, by this time Ryker had pooped and was smiling at the nurses.

The doctor checked him out and said that everything looked fine. His breathing was good, lungs were clear, had no temperature and was acting normal. He said that it is possible that Ryker had some mucus in his throat and because he is so little he didn't know how to clear it. The doctor told us that we did the right thing bringing him in because it could have been something more serious.

We have an appointment next week for Ryker's two month visit and we will discuss what happened with his doctor. Hopefully this won't happen again. This was truly the scariest thing that I have ever been through. I think me and Ryan handled it well (Ryan told me later he knew if he freaked out I would be worse than what I already was). I love all the sweet baby moments that I get to experience but it will be a little bit of a relief when Ryker can tell me what is wrong with him. My nerves can't take it!