Ryan and Juliet

Saturday, March 6th, Ryan got his first two teeth. They are his two front bottom teeth.  He would not oblige me by letting me take a picture of them.

Thank you Gramee Marge for checking and finding them!

Over the last month feeding Ryan has become a bit of a challenge.  He wiggles and squiggles.  He pushes, no, whacks the bottle away.  He turns his head to where it’s impossible for us to follow with the bottle.  Very quickly it became clear that a change was in order.

For Ryan’s first 2-3 months he had problems eating due to his reflux.  It was heart breaking because I knew he wanted the food but it hurt him to eat it.  We got him started on reflux medication and he got much better.  Then about a month ago, he turned into Mr. Wiggles again while feeding him.  We tried all the tricks up our sleeves and the only thing that seemed to work was singing.  But, and this is a major but, we had to find the RIGHT song to sing in order to make him happy enough to eat.

After we discovered the singing cure, he was set on The Itsy Bitsy Spider.  Dan would begin by saying “Introducing the song of the day, The Itsy Bitsy Spider!” then he would proceed to sing it over and over and over again (with an intermission for burps).  Soon, however, Ryan got bored of the Itsy Bitsy Spider but seemed happy with You Are My Sunshine.  Then there was I’m A Little Teapot and B-I-N-G-O and Do Your Ears Hang Low and A Tisket A Tasket and Mary Had A Little Lamb and Old McDonald.  With Old McDonald he only liked the first part of the song and not the part where you pick an animal and sing its sound.  So we would sing “Old McDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O” over and over and over again.

Anyhow, everyday we go through our repertoire of songs until we find the Song of the Day for Ryan.  I think we’re running out of songs to try…

Oh, but we love Ryan so so much and this is just the tip of the iceberg of the things we would do to make him happy.  So bring it on boy, we’re ready!  (I think? :-/)

Ryan and Juliet,

I was reading the Oprah magazine (yes, that’s right, but at least I wasn’t watching it and I WASN’T eating bon bons), and I came to a page titled “Live Your Best Life” with the following quote by William Henry Channing:

To live content with small means;
to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion;
to be worthy, not respectable;
and wealthy, not rich;
to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly…
to listen to stars and buds, to babes and sages, with open heart;
await occasions, hurry never…
this is my symphony.

I hope this inspires you.  I hope you see how beautiful life is.  I hope you live your best life.

I love you, mom

Ryan watching the snow fall

At six months…

Ryan can roll over but sometimes gets stuck on his stomach (much to his dismay when it happens in his crib at night).
Juliet can roll over but prefers not to.
Juliet can sit up without help from mom and dad.
They like to touch EVERYTHING.
They like to eat EVERYTHING.
The LOVE their feet.
They laugh and smile and it melts our hearts.
Juliet has finally graduated from 0-3 mo. socks, but no socks will actually stay on her feet.
Ryan is getting too big for 9 mo. old clothes.
Juliet likes to wake up anywhere from 1am – 4am.
Juliet will eat anything we put in her cereal.  So far we’ve added applesauce, bananas, butternut squash, and carrots.
Ryan is still trying to decide if he likes that weird mushy stuff we give him to eat.
Ryan’s reflux is still bothering him.
Ryan has blue-green eyes just like his dad.
Juliet’s eyes are brownish-greenish-gray, but we think they’re still changing.
They nap 2x a day, usually 1-2 hrs.  Yay!!!
No teeth yet.
Juliet eats 25-30 oz. of formula a day.
Ryan eats 30-35 oz. of formula a day.
Juliet does a wonderful Mariah Carey impression.
Ryan still has the saddest cry ever.
Juliet has a cry that makes mom’s heart palpitate.
Ryan is pretty content in his highchair.
Juliet is content in her highchair as long as we entertain her.
They get excited about books and want to eat the books (according to a pamphlet we have, this a 9 mo. mile stone and further proof to mom and dad that they are in fact geniuses).
They like to play with their spoons after eating and can put it right in their mouth.
Juliet likes to call family meetings and Ryan seconds everything she says.
They’re trying very hard to grow more hair.
And of course, they love to hold hands.

Sometimes its really hard being a mom, but then they look at me and smile and I remember why I love this job.

Recently there have been so many adorable moments when Ryan and Juliet  are put near each other.  They instantly reach out for the other person’s hand or face or foot.   Ryan burped and Juliet laughed and giggled and thought it was the funniest thing ever.  They hold hands and sometimes accommodate the other by providing a finger or foot to suck on.  What a treat!  When Juliet is sad I can put her near Ryan and she cheers right up (and vice versa).  There is clearly a very strong bond between them.   As strong as that bond is, however, I don’t think its going to stifle any sibling rivalry.  Yesterday they were both on my lap and began to fight (in baby lingo that is) over a book between them.  It was cute to see.  Again and again I find myself so excited for what’s to come, but trying so hard to hold on to today.  Well, maybe not today actually, Juliet isn’t feeling well.  My poor baby girl.

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