Some great developments again this month. I know I keep saying it, but it is just amazing how fast Ryan is growing into a little person with a such a big personality! He changes daily and it is so cool to track his progress. This month:
- He has become enamored with his "My Pal Scout" stuffed dog toy. It is a green dog that you can program with a USB to say your child's name and a few of his favorite things. He sings songs (including customized ones about the kiddo!), teaches about colors and animal noises and is just generally adorable. Ryan loves to watch his collar light up as he barks and talks and sings. He even gives the dog little snuggles to the forehead. We had initially bought the toy off a registry for my cousin Shannon's baby, but Ryan saw it and loved it so much we had to go back to Target and get another :)
- Speaking of snuggling, Ryan is not the cuddliest of babies. He has the SWEETEST personality, don't get me wrong, but he much too busy for my smothering love! If I try to get him to just relax and cuddle with me, he has a million other things he would rather be doing - like playing with his toys, grabbing at whatever I'm holding, looking outside, etc. He is just such an active, engaged baby and he is so curious about the world. It is really one of the best things about him, but I sometimes long for a little love. So this month he decided to indulge me a bit and will now cuddle into my shoulder if I'm holding him after a feeding. He jabbers the whole time he is snuggling (like he's reminding me that he does have a lot of other things to be doing and places to be :)) and it is just sweet as can be.
- He decided this month that it would be fun to chew on and smack his tongue whenever we try to put him down for naps. If we don't hold his hands to his sides while he drifts off to sleep, they are irresistibly distracting to him and he just wants to play. So while Matt would hold his arms gently to the side as he swung him in his swing, Ryan decided that playing with his mouth could be just as fun as playing with his hands. It looks and sounds hilarious when he does it, but it's also frustrating since we can't take his tongue away from him to get him to sleep!
- This month we also decided to start introducing some solids to his diet at the advice of our pediatrician. We are starting slow, just giving him small bites of whatever fruit, veggie or grain we happen to be eating. But so far it is a great success! He absolutely loves eating and has yet to find a food he doesn't like from bananas to blueberries to Cheerios to avocado. He also developed a love for our water bottles and wants to take sips of our water and crunch the bottles any chance he gets.
- And in the big milestone department, Ryan learned to roll from his back onto his tummy this month. Now, as soon as you lay him on his back, he is flipped over in a matter of seconds, wanting to play and push up onto his hands. Next step, crawling! Matt and I need to step up our baby-proofing of the house...
The little monster turns 6 months this Friday and we will hopefully take some fun family pics that I can post soon!
