Ryan and Mommy

Five Months Old!

Ryan was 5 months old yesterday! This past month has been a little rocky. We started out with going to reunion at Camp Farwesta in Stewartsville.  Ryan, Dan and I slept at my mom's house and Courtney stayed with my mom in the cabin. We spent all day at camp, letting Ryan nap and play in the cabin. He went swimming each day and was over all a pretty good baby (except that he was a bit fussier because of the heat - over 100 each day!).  When we got home, we started Ryan in his crib in his own room! Dan and I noticed a big change in his sleep this month. He sort of stopped sleeping all through the night. He was waking up a lot and sometimes staying awake instead of just taking the pacifier and going back to sleep. We started sleep training and that has really helped! We were still swaddling Ryan but he was constantly getting out of it and waking up, so we transitioned him out of that and now he is just in a sleep sack. So, we feel like we are back on the right track with sleep and we will probably never remember how stressed it made us for a few weeks. Thank goodness I am writing this so I can remember :) Right now, he goes to bed at 6:30 and is after eating is usually asleep by 7:00. We may have to give him his "giggy" one time a night. He wakes up around 6ish, but will go back to sleep until about 7:30ish. He takes a nap at 9 and 1, for an hour to an hour and a half. I'm hoping he can lengthen these out! He takes a little catnap around 4:30 or 5:00 to make it to bedtime.

Other things that Ryan started doing this month were playing in his exersaucer and moved to 4 hour feedings. He had 2 trial days at the babysitter and started going full time this week! He is doing great there and we get good reports every day! I think he will love Tina just as much as Courtney does!

Book Projects with Courtney

Dan has gone back to school, so I wanted something special to do with Courtney each day so she didn't  feel like a third wheel to me and the baby. While he napped in the morning, we had a book that we read each day and then did a project. I saw this idea on pinterest, but didn't have the books, so I chose my own books and projects! 

If You Give a Pig a Pancake and making pancakes!

We used a clean ketchup bottle to squirt the batter on. We were able to make letters and shapes. Courtney thought that was pretty cool! 

Bartholomew and the Ooblek and making ooblek (warning: this book is sssuupppeerr long). 

Draw Me a Star and painting in Eric Carle style and practicing drawing stars. 

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and acting out the books with foam letters. 

Courtney put all the letters up "the coconut tree" in alphabetical order, then we shook the tree so they all fell out! She wanted to do this over and over!

July Water Day

Today was Water Day! Thanks to both my kids for taking good naps so I could blog about something the day it happened: a first! Courtney sees me getting things ready a few days in advance, so there is always lots of anticipation for her. She always has tons of fun with her friends and loves every minute of it! 

Getting to pour and spill your own bubbles is always fun!

Digging for ice treasures! Griff and Mitch worked on this for hours!

Polo enjoyed the blob!

Slip n slide n scream!

Water balloon baseball. Thanks Doug for being all-time pitcher!

Waiting for 60 water balloons to be pitched in baseball: too boring. Just go throw em at each other, kids!

Today's crew (minus 4). The babies weren't going to get wet!

Two cute babies holding hands. Reese and Ryan sound pretty cute together!!

Camp Farwesta Reunion 2012

This was Ryan's first year of Reunion! It was around 100 degrees every day, but overall he did great! There were so many babies this year, too. It was special for Courtney because she got to stay by herself with meemaw Frances in the cabin while Dan and I stayed with Ryan a few minutes away at her house.  She has never fallen asleep with anyone else in the same room as her so I was a little worried, but after a full day of playing, swimming, taking walks, not taking a nap, and 3 full meals cooked by the Twombly's, my mom said she never made a peep once they turned out the lights.  

Going on a nature walk with papa Gaylon. He told her the names of all kinds of leaves and plants that they brought back. She told me the names of all them on their return. She pulled out a stick with orange stuff on it and said that it was a "happy guy".  My dad had told her it was fungus or fungi (to a 4 year old you just said FUN GUY, which she remembered as happy guy). He loves to tell this story :)

Courtney walking with her class.  

Crafts!

Secrets with Gia. 

My God is so BIG!

This little light of mine. 

My mom's job at reunion is the laundry for all of the kitchen needs (aprons, towels, washclothes, oven mits, etc).  She does many loads a day starting at breakfast, ending at bedtime. The washing machine is in the back of the kitchen, so it's always a hopping place. Courtney LOVED to get to go help and probably steal a snack of some wonderful baked goodness that was lying around!

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Such a big helper!