Celebrating 9 months

Taking advantage of the "snow/ice" day on Friday, daycare being closed, and the doctor's office being close to home we moved up Ralph's 9-month check-up. Not surprisingly they had some cancellations. Based on the chart's Ralph is a tall, skinny boy. He is 29" tall and weighs 18 pounds 4 ounces. He only had two shots but reacted like there was four or five - luckily we had plenty of time to compose ourselves before living the exam room and he was all smiles by the time the receptionist saw us.

Ralph is still tummy crawling (swimming) and gets to where he needs to go just fine moving this way. He has mostly moved on to the stage 3 baby foods. I won't say we can brag about his sleeping habits again but the last three nights he has gone to bed between 7-7:30 pm and we haven't hardly heard a peep out of him until 6-6:30 am. One afternoon he was quite talkative babbling about "ba-ba" and his bottle was nearby but I haven't heard him carrying on much like that since and I'm not sure if he was just making sounds or if he knew what he was talking about. Ralph is still waiting for "his two(front) bottom teeth"- the doctor says they are in but the gum around them is swollen so we'll keep waiting until we can see them.

Ralph's "funny" thing we picked up on this month is the way he holds out his arm. He'll stick his right arm up and turn his palm up toward the sky - kind of like he's holding a serving tray or saying "ta-da". We are not quite sure what he's trying to tell us - it doesn't seem to consistently correlate to anything - but it is funny. In the last few days he has started to lift both arms up - kind of like "touchdown". I don't think anyone is encouraging the "so big" game yet so I'm not sure where that is coming from.

Just Because

I really have nothing to say about this one. I had to post it - just because. Today was the first morning we caught him leaning on his hand. He did it about three times - Mike was making breakfast, I was cleaning some dishes, and Ralph was at the edge of the kitchen watching. He looks like he is still a little tuckered but he just woke up from 11 hours of sleep.

Holiday traditions

Ralph did visit the Santa from the Star City Holiday Parade at the beginning of the month. I'll spare everyone from seeing that photo but you can only imagine how the first Santa visit went. If Ralph would have had more time to warm up to Santa it would have gone a little better.

Another yearly tradition I hope to start is making candyhouses. I enlisted the help of some young friends a few years ago but they moved away and I haven't had any helpers since then. Now I have one in the same house. This year we decorated a mini house. Ralph intently watched as I decorated the house. Once in a while his curiosity got the better of him and he reached out to touch the house - and towards the end he was too quick for me and may have gotten a little taste of the frosting.

Merry Christmas!

Celebrating 8 months

Ralph's new "thing" today is a noise I can't quite replicate. Other than the new noise, it was a pretty uneventful day. It's been a pretty good week as Ralph has gotten back into the habit of sleeping all night - a habit we hope will continue for awhile. We stopped counting how many nights we woke up in the middle of the night.

Ralph has been making some progress sleeping in his crib for naps. He/we/daycare had gotten into the habit of letting him nap in the bouncy seat or swing and we are all trying to get him to nap in his crib more.

I wouldn't say he has mastered all the stage 2 baby foods but he has tried them all. He has also tried real banana and mashed potatoes. Daycare has started feeding him twice a day. Some nights go better than others depending on how tired he is. Ralph is more than willing to put almost anything in his mouth but this evening I tried to give him a little piece of bread and he looked at me like I had two heads. He likes trying to drink out of a small cup, plays around with a sippy cup - easily gets it into his mouth but hasn't quite figured out how to drink out of it, and likes to "drink" from cups with straws - once again, he doesn't quite have that sucking action down so he gums the straw for a bit.

Ralph's teeth are still keeping themselves hidden. It looks like there's some progress but nothing is popping through yet.

Squirming and More

The other day I thought Ralph was a long ways from crawling until I had a chance to watch him yesterday. He is not crawling in the traditional sense yet and he doesn't quite do a combat crawl but he can squirm around to reach whatever it is he has his sights on.

After months of waiting, teething has progressed a little more. As much as he was drooling months ago, people kept suggesting he was teething but no teeth came. It doesn't seem like he is excessively drooling but there have been changes in his gumline, his cheeks have a rosy glow to them, he has developed a slight drool rash under his lips, he is pushing his lips more with his tongue making all kinds of funny faces, and he has changed his sleeping to include putting a thumb or fingers in his mouth and "talking" in his sleep as he battles through the discomfort. It's only a matter of time . . . .

Ralph's coughing spells continue which could be contributed in part to excessive saliva. He has also developed a exaggerated fake cough and blinks his eyes . . .and then smiles like its funny. If Ralph is cranky and a little fussy we can make this coughing sound a few times and he changes his mood because he thinks its funny.

Ralph and Michael have started playing "catch." When Ralph is playing in the exosaucer we usually put extra toys on the tray. He'll play with them until they "accidentally" fall over the side . . .and then Ralph tries to peek over the side to look for whatever landed on the floor. Yesterday Michael picked up one of the balls and threw it back on the tray and Ralph in turn "threw" it back to Mike. . . .well, he threw it and it landed on the floor but he did throw it in the general direction. I think Ralph kept enough interest long enough for at least 10 tosses.

Happy Halloween!

The pumpkin was carved last week. I think Ralph cared more about the newsletter the pumpkin was laying on but he humored us while we carved it.

Our little pumpkin had a few different Halloween outfits to wear to daycare this week and was all decked out for Trick or Treating as a dinosaur.

Celebrating 7 months

Who can't help but love this little man? What an innocent look.

Milestones in the last month include sitting tall, eating more veggies and trying fruit, and moving in a circular motion. Tonight, Ralph tried pears. They went over better than bananas and peaches but I've never seen him make such a face while clinching his fists.

Ralph's newest "likes" include being rolled over and over on the couch or bed by Mike or I. He likes grabbing nearly anything - mostly hair and glasses - and trying to drink out of a straw. He also likes giving raspberries but usually only when he's really tired.

His "dislikes" in the past month only began last week with the switch to formula at daycare . . . I'm not sure if there's a correlation at all but with the switch he started to consume less milk/formula than usual and has started to wake up during the night.

We are still waiting for his first teeth to come in - as well as more hair.

Ralph takes a vacation

Ralph had the chance to meet some of Mike's parents kin in Missouri/Kansas over the weekend. This was his first trip to both Kansas and Missouri, his first overnight stay in a hotel, and first three-hour car ride. Like the rest of us he got a little antsy in the car after awhile but he was a pretty good little traveler.



Some folks may look up local attractions when visiting a city . . .I look for the nearest Chick-Fil-A. We found a Chick-Fil-A for lunch one day . . . and somehow ended up right around the corner at suppertime and had to stop again. Ralph had a good time eating his green beans . . .someday he'll get his own chicken strips.

An ever changing Ralph

In the past week Ralph has turned into a little motorboat - it really just started the last couple of days. He sounded like his engine was stalling initially but can get it going pretty well now - sometimes its just his lips; other times his tongue is involved. I tried to get a quick video of it but he was a little to distracted by the phone.

Ralph has mastered green beans and has moved onto carrots. He is really getting into eating and has his mouth open way before the food is close to his mouth. Can't wait until we get through the veggies so he can sample the fruits.

Grandpa and Ralph practiced rolling over and over the other day but Ralph has not tried it on his own yet. Ralph has spent the last couple of evenings hanging out with his uncles. Don't tell anyone, I think Ralph likes all the attention.

6-month check-up report

A week ago Monday Ralph went in for his 6-month check-up. All is well. He weighed in at 15 pounds 11 ounces and measured 27 inches long. He seemed to handle the shots a little better this time around and stopped crying not long after the last needle was pulled.

Ralph goes back next month for a booster flu shot and then again just before Christmas for his 9-month check up.

Celebrating 6 months

Where has the last 6 months gone? It is hard to believe the little guy is celebrating 6 months. Sometimes it seems like only yesterday we were anticipating his arrival. . . and we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Wait - I'm still not sure if we know what we got ourselves into. Everyday we learn a little more about each other and Ralph continues to amaze us.

We attempted to get 6 month photos done yesterday . . . .Apparently Ralph had already given out his quota of smiles for the day because he would not smile for the pictures. Determined to get some decent photos we made our own photo studio this morning. He was still a little stingy with the smiles but these are better than the ones he took last night.

Ralph's daycare sheet noted yesterday "Ralph laughed really hard at his friends". Would be interesting to see what he does all day but glad to know he has a good time with his friends. He enjoys the lady who watches him most of the day - he greets her with a smile and sometimes tells her all about his evening.

He is starting to roll over all the way more, is getting better at sitting up, has fun in the exosaucer, and likes to stand with help. He stood on the pew ahead of us at church tonight and he thought that was pretty cool.

Ralph food repertoire has grown from rice cereal to rice cereal and squash. Tomorrow we will try a new vegetable . . . hmmn, green beans or peas?? He seemed to enjoy squash.

Our great little night sleeper was having trouble sleeping the other week. Luckily (I hope) we are over that hurdle and we can enjoy his 10-11 hours of sleep a night again. Unfortunately, his naps are nothing to brag about though . . . I'm not sure what we are going to do when he outgrows the bouncy seat and swing.

Playing hooky

Ralph has been playing hooky from daycare for the past two days with another fever/cold. He is doing much better today and will be returning tomorrow. This afternoon he has been showing his mobility and definitely does not stay on his blanket for too long. He FINALLY has rolled from his tummy to back by himself though it does not come too naturally yet. He is using his legs and scooting himself along on his stomach.

He is also sitting up for very short periods of time using his arms as anchors.

Cute Oufit

Ralph has almost outgrown this outfit but its one worth sharing.

Celebrating 5 months

Ralph celebrated his 5 month birthday last week. It is incredible to think about how much has happened in the last 5 months - and how much more will happen in the next 5 years.

Ralph has had a busy past month. He visited the Lincoln Children's Zoo for a quick visit. He also made a trip to Omaha to visit relatives and meet his newest cousin.

In addition to playing on his tummy, Ralph is spending time in his exersaucer; looking at the world from a different point of view. He also likes to look at "the boy in the mirror."



Ralph has been sampling rice cereal for almost a month but has started to eat it with a little more success in the past week. Soon we will move on to veggies, yum.

After a few days of coming home from daycare in a different outfit than he started with in the morning we decided to move Ralph into size 3 diapers. Hopefully we won't be doing as much laundry now.

Ralph is still a great sleeper at night and likes the sleep sack as much as he liked being swaddled.

He has found his toes and decided they are as much fun to eat as thumbs and fingers.

Welcome

Welcome to the Wichs blog. I almost named it "Wich Weekly" but wasn't sure it would be updated weekly. Please check back every couple of weeks to see the newest updates on Ralph and the rest of the family.