4 MONTHS!!!

Ryder turned 4 months old, July 20th. That day marked more vaccinations and a weigh in. Yep, he's a healthy, huge, 18.25lbs!!! While last week marked a lot of "firsts" for Ryder, this week has been more about firsts for me.

For the first time since he was born, I have felt comfortable to leave the house while he is napping. I even got some weeding done, trusting the baby monitor for once. I finally went for a 5km jog, two nights in a row and I got back on my bike. I discovered that after 9 months of pregnancy and 4 months after giving birth, I am still able to vault on my horse bareback and I even went for a ride! I have been enjoying this new burst of energy and this small stage of letting go...a little!

Ryder did have some firsts this week too.

First time for nice enough weather to hang out on lawn with Scout!

First time wearing big cousin Max's hand me down Tonka shirt!!!

Not the first time for mamma's kisses.....but I posted the picture anyway...

He got his first "Sophie " the giraffe, whom he can hold and chew on!

First time stopping napping on the coffee table in the bouncy seat and started napping in his crib...in the bouncy seat, in his crib

he got his first "big boy" car seat (he has offcially outgrown the "bucket,") No pics of that though....

he went for his first bike ride in the chariot behind Marty's bike

First time surfing Kijiji for chain saws with Marty....and he learned to stick out his tongue, though I am not quick enough to get a pic of that yet.....

SO MUCH LOVE

I just put Ryder down to bed in his crib after staring at him in my arms for the last hour. Sometimes my heart just swells with so much love that I think it is going to burst! Sometimes I am so happy I wanna cry!! It is amazing how someone so small, can captivate us the way he can. Marty and I spent a long time this evening laying on our bed with Ryder between us just watching him. We were entertained forever admiring him as he grabbed the soother from Marty and attempted to put it in his own mouth. He was sometimes slow and methodical, staring at the right end of it before bringing it carefully down to his mouth, only to end up with the wrong part of it between his lips, leaving the "sucking" end to poke him in the nose. Other times he'd grab the soother from Marty and try the fast and furious approach, shoving it towards his face. Once in a while he'd actually achieve success resulting in cheers from both Marty and I. Just watching him think and figure things out is sooo cool.

16 WEEKS

Ryder's 16th week of life coincided with the infamous Calgary Stampede! The whole city was caught up in Country spirit and Ryder and I were no different. Our stampede spirit took us to the Farm to visit Dirt and soak up some authentic "country!"

My handsome little cowboy!

Ofcorse we did head down to the Stampede grounds so Ryder could check out all that is "Stampede!"

Ryder's 16th week of life was a busy one filled with FIRSTS!!! Mom and I took Ryder on his FIRST plane ride to Colorado to visit Aim, Max and Shane.

At the airport with Ryder

The plane was tiny, like crazy tiny! Good thing, Marty, wasn't with us, he never would have fit!! The roof was low, the aisle was tight, the seats were miniscule, they didn't even recline and the bathroom was built for a midget!! I noticed right away that there was no change table in the bathroom. The ride was only 2 hours so I crossed my fingers and hoped Ryder wouldn't have any major need for a diaper change until we landed. HA!!!! Three very full diapers later we landed in Denver!! A diaper change on a plane, in a bathroom with no change table looks a little like this: Me on kneeling on the floor holding onto Ryder who is balanced on the toilet lid with his head hanging over the edge. Mom standing in the aisle of the plane with the bathroom door open armed with wipes, diapers, vaseline, blanket and other accessories necessary for a diaper change. I opened the first diaper and like a surgen calling to his nurse, I hollered to mom, "more wipes...and keep 'em coming..." It was a messy job, but we handled it quick and made our way back to our seats. Not 5 minutes later, we found oursleves back in the bathroom, changing the second VERY FULL diaper. After returning to our seats, Ryder puked on mom, and promptly followed that with a loud grunt, a beet red face and another full diaper!! Mom and I made the collective decision to wait until we landed before tackling our third poopy diaper in 2 hours.

Aim met us at the airport and drove us to her home where Shane met Ryder for the first time

and we got to hug Max!!! We spent the next three days soaking up the Colorado sunshine, Max's happy babbling, his loud laughter, very muddy hands and lots of sisterly love!!! It was in Colorado that Ryder experienced many of his "firsts...."

The highlight of the weekend, was the time we spent swimming in Aim's neighbours pool. Carol is a 77 year old woman who lives down the street. At the beginning of summer she sends out invitations, inviting the neighbourhood children to swim at her pool. If her back gate is open, the pool is OPEN!!!

Aim, Max, Ryder and I in the warm pool on a hot day!

This was Ryder's FIRST time swimming!

I was too chicken to dunk Ryder, so Aim volunteered to do it. First time being dunked!

Gramma bought him the cutest swim trunks!! FIRST swim trunks!

Carol had a floatie the perfect size for a 16 week old Baby! Ryder's first pool floatie!!

Aim bought his "swim shirt." Adorable!! FIRST swim shirt!

There was a hammock in Aim's yard. Looks like Ryder is sitting in it by himself, but he's on Aim's lap. First hammock!!

We went to the park every morning. Ryder even got to try out his FIRST swing!!!

Ryder also decided it was time to start "standing." He felt like such a big boy. First time "walking."

Mom bought the boys matching PJs!! FIRST matching PJs!!!!

Mom spent all weekend soaking up all that it means to be a "GRANDMA!!"

Thanks, Aim for an awesome weekend!!!

PS not sure how to make this underlining stop......

15 WEEKS

This week, Ryder went to the zoo for the first time. He slept through most of the visit, but I got to see elephants, the new baby giraffe, Jengo, and the hippos! We ate lunch in the sunshine with some friends at a picnic table by the elephants and we bought a season's pass.

He woke up as we were leaving. This photo is taken at the gate as we left the zoo...

Ryder also got to see his Grandmas and his Grandpa.

Ryder on the deck with Grandpa

Grandma T got to bath Ryder

Ryder got to snuggle with Grandma J

Check out that bald head...Ryder's not mom's LOL

Ryder got to see his first cowboy hats as the boys got ready for Stampede!

And he got babysat by his Auntie Dic and Uncle Farn. This was a HUGE deal..for me, not so much for Ryder. I was attending a photography workshop with mom. We were going to learn to take pictures of horses. I was excited for the clinic, but a very nervous mom. I have not left Ryder for any length of time at all and I have not left him with anyone but Marty for more than an hour. I had pumped milk, showed Nic and Troy how to use the baby bjorn, the car seat, where the soothers, diapers and wipes were and made them PROMISE to answer all of my crazy "how's it going?" texts. Still, I had troubles walking out the door. Turns out, they couldn't wait for me to leave so they could have fun with their nephew. Once at the clinic, during introductions, I made sure everyone knew I was a new mom, leaving my son with babysitters for the first time and that if I was distracted or checking my phone I was not intentionally being rude, I was just being a new mom. I got several texts over the four hours each one accompanied by a photo of the fun the Farns were having wiht their nephew....gotta admit, the pics made me laugh. I was actually able to enjoy the photo clinic, knowing Ryder was in fun hands!

GROSS!!

Have you ever squeezed your nose together and been stabbed by a sharp booger?? That is what happened to me on the way to the Farm tonight. Scout and I were heading out for our "girl time," going to ride Dirt Face, when I itched my nose and got poked with the jagged edge of a booger. Irritated, I started digging. Yep, digging in my nose like a 5 year old, trying to scrape out this giant, pointy piece of snot. I had made very little progress by the time I reached the farm, so abandoned the mission. We had a great time running through the fields away from mosquitos. Scout and I got back in the truck, memories of the contents of my nose replaced by those of happy horse riding. I pulled onto the main road and my nose memories came flooding back, literally! Blood began gushing out of my one nostril. I squashed my hand against my face, trying to catch the blood and looked frantically for a place to pull over! As soon as I could, I pulled into a driveway, rummaged through my console for kleenex, relieved that I had some and began the task of trying to open the mini dollar store packages of tissue. Those things are sealed up like Fort Knox...at least they seem like it when your trying to open them with one hand. Eventually I had to grab an empty ziplock bag, and let my nose drip into that so that I could pull my hand away from my face and use it to help my left hand with the stupid plastic around the kleenex! By the time the whole "crisis" was done, I had blood on my shirt, spread across my face, all over both hands and in a ziplock bag! Ewwwwwwwww! Thank God it all that blood was from a nose bleed and not anything serious!!

Lesson Learned: Don't Pick your nose! Not when your 5 and not when your 35!!!!!!

14 WEEKS

At 14 weeks old, Ryder went on his first camping trip! It was the "Maiden Voyage"in our "new to us" holiday trailer too! We headed west of Sundre with some really good friends to find the perfect camp spot! We drove down dusty gravel roads until we came to a beautiful spot right by a river. We cut out own fire wood and had the BEST time!!

Happy Canada Day!!!!!

We all got tattoos for Canada Day, even Ryder!

Made in Canada!!

Just before we left, I bought a chariot from a teacher at my school. (She gave us a great deal on it.) We brought it camping, it handled the rough terrain great!!

Some of us sat in lawn chairs, some of us sat in Bumbos!!

Ryder was sooo easy to take camping, especially since his food is very portable!! Here I am feeding him at the Big Horn Falls!

He is big enough to face out in the Baby Bjorn now!! His hat was a little too big, so I had to fold it up so he could see, but that meant his face got a little sun, ooops.

Happy Camper!!

Happy Family!!! Scout ditched us to hang with the kids that came camping with us. I am sure she felt like she was in heaven with all the kids throwing balls and sticks for her!!

Now that he's got it figured out, the Jolly Jumper goes everywhere with us, even out west!!

Ryder was a natural little camper!! He just "rolled" with everything we did! He would fall asleep in the arms of one of the kids at the fire pit, then around midnight, I'd feed him and put him to sleep in the bouncy seat on the floor right by our bed. I wanted him in our bed, but Marty insisted this Queen size mattress was too small for the three of us. We started with him on the other bed, you know the "table turned into bed" but he was right under the window and when I checked on him, his little hands were freezing!! I tried to sneak him into our bed, but Marty woke up and wouldn't let that happen..party pooper! LOL Anyway, I set him in the bouncy seat, wrapped in blankets, right beside Scout, who was in her own bed right by the door. We all slept super well the first night!!! The second night, after sooo much fresh air, Ryder James slept for 7.5 hours straight!!!!! That is the first time that has ever happened!!! Was it the bouncy seat?? The company of Scout right beside him? The fresh air? I don't know but it was amazing!!!!! I did NOT sleep for 7.5 hours. I still woke up at 1 and 3 and 5 am wondering if he was still breathing! By 7:38am, when he finally stirred my boobs were soooo hard, I thought they were gonna pop right off my body! Thank God he was ready to eat!!!! Last night, after we got home, I was sooo tempted to just put him back to sleep in the bouncy chair, but, I didn't. He slept in his crip for 5 hours straight, which is still pretty good for my hungry little man!!!

All in all, the camping trip was so much fun!! I can't wait to go again!!!