Flap Jacks

Rhodes at his 6 week checkup today.

I was right, he has done some growing.  At his 2 week checkup he was 10th percentile in everything. He is 6 weeks today and his stats are as follows: 

• Weight: 10 lb 4 oz - 50th percentile
• Height: 22.5 inches - 75th percentile  

He's a growing boy!

I mentioned his chronic spitting up and she asked if he was fussy, I said no, not really.  So she said they call that "happy spitters" and there is really nothing wrong, so no need for medicine.  Let me just show you what I look like at least 18 of the 24 hours in the day:

Yep, he just spews it out and then passes right out like nothing even happened...

The doctor also asked me if he was smiling at me a lot.  I told her that he's not, only when he's filling up his diaper, like right now:

Maybe this one was real.  Maybe.

I can't explain how much Ryder makes me laugh.  He's friggin' hilarious.  Sunday I was in the living room feeding Rhodes.  I realized I hadn't heard Ryder making any noise until I heard him yelling out something about "a log" and "all by myself."  I jump up and follow the voices to find him in the bathroom, on the toilet, looking in at his "prize."  He says,  "Mama, look it's a log!  But sometimes my friends call it a snake!"  

I took one look -- and I'll spare you the photo (oh yeah I took one and emailed it to John Michael because it was out of this world!) -- it could've made it in the book of world records.  That child.

I've taken both boys out and about by myself several times, but when I have the option for help, I don't hesitate.  So it worked out where Kayla could join us for a Target trip Sunday.  Thank gosh.  Between a couple blowouts, projectile vomiting, and a cranky toddler, the help was much needed and appreciated.

We used the family dressing room so Kayla, Ryder, myself and Rhodes in the stroller could all fit.  Ryder wanted to hold on to my dressing room number (the card that tells how many items you are trying on).  That crazy boy - he looked at us and said, "Guys, I'm going to put this number in my pocket for safe-keeping."  Word for word.  Safe keeping, huh?

And he's totally into the show Little Bear.  So apparently we are the bear family now.  When he wants something from JM he calls out to "father bear."  He calls me mother bear, he calls Rhodes baby bear, and he calls himself little bear.  There is one episode where father bear and little bear make "flapjacks" for mother bear (these are pancakes), and Ryder has seen this episode several times.  Tonight I told him we were going to make flapjacks and he got real excited.

He said, "OK, Mom, now go to sleep.  Me and father bear are going to make flapjacks for you, OK MOM?"  He then dragged me back to his bedroom and made me lay down.  Then he told me to turn off the light and go to sleep (all this happens on the show).  So then I heard him go into the kitchen saying, "Father bear, we need a bowl, some milk and a plate, OK FATHER BEAR?"  "Father bear, we are making flapjacks for mother bear, ok?  Mother bear is resting and we are going to surprise her, OK?"

---------------------

My absolute least favorite chore is unloading the dishwasher.  Now that Rhodes is here, Ryder wants to help with everything Rhodes, plus all household chores.  He requested to help me unload the dishwasher.

He had a comment for each dish.  "This bowl is for lettuce.  This bowl is for cereal.  This plate is for muffins.  This coffee cup is for adults."

My second least favorite chore is making the bed.  I pulled the sheets out of the dryer and Mr. Clean showed up out of nowhere.  "What are you doing mama, making the bed?  I can help you."

No need for a maid around here.


Ryder loves cereal, but the only kind he eats is Raisin Bran.  While I was grocery shopping the other day I saw these little mini boxes and knew Ryder would be in cereal heaven, so I got them.

He chose Apple Jacks

I picked Ryder up early from school the other day and we went to the library.

He couldn't choose which computer game he wanted to play, he was back and forth, back and forth.

And he got to pick 4 books to check out.  He has memorized one of them already.  Like literally read the entire book to me.  Obviously he can't read, he just memorizes words to books.  When I read him books each night, sometimes I'll skip over words to hurry it up.  Oh no, not happening.  Ryder calls me out in a split second. NO, NO, NO mama, and then he repeats the sentence but with all the words, including the ones I left out.  He has the memory of a ___________ (whatever that saying is).

I was putting Ryder down the other night and heard Rhodes screaming in his room.  Ryder said, "Can I go check on the baby?"  I told him that was fine.  By the time we got in there JM was already rocking him.  Ryder wanted to rock too and "sleep in Rhodes' room."

Morning #2 of fun cereal picks:  Cocoa Krispies!  Ryder was beyond thrilled when he realized the milk turned into chocolate.

After breakfast, Weatherman Ryder gave his report on Hurricane Isaac.

Last story, promise.

Ryder moved into a real bed last November, 10 months ago.  In 10 months he has never gotten out of his bed after we've put him down.  I don't know if he is scared or what.  But bless his heart.  The other morning JM was already at work, Rhodes was sleeping in his crib and I was sleeping in my bed.  JM had slept with Ryder the night before so his monitor was not on in our room.  All the sudden I hear little pitter patter feet coming into my room.  I thought I was dreaming... then I opened my eyes and saw Ryder's sweet little face with a huge grin.  It's the same face he gets when he has done something new, and he's not sure if it's okay or not.  I looked at the clock at it was 8:30 a.m., no telling how long he had been awake calling my name before he took the big plunge and got out of the bed.

Needless to say, he's found a new trick and made a habit out.  Today while I was at the doctor with Rhodes, JM came home because Ryder was napping and I didn't want to wake him up to take to the appointment.  I got an email from JM with this picture and the caption, "I heard the door rattling."

It's that face again... it's like ummm.. I got up... is that okay?

Homemade Fun

Rhodes was 1 month on August 19.

As of today he is 5 weeks old and:

• is finally stretching out to 4.5 hours during the night (may not seem like a lot but after not budging past 3 hours the past 5 weeks it's nice).
• is most content being held.  But will nap pretty good, it just takes a lot to get him down now.  I have let him cry it out a couple of times for about ten minutes before he finally fell asleep.
• still sleeping in bassinet in our room, but getting too long for it.
• is super alert, looks around the room a lot, loves looking at lights.
• grunts more than any human being I've even known.
• we ran out of newborn pampers the other night and opened some huggies... he does not have the booty for huggies, pees right through them. 
• still in newborn diapers
• when he takes a pumped bottle or the occasional formula bottle, he takes 4 oz.
• loves to eat, does not miss a meal.
• still hasn't intentionally smiled at us, only when he tee tee's.
• has blue eyes for now.
• officially too long for his little gowns, luckily I found a couple that are just super long so they still fit.  Those are a must for late night diaper changes.

Enjoying the fresh air.

One of Rhodes' first times to hang out on the back porch.

Tuesday I took Ryder and Rhodes to Yazoo City to shop and visit Nanni at work.  Ryder thought he was something else when he took over this empty office.  He kept saying he had to go to work and would sneak back there and "call people" and use his notepad.

Ryder doing his first homework.  I remembered for him to do it right before we walked out the door for school.  Good thing he's a smarty and whipped it right up!

All Ryder's toys are packed up so we have to improvise with homemade fun.

Probably won't be making it to many games this season, so we had our own Maroon Friday at home.

My mom's brother Bill passed away on Monday and we went to Starkville for the funeral on Thursday.  It's such a sad time for my grandmother.  My grandmother has 9 children, including my mom.  Even though she has bouts of dementia, she understands that she had to bury her son and it's just so sad.  I have 17 first cousins from those 9 children and we all were able to make it to his funeral.  Two left before we were able to take this picture.

We weren't going to bring the boys, but my mom wanted us to for my grandmother.  I'm glad we did.  They did really well and they gave my grandmother something to smile about.

I looove my mom and sister :)

Kayla and my cousin Micki, like another little sister.

Stuck Like Glue

Ryder hasn't gotten much blog-love the past few posts, so this is Ryder-filled.

-When Ryder is trying to resist bedtime, he really knows how to stall.  One of his favorite excuses not to go to bed is he'll say he's either hungry or thirsty.  I will tell him that it's late and he's neither hungry nor thirsty.  So he'll lift up his shirt and say, "But mama, my tummy said it was hungry and my mouth said it was thirsty."  He knows how to talk his way into anything.

-If Rhodes is anywhere close to Ryder and throws his arm back and it barely touches Ryder, Ryder will yell, RHODES HIT ME MAMA!!!!!

-When Ryder asks for something "special" like a cookie or popsicle or something and I say yes, he gets the sweetest look and says, "I just love you mama."

-The new thing when he wants to show us something, "Hey - check it out"

Rhodes attempts tummy time, but for the most part he falls asleep during it.  He's been good at moving his head side to side since the beginning, but he doesn't like to hold that head up for very long.

Love watching them together.

Like big, like little.  Loves that TV, oh dear.

Me, Kristen and Melanie had a little play date with the babies.  Tate is 3 months, Emerson 3 weeks, Rhodes 4 weeks.

Meet our son, Al Sharpton

See the resemblance?

Ryder remembers everything we say.  We have to be so careful.  Here are some things we've told him before and he was sure to let us know he didn't forget it.  

1.  We have told him, "If you watch too much TV your brain will rot."

So now every time I tell him to pick out a show he'll start yelling out that he doesn't want his brain to rot and he asks how many shows he can watch where his brain won't rot.  He'll say, I want to watch nine shows, is that a lot?  Then, when John Michael was watching a golf tournament the other day Ryder started getting upset and told him, "If you watch too much golf turnip, your brain will rot daddy!!!!

2.  We have told him, "If your tee tee is yellow, you need to drink some more water."

So every time he uses the bathroom and it's yellow he'll yell out, "SOMEBODY FIX ME SOME WATER, MY TEE TEE IS YELLOW!!!"  Or if it's clear he'll say, "I don't need any water, my tee tee is clear."

3.  When choosing something to drink we will tell him, "Just pick one, and don't change your mind." (Many times I'll get out the juice if that's what he wants and then after I've started pouring it he'll say he wants milk.) 

So, when he does this I'll give him this look of disapproval and he'll say "I'm sorry mama, did I swap my mind?" (meaning change his mind).

4.  And God forbid you say the word stupid.  We got on to him once for saying it, and it's really bit us in the butt!  He has called out people he doesn't even know before. 

Ryder says:  "DID YOU SAY STUPID?  We don't say stupid.  You are in trouble.  Come here and let me give you a pop pop and you are going to time out."

----------------

I told Ryder no more cookies and left the room for a second.  Came back to find Ryder had dragged the chair across the kitchen so he could reach the cookie box.

Then we went outside because Ryder wanted to "explore."  He has a huge imagination, huge!!!  This particular "exploration" was Ryder pulling leaves off this tree, and bringing them back to me.  He said the leaves were types of fish and he named each type.  Just to name a few, he brought me a hammer log fish, snake fish, daddy fish and grandpa fish.

Telling me what's what.

Rhodes was 4 weeks on Thursday, August 16.

Stuck like glue!

Rhodes is still sleeping in our room at night in the bassinet.  Not sure when we'll move him to his crib.  But at this point, as long as he is sleeping good in our room, I'm happy having him in here.  I don't want to walk across the house to get him every 3 hours to feed.  I'm too tired for all that.  I swaddle his body at night to keep him warm. (I just snapped this pic, it's currently 1:20 a.m.).  He likes his arms out though.  I have this cow blanket down beneath him because he just spewed spit up all over his white sheet.  Oh well.  Not the first time, and certainly not the last I'm sure.

Rhodes is a good baby and for that I am so happy.  Where he makes me most proud is middle of the night situation.  After those late feedings, for the most part he goes right back to sleep after I feed him.  He doesn't require a lot of rocking, soothing and bopping around to get him back to sleep.  I hold him upright over my shoulder for about 15 minutes to make sure he's done burping/spitting up and then I just wrap him back up and lay him down and he's out.

But the 8-9ish feedings are a different story.  He's grunting up a storm, crying, wiggling around, and very hard to get to fall asleep.  We try letting him cry for a little while but it doesn't let down so usually feeding him a little bit does the trick.

I only feed Rhodes for about 15 minutes total and he's obviously getting enough because he makes it 3-4 hours to the next feeding.  I can remember feeding Ryder for nearly 40 minutes and then spending about another hour getting him to fall asleep.  This is working much better for my middle of the night crankiness!

------------------

Thursday night we went to our first post-baby dinner with some friends.  It was short and sweet but I missed my babies!!!  My mom and Kayla came over to watch the boys and gave us a few hours out of the house, it was very nice!

Ryder seeing us off

Me, Lindsey, Jessica and Melanie

Saturday morning was spent packing... and packing.  Of course Ryder wanted to help in any way he could.

Taking a color break.

Then a popsicle break.

Following this photo, these two went to the hardware store.  Ryder said something to the cashier and she looked at JM and said, "Aww he has such nice manners."  Then she pulled Ryder's hat up to get a better look at him and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, SHE."  

JM said, "No, he's a boy."

...He has on camo shorts, a tonka truck shirt and a BASEBALL CAP!!!

-----------------

One last thought.  Rhodes could not look more different in each picture that I take.
This does not look like my child.

Finally getting some time outside, it actually felt decent the other night.

Changing the subject, see the blogpost below for Rhodes' newborn pictures!