In the last few weeks, Ryder has completely mastered rolling in both directions. He rolls from tummy to back and from back to tummy with great ease. At night (and in the morning before I go get him), he travels ALL OVER his crib. Every time I check the video monitor, he is in a different position and location: on his tummy at the top of his crib, on his back at the bottom of the crib, then on his side in the middle of the crib.
Ryder can now find his own pacifier and stick it in his mouth. He usually has to play with it for a few minutes to try to find the correct end to stick in his mouth, but he can do it. As all parents know, this is a really nice development because they no longer have to depend on us 100% to "plug them up."
Ryder is such a good self-soother now that he can find his own pace and more importantly, now that we let him sleep with his lovey. If Ryder is sleepy and you hand him the lovey, he rolls onto his side, pulls the lovey to his face, and is asleep within seconds. I've got a true lovey-lover. And truth be told, mom and dad pretty much love the lovey too. Anything that puts my kid to sleep is a winner in my book.
Ryder can almost sit unassisted. My guess is that he'll master this milestone within the next month.
Ryder is FINALLY bearing some weight on his feet. Until the past week or so, if you held Ryder up in a "standing" position, his legs would just turn into jello and he would whine and slump down. The Labovitz clan (who watch him after school 3 times a week), and Darcy in particular, have been working with him on this issue. Darcy showed me how she lays him down, pulls him by his arms into a sitting position (kind of like the "sit-ups" that I described in an old post, which were used to help him develop his neck strength), and then continues to pull him by his arms into a standing position. At first, he wouldn't bear weight, but babies don't like to dangle from their arms, so he figured out how to balance on his feet pretty quickly. Now, when you do this exercise with him, he instantly bears weight and will "stand" (while you hold him by his hands or under his armpits) for an extended period of time. Bravo little man!
Ryder has not yet showed any signs of or interest in crawling. Although he does tolerate some tummy-time now, especially since he can easily roll himself back onto his back, he does not pull up onto his hands and knees. His neck and upper body strength are improving, which is a step in the right direction, but it may still be a while before he crawls (or even army crawls or scoots). This is fine by me, as I'm in no hurry to have a mobile baby. Even though Ryder can roll, he doesn't roll across the room or move more than a foot or two in any one direction. It's nice to be able to walk in the next room for a minute and know that Ryder will be right where I left him when I come back.
Ryder still enjoys the jumperoo for short periods of time but can still barely reach the floor with his feet. We put a pillow underneath, but his legs are still too short for much leverage. He is starting to bounce a tiny bit when he is excited though. I'm sure this development is linked to the fact that he is starting to bear weight on his feet.
Here are some random pictures from the last few weeks:
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| During one of Grandi's treasured visits |
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| Grandi and Ryder |
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| Chillin' in the pool at Great Uncle R and Aunt Linda's house |
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| At cousin Elizabeth's 4th birthday party. The fact that Ro, BudMo, Ryder and mommy all wore blue... pure coincidence (but it made for some cute pictures!) |
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| BudMo and Ryder |
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| Even though Ryder's not in it, still think this mother-daughter picture is blog-worthy |
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| My family (minus Gaudi) |
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| Daddy and Ryder in the pool at Amanda and Sean's house |
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