St. Louis Saga: Part 1 of 3

The first weekend in October, we traveled to St. Louis for the first time as a family of three.  In other words, it was Ryder's first trip to St. Louis.  We left on Thursday evening and planned to return on Sunday evening.  Blake's mom and dad had planned an open-house style, meet-and-greet party for Ryder since none of their friends had met him yet.  We were all very excited about the big weekend, especially the party which was destined to be quite a bash.  What should be a simple blog post about the weekend festivities, must now be split into a three-part chronicle of epic proportions.

Part 1: The Party

The flight to St. Louis on Thursday evening was decent.  Blake rates Ryder's behavior as a "C," but I'd give him a "C+".  It was better than the hellish flight home from Florida several months ago (see previous blog post for a recount of that picnic), but it was by no means a walk in the park.  We knew it would be risky to take a flight after Ryder's bed time, but we also knew that any flight time would be risky, no matter what time of day, so we just went with it.  Ryder didn't sleep a wink and was a bit fussy, antsy and even spastic at times, but he didn't have any major screaming meltdowns.  We made it to Blake's childhood home without significant incident, and Ryder went right to sleep, like a little angel, in his pack-n-play.  We enjoyed the day on Friday, which included lunch with Blake's cousin and his new wife (who we hadn't met).  My parents arrived in St. Louis that day (they didn't want to miss out on Ryder's meet-and-greet party the following day).  It was an uneventful day filled with quality time with family.  On Friday night, Randi and Larry graciously offered to stay home with the sleeping baby so that Blake and I could go out with some of Blake's friends.  We had a great time having a grown-up night out.  We enjoyed the grub and some adult beverages but especially enjoyed the company of the Schweizers (whose son is a few months younger than Ryder) and the Klenofskys (who are expecting twins in 2013).  Poor Sara K. had to excuse herself early due to hellish, all-day pregnancy sickness, but otherwise, we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. 

On Saturday, everyone woke up early to get ready for the big party.  Randi expected somewhere in the vicinity of 75 guests at the party, which was scheduled between 11-2pm (in hopes that the party would fall between Ryder's morning and afternoon nap).  Randi and Chuck had planned a beautiful, over-the-top celebration.  A huge cupcake stand was filled with adorably decorated mini-cupcakes, iced in blues, greens and yellows.  A caterer set up a delicious lunch spread, including tuna salad, a grilled chicken salad, pasta salad, fruit, bagels, etc.  The caterer and his servers stayed to serve drinks and tend to the party guests.  Naturally, Randi made sure that every detail was perfect.  There were beautiful flower displays and adorable baby-themed decorations.  My in-laws certainly know how to host a spectacular event.  Ryder looked adorable in his big-boy outfit (pictures to follow, of course), and guests started to arrive promptly at 11am. 

The party itself went swimmingly.  Randi and Chuck's friends are so sweet, fun and generous.  They (quite unnecessarily) showered Ryder with gifts.  Ryder was pretty much a rock star.  Despite having a decent morning nap, he became very sleepy within the first hour, but despite his obvious exhaustion, he let me tote him around to meet all of the guests without so much as a gripe.  By 12pm he had his head permanently rested on my shoulder, paci glued to his mouth and heavy eyelids.  Nonetheless, he "marched" on.  It was fun to see Randi and Chuck's friends, most of whom I hadn't seen since my wedding day.  Several of Blake's friends came as well, many of them bringing their own babies along.  At some point, guilt started to nag at me because I knew that Ryder was desperate for a nap.  At around 1:15p.m., I gave in and put Ryder down for a nap upstairs.  I felt badly that a few guests would still come by and wouldn't get to meet him, but I simply couldn't force the sleepy little babe to stay up any longer.  I returned downstairs to the party, sans the guest of honor, and continued to visit with all of the wonderful St. Louis folk.  It was nothing but peaches and cream until approximately 1:30p.m.  My dad found me and said that Blake had text-messaged him and asked that he tell me to please bring him a cup of hot coffee upstairs right away.  It was a very strange message.  I figured that Blake texted my dad since he knew that I was not carrying my phone around with me, but the fact that he was demanding coffee upstairs at the tail end of the party was quite odd.  I had noticed that I hadn't seen Blake for a little while, but I had assumed he was merely in another room or perhaps in the restroom. 

Stay tuned for blog post "Part 2 of 3" to find out why Blake demanded coffee upstairs while the party was still ongoing.  For now, enjoy some pictures from Ryder's party (and the remainder of the St. Louis weekend):

Lunch with Blake's cousin Jeff and his sweet wife Moncy (far left).

 

 

 

 

Decent family photo (other than Ryder's sleepy eyes)

 



Family photo with yummy cupcake tower in forefront.



Adding Ro and Budmo to the photo warranted a smile from Ryder.



The entire crew

 



"Paw-Paw Larry," "Ro," "Grandi" and Grandpa Chuck

Ryder meeting his friend Easton Schweizer

Ryder and Easton



Ryder and Grandi

I looked like a drugged-out disaster, but I have to post the picture since Ryder is actually smiling.

Ryder, sporting a double-chin, with his Auntie Sammie.

10 Month Update

Wah!?  Ryder is 10 months old?  How the freak did this happen?  In the two weeks preceding Ryder's 10 month "birthday," we saw an explosion of new milestones.  He's crawling now.  Like actual, up on all fours with his belly off the ground, crawling crawling.  He still mixes in some army crawling, which I believe stems from pure laziness, but he can and does crawl normally.  He also mastered the transition from laying down to sitting and from sitting to laying down at 9.5 months.  It's become quite entertaining to watch him on the video monitor in his crib at night (before he falls asleep) and in the morning when he wakes.  He sits himself up, yanks at the bumper for a while, tries to throw his paci over the side of the crib (and often succeeds) and generally runs amok (as much as a 10 month old can run amok in an empty crib).

He still loves to wave "bye-bye" and clap his hands to celebrate, but that's about the extent of his party tricks.  Despite my tireless exertions, I haven't succeeded in teaching Ryder to speak any actual words yet.  He says something that sounds exactly like "ball," but I have no concrete evidence that there is any meaninful connection behind the utterance.  This morning I could swear he said "uh-oh."  But again, I'm not confident enough to make any affirmative, blog-worthy representations. 

He still loves his solids, when it comes to pureed baby food, but is such a toot when it comes to finger foods.  Here are the list of finger foods that he loves:

-bananas
-mum-mums (baby crackers)
-saltine crackers
-graham crackers
-puffs (baby cereal)
-cheerios

As my friend Emily pointed out, these are all bland, tan-colored foods.  You'd think he'd like some more exciting, colorful options, but nooooooo.  Every other food that I've tried has been rejected outright.  If I put something new on his tray, he either violently swipes it off of his tray or deliberately throw it over the side.  If I try to put a bite/piece of something directly in his mouth, he makes a face as if I have given him a taste of dog feces and immediately spits it out.  Lots of babies have issues with gagging, but Ryder doesn't even gag.  He just thrusts the food right out of his mouth with his tongue (while making a horrendous, overly-dramatic sour-puss face).  These are the foods I have offered him that he has rejected:

-mashed potatoes (with butter)
-noodles (with and without butter)
-plain toast
-toast with fruit jam
-avocado pieces
-peach pieces
-nectarine pieces
-grape pieces
-apple slices
-rotisserie chicken
-cottage cheese
-monterrey jack cheese
-peas
-carrots
-green beans
-corn
-pumkin muffin

I'm sure I am forgetting some as well.  It's really the oddest thing.  If I hand Ryder a mum-mum or cracker, he can't get it into his mouth fast enough.  If I hand him a strip of toast, he drops it like a hot potato and won't touch it again.  As you can see, Ryder has rejected foods of all colors, flavors and textures.  You would think that once I put something yummy into his mouth, he'd see that it tastes good and take over from there.  What kid doesn't like cheese, for goodness sake?  CHEESE!  No child of mine will dislike cheese, I assure you of that.  And what about a pumpkin muffin?  It was pretty much a glorified, un-iced cupcake.  Anyway, I'm assuming it's not a flavor issue because Ryder loves peas, carrots, peaches, etc. etc. when they come in pureed baby food containers.  Which leads me to believe it is, indeed, a texture issue.  But how can a baby have such a pervasive texture issue?  I've offered him all sorts of textures!  And he likes crunchy puffs/cheerios and slimy bananas.  So why are those items exceptions to the rule?  If you are a mom with some insight who happens to read this blog, please feel free to clue me in to this mystery.

Ryder is down to 3 bottles a day.  I fill them each to 6 ounces, but often times it's a struggle to get him to take more than 3 or 4 in a sitting.  On average, I'd say he is taking 12-15 ounces a day.  I'm still working on the sippy cup (with water) at meals, but I haven't seen a lot of progress.  He'll figure it out eventually. 

Ryder is in 9 month clothes, for the most part, but can even fit into a few 12 month items.  He is in size 3 diapers.  I don't know his exact weight but assume he is closing in on 19 pounds.  The most noticable change in his appearance during the past month has been his hair.  His hair is becoming curly.  This change literally seemed to happen overnight a couple of weeks ago.  It was always very straight and then suddenly the ends started curling and the sides started waving.  It's still hard to tell whether he'll truly have full-on curly hair (like his mama) or whether it will be mostly straight with a bit of texture/wave to it (like his dada).  We'll see.

Ryder still demonstrates some pretty bizarre behavior, especially before bedtime (when he is tired).  He STILL has this weird ritual/game where he lays on his back, places his lovey over his face, and kicks his legs wildly up and down.  To give you a better mental image, he lifts both legs up off the ground and then slams them both down to the ground.  He does this over and over again, rapidly, with the lovey laying over his face.  He then yanks the lovey off, looks around the room, smiles, puts it back over his face, and repeats the entire routine.  The other thing he likes to do before bed is crawl over to his closet door, lay on his side, and then open and shut the door over and over again.  After a few minutes, he'll crawl a few feet to the main door of his room, and open and close it over and over again.  Back and forth he goes between the two doors, swinging them open and shut, open and shut, open and shut.  Forget the toys in his room, forget the people in the room, forget the dog in the room... he just likes to open and shut doors.  Lastly, he is in love with the door stops.  We have the springy kind that make a cartoon-like farting noice when you pull and release them.  He likes to pull them over and over again.  Oh, the things that keep babies entertained...

I haven't taken any official 10 month photos of Ryder yet, but here are a collection of photos from the past month.  Enjoy!

Ryder makes a very nice center-piece for our kitchen table.  We put him there every morning to eat cheerios while Blake enjoys his breakfast, so that I can finish packing his bag for school.

Poor indoctrinated Chiefs fan...

Like father, like son.

Blake loves this picture because he thinks Ryder looks like a bad-ass.   I just think he looks cranky.

Ryder swinging with his friend Abigail.  Looking rather unamused, as usual.

Ryder and Bear at music class

Ryder with the McKenney twins (Henry and Siena)

"Ro" with her grandkiddos

Don't know where the blue eyes come from...

Ryder waiving "bye-bye"

 

 

When It Rains, It Pours

[***Warning: This blog post includes lots of poop talk.  If you can't handle poop talk, don't read***]

My poor little guy has been really sick!  This was his first significant illness since his bout with RSV when he was only a few months old.  All in all, I actually think we've been pretty lucky.  Ryder has had a few minor colds here and there, but besides the RSV, he's remained pretty healthy considering he spends 4 days a week at school surrounded by kid germs.

On Thursday (September 13th), the daily sheet that comes home from school with Ryder, which summarizes his eating, sleeping and diaper patterns for the day, noted that he had some diarrhea.  Indeed, he woke up with more diarrhea the next morning.  Well, things continued downhill and Ryder proceeded to have diarrhea 5 or 6 times a day (with no normal bowel movements in between).  I tried to brainstorm possible causes, but I couldn't come up with anything.  It didn't seem like a stomach bug since he wasn't throwing up, he wasn't particularly fussy, and he had a totally normal appetite.  I initially wondered whether he was having a reaction to something he had eaten, but I wracked my brain and couldn't think of any new foods he had tried in the preceding days.  Meanwhile, I watched closely to make sure he didn't get dehydrated, which is the biggest risk when you are dealing with a baby with diarrhea.  On Saturday morning, when there were still no sign of improvement, I called the after-hours nurse line at the pediatrician's office.  At that point, they told me to feed him bland food (which I was already doing), offer him pedialyte (which I was already doing) and that he probably had a virus that would go away on its own.  She did say that diarrhea from a virus should at least show signs of improvement within 48-72 hours.  It had already been almost 3 full days, so I was a little bit leery.  But although I was concerned, I wasn't overly anxious.  Again, Ryder was acting pretty normal, still sleeping through the night and napping well had a normal appetite, and never had any fever.  However, come Monday morning, there was zero improvement.  He was waking each morning with a diaper FULL of diarrhea and continuing to have several additional diarrhea diapers each day.  I called the pediatrician at 8am sharp to make him an appointment and they told me to come in at 8:30. 

The doctor's "diagnosis" was actually interesting/unusual.  Really, it was more of a theory than a diagnosis, in my opinion.  Because of Ryder's lack of other symptoms that would typically accompany a stomach bug, the doctor felt that Ryder probably had a 24-hour virus or some other affliction the prior week that had initially caused some diarrhea but that Ryder's intestinal lining had become damaged at that time.  Because the lining was damaged and unable to repair itself, the diarrhea continued.  The doctor told us to give Ryder special anti-diarrhea formula instead of his normal formula and to sprinkle probiotics into all of his meals.  He was hopeful that those measures alone would allow the good bacteria to restore itself in Ryder's system.  Lo and behold, Ryder's diarrhea was 100% gone within 24 hours of implementing the recommended measures.

It was rough to watch Ryder battle non-stop diarrhea for 5 full days, but the story doesn't stop there.  Prior to this whole diarrhea thing, Ryder had already been battling a cold.  He had a snotty nose and a cough.  The cold symptoms persisted for nearly two weeks but I hadn't taken him to the doctor.  On previous occasions when I had taken Ryder to the pediatrician for cold symptoms, Dr. Friedman had always told us to give him extra fluids, suction his nose, run the humidifier at night, and let it run its course.  So this time, instead of making an appointment, I simply did all of those things and assumed the cold would eventually go away.  But since I was taking Ryder to see the doctor for the diarrhea on Monday morning, I obviously addressed the cold symptoms as well.  It turns out that Ryder had a sinus infection and an ear infection!  Poor baby!  Ryder had never had an ear infection, let alone a sinus infection. The doctor also detected that he was wheezing and needed breathing treatments.  Needless to say, I did not feel like mother-of-the-year when I left the appointment.  I wish I would have brought him in sooner. 

On top of the sinus infection, ear infection and asthma, Ryder had a HORRID diaper rash from all of the diarrhea.  So I can only imagine how miserable he must have been.  In retrospect, I cannot believe what a trooper he was!  He slept through the night despite his ailments and his temperament was relatively stable throughout it all. 

We left the doctor with prescriptions for hardcore diaper rash cream, albuterol for his nebulizer treatments (the breathing machine), probiotics, anti-diarrheal formula, and antibiotics for the infections.  He started taking all of his medicine on Monday and he is already doing soooo much better.  No diarrhea since Monday evening.  Diaper rash is gone.  Congestion is mostly gone.  Cough is lingering.  We are still doing breathing treatments, so hopefully the cough will continue to improve. 

Anway, I acknowledge that none of Ryder's ailments were serious in the least, but the fact that he was dealing with two infections, breathing problems, diarrhea and awful diaper rash all at once made it all so much worse. 

I took off work on Monday for Rosh Hashanah but ended up at the pediatrician's office and staying home with a sick baby instead of attending services.  I knew God would understand.  I didn't like having to miss services and lunch with my extended family afterwards, but I did enjoy getting some extra snuggle time with my baby on a weekday. 

9 Month Photos and another letter

 

 

Dear Ryder Spider-

 

     I can't believe you are 9 months old.  You have been in my life for 3/4 of a year... how is that possible?  Perhaps the fact that the first three months of your life were/are a complete blur accounts for the fact that time has flown by so quickly.  I believe that a natural, internal defense mechanism kicked in to cause a quasi-blackout so that I would not recall the traumatic details of those first few months.  If I am in fact correct in this belief, then I only have coherent memories from the past 6 months.  Mystery solved! 

     Some mothers claim that their bond with and unconditional, limitless love for their child manifests the very instant that their baby is born.  I am not sure whether I'll be judged (or at least side-eyed), but this was not the case for me.  Yes, the love I felt for you on your Birth Day was overwhelming, but it is nothing like the love I feel for you today.  With every day that passes, I feel closer to you and my heart fills fuller and fuller with feelings of pride, awe, love and joy.  I am totally used to sending you to school four days a week, but in a sense, leaving you on those days is getting harder instead of easier.  You are doing new things every day, and I miss you something fierce while I'm at work.

     In the past week or so, you have begun to wave "bye-bye" and clap your hands together in excitement.  You pretty much only reveal these new tricks with heavy prompting (i.e. Blake and/or I will clap our hands wildly and scream "yay" excitedly, and after staring at us like we are lunatics for a minute or so, you'll finally join in).  Same with the waiving... I don't think you understand that waiving "bye-bye" is associated with actually saying goodbye to someone, but if we waive frantically at you and say "bye-bye" over and over again, you'll eventually join in.  It's so sweet and cute.

    Diaper changes have become adventurous, as you like to try to catapult yourself from back to belly mid-change.  So far, we've both managed to escape unscathed, but I have a feeling that it is only a matter of time before you belly-flop into a poop-filled diaper.  I'm praying that I can continue to avert such a disgusting disaster.

     You are still very amused and intrigued by your daddy.  When you hear his voice, you strain your little neck as you look around the room for him.  He can always draw a smile from you.  You do shy away from him a bit, but this is only because his big personality can overwhelm you for an instant.  Daddy already loves to put you on his shoulders (holding on tightly, of course) and walk you around the house.  You loooove this.

     This past week we finally retired the infant bath tub and started bathing you in the big boy bath tub (in a smaller, inflatable tub that sits inside of the regular tub).  I must admit that I am really going to miss the infant tub for a number of reasons.  Bathing you in the kitchen sink was so easy and comfortable.  You were already at chest level, so there was no need to hunch over to wash you.  Plus, you loved to laze in the infant sling and stare dreamily out of the garden window above the sink as we scrubbed you.  It was also really easy and convenient to use the stretchable faucet sprayer to rinse your hair (instead of having to dump a cup or bucket of water over your head).  Bath time has been peaceful, fun and enjoyable since you were 6 or 8 weeks old.  Bathing in the real tub will take some getting used to.  Now I have to crouch, use a bucket for rinsing, and there is only rows and rows of white subway tile to stare at (instead of a view of the plush backyard).  On the upside, you now have space to really sit and play with toys and splash around if you so choose.  I'm pretty sure I am the only mom on the planet who was still bathing her 9 month old baby in the baby tub (with the infant sling still attached) in the kitchen sink.  Sadly, it was time to move on.

 

 

     We have also FINALLY, within the past two weeks, retired the stroller converter attachment that is used to hook your infant car seat onto the stroller.  You now ride in the stroller like a big boy and you love it.  You can look out in front of you while we push instead of being harnessed into your car seat and forced to stare back at whoever is pushing you.

 

 

     Although you aren't crawling in the traditional sense.  You can log roll like a champion and you also have developed a rather odd-looking quasi-crawl maneuver.  You can't sit yourself up yet, but love to be placed into the sitting position so that you can play with your toys like a big boy.  And even though you can't pull yourself to standing yet either, as of the last couple of weeks, you enjoy being placed into the standing position and will stand by yourself (while leaning on a toy or couch or whatever) for quite a while before tiring out.  The rest will come.  I'm in no rush for you to start getting around any faster/better than you already do.

     Last week, you had your 9 month check-up.  Boy have you grown!  You now weigh 17 pounds, 8 ounces and are in the 18th percentile for weight!  This is up from the 5th percentile for weight at your six month check-up.  You are a normal sized kiddo now, and I doubt that I'll ever have to worry about you (in regards to weight) again.  You are in the 25th percentile for height and back up to the 70th percentile for head circumferance.  Oh, that huge head.  You still fit into some of your 6 month clothes, but for the most part, the 6 month items are too hard to fit over your gigantoid head.  You are fitting nicely into 9 month clothing.

     Luckily, even though you are changing ten-fold by the day, you still hold on to some of the same precious habits that you've had for months and months.  For example, you still ADORE your lovey blankets.  When we hand you one of your Loveys, you automatically smile, kick your feet in excitement, and draw the Lovey close to your face so that you can squeeze and hug it.  I shutter at the thought of having to break you from your lovey-addiction one day.  You may, in fact, still be sleeping with a lovey when you are 12 years old... but let's hope not.  You also still like to play peek-a-boo with the lovey.  I apologize if I've already described this in a previous post, but you love to lay on the floor, put the lovey over your head to cover your face, kick your legs up and down like a possessed lunatic, and then once Blake or I start saying "where's Ryder? where's Ryder?" over and over again, you yank the lovey off of your face and grin at us.  Adorable.  Funny, too. 

     Instead of going to the Labovitz house after school three days a week, you now have Ms. Peggie picking you up from school each day and bringing you home until Blake or I get home from work.  We all miss the extra time with Ms. Cynthia and JuJu, but Ms. Peggie has been phenomenal, and it is so wonderful to get to come straight home to see you rather than having to pick you up at a third-party location after school.  Plus, Ms. Peggie can help with bath time and/or dinner, so that daddy and I can play with you and simply enjoy our time together before your ridiculously early bedtime.

    Oh, bedtime.  I've never felt so lucky/blessed and yet frustrated at the same time.  Sometimes you demand to go to bed as early as 5pm, but usually you can make it until 6 or even 6:30.  Most mothers would glare at me with envy, as I know it is pretty awesome to have a baby that goes to bed early and sleeps straight through the night for 11-13 hours almost without exception.  And don't get me wrong, I do enjoy getting to relax, unwind, and spend time with your daddy in the evenings after work.  However, I miss you so much while I'm at work, and it is really hard when I rush home as early as possible at the end of the day and still only get anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour to spend with you before bed.  I know that the pros of this situation outweigh the cons.  I also know that you won't always go to bed so early.  So for now, I suck it up and make the best of the weekends (soaking up as much Ryder-time as possible).

     We have been slowly introducing more and more finger foods, but you've still only tried a handful at this point.  Bananas are still your favorite.  You also love cheerios (and puffs too, of course).  You still love all of the Gerber, level II purees.  You currently take 3-4 bottles a day and are drinking approximately 15-18 ounces of formula per day in total.  The pediatrician says that this amount of formula is normal at your age, so I am no longer concerned.

     I could ramble on for forever, but in lieu of writing a novel, I'll cut myself off now.  Your daddy and I are so proud of you baby.  Just when we think you can't possibly get any cuter, you do.  Just when we think you can't possibly get any smarter, you do.  Just when we think you can't possibly learn a new trick, you do.  Just when we think we can't possibly love you any more, we do.  Now please quit growing up so darn quickly!

 



       XOXO,  Mama and Dada

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naked, squishy legs