The Island of Many Treasures

We just returned from our annual trek to Treasure Island, FL for our 4th of July vacation with Nick's family.  We had a great week at the beach visiting with family and friends. We missed Aunt Jessica this year. She just finished up as a unit leader at Camp Pinnacle for the summer.

Ryan loved playing on the beach in the sand, running into the ocean, and jumping into the pool.  He is our fearless toddler, which meant that Mommy and Daddy did not get much rest on this trip.  We went to the beach and the pool usually twice a day and luckily, there was a long nap for Ryan (and sometimes Mommy) between the two!

Ryan liked to sit in his stroller right when we got to the beach
every day and people watch before exploring!

Ryan started saying a few more words while we were at the beach, including ocean, Oskie (aka, Oscar the Grouch), sit (thanks to our dog, Maggie) and sky.

Sky!

On the 4th of July, we had a great time. Nick's dad (who lives in Florida now) came to our place to have homeade tacos with us for dinner. And, then we all headed out to the beach for the fireworks. Let's just say that Ryan was not a big fan of fireworks and he had a hard time sleeping through them. The city of Treasure Island shoots off fireworks on the beach every year and they were extremely loud! 

Daddy & Ryan

Mommy & Ryan

Sweet Ry-Ry

Kisses from a precious little boy!

Maggie got to come with us for the first time.  We had to pack a little lighter, but it was so nice to have her with us. She loved being with us and enjoyed the beach. We picked one morning to take Maggie to the dog beach at Fort DeSoto. Maggie had a blast running in the ocean to chase balls. Ryan also loved being at the dog beach and seeing all types of dogs. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring our camera to the dog beach.

Maggie on the beach

Brother and Sister on the ride home! 

We had a great time at the beach, but we were all glad to be home. Ryan was so excited that he ran around the house kissing all of his toys and the vacuum cleaner (his newest obsession). 

Ready, Set, WALK!

Ryan is walking! We knew that he was getting close, but he took more than a few steps on Saturday while Karen (Nick's cousin) was here to take some family pictures for us. Ryan just loved Karen and she was so excited to be a part of his first real waking adventure throughout the den. Ryan definitely has the concept of give me 5 and clapping when he is proud of himself down pat. When he would walk to one of us, he would give us 5 or clap when we would clap and say yay! It was so stinkin' cute! Here is a quick video of the big event...

We have been dealing with lots of sickness at our house lately. Ryan went to the doctor on Thursday of last week after almost a week of feeling bad. Dr. Roe was not in the office, so we saw Dr. Bramwell. She was AWESOME. Ryan had an ear infection and some serious wheezing. We came home with an antibiotic and a breathing treatment. Ryan seemed to feel brand new after the breathing treatment. We were so glad to see him feel better and moving air throughout his lungs a little better.

We spent much of the weekend at home, since Ryan was still recovering. We did go to Ryan's school on Saturday morning to see Santa Claus and we got a great picture of the family with Santa. Ryan is just not sure about Santa yet. We hope he will love jolly Ole Saint Nick next year!







And just when we thought Ryan was feeling better, I got a call from his school today that he was having gastrointestinal issues. He was pitiful when I got to him. A little TLC from Mommy seemed to help and he ate a banana before bed. We just hate when our sweet boy is sick.

The switch to milk has been more of a challenge than we thought it would be. But, we are making some advancements. We are half formula and half whole milk at this point and that works for us. Ryan is eating really well and LOVES green beans. Of course, our new mealtime game is for Ryan to throw the sippy cup and he says uh oh. You pick it up and he does it again. We love that he knows the concept of uh oh. I love to hear him say it.

Here are a few recent pictures of Ryan.

Ryan loving on Maggie!

Lucky #7

Ryan is 7 months old as of yesterday! We can hardly believe that it has been 7 months since he was born!  He has changed so much and is such a busy little boy. We cannot put anything near him that we do not want him to grab. Ryan is sitting up and will be crawling soon. He loves being able to sit up and play with toys that light up or make noise!

We celebrated Ryan's 7 month birthday at the Hedgerow pool. It was so hot and we needed to cool off after we finished most of the household chores. Ryan really enjoyed it, except for when Mrs. Collette dipped his head in the water. He was not a fan and would not even look at her for the rest of the day! And, we would like to send a big thank you to the Christensens' in Virginia for sending Ryan the cute bathing suit and protective shirt to use this summer.

Ryan ended the day with a dinner of carrots and apples, as well as playing with Maggie on the floor. Maggie is good with Ryan as long as he does not pull her tail and she can get away from him when ready. I wonder what she will do when he starts to crawl after her! 

I keep telling Nick that Maggie will really love Ryan when he can throw a ball! They will be best buds!

We are looking forward to a great week, especially Father's Day! 

Sweet Sophie

Teething is no fun. In a desperate attempt to help Ryan cope with gum pain, I have been reading through my library of childcare books, searching the Internet or asking other mothers what helped their babies. We have tried many different things with Ryan from frozen teething rings to cold melon, but Ryan's favorite teething soother so far has been Sophie the giraffe. It was love at first sight!

We do not leave the house without Sophie and she stays right with Ryan at home.  Sophie gets multiple baths a day, due to the number of times she is either thrown or dropped on the floor (or Mommy feels like she has been drooled on too much).

Maggie has also taken quite the interest in Ryan's jungle friend, since she squeaks when chewed on or thrown. For Ryan's sake, we better hope that Maggie does not become better acquainted with Sophie or she might com up missing an ear or a leg.

I should have known as soon as I read the package that Sophie was the answer to our teething woes, since Sophie and Daddy share a birthday (she is 20 years older)! It is so sweet to see Ryan holding Sophie when he is taking a nap, like she is already his best bud!