{Ryder :: 6 months}

Stats

height: 27 in (68 %tile)

weight: 16 lbs 6 oz (28 %tile)

head circumference: 17.3" (70.2%tile)

At 6 months:

• he's the cutest kid around... so happy and social, he just has a way to make everyone around him smile.
• Eats like a champ. ALWAYS bursts into tears whenever the spoon hits the bottom of his bowl of rice cereal. Also loves sucking on watermelon rinds
• has perfected the art of 'fake coughing' as his preferred method of getting attention
• has the most beautiful blue eyes 
• is this close to being able to sit up on his own- will last about 10 seconds and then fall over
• rolls and wiggles around, but has not quite connected the dots on how the whole crawling thing works
• still loves to be swaddled- working on weaning off his swaddleme blanket... we're currently to the point of having one arm out.
• sleeps 10-11 hours at night
• is the apple of his daddy's eye
• loves going on runs with momma in the morning
• loves to be outside and out running errands
• still doesn't tolerate dairy or chocolate- momma's getting really close to being done with breastfeeding
• loves skyping with grandma, grandpa, Auntie Riley & Kenna, and Uncle Luke
• drools constantly, his shirts are always soaking wet
• makes us laugh and smile all day long...

Sitting Practice

 Isn't this the cutest kid you've ever seen? And those eyes... they melt me every time. I didn't even edit this picture... his eyes are really that beautiful.  We've spent the past week practicing sitting. Ryder man is so close to being able to hold himself up, but the sitting lasts for about 5 seconds and then he plops over to one side or the other. I know one of these days he's going to figure it out and voila! he will be a sitting master. In the meantime, we like to spend the afternoon out on a blanket in our backyard practicing the fine art of sitting. The grass is a perfect, soft surface to fall on!

Plus this day his outfit was so cute, I had to take a bunch of pictures. Grandma sent him this adorable polo and Uncle Luke gave Ryder man his first pair of Vans for Christmas last year. He's such a stud!

 "Hey Mom... don't you think that's enough pictures already?"

camping with the little guy

 Last week we took Ryder man on his very first overnight camping expedition. He was such an awesome kid! We went up to Big Springs in the afternoon and went hiking together. It was such a beautiful afternoon and Ryder man always enjoys a good hike. He loves to look around at everything and smiles the whole time. After hiking, we went down to Nunn's park and set up camp. The Saltzmans joined us in the canyon that evening and we made ourselves some yummy dinner, strolled up to bridal veil, and then had a fire to end the evening. I wish I took some pictures of our campsite and how snug our little tent was with our air mattress and pack-and-play wedged in.

 One more thing to love about being in Utah during the summer!

Just a boy and his dad.

I just love watching the relationship develop between my two boys. Last week Chad decided it was time to teach Ryder the finer points of "playing bikes". It's a boy thing. Ryder man spent almost an hour sitting in his bumbo out on the patio watching Chad while he worked on his bike. For a 5 1/2 month old, that is some serious concentration! I just had to sneak a picture of this father-son moment. It's a mom thing.

Delectable Frozen Banana Treats

Found this post about an easy summer treat and knew that I wanted needed to make them as soon as possible. A couple of hours after finding it, to be exact. It was so easy and so much fun to make so many different combination of flavors. All I had to do was cut bananas in half or thirds depending on the size, stick a popsicle stick down the middle and then dip/cover as I felt inspired to. Then put the finished products onto a cookie sheet covered in wax paper, threw them in the freezer for a few hours and they were ready to go. Yum. Another plus... actually not that unhealthy. Double yum.

Pictured above [from left to right]: Peanut butter covered in chocolate with mini chocolate chips, cream cheese mixed with honey & cinnamon and then rolled in graham cracker crumbs, speculoos and then rolled in graham cracker crumbs & oats, chocolate with rainbow sprinkles, and another

Stewart Falls

It's nights like these that I remember why we live here. Especially after a day of 100 degree sweltering heat. After a delicious dinner, we all donned our extremely legit looking hiking boots and headed up to the Alpine Loop for a 4 mile round trip hike to Stewart Falls. Ryder man loves being a passenger on our hiking expeditions in his backpack, plus it's always fun to have a mascot!

 the boys

 taking a quick nap before the falls