Meet and Greet at The Goddard School

Thursday night was the grand opening and meet & greet at The Goddard School. Tab, Ryland and I all went after work and met all of the teachers and toured the new school. I loved it and left having a really good feeling about it. The facility, the teacher/child ratio and the activity schedule for each class is just what I was looking for. Ryland was laughing and smiling the entire time that we were there.

His start date is not until November 1st but there is a good chance that it could be earlier if another child drops out or moves out of the class that he will be going into. Age wise he will be right in between the "infant" class and the "first steps" class. So depending on when he starts he could go straight into the "first steps" class which starts around age 9-12 months.

We are getting ready to go to Maddie's 1st Birthday Party this afternoon. And then leaving for the Highlands tonight for a few days. We cannot wait!

7 Months Old and Loving Life

I cannot believe that Ryland is already 7 months old. I feel like he is growing up so fast and he is definitely becoming his own little person with his own personality.

Below are a few things that he loves and is into right now ...

* He still loves his exersaucer! It is his favorite thing to play in every morning before he goes to school. And it is the first thing that he wants to do when he gets home from school in the afternoon.

* His JJ and MiMi brought him a jumper a few weeks ago and Ryland loves it. Right now we keep it in our bedroom or bathroom so that he can play with it while we are upstairs. It is so funny because he cannot stop jumping while he is in it, even if he is getting tired and wants out. He just keeps jumping and whining and laughing all at the same time.

* Codi cracks him up all the time :)

* He loves reaching for Bailey and grabbing a handful of fur. Surprisingly, Bailey is great with him. He just lets him pull on his fur and when he gets tired of it he just jumps down or walks away.

* Ryland is now drinking water out of a sippy cup. A lot of it still goes all over him but he definitely knows how to pick it up and put it in his mouth.

* He loves all remotes, cell phones and house phones (and pretty much anything else that he is not suppose to have). And he can grab it and have it in his mouth in a blink of an eye.

* He is a great eater and has loved everything that we have given him so far ... oatmeal, pears, apples, prunes, bananas, sweet potatoes, peas, avocado, peaches.

* We started giving him Gerber Puffs recently but he is not too sure about them yet.

* He can sit up, roll, scoot, crawl, lunge and pull up on his knees.

* And his smile can definitely make your heart melt :)

Sunday Brunch and Playdate with Aunt Kari, Aunt Stephanie and Jack

This morning Ryland and I went over to Stephanie's house for brunch and a playdate with Kari, Stephanie and Jack. Ryland had a blast playing with his friend Jack and all of his toys. Jack even surprised Ryland with a gift ... the coolest basketball play set. He loves it and the cutest zoo animal train (which comes complete with a zebra, giraffe, monkey and lion) that Jack is letting Ryland borrow for a little bit. He cannot say thank you enough (and neither can I)! I love how much fun we all have when we get together and cannot wait for the next time!

Sound Asleep ....

Ryland feel asleep in my lap .... I love these moments together with him ...

Crawling, Crawling, And Then He is Gone ....

Ryland has really been working hard at crawling over the last few weeks. He has been on his knees rocking back and forth really wanting to go. Over the last week he has really made progress and can now go. And when I say "go" I really mean it. There is no slowing down for him. His style of crawling is quite funny .... he will get on all 4s and go forward with his hands and feet a couple of times and then lunge forward. And then he is back on all 4s to do it all over again. He can really move across the floor and get to whatever he wants. I am not sure if I am looking forward to this stage. No more leaving him on the bed surrounded with pillows. No more leaving him in a spot on the floor knowing that he can't go far. I guess we really need to get serious about baby-proofing our house!

Ear Infection Update

Dr Loventhal recommended that we go see the ENT since Ryland has had ear infections for almost 4 straight months. His ENT appt was this past Monday and we have made the decision to move forward with getting tubes. The good news is that he passed his hearing test with flying colors and he does not have an infection in either ear right now. The surgery for the tubes is scheduled for Aug 5th. I hope we are making the right decision. Hopefully his ears will stay clear until the surgery and then remain that way after he has tubes! We just love that little boy with all our heart and want him to feel 100% (and get quality sleep since we know that he loves it)!

Back from the beach

We just got back last night from our annual beach trip. Ryland did great on the 8 hour drive home. We had a lot of fun and Ryland loved all of the attention that he got from the D'ville crew. And he definitely loved spending quality time with his Pops and CC.

He LOVED playing in the pool. This was his first time going in the pool and his favorite thing to do was to "pat" and splash the water. He could not get enough of it!

Peachtree Road Race - July 4th, 2010

Here are some pictures from the Peachtree Road Race on the 4th of July. We definitely did not prepare for the race this year but it was still fun. As you can tell these are the proofs from the photography company that takes pictures at the race :)

Right before we started ....



Right before the finish line ...



After the race in Piedmont Park ...

My book makes me sleepy ...

I found Ryland sound asleep in his pack-n-play the other night from reading his book ... the second picture was taken a few minutes later after he rolled to his side and moved the book off his face