As for our weekend plans, we’ll be kicking off the weekend with our friends and their little ones over a casual dinner out tonight but other than that, our plans are wiiiide open. I’ll be sure to recap the fun on the blog next week but until then, let’s dive into your usual Things I’m Loving Friday roundup of favs, shall we?
Please feel free to join in and tell me about something that is making you smile this week in the comments section. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!
Things I’m Loving Friday
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Ryder is 8 Months Old!
On Monday Ryder officially turned 8 months old! This past month marked a lot of changes for our sweet little guy as he went from one tooth to SIX teeth in two weeks. Ooph! (Let’s just say nursing was a bit of a struggle this past month because Ryder seemed to want to chew on anything and everything, including me.) We also officially dropped the Merlin Magic Sleepsuit which I was dreading because my first attempt was a disaster. Thankfully attempt #2 went much better and I attribute it to the Nested Bean Zen Sleepsack. It has a lightly weighted area on the chest of the sleepsack that’s supposed to mimic the sensation of your palm on your baby’s chest. It can also be worn with the small beaded weight on the baby’s back for little ones who flip over and prefer to sleep on their bellies.
Speaking of sleep, now that Ryder is 8 months old, we seem to be falling into a bit of a rhythm with naps — at least in the morning — which is a relief. Ryder is still a pretty go-with-the-flow baby but I’ve been trying to be home for him to have at least one solid nap in his crib every day and his morning nap is without a doubt his best nap.
Ryder also now wants to get into anything and everything and pretty much the only time we see our happy little guy get mad is if we take something he wants away from him or he has his eye on something he wants to hold and can’t seem to get to it himself. (Or when we load him into his car seat. The struggle is real.) Ryder absolutely LOVES watching Chase and he smiles up a storm at pretty much anyone who engages with him. He still has yet to meet a stranger! Some of Ryder’s current playtime favorites: VTech Drop & Go Dump Truck (He LOVES this thing!), Fisher-Price Stacking Rings, Sassy Wonder Wheel (the best highchair toy!), Baby Einstein Activity Jumper (my go-to “put Ryder down” station — aka the way I get to make myself a cup of coffee every morning!), VTech Sit-to-Stand Activity Walker
As far as eating is concerned, I am SO ridiculously happy to report that Ryder seems to be a good eater so far and it is such a relief. I feel the need to share that we haven’t done anything different with Ryder than we did with Chase so if you have a baby or a child who could not care less about food, I FEEL YA and I feel the stress that comes along with that struggle big time. I just feel like I need to say this a billion times over because it’s so easy to feel like we’re to blame for the way our children respond to food but if my experience with Ryder has taught me anything, it’s that babies are all SO different and some kids are just naturally more interested in eating.
Getting Chase to eat anything always felt like the biggest struggle so watching Ryder go to town on steamed broccoli or suck down a pouch of pureed fruits and veggies in a hot second is still blowing my mind. I’ve noticed Ryder’s interest in food seems to rub off a bit on Chase as well which is another big perk!
There’s something about the 8-month mark in a baby’s life that I just adore. They’re still a roly poly bundle of babyness but they’re also able to really begin to interact a lot more and the baby giggles and smiles are just too darn cute too handle. Ryder is definitely a physical little dude and loves kicking, backwards inch-worming (no forward crawling yet) and splashing up a storm in the bathtub. He is such a source of joy in our lives!
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Ryder + Granddad Resemblance
On the topic of Ryder, a few of you guys and a few Instagram followers have commented on Ryder’s resemblance to Ryan’s dad and we’re seeing it more and more these days! I mean just look at the two of them in the above picture! I snapped that pic before Greg headed back to Florida on Tuesday and think it perfectly captures their similarities. It’s just so fun to see our boys and how they share features with different family members!
In the beginning we heard Chase looked a lot like me and lately we’ve been hearing people say he looks more and more like Ryan. On the other hand, people said Ryder was all Ryan in the beginning and now slooowly but surely some people are saying they see me in him. One thing is for sure… Chase and Ryder look like each other and I need to do a side-by-side picture comparison of the boys at similar ages because the resemblance it crazy to me!
Ever since I began regularly making whole milk/coconut milk tea lattes almost every day, I’ve loved trying new kinds of tea and tend to gravitate toward the comforting flavors of cinnamon and roobios when I’m not in the mood for a little boost from matcha. My latest tea love is Tazo’s Organic Baked Cinnamon Apple Tea and it is just the perfect cozy combination of warm apple pie flavor, roobios and a little punch of cinnamon. I top my lattes with a sprinkle of ceylon cinnamon and love every last sip.
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Tiny Little Thing by Beatriz Williams
When I mentioned how much I enjoyed The Secret Life of Violet Grant, two of you asked me if I planned to read the other two books in the Schuyler Sisters series and encouraged me to check out book #2, Tiny Little Thing, next. I don’t know what it is about a series but I am almost averse to beginning books I know are part of a series because I like to jump around and read different genres. For whatever reason, beginning a series when I know all of the books in that series are already published makes me feel like I need to commit to reading the series the whole way through before branching out again. Crazy, I know, especially since I love reading books by the same authors back-to-back. I put my natural aversion to series aside for Tiny Little Thing and I’m glad I did because it roped me in immediately and has all of the intrigue I enjoyed from The Secret Life of Violet Grant. I’m almost done with this one and cannot wait to finish it this weekend.
Tiny Little Thing follows the eldest Schuyler sister, Tiny, as she and her husband, Frank, live a perfectly poised and seemingly perfect life together. Behind the facade of perfection lies secrets that could destroy Frank’s political ambitions as well as their marriage. When Frank’s cousin Caspian, a handsome Vietnam war hero with intimate knowledge of Tiny’s past, shows up at the family’s summer home in Cape Cod, only days after Tiny receives an envelope containing photographs that could destroy her, Tiny begins to worry she’s on the brink of losing everything.
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Friday Flashbacks
Vegan Protein Overnight Oats (This recipe boasts 18 grams of protein per bowl and is an easy one to prep ahead for a simple breakfast you can quickly grab to enjoy before rushing out the door on a busy morning.)
Healthy Tropical Energy Bars (This recipe combines coconut, sweet mango and flavorful pineapple to make a simple, no-bake energy bar.)
Question of the Day
What is one thing you are loving this week?
