Surfergeeks

It’s another month and Ryan is a little bit older. The progression seems to be so much faster with him than it was with Alex. It’s probably because I know what to expect this time around.

Well, here’s the update.

By six months, Ryan…SHOULD be able to:

-keep head level with body when pulled to sitting - yes.
-say “ah-goo” - yes.

…will PROBABLY be able to:

-bear some weight on legs when held upright - yes.
-sit without support - not yet. He has a habit of pushing with his legs and rocking which knocks him off balance.
-turn in a direction of a voice - he responds to his name and always looks at Alex when he’s talking.
-razz - yes.

…may POSSIBLY be able to:

-stand holding on to someone or something - no.
-object if you take a toy away - maybe. He does cry when a toy he is playing with falls out of his reach.
-work to get a toy that’s out of reach - yes.
-pass a cube or other object from one hand to the other - yes.
-look for a dropped object - yes.
-rake with fingers a tiny object and pick it up - yes.
-babble - not yet.
-feed self cracker or other finger food - no.

…may even be able to:

-creep or crawl - no.
-pull up to standing position from sitting - he can’t sit yet, so no.
-get into sitting postion from stomach - nope.
-say “mama” or “dada” - nope.

So last night saw the long-awaited, VERY long overdue of games night at Case de Rob & Nikki. Brent, Miechele, and Tim joined us for a rousing game of Risk 2210. Sadly, there wasn’t enough backstabbing on deals to make the game very cutthroat. Although it was fun correcting their style of play based on Tony’s fantasy rules that he was preaching as gospel! In the end, Brent’s decision to come to the moon and fuck with me may have cost him. Nikki ended up winning the show with a last turn partial run at the board, securing enough points for a win but quitting short of fucking the others over and propelling me into 2nd place. Tim, unfortunately, got a bad initial drop and wallowed in South America and the Western Water territories unable to gain any traction. Miech not only took Europe but actually held it through the game - largely due to the fact that Brent was too much of a chicken to attack her. (He’ll claim they had a deal not to attack each other. I say he was chicken.)

Last night was definitely the first of many in the future. We’ve got Zombies queued up for the next time and hope to get a couple games of various versions or Risk running at the same time.

Went to the drive-in tonight to see Zack & Miri Make A Porno, Kevin Smith’s new movie. To say that it was awesome is an understatement. Okay, sure, I’m a huge Kevin Smith fanboi but this was still an awesome movie! The other movie was “Haunting of Molly Hartley”. It sucked. Save your money. But go see Zack & Miri! There is NOTHING bad about this movie. Even seeing Mewes’ cock isn’t a put-off!

Time for another monthly milestone.

By five months, Ryan…SHOULD be able to:

-hold head steady when upright - yup.
-on stomach, raise chest, supported by arms - he can push up a little bit, but not for very long.
-pay attention to an object as small as a raisin - yup.
-squeal in delight - yes and quite often.
-reach for an object - yup.
-smile spontaneously - yup.
-smile back when you smile - yup.
-grasp a rattle - yup.
-keep head level with body when pulled to sitting - yup.

…will PROBABLY be able to:

-roll over - not yet, but he’s trying.
-bear some weight on legs - yup.
-say “ah-goo” - yup.
-razz - yup.
-turn in the direction of a voice - yup.

…may POSSIBLY be able to:

-sit without support - he’s very close. He can go a few seconds before he topples.

…may even be able to :

-pull up to standing position from sitting - nope.
-stand holding on to something - nope.
-object if you try to take a toy away - nope.
-pass an object from one hand to the other - yup.
-look for dropped object - nope.
-rake with fingers a tiny object and pick it up in fist - nope.
-babble - nope.

Okay. I watched the movie earlier this year and was somewhat impressed. Then I heard they were actually going to bring back the series. Cool. Then they brought in a different director. Then I saw a promo. Now I’ve watched the first episode.

I was going to write a huge scathing review a la my Ratner rant. Instead I will just sum it up with this:

What. The. Fuck?

Ryan is officially four months old today. He keeps getting bigger and bigger. I’ll have to go through his clothes again soon to get out the bigger sizes for him.

Anyway, here are the updates.

By four months, Ryan…SHOULD be able to:

-on stomach lift head 90 degrees - yup
-laugh out loud - he’s a giggly boy.
-follow and object in an arc 180 degrees - yup.

…will PROBABLY be able to:

-hold head steady while upright - yup.
-on stomach, raise chest, supported by arms - not yet.
-grasp a rattle - yup.
-reach for an object - He has a hanging frog on his car seat, he has started reaching out for it.
-squeal in delight - you bet.

…may POSSIBLY be able to:

-keep head level with body when pulled to sitting - yup.
-roll over (one way) - yup.
-turn in a direction of a voice - He always and turns and looks at Alex when he talks.
-say “ah-goo” - Sort of. He makes noises, but they are more like moans or hums.
-razz - yup.

…may even be able to:

-bear some weight on legs when held upright - Rob says he does, I haven’t noticed it.
-sit without support - he’s trying, but not yet.
-object if you take a toy away - nope.

Are being posted as I type this. Should be available by about 2:00pm.

African Lion Safari

I know, I know. It’s been a while. I’ve decided to change the way I store the pictures online. Part of it has to do with convenience, part of it has to do with lack of storage space on my host’s site. Anyhoo, pictures are now going to up on Picasa. I’ll provide links here whenever I upload new pictures.

To start with - Here are the most recent pictures taken over the past week. We start with Alex’s actual birthday, followed by his little party on Saturday and then wrap up with our trip to the fair yesterday.

Alex’s Birthday

Alex’s Party

Western Fair 2008

Enjoy the pictures. If you want, you can leave comments on individual pictures!

The fair was most awesome! We we got up in the morning it was pouring rain so we were more than a little doubtful we’d be going but by 1:00 or so it had stopped raining and started to clear up so off we went! Alex had a blast! He went on a couple rides with Nikki in Kiddie Land and also went on a couple rides by himself. He also really liked the demolition derby. We’re thinking about going back next Sunday for the finals since we have $5 admission coupons.

Alex’s birthday part was loads of fun too! Nikki’s folks picked up his first GeoTrax set for him. Must. Get. More! Soooo much fun. Alex likes it too! My Mom got him his first Lite Brite and we got him his first Etch-A-Sketch so between the two of those he’s got a couple of the childhood staples covered! He also got a couple Diego things and some Cars stuff which he also loves.

Another milestone has past, and Ryan is another month older. He gets more and more active every day. I only have a few more months left on mat leave and they are going by too fast.

By the end of this month, Ryan SHOULD be able to:

*on stomach lift head 45 degrees - yup.

…will PROBABLY be able to:

*laugh out loud - yes, it’s so beautiful.
*on stomach lift head 90 degrees - not yet.
*squeal in delight - yup.
*bring both hands together - yup.
*smile spontaneously - yes, and he does it a lot. He’s a very happy baby.
*follow an objection above face 180 degress - yes.

…may POSSIBLY be able to:

*hold head steady when upright - he’s got great head control. I almost never have to support his head anymore.
*on stomach, raise chest supported by arms - not yet.
*roll over - not yet.
*grasp a rattle - yes.
*pay attention to an object as small as a raisin - I haven’t tested this one yet.

…may even be able to:

*bear some weight on legs when held upright - nope.
*reach for an object - nope.
*keep head level with body when pulled to sitting - nope.
*turn in the direction of a voice - I haven’t seen him do this. Although when he’s facing Alex and Alex starts talking he will look at his brother.
*say “ah-goo” or similar vowel consonant combinations - he talks all the time.
*razz - nope.

Waterloo
Splash Pad