Racing into Summertime

It’s been an eventful couple of weeks – and here we are, it’s already May! 

Ryan is getting bigger and stronger everyday, it’s so fun to watch.  He makes me so proud, I feel so lucky that he is my son.  There have been some new developments over the past few weeks.  Ryan has started to babble quite a bit – complete with “ba-ba-ba’s” and “da-da-da’s” … I’m still waiting for the “ma-ma-ma” but I guess he’s saving the best for last!  Even with these new “words”, Ryan hasn’t given up his special fart noises, he loves making that noise, especially in a quiet public place!  We recently took the Bumbo chair out – Ryan can’t sit up on his own, though he is mentally ready.  We thought the Bumbo might be a fun option for him.  If he’s in the mood, this is one of his favorite spots now.  He likes to be upright to see all of the action! 

Here he is hanging out with mom and dad:

A few weeks ago we had a wonderful HOT weekend.  Ryan, Scott and I started the weekend right with a nice morning walk in a fun shopping area.  Sometimes it’s just fun to “window shop” even if that includes a sales person climbing onto a ladder to find the price of a fancy All-Clad pot and pan set!  We’re dreamers these days, but one day we’ll have our fancy kitchen :)

Scott and Ryan met one of my high school friends who met us for lunch – we had nice visit and walk around town.  I guess we’re getting old – we must have walked past a dozen places to grab drinks, but instead we ended up in Crate & Barrel purchasing a couple of replacement glasses and at a little gelato spot.  :)  

After our lunch walk, the three of us went home and decided it was a good day to go to the pool – and maybe take Ryan for his first swim!   So we all got dressed in our suits, covered up our pale winter skin with sunscreen and headed out.  Our complex has a great pool deck complete with lounge chairs, tables, umbrellas and even BBQ’s.  We get out to the pool and find that there are 2 lounge chairs in the shade – just right for us.  Everyone else is on the sunny side of the deck, opposite of the 3 of us … another sign of our age I guess! 

Even in the shade we felt it was hot enough for the water … but even though the pool deck is beautiful, the pool itself leaves a lot to be desired.  Well, mainly HEAT.  The water was freezing.  Scott made it all the way in because he’s crazy like that, I made it in to my hips and we put Ryan’s toes in which immediately resulted in screams! 

Swimming was not in the cards today, but he sure looks ready doesn’t he?

With all of this nice weather, Scott and I decided it was time to splurge on a BBQ for ourselves!  We lucked out to find that our local OSH was having a great sale and no tax weekend, so we got a great compact outdoor grill.  Ryan “helped” Scott put it together … it took all day, but it turned out great!  We finally have a nice patio to sit and cook on!  Ryan just loves it outside, we are sure to have some great evenings out here … Scott is cooking our first BBQ dinner:

And most recently, we took a special family trip to a racetrack for a car club event.  My dad is a car enthusiast to say the least – and so I grew up going to track events watching my dad play with cars on the track.  When I was old enough to drive, I didn’t want to race, but it only took a couple of years for my dad and brother to get me hooked.  Must be in my blood – and it’s clearly in Ryan’s too!  Before we could even get up to the track – it’s about a 2 ½ hour drive without stopping – Ryan wanted to take a turn at the wheel …

A long drive is tough with an infant that is for sure.  We had a pretty good first 2/3, but that last hour was tough.  Ryan wanted OUT of his car seat!  But we all survived and it was worth it.  We had a great time with my parents and our car buddies.  Ryan had even more fun out in the fresh air and taking in all of the sights and sounds of the track.  He insisted on trying out the race car, so here he is in Grandpa’s seat:

And here’s Ryan hanging out in the pit with the gang:

Ryan was the hit of the weekend in many ways.  We introduced Ryan to some new friends – and when telling one friend about Ryan having Achondroplasia, her response knocked our socks off – she said “Great!  That’s who Ryan is, he’s wonderful!” – she couldn’t be more right, my Ryan is short in height but he’s huge in so many ways, I couldn’t be prouder. 

Still waiting for the sleep study results, and though we’re eager to know the results, we’re also hesitant since we’re enjoying Ryan’s ability to sleep so well at night.  I fear that a mask will make sleeping impossible for Ryan, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!

In the meantime, we’re just enjoying each and every day … and how quickly they go, Ryan is already 7 months old!  Here is his “7 Month Old” picture:

What an amazing time this is … On to the next adventure …