Month by Month Ryan: Month 4

March was an exciting month for Ryan and for us as well.  March brought with Ryan's first trip "abroad," and Ryan's first St. Patrick's Day.  Ryan showed lots of head control in March, and tummy time became a lot easier. Ryan's loves in March were his octopus, named "Otto," naps, and his changing table.

When Ryan turned 3 months old, he was rounding out his big growth spurt.  Here's a picture of Ryan sitting up "unassisted," for the first time:

And, he was still a very sweet, cuddly baby, who was famous for his "milk comas" or passing out after a bottle.  Even cuter, he most often slept with one hand on his belly:

A proud day for Daddy, he got to take Ryan to his first Importtrend customer.  And the family sales dynasty continues.

Sadly, Ryan also had his first cold in March:

Ryan also went on his first international trip, when Mommy, Daddy, and Ryan all drove over the French border to visit a grocery store:

March was a great time for tummy time. Little Pea's neck all of a sudden was really strong, and tummy time was no longer a scream-fest, and more a time for Ryan to check out his surroundings from a new perspective.

In a very patriotic moment, Ryan wore his first Osh Kosh overalls on the same day he received his US passport.  He found the whole experience very exciting, and very exhausting!

He was also the man of funny faces in March:

I have to make a brief mention here that Mommy realized in March that Ryan loved the changing table.  Ryan and Mommy would head upstairs all smiles and laughs knowing that it was changing time.  Ryan would happily lay on his changing table forever at the time, he enjoyed all the tickles,singing and kisses.  We would play multiple rounds of "Where's the baby's fingers," and "All around the garden."  It was all so very cute!  He loved his changing table so much that if Little Pea was upset, all I had to do was take him upstairs to his changing table, and he'd calm right down.  Aaahhh, those were blissful days!

There was also the famous "drinking" incident in March.  Uncle Marcel was visiting, and he and Daddy enjoyed some beer.  Ryan decided that he was going to "keep up" with the boys with his milk.  Unfortunately, too much milk always caused Ryan to pass out.  Case in point:

As the weather improved, Ryan also enjoyed some lovely walks and some outside playtime:

At the end of the month, Ryan visited our old apartment.  We lived there up until the week before Ryan was born.  So, the visit to the old apartment was Ryan's outside visit to his first home.  We spent some time in the apartment cleaning and preparing for the new tenant, which meant that it was Ryan's first and last visit to the apartment for some time.  It was also very exciting because although he is asleep in the picture, he also had some playmat time at the apartment.  He turned onto his side for the first time while he was there!

Of course, the apartment was our old life, and although Ryan spent almost all of his "in Mommy's tummy" life there, our house is really Ryan's castle.  On March 28th, we finally receieved the final piece of Ryan's crib, which allowed us to finally put it together.  It seemed like love at first sight!

What really amazed me, looking back, is that by the end of the month four, Ryan looked like Ryan.  He looks more mature now, and he finally has hair again, but the end of month baby face closely resembles my little guy now.  Its amazing that in four short months he went from a squishy, squinty-eyed newborn, to a mini-version of 10 month old Ryan.  It was a wonderful time to share in our Little Pea's life!