Happy Birthday!

Happy 3-month birthday Nicholas!

Today marks Nick's three month birthday and it is hard to believe that only three months ago we were just Tim and Kristi. The little guy truly is a little man. He has grown so much in the past three months in so many ways it is unbelievable. He is so alert now and showing true personality - he loves to be outside, he loves to play, he loves to cuddle and he really loves to eat. He is grabbing objects, smiling all the time, laughing outloud and talking a lot.

Physically, his changes are unreal. He was 7 lbs 1 oz and 20.5 inches when born on May 20. Today, he is 15 lbs (measured on our bathroom scale so it could be off a tad) and 25 inches long! I know they say babies grow a lot during the first few months, but he has more than doubled in size! I think we're going to have one big guy on our hands!

This week is also his first week without mom all day. Grandma comes over on Monday and Tuesday and he goes to daycare on Wednesday - Friday. He has done pretty good with both - I think it much harder on mom than it is on him. He has been a little clingy in the evening, something he hasn't been before, but I'm sure he'll get over that soon.

When Dad's in Charge

Check out this video to see what happens at home when dad is left in charge.

Click here.

Saturday

We decided not to go to the cabin this weekend, so we found ourselves with a whole day of free time at home - not something we usually have. We spent the morning at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. They have a new exhibit - Treeology. It was really great, we had a lot of fun. Nick found all the trees, plants and fresh air to be very relaxing. =)





Then this afternoon, Nicholas had his first bath in the big bathtub (with mom of course). With all the room he had he thought he was back in his cousins pool - he loved it! Later we were having a lazy a few hours relaxing outside at home and decided to brush the cats - they've been shedding a lot lately. Check out the video's below. The first is of all of us, and shows Nicks new fascination with his fists (and check out the PJ's mom put him in - Dad wasn't too impressed but I know Nick loved them!) while the second video is what happens when we let crazy Scooter loose outside...
1.)

2.)

Trip to the Zoo

On Wednesday Kristi and Nicholas went to the Minnesota Zoo with Kat and Ali and Ali's grandparents Larry and Sandy. A thunderstorm went through and we had to run to the farm area to take cover in some of the barns. We waited it out for about 20 minutes. The babies loved the adventure!

Nick was awake for the majority of the day and he was fascinated with the animals, especially the cow. As you can see in the video (click on the third box below, it will link you to a video), he loved staring at the cow. I'm not sure if it was because this was the closest we could get to an animal or if he takes after his two great-grandfathers on his mom's side (both were dairy farmers).


For anyone interested, the new grizzly bear exhibit is great!












Tomorrow is Kristi's first day back at work and Tim is staying home with Nicholas all day. This is a first for both Tim and Nick - they haven't spent that much time together alone before. It will be a good trial run before regular daycare starts next week. Wish us all luck!

Weekend in Siren

Last weekend we went to the cabin. We got a lot of work accomplished - the boys finished all of the electrical (which including renting a 25 foot wobbly step ladder to work near the top of the great room - Yikes!) while Kat and I did outdoor work. Us ladies evened out the grade of the hill on the south side of the driveway, spread black dirt over it, planted grass seed and fertilized and then covered it with a straw matting which gets stapled in place to hold the seed down when it rains. Then in our spare time we even split and stacked nearly a cord of wood. Whew!

But it wasn't all work and no play - after we finished around 5 p.m. on Saturday, we all went down and enjoyed the lake for a while. You can check out Nicholas above loving Ali's baby tube. Then Sunday we were able to relax all day. We went fishing in the old pontoon and you can see Nick and Luther hanging out together. Too bad we didn't catch any keepers.

Friday night the lake was as calm as glass so Tim decided to go barefooting. He first skied around the lake once then decided to try barefooting. He hasn't barefooted in a few years, so he was a little rusty. He went three times and the third wipeout was scary so Kristi told him he had to quit. Going over 40 mph and faceplanting and somersaulting into the water is too scary for mom.

Today is a day of rest for Nicholas after all of the excitement of the weekend. Tonight we have our last childbirth and parenting class at Mercy. All of the couples have had their babies by now and everyone will get to meet all the kids. We actually saw two of the other couples in our class in the hospital at the same time we had Nick. It will be great to hear everyone's birth stories and hear how all the kids are doing.

The Rymans Become Bloggers!

Alright, after religiously reading the updates from the Meyer Ranch blog and struggling to e-mail updates to everyone on a timely basis, I've decided that maybe a blog isn't such a bad idea.

Check in here for regular updates on what's happening with the little man Nick and his parents and current photos.

The most recent updates: Nicholas measured in at 13.0 lbs and 24 inches today, at 11 weeks. He is making all sorts of noises and is just about ready to laugh. He smiles all the time now and is truly a happy baby. He can grasp toys in his hands now (with a little help from mom) and he broke a sleeping record Tuesday night - he slept for 8.5 hours! Good boy! He has one more week of staying at home, mom is scheduled to start work on August 15.

We visited Uncle Jon and Aunt Jill Tuesday night for dinner and saw their new house. The last time we were there they had just put in an offer and Nicholas was still in mama's belly. The house looks great and we couldn't be more happy for the new home-owners.

We're off to the cabin in Siren this weekend, so hopefully we'll have some new photos to post Sunday night. We hope you enjoy the updates!

This photo is of Nick sleeping on a stuffed dog he got from Grandma Judy and Grandpa Mark. He is wearing a sweater outfit Grandma Judy knitted for cousin Michael almost 30 years ago.
Nick at 10 weeks.
Safari Nicholas!
Happy boy!
Which one is Nick?

Nicholas is going to make daddy proud and set a new world record - the earliest baby to waterski.

Nick's first time swimming in Viola Lake - he really loved it!

Nicholas is hanging out with his cousins: Taylor, Jordan and Lauren.

For a video of Nick swimming in the pool, check out this link to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whx49fHfIxE

Milwaukee

Nicholas with his cousin Lauren in Milwaukee on August 2, just hanging out by the pool.