Minnesota Summer Trip

Last week, we traveled to Minnesota for a Snyder family reunion!  We had a great time catching up with family, friends, and introducing Connor to Minnesota.

Saturday started with Connor's first plane ride - he was amazing - he played a bit then slept the rest of the flight!  The flight back to ATL a week later, however, was another story...

Connor's first plane ride

We were all excited to meet Connor's new cousin, Charlie, who is 6 weeks younger than Connor.  It's so interesting to see what a big difference 6 weeks makes when they are so young.  Most of the time they didn't even know each other were there but we sure had fun with both of them!  On the drive to the cabin, both babies were in the same car and slept the whole way - we were all impressed!

Charlie and Connor 

Right when we got to MN, Grandma Cathy watched both babies while the rest of us went on a limo tour of 4 local beer breweries - what a blast!

One of our stops on the Snyder Beer Tour '13

As always, a trip to Minnesota isn't complete without a few visits to see "G-Ma" who has recently been promoted to "GG-Ma" with her four great grandchildren.

G-Ma and Connor

She got him to smile :)

My friends Kris and Kolles from high school stopped by to meet Connor and catch up with us before we headed up north to the cabin.

Kris and Connor 

Kolles and Connor

On Tuesday, we headed north to Lake Vermillion for a few days of relaxation, boat rides, and outdoor activities.  The weather was supposed to be 80's and sunny but ended up being 50-60's and cloudy/rainy but we made it work.

Connor had to wear a hat to protect his bald head from the sun :)

He was not a fan of his baby life jacket...

Connor playing with Pop Pop

Hanging out by the lake with daddy

Pop Pop, Taylor (2), Courtney, and Tanner (6) playing on the big swing

Uncle Brandon wanted to hold both babies!

Taylor loves playing with her baby doll so she was excited when she got to play with a real baby and kept asking me if she could hold baby Connor on her "wap."

One day, we took a trip to the other cabin so Pop Pop could take everyone for a ride on his fire truck.

Pop Pop bought a fire truck a while back and loves taking the kids for rides and teaching the adults how to drive it.

Pop Pop with 3 of his grandkids

Taylor with baby Connor on her "wap"

Aunt CB and Connor

Tanner and Connor

Keith and I are beyond excited that Connor now has Godparents!  My brother Chad and his wife Courtney "CB" have graciously agreed to be Connor's Godparents.  They are both great Christian examples and we are thrilled to have them involved in Connor's upbringing and religious development!

 Uncle Chad

Aunt CB

The plane ride back to ATL was the complete opposite from our experience on the way to MN.  Our sweet baby boy decided to scream and cry for all but 20 minutes of the 2 hour flight.  What a joy to have people staring at you as if you should be doing something...when the reality is that you have tried everything you can think of!  Of course, when we put him back in his stroller after we landed, he smiled as if nothing was wrong...

Good thing our next plane ride with him isn't until Christmas :)

3 Months!

July 17, 2013: Today marks Connor's 3 month birthday!  He continues to discover new things daily - his new obsession is talking - a LOT.  He loves cooing and making noises to people on speaker phone, especially both of his grandmas!  He enjoys laying under his activity gym and now grabs the toys hanging from it.  Connor also loves looking at the TV - watching sports with daddy or Real Housewives with mommy :)

As for eating and sleeping, he has stayed steady at about 9-10 hours of sleep at night.  Somehow, 4am seems to be the hour that he magically gets his arms out of his swaddle and cries until we go tuck him back in.  If you saw how tight we do his swaddle, you would be amazed how strong he must be!

In other news - his eyes have changed from blue to green.  I'm hoping they stay green but apparently they can change up to a year.

Here are some pictures to show his growth at 3 months:

Haha - I enjoyed this face as he was scooching himself down!

 

We have an exciting week ahead of us - the three of us are headed north...almost to Canada!  My parents have planned a fun reunion where my three siblings and their families will be spending some time in Edina, MN then headed to our cabin on Lake Vermillion near Ely.  It will be so fun to see Connor's cousins Tanner (almost 6), Taylor (2), and Charlie (7 weeks) and see how they all interact!

12 Weeks

Connor is now 12 weeks and still growing like crazy!  He now weighs just shy of 14 pounds and is 24.5 inches long.  He recently went through a growth spurt (I swear, it was overnight) and has outgrown almost all of his current clothes. We packed up his small stuff and brought out the 6 month clothes... it's like having a whole new wardrobe!

Each day he starts to do something new, which is fun to watch.  He loves pulling himself up while holding our fingers!

He is starting to settle into a routine and typically takes a few naps a day between when he eats and plays.  He is getting more and more fun to interact with, as he is starting to recognize us.  He recently discovered that his activity gym that he lays under has a mirror - it's nonstop entertainment when he talks to himself! 

 Talking to himself in the mirror

Connor is the most active right after he eats and he will sit and talk to you.  I always wonder what the heck he is saying - I guess we'll find out soon enough!

It's hard to get pictures of him smiling so this will have to do...

Our friends lent us their Bumbo chair... it's basically a chair that helps them to sit up and support their neck on their own.  His legs are a bit chunky so sometimes it's hard to get him out :)

He only lasts a few minutes until he gets a bit stronger

4th of July

Yesterday Connor celebrated his first 4th of July!  We had great plans of a BBQ at our house with friends accompanied by outdoor lawn games but the nasty weather kept us all inside.  Nonetheless, we still had a blast and Connor got to play with some of his friends!  He didn't stay up late enough for fireworks but we all heard them for a few hours when we went to sleep.

It was quite a challenge to get all 3 kids in a picture together but our fabulous photographer Jeff came through while the moms were orchestrating the babies.  It's hard to believe that they are all 8 months apart with their different sizes and movement - Olivia is on the run, Nate is crawling, and Connor doesn't move yet.

Nate LaPlume (10.5 months), Olivia Paller (19 months), and Connor (2.5 months)

When not being held, Connor spent his time playing in his MamaRoo

Connor and Daddy

Connor and Mommy

Happy Birthday America! 

 Excited for his friends to come over!

He loves being upright - even it if involves us holding him to stand up

As you can probably guess, sitting up doesn't last long...

We hope you had a great 4th of July and hopefully you had better weather than us!

11 Weeks

Connor is now 11 weeks and starting new things everyday!  The most exciting news: he sleeps through the night!!!  He started going about 8 hours at 8 weeks and is now up to 10 hours!  We're hoping and praying our sleepless nights with middle of the night feedings are over :)

Here is what Connor has been up to over the past few weeks:

We have heard that babies love to be in an infant carrier so we tried ours out with him... his happiness lasted for about 3 minutes.  We will have to keep practicing to see if he starts to enjoy it!

 Keith trying out the carrier

We have started to do more "tummy time" with Connor but he tends to get lazy and takes naps instead sometimes!  Keith had the great idea of putting down a small pillow that helps him to keep himself up, awake, and strengthening his neck!

 Tummy Time is obviously hard work...

My friend, Allie, sent Connor an adorable swimsuit and matching hat - I had to try it on him to make sure it fits for his upcoming trip to the cabin in northern Minnesota!  I think it's a go (until he learns to take the hat off I'm sure)!

Ready for the lake!

One of my Little Sisters from my sorority, Emily, came to Atlanta for a wedding so she and her brother stopped by to meet her "great nephew" as she calls him.

Connor loved playing with Emily!

He loves tubby time each night.  Recently, he learned that if he kicks his legs, it splashes all over - on the counters, mirror, floor, mommy, daddy, etc.  As you can see, it's all fun and games until he splashes himself in the face...

Not a fan of splashing himself in the face

He's so funny with his spontaneous smiles.  These are becoming more frequent and melt my heart each time he grins while his whole face!

Happy

We are excited for what the rest of this week has in store - we are having a 4th of July BBQ with some friends with lawn games.  Connor will get to see some of his friends too - I'm sure we'll have some pictures to post of them!