RYBA FAMILY: September 2010

We have had a busy couple of weeks! Daniel turned 3 months old last Friday, was baptized on Sunday and rolled back to belly on Monday!

Daniel 3 months old

Watching the game

Daniel was baptized at Our Lady of Mount Carmel (where Dan and I were married) on Sunday, September 19. This was an extra special day since cousin Jack and cousin Logan were also christened. Uncle DJ and Uncle Chris were the proud godfathers. He wore the 72 year old christening gown that Daddy and Papa wore for their baptisms. Daniel did pretty well sitting in church and got a little fussy, of course because he was hungry. I timed it just right and handed the almost finished bottle to Uncle Mike when it was our turn. Just as he realized the bottle was gone and started to cry, Father Mike poured the holy water over his head and he relaxed. Luckily, only his mommy and daddy heard the burp when we were back in our seats. We celebrated the special event with family and friends "big fat greek baptism style" with a pizza party at Nonnie's.

"Jack Daniel"

All dressed up!

The Ryba men

Papa, Daddy and Daniel

"My Big Fat Greek Baptism"

So the one picture I forgot to take with our camera was a family pic!
Luckily, Uncle Ray snapped this great shot of us:)

Today is officially the last day of maternity leave. Eleven weeks went by super fast and it's hard to believe my little baby is going to be 12 weeks old on Thursday. Little....hah, Daniel is close to 14 or 15 pounds and has changed so much already. He is just pure joy to be with, how am I going to leave him for a whole day? I have the best of both worlds, going back 3 days a week and don't get me wrong, I love my job and the people I work with, and Daniel is going to be in such great care with my mom (yia yia) and my mother in law (gramma)....but I just would rather be with him! And, how am I going to get all of us out the door, and on time! So much to worry about, and that is what I like to do, worry. Over the past couple of weeks, I have gotten some great advice from family and friends on how to make this all work and the biggest piece of advice is PLAN AHEAD and get everything ready from the night before. So that is what I have been doing, getting bottles made and the diaper bag ready, laying out clothes and packing the car at night. I even made a nighttime checklist to keep myself organized! Wow, I am a dork...I also had to practice leaving baby Daniel for longer than a trip to Target. So, a couple weeks ago we went to the Bears game with Bryan and Maggie while Gramma and Papa watched Daniel. He did very well and even got his bedtime bath. We had a great time ourselves and luckily I got hourly updates with pictures from Flav! I also did a "dry run" last week practicing getting out the door and to Yia Yia's in the morning so I could see what traffic is like. So far so good. So today on my last day of maternity leave, we just had the best time! We made it around the block for a short walk with Daniel in the Bjorn and even with Buddy (those that know Buddy can say this is a big accomplishment), we had some very good tummy time and lots of play time. Daniel is starting to push his torso up just a little and is grabbing at toys a little more reliably (I am predicting he is a southpaw like his daddy and poppy). He was "talking" and cooing all day today too, even razzed a couple times, but usually I miss it. I have to admit, I have been a little teary eyed a few times today, today was probably not the best day to fold up the newborn clothes that do not fit him...seems like yesterday we were bringing him home and those clothes were actually big! I know tomorrow will go okay and we will soon figure out our new routine and there are lots of new things for Daniel to do and learn that I am looking forward to...so we'll see how it goes.