18 months!

Ryder is now a year and a half old.  He's getting to be such a big kid!  Looking back at pictures from 18 months ago, the difference is amazing.

This month his fine motor skills have been on showcase.  He is getting way better at putting together his Legos.  Most of the time he can attach the different pieces.  When he can't, he gets a little frustrated and hands it to me.  His dancing skills are also getting better.  He has been bouncing from one foot to the other and up and down for months.  Now he is doing a little wiggle too.  It's adorable.  He can turn on the music on the CD player at my mom's and gets himself dancing.

His vocabulary hasn't increased by that much, but he has been using the ones that he has a lot. Especially truck!  Every truck that we see when we are in the car, he excitedly points it out and yells "tuck!"  He has said a few words once, so his ability to repeat words is increasing.  He understands almost everything we say; he follows almost all of our directions and understands most of our questions.

His favorite foods this month have been waffles and French toast. When he hears the waffle maker ding, he gets very excited!  He only has the front 8 teeth as of now, so he doesn't have the most advanced chewing ability.  He loves apples, but he has trouble chewing them.  He bites some off, works on it for a few minutes and then spits it out when he can't quite swallow it.  I'm glad he likes apples, but I'll be even happier when he can fully chew them.  He has also gotten very good at drinking his water from a straw- it's hydrating and fun.

He is becoming more and more affectionate.  When he's feeling shy, he will hug our legs or want to hold our hands.  His hugs are a little dangerous for me though, because he pulls my hair hard.  He has given me a few real kisses, which were a real treat.  The person he hugs the most is his cousin Emma; when he sees her in the morning he jumps up and down and then rushes over to hug her.  Good thing she thinks of him as a brother!

He sat up nicely for a couple of pictures

Playing in the sunroom

Taking a break

His fierce "this is heavy" face

He likes to dump things out and put them back

He's coming to get me

Did I mention he prefers to brush his own hair now?

A Trip to the Orchard

If there is one thing that you have to do in the fall in New England, it is to go to the apple orchard. With nice cool temperatures today, we decided to go get our fill of apples.  We would have had cider donuts too, but the line was too long!  Cider waffles tomorrow will have to do I guess.

Walking the path to the apples

He loves to pick fruit and veggies- this was his first apple

Getting a taste from Daddy

Deciding if he likes it

He got another one

The Empire apple trees were positively loaded

He got another

He liked putting them in the bag, then he'd want to take them out and do it again.

There were a bunch of bugs to inspect

No pictures of me from the orchard, but here's one from last week,

at Week 23.  Ryder is getting a sister!

17 months!

We had to go back to school at the end of August (hence the lateness of this round-up), so we tried to enjoy every second of the month.  We went to the beach as much as we could.  Ryder loves to be outside, so we played a lot in the yard.  He has inherited Janda's endurance, he can walk all the way around the block under his own power, he actually runs most of the way.  We've had a lot of skinned knees this month, since he prefers to play on pavement, much to my chagrin.

He still loves his cars and he can put them back together himself pretty well.  He has also mostly figured out how to wind them up and send them off on his own.  He loves to throw things, so we bought him some big bouncy balls, which have been a huge hit.  He definitely favors his right hand for throwing, but also loves the two-arm, two-ball double throw.  He loves his lift-the-flap books, but unfortunately he likes to rip the flaps right out.

This month he has added a few new words and the ones that he had been saying have become more recognizable.  He has given up "yeah" in favor of "uh-huh."  He usually calls Janda and me Daddy- whenever either of us leaves, he stands in the doorway and yells Da-ddy! over and over.  When he sees Janda in cycling or running clothes, he knows that Daddy is leaving and waves bye. Then he runs to the sunroom, stands in the window and yells "bye-bye Daddy!"  He also says "bye-bye truck" and "bye-bye plane" all the time.  Every time a plane flies over he says bye to it, even if he can't see it.

He is very independent with eating now.  He wants to hold everything himself and use a fork to stab and eat everything.  He prefers big pieces that he can bite himself, but then he takes a huge bite, realizes he can't chew it and spits it out!  Fun for Mommy!

Just chillin'!

Love that face

Okay, I'll sit on the couch...

...but not for long.

Focused on his toy

Cute boy!