28 months!

Ryder's verbal skills have been increasing at a breakneck speed this month.  At his 2 year check-up I was concerned about the size of his vocabulary (and was told that everything was fine) and now Ryder talks all day long, is learning new words very quickly and has become a first-class mimic.  He is also now learning new phrases and quickly using them in new situations- "Not yet" was a big one this month.

Last month he started using some verbs to create not quite complete sentences, or super short sentences.  This month he is speaking in longer complete sentences.  We have some bunnies in the yard and while watching one of them one evening Ryder observed "Bunny eats grass in the yard."  He is now adding one or two adjectives to things when he describes them.  If we don't repeat or otherwise acknowledge what he has said, he will continue to say it with increasing insistence until we do!

He has also mastered the skill of telling people what to do, or NOT do, as is usually the case.  He loves to tell Vivi what she can and cannot "eat."  Spoiler alert: there is almost nothing she can "eat." Which is true, I suppose.  "Vivi no eat (toy) truck!"  "Vivi no eat book!"  I love it at meals when he describes his meal and hers: "Vivi has mush!"

Ryder is getting/continuing to be very stubborn.  We took him to Cambridge for an event this month and he didn't want to hold my hand in the crowd, so he sat down!  I've had to carry him several times.  He really lets us know what he wants and doesn't want and loudly!

He has a couple of TV specials that he watches on Amazon Prime from time to time and it is adorable to watch him watch them.  There are only a handful in rotation and he knows what is going to happen and some of the dialogue.  The facial expressions and the yelling of the words is so funny.  Once Janda randomly selected another title in the series and poor Ryder was so scared by the events that he turned the TV off to make it go away!

The most notable new skill this month is the mastering of the balance bike.  He can coast halfway down our street on it barely putting a foot down.  He has ridden it all the way to the park and around the point on our short walk route.  He is mostly fearless, barely missing cars and telephone poles!

This picture might look like he is sitting still, but he isn't.  He's bouncing back against the couch!

Saying "Cheese"

I told him I wanted to take some pictures of him standing- so of course he ran back and forth on the couch, that is obviously the same as standing.

Bouncing around

Fearless!

7 Months!

Another month has gone by with this cutie!  Janda finished the school year this month, so we've been doing lots of things, mostly firsts for Vivi.  We've gone to the Fiesta, taken walks all over, been to the beach many times and even gone on a boat.

Vivi is still talking up a storm with an endless slew of coos, giggles, and now consonant sounds.  Of course, the dreaded "da da da!"  She loves to make funny sounds with her mouth, blowing raspberries and the like.

She did great with the introduction of solids.  Although I had every intention of starting her right at 6 months like I did with Ryder, I didn't even buy the sweet potato until a few days later.  Between that and dragging my feet, two weeks went by!  I suppose I just want to keep my last baby a baby forever.  Vivi on the other hand, was clearly ready to move on!  She had been acting very interested in our food, even moving her mouth while we were eating, so it was no surprise that she took to it quickly.  The first time she had sweet potatoes, most of it actually made it into her belly.  Two weeks later she is already having three meals a day, which Ryder didn't have for months!  It's not a lot of food, obviously, but about 2 tablespoons of "mush," as Ryder calls it, at each meal.  So far she's had sweet potato, baby oatmeal, avocado and banana.  Banana was the only one she wasn't sure about.

In addition to sitting in the Bumbo chair, which she is now a champ at, she can hang out in her little jumper.  She doesn't do much jumping yet, but she "stands up" in it and plays with her toys.  If she's anything like Ryder, she'll be jumping up a storm soon.  She can almost sit up on her own now.  She can stay sitting up against the corner of the couch for quite some time now and if she leans over, she is controlling it more.  She works hard to sit up and with just a little help can get right up.  She is also on the move now, rolling over every which way.  If we put her down on the blanket and turn around, she'll be somewhere completely new.

She's back to sleeping in the crib pretty well.  We usually put her down asleep, which is apparently not a good thing, but she's totally fine with naps in the crib that way, so I'm keeping it up!  She has been doing very consistent 6 hour stretches at night, sometimes longer.  She usually doesn't wake up til 3am and then once more at 5-6am, as which point I'll let her sleep with us.  During the day she still does 3-4 naps, usually pretty short.

#Toocute should be #Toohappy!

I love the hand on the knee!

Sitting up on her own, away from the couch

She loves to be folded up like a pretzel!

I wanted a picture of her pushing herself up but that got too dangerous on the couch and then the photo shoot had to end, so...this is what I got

Pure joy!