31 months!

Ryder is still very happy to be going over to his Meme's everyday and gets very excited to see his cousin Emma every morning, but sometimes it can be a little be tough getting him going and out of the house.  He `is starting to express firm opinions on practically everything from breakfast to footwear and is not so easily dissuaded as he was when he was younger.  Nothing like a last minute batch of pancakes to slow us down!

This month Ryder and Vivien got a swingset from some friends of the family who are moving and Ryder has been all about swinging every day!  He also got to help build some of it, which was heaven for him since he is always going around fixing everything.  As Bob the Builder says: "Can we fix it?   Yes we can!"  He is almost as into building and fixing now as he is into trucks.  Almost.  He has learned some new trucks this month, which is hard to believe considering how many he already knew!  In addition to all those, he now points out flatbed trucks and pickup trucks on our morning commute.  Nothing excites him quite as much as the concrete truck, though.

His drawing skills continue to improve also.  He has been drawing trucks with cabs and wheels for a while now, but he is also including the shovels and cranes, etc... too.  Give him a piece of paper and a few minutes and it will be covered in trucks.  I got some stampers for school this past month and he has really been enjoying stamping smiley faces on all of his papers too.

Ryder has figured out that you catch more flies with honey and now asks for things very nicely.  It is hysterical and adorable to listen to him ask "Please can I..." in the sweetest voice.  He has also caught onto delay tactics, especially around bedtime.  I usually read him some books after I put Vivien to bed and we have "Just one more" and "Last one" several times!

He has learned to count a bit higher now too.  He could count to three and when counting over three, he would just start over.  Now he can count to at least eight and can hold up one or two fingers.  He has also started really learning some song lyrics, most notably "Happy Birthday!"

Usually has a big smile on his face

Giggling with Daddy

Being a goofball

Always jumping on something!!

Now there's that sweet face

10 months!

This month Vivien got her first real sickness and it has made for a rough month!  Both Ryder and Vivien had a cold a couple of weeks ago, then Vivien developed a mild case of croup and she has been a little bit off ever since.  She has been much fussier and it's been harder to get her to eat and sleep.  At the height of it all she wanted to sleep all night in my arms, while I was standing up!  We had a long few nights and we are looking forward to her return to full health so we can do some serious sleep training.  This illness has taken us back a couple of steps; it feels like we've been awake more than asleep at night lately!

She has been eating a lot more finger foods this month.  Much like her brother and parents, she loves bread!  Thank goodness none of us has Celiac's, we'd be in trouble!  She has had French toast and waffles, melon, O cereals, plus soup.  She seems much pickier than Ryder so far; a lot of times I end up giving her baby cereal because she won't eat more than a few bites of anything else.  At least she's taking those few bites of lots of other things and getting some variety in her diet!

She has been tearing around the house in her Marine crawl style.  She follows us everywhere and gets into everything now.  She has gotten up on her knees and almost crawled countless times, so actual crawling is right around the corner, I'm sure.  Once she had been creeping for a few days, she started scooting back up into a seated position.  She finds a toy she wants and then scoots up to play with it.  At the end of this month she also started standing herself up on things, everything really.

This month I taught her to "give me five."  When I put my hands out, she will hit my hands with hers.  If I say "give me five," she immediately puts her hands out to do it.  If we are doing fives and I take my hands away, she reaches out and pulls them back down to do more fives.  Last month Ryder taught her to clap and she loves doing that with everybody.  The minute anyone starts clapping, she jumps right in!

Despite her illness, Vivien is still a very happy little baby and more often than not has a huge smile on her face.  She is so interested in everything and loves to be in the middle of it all.  She and Ryder interact so much now, it really melts my heart.

Chasing me

Still happy, even when sick

Look mom, I can stand!

I love her smile!

Absolutely happy almost all the time

Look at that pose, she's got the hang of this photo shoot thing ;)