14 Months!

This month Ryder has really perfected walking and is now working on running.  He has also started climbing up onto and over everything.  He can pull himself up onto the couch now and loves to climb back and forth, right over me.  He loves to play outside in the yard and likes to play with a big beach ball.  He's been picking things up and throwing them for a while, now he's learning to kick too.

He is still eating more and more.  The only thing he hasn't liked lately is hotdogs.  Maybe it's because I get the gourmet ones ;)  We changed his milk over to rice milk and that seems to have improved his life majorly.  He can still eat yogurt, but milk seems to be too much for his system. He adores fruit, especially strawberries.  I can't wait to give him some straight from the garden this coming month.

When he's upset, Ryder clearly says "Mama" and "Dada," although not frequently.  He makes all kinds of sounds and it is clear that he is imitating our timing and intonation, but not any other clear words yet.  He knows so many phrases/directions now.  He will go to the right place if we say "breakfast," "lunch," "dinner," "outside," and "milk."  In fact, if we say one of those words and don't do what he expects us to, he gets very upset.  He will get things that we ask for and bring them to us.  I would guess that he recognizes a hundred-ish words.

His top four teeth have come in pretty far and it seems like two more top teeth are popping through too.  He seems to think that kisses involve biting.  He gives me a sweet kiss on the cheek and then chomps down for the finale.  He got his first haircut this month, which he totally hated!  You would have thought we were cutting off his legs.  He looks like a little boy now instead of a baby.

We took these pictures pretty late- we're both in our PJ's!

Not a bad haircut considering he spent the entire time trying to get away.

Taking a moment to see what's on the TV.

Playing with some blocks.

Tired boy with his binky and his froggy friend.

Me-Made-May 2014

So I decided to participate in Me-Made-May for the first time. I have a fair number of me-made items, so why not look for a reason to wear them!  May is the perfect month for a New Englander to try this challenge because we can wear the cool (or this year cold!) weather clothes at the beginning of the month and then maybe, if we're lucky, get to bust out the summer clothes at the end.

Here's my pledge:

 'I sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '14. I endeavour to wear 4-5 handmade garments each week for the duration of May 2014'

I have a few dresses, a few skirts, a pair of capris, a pair of shorts, a couple of t-shirts and a sweater to mix in. Each week I'm going to post a round up of my outfits that include me-made items- some people post an outfit photo every day.  I suspect those people do not currently have a baby and a full-time job.  Maybe someday that can be me!

13 months!

Ryder had a big month this month- lots and lots of firsts and new things going on here!

Biggest new thing is, of course, walking!  He starting walking one Wednesday and hasn't stopped since.  The first couple of days he did a mixture of walking and crawling, but I would say that after 3 days or so he was all walking.  Now he just crawls to get around things, to be silly or when he's really excited about something.  It is just so darn cute to watch him toddle around.  He is very coordinated, but he still tips over and falls occasionally.

I think that he is firmly established as a sleep through the night baby now; over vacation he was going 12.5-14 hours a night!  Now that he's so active, his appetite seems to be growing too.  He is eating noticeably more food at each meal.  We have found very little that he doesn't like to eat. Lasagna, roasted chicken and gravy, hash, turkey and mushroom meatballs, every fruit; you name it, he'll eat it.  He has started having yogurt this month with his sandwiches at lunch.  Even with all the food he's eating, he still loves his milk- if you don't give him his cup quickly enough after a meal, he'll let you know how he feels!

Still not much going on in the word department, but he is all about the non-verbal communication now.  He points at what he wants, puts his arms up to be picked up and bring us things that he wants us to play with.  He can understand a lot of what we say now and is definitely following more complex directions.  If we ask him to, he can go find his Monkey Friend and bring him to us, even if he can't readily see Monkey Friend.

He absolutely loves all of his different cars.  He will push them around and carry them places, but most of all he loves when we wind them up and send them across the room.  He will gladly go get them and bring them back for another trip many times in a row.  He also loves music and dances when a CD is playing or when one of his PBS shows plays a song.

He also now has his four top teeth coming in, in addition to the two bottom ones that came up a couple of months ago.  They haven't popped through too far yet, but I'm sure they'll be firmly established by the end of this month.  When he kisses us now, we get a real bite!

Getting up

And walking towards mummy (or the camera)

He loves to point at things

Always a smile

Look at that face!

Gettin' mobile

Somebody developed a brand new skill this week!  Sorry it's portrait!

A Birthday Party!

We had a little family party for Ryder's big day.  He had a lot of fun with the guests, got some great presents and of course had his first cake!

He didn't actually eat much cake!

Playing with one of his presents

Our present to Ryder, a push bike

12 Months Old!

One year ago Janda and I were very surprised to be heading to the hospital at 1am to have a baby- 6 and a half weeks early! Now we are surprised on a daily basis by all the new things that our little guy is learning to do!

This month Ryder’s two bottom teeth came all the way up and boy can he bite with them now! No other teeth have appeared yet, although we can see the roots of some top ones.

Sleeping is still going great. Once in a while he’ll fuss overnight, but mostly once he goes to sleep, he’s asleep. The major hiccup this month was Daylight Savings Time. On Saturday he went to be a little before 6pm. Sunday and Monday were both around 7:30pm. We have gotten the bedtime back down so he can get his full night of sleep before we get him up to leave in the morning, thank goodness.

He has been eating tons this month. We have been eating lots of waffles with fruit in them, scrambled eggs and some peanut butter sandwiches. He also switched over to whole milk this month and seems to like it. Anything that we are eating or drinking, he wants to try some. He has gotten very good at chewing the food with his gums, so anything in small pieces works great.

Ryder can now kneel up on his own and stand up on his own also. A few times he has hopped while standing, which is adorable. He hasn't tried to take any steps yet, but he walks very well holding our hands or furniture, so I’m sure that’s coming soon.

He is playing much more with his toys. He now takes things out of his toy box when he wants a new toy. He has also learned to put things inside each other, like nesting cups. He likes to climb on top of us while we’re on the floor and he loves to play with the motorcycle helmets, especially when they’re on our heads. He prefers to be in the same place that we are hanging out, but he plays well on his own now and can entertain himself for a few minutes. Of course, when he is too
quiet we have to run and see what he’s eating that he shouldn't be!

No words yet, but he understands more and more directions. He is starting to imitate a lot more. If you make funny sounds, he will make them too. He just learned to make raspberries, so he will imitate us doing it and then laugh hysterically.

This was the closest I came to getting a picture where he was sitting up and looking at me.

He sure has a cute smile.

He can stand up on his own.

This photo session was insane.  He wouldn't give up his props.

And he was doing some sort of yoga.

Or maybe gymnastics?

11 months old!

February 2014

Another month has flown by and we are fast approaching Ryder's first birthday.  Hard to believe that he has been here so long- it seems like just yesterday that I was hugely pregnant, waiting for him to arrive.  Time flies when you're having fun!

This month's big news was bottom teeth!  The first one showed up at the beginning of the month and another one popped up last week.  They are coming in slowly, but they are here.  I am going to miss that cute, toothless grin of my newborn baby.

Ryder has been sleeping through the night for quite a while now, but he would often cry during the night while sleeping and wake me up.  I would turn him over, cuddle him with his friends and put on the music and he would not even open an eye.  The past couple of weeks I haven't even been waking up at all- very exciting!  He still sleeps at least 12 hours overnight and naps are still haphazard!  Some days you get 20 minutes and others 90+.

This past week he had his first big cold.  His nose has been very runny and he developed quite a little cough.  He took it like a champ though, never stopped smiling for long and not much complaining.  Unless of course we tried to wipe away the river flowing from his nose- then he let us know how he felt.  The cold also seemed to kill his appetite; he skipped several meals.

He has been eating more this month.  I have been making him scrambled eggs and buckwheat waffles, both big hits, and he has had his fair share of broccoli soup and clam chowder.  He always wants what is on my plate, so as long as it isn't spicy, he gets a bit.  He has also started getting water in a sippy cup, which is an adventure for both of us.

He hasn't quite started walking yet, but he never stops standing against things, walking around the furniture and finding things that he can move and push around the house.  He has really refined his wire pulling skills and it isn't as easy to hide things that he wants anymore.  He is really playing with toys now and will get his own toys out of the toy bucket.  He loves chasing and pushing his cars, knocking over anything and he is starting to put things inside other things.

There still aren't any definite words that we can recognize yet, but he never stops making noises and understands us well.  He recognizes mommy, daddy, kitty, kisses, up, more, and no, to name a few.  When we start talking about kisses, he will plant a few wet ones on our faces. 

Always having fun. 

Serious face.

There are those teeth!

A lot of my photos look like this!  Mummy has something, I want it!!!

10 months old!

January 2014

Ryder enjoyed his first Christmas- of course, he had no idea what was going on, but he certainly had fun visiting everybody. He is having lots of fun with his new toys and he got almost a complete 12 month wardrobe, which is good because the 9 month clothes are quickly being outgrown.  9 month pajamas are out and the onesies are on their way!  Pants seem to last longer, he must have my short legs.

He had his 9 month checkup and according to the growth charts at least, he has caught up in size. After being 5 1/2 weeks early (although huge for that premie-ness) and having no food/surgery the first week of life, he was very slow to grow for the first few months.  Finally at 6 months he went from being under the 10th percentile to the 30th or so.  Now he was in the 90th percentile!  I'd say he is doing well- which is a great relief to us of course.

He is still obliging us with a great sleep schedule.  Bed around 5:30, up around 6:30.  Naps are still dicey though.  Over our vacation he slept 15 straight hours one night!  He still fusses a little at night, but I don't have to get up much, rarely more than once a night.  We've gone a bit backwards with the food.  His very bad diaper rash returned, so I have limited his diet to 3-4 foods the past couple of weeks.  I'm ready to start expanding again and on the look out for trouble foods.

H has been extremely active this month.  He crawls everywhere at top speed now.  He will play hide and seek, chase a ball around and push his cars across the room.  He learned how to stand up on Christmas Eve and has been wreaking havoc ever since.  Anything on any table goes straight in the mouth!  He has stood up on his own and balanced for a few seconds, so far.  He also walks around pushing things now; it won't be long before he is walking.

He definitely knows his name now, as well as a few other words.  So far, no words from him, but he babbles lots of sounds, as well as many different yells, grunts and squeals.  He is very rarely quiet and if he is, you can be sure he has something he shouldn't in his mouth.

He sat up nice and straight!

A smile is never hard to get

Standing up on his own!