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!