Ryder: 19 months

At 19 months old, Ryder's favorite words now seem to be "no" and "mine". He will say "no" in a tone of voice that suggests that whatever I am telling/asking him to do is completely absurd. He also tells the dogs "no, no, no" if they come too close to him while he's eating something. The word "mine" suddenly popped up in his vocabulary, and he's been using it A LOT in the past few days. Apparently Ryder is sponsoring the Olympics: when we watch volleyball, the ball is "mine"; all of the bicycles during the cycling race are "mine". Andrew and I have decided that nothing in the house belongs to us anymore; we're just borrowing things from Ryder. :)

Our little barista

Ryder insists on helping Daddy make coffee every day, and his favorite part is grinding the beans (with the help of Daddy and a step-stool of course). Ryder has observed Andrew's love for coffee and will even say "Daddy-O" when he sees a Starbuck's logo!

Aunt Ali came to play!
Alison came for a visit over the weekend, and Ryder was thrilled to have her here. They chased each other around the house, had tickling "fights", and played outside. Alison brought Ryder an adorable alligator towel that's designed like a cape, and they took turns wearing it and running around the house.

Ryder the alligator

loving some tickle time with Ali

Playdough!
We bought Ryder his first little container of play dough (and a Cars placemat) to see how he would like it. I dug out a star-shaped cookie cutter that I have and let Ryder do some experimenting. He did really well and didn't eat any...at least this time!

opening the container very carefully

"Wow, this stuff is pretty cool!"

A new discovery
Ryder found out that if he drags his stool over to the refrigerator, he can reach the magical ice dispenser. Fortunately I was standing only a few feet away and was able to press the lock button before ice cubes started shooting out everywhere!

what a look of longing!

Kisses for Baby

I've started talking to Ryder lately about the baby, and if I ask him, "Where's the baby?", he will point to or pat my tummy and say "baby". Unfortunately he doesn't realize yet that not every tummy has a baby in it, so he will also pat Andrew's belly and say "baby". :) It's cute as long as he doesn't decide to do it to someone we don't know! The other day Ryder was patting my stomach and then he leaned down and went "Mmmuuaa!", giving it a kiss. It surprised me, and I got teary-eyed at the sweet gesture. Now if I ask him to give the baby a kiss, he will come right over, push up my shirt, and kiss my belly. If he's in a super silly mood, he ends up blowing raspberries until we're both laughing. Baby brother or sister is probably wondering what on earth is happening in the outside world! He or she will definitely be used to noise, that's for sure!

20 weeks, 6 days

Little Dipper

Ryder has become a HUGE fan of condiments during meal time; at least one thing at each meal has to have a dipping sauce to accompany it. And Ryder takes after his father (and that whole side of the family!) when it comes to the quantity used for each bite. :) I made him a hot dog for lunch the other day and squirted a little bit of ketchup and mustard on his plate. As I finished making my own lunch I looked over and saw him eating the ketchup and mustard off his plate with a spoon. So of course he needed more in order to eat his hot dog.

Some of "Little Dipper's" favorite dips:

• jelly, honey, syrup-- He doesn't like me to spread them on his toast or waffle; he wants them on his plate so he can dip each bite.
• ranch dressing
• ketchup
• mustard
• teriyaki sauce-- We had stir-fry one night, and he dipped clumps of rice into the sauce.

Fourth of July week in pictures

It's been too hot here to do much of anything outside, so we spent the week inside keeping Ryder entertained. Yes, most of these pictures revolve around Ryder eating, but that's not all we did all week. :) That just happens to be the best time to take pictures because he is occupied and still.

more corn on the cob

"Mmmmm...I can't get enough of this stuff!"

eating every last kernel

"No, Momma. Daddy didn't let me sample the brownie batter, I promise."

"Ok, you caught me!"

"Hey, I'm busy over here!"

English muffins with strawberry jelly for breakfast

maybe it's too early for pictures--he hasn't had his coffee yet ;)

(I swear I've seen my brother make this exact face!!)

sweet, sticky face!

lounging

Kendall turned two at the end of June, and we got to help her celebrate over the long holiday weekend.

getting ready for some pool time

trying to figure out the party favors

Mike "modeling" one of Kendall's new outfits. :)

Connected

I finished cleaning up after dinner tonight, and when I walked into the family room I found both of my boys with a cell phone in hand. I put a kids' app on my phone that Ryder likes to play with; it's an assortment of flash cards that have animals, cars/trucks, and household items along with the sounds they make. Ryder loves it, and when he sees my phone he says, "toot toot" (a bird's chirp) because the cuckoo bird is one of his favorites. He is definitely a kid growing up in a world of technology!

intense concentration

"I'm a big boy just like you, Daddy."

Pregnancy update--18 weeks

Ok, it's time to start posting belly pictures again. :) It's funny how different my pregnancy is this time. I'm definitely just as excited as I was when I was pregnant with Ryder, but it's not my sole focus this time since I stay so busy with my little man. I've been feeling little flutters and movements for the past couple of weeks, and it's those movements that make me stop and think, "Oh yeah! There really is a baby in there!" Thankfully I'm finally out of the upset stomach and exhaustion phase--it seemed to last forever this time! I'm hungry all of the time and can't get enough cheese (especially cottage cheese). Popcorn and cereal have become my other "go-to" snacks. At least it's not ice cream, right?

18 weeks 4 days

Ryder: 18 months

I am LOVING my time home with this active little 18-month old! The afternoons are a piece of cake because he naps for 2-3 hours and then it's time to wake up Daddy.  So to break up the mornings we either go to the pool, play outside (when it's not 100+ degrees in the shade!), or run errands. It's much easier to keep Ryder busy than to lounge around the house; one of his new favorite games is grinning at me, saying "Daddy-O", and then running down the hall to knock pound on the door where Andrew is trying to sleep. This little game isn't so much fun for me after about the fourth time running down the hall after Ryder. Luckily Andrew can sleep through anything, and Ryder hasn't been successful in his attempts to wake him. :)

Ryder's next well-visit isn't until August, so no official stats on his height and weight. He's definitely getting bigger every day!

Sizes

Clothes: 24 months

Shoes: 5

Sense of taste:

In addition to Ryder's usual favorites, he's added the following not-so-mild foods to his menu. I've decided he either (a) doesn't have tastebuds, or (b) has an extremely well-developed palate.

• feta cheese
• kalamata olives
• capers
• portabella mushrooms (marinated in a garlic teriyaki sauce)

New vocabulary:

Even though the majority of his vocabulary is still in his own language, here are some new words he definitely knows how to use correctly:

• apple
• "ga gog" (hot dog)
• "dasee" (paci, aka pacifier)
• "boo" (blue) For some reason he prefers his "boo dasee" when he wants a pacifier and/or knows it's nap time or bedtime. 
• "boh" (boat)
• keys

Andrew recently made a new batch of tie-dye shirts. Ryder was playing outside by his wading pool, hence the "new shirt and no pants" outfit. Unfortunately the dye started bleeding once the shirt got wet since it had only been washed once...

...leading to Ryder's bluish-green tushy.

helping Momma water the hydrangea

I think he tipped the watering can the wrong direction. :)

eating corn-on-the-cob for the first time and LOVING it

riding in style

(I handed him his sunglasses, and he put them on all by himself--I was surprised they weren't upside down!)