One month from 1!

At 11 months old, it's getting much more difficult to take pictures of Ryder actually sitting in his chair. :) We don't go back to his pediatrician for official stats until January, but here are a few updates:

Ryder likes: eating (no change there!), peek-a-boo, playing in the kitchen cupboards, "dancing" to any music he hears, wrestling with Mommy and Daddy before bedtime, babbling in his own little language

Ryder dislikes: diaper changes, holding still for any length of time

having a serious moment

"Well hello there, Santa!"

The following pictures only need one caption: "Oh my!!" You see, when we say those two words, Ryder puts his hand (or hands) up to the side of his head as if he's stressed out. It's adorable, but a complete mess when you throw some spaghetti into the mix! His face was so orange by the end of dinner that it looked like he had gotten a bad spray tan.  :)

Beginning the holiday-decorating process

So, I am realizing that decorating for Christmas this year is going to be much different than it has been in the past. Not only will there be tiny hands trying to touch everything, but I don't have a long, uninterrupted chunk of time to unpack, sort, and decorate like I usually do. This year it's going to be more like a 2 or 3 weekend process instead of doing it all in one day. I decided today to bring the bins down from the attic and put out some of my table-top and mantle decorations--things that Ryder can't reach. :) I still don't know what we're going to do about a tree. We might just put one downstairs since Ryder can't get into that one, but that means not having the pretty white lights and pine-fresh scent upstairs. Andrew and I agree that we still have some deliberating to do: we know we can't child-proof everything and that Ryder will have to learn to leave things alone. But at the same time, we don't want to spend the next month telling him "no" and worrying that he will pull the tree over on top of himself or eat the pine needles if left alone for a millisecond. I'm telling you, this kid is FAST!

scooting across the floor with the lids for my decorative snowmen boxes--but he has spotted the Christmas bins!

"Hmmm, these aren't usually here. I'll just take a peek."

"Oops, Mommy caught me!"

I don't even know how to caption this photo--he was being a total ham!

more silliness

"Jackpot!"

"Ooohhh!"

(He's been using this expression a lot lately, along with "Wow" and "Whoa").

trying to "taste" the lights for the tree

Gotta love this face! :)

Stuffed

Now that our turkey dinner has been eaten and Ryder is napping peacefully, I have time to sit down, put my feet up, and post some pictures from our day. :)

Highlights from Ryder's first Thanksgiving:

• the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. In my family, it has always been a tradition to watch the parade in the morning with the aromas of our Thanksgiving meal filling the house. Ryder enjoyed seeing the huge inflatable cartoon figures and waving at the people in the parade who were waving at the crowd.
• the dog show that comes on after the parade; we didn't watch the whole competition, but Ryder pointed and barked at the dogs he saw trotting around on the screen.
• playing with Uncle Steve and Aunt Alison
• eating turkey, stuffing, and cranberries

Ryder "helped" Alison open her birthday card and gift.

Since Steve and Alison are going on a trip over Christmas, they brought Ryder his Christmas gift today.

"Ooooohhhh!"

blocks!

making sure he got all of the blocks out of the bag

building with Daddy

Check out his shoes! They match a pair of moccasin-style shoes that Andrew has had (and still wears from time to time) since high school!

Ryder loves being held upside down!

The tissue paper in the gift bag was just as exciting as the new blocks. :)

reading with Alison

Ryder was not a big fan of wearing the turkey hat...

but thought it was hilarious when Andrew wore it!

"Really, Dad? More pictures of me eating?"

Ryder's Thanksgiving feast: turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce

Round of Applause

Ryder inherited some gently-used toys this weekend (thanks, Lori!!), and he's been having a blast figuring out which buttons to push to make them sing, talk, and/or light up. One of the toys plays the song "If You're Happy and You Know It...", and I noticed that each time the song played, he would start clapping his hands. I had no idea that he knew what that meant, so I was amazed! He will now clap on demand if we say "Yaaaay!" or "Clap your hands". Ahhhh, yet another milestone.

doing a little "pretend" cooking

sampling his cooking :)

snuggling with Mommy right after trying to hit her with the wooden spoon

"Ooooh, what's in this cabinet?"

clapping before dinner

I love the expression on his face!

"I have no idea who emptied that cabinet--really!"