One and a Half

One and a half.... That is how old my baby is now! I can not believe how much he is growing and changing from a baby into a little boy these days. I met up with a friend at the park yesterday who has a little girl who is three, and it was amazing to me how just watching her play Ryder managed to completely pick up on what she did and play on his own. He doesn't need my help to guild him up the stairs, doesn't need me to show him where the slide is, doesn't need help getting down the slide, he completely plays on his own.

Some facts about Ryder at 1 1/2 years old.

Favorite Foods: Milk, Water, Waffles, Grilled Cheese, Hot Dogs, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Chicken Nuggets, Macaroni and Cheese, Pizza, Cheese, Crackers, Gerber Snacks, Cereal, Grapes, Raspberries, Blueberries, Strawberries, Bananas, and Cantaloupe. He just tried Jell-O for the first time the other day and loved that too!

Favorite Toys: Balls, Golf Clubs, Basketball Hoop, anything that plays music, coloring books and crayons

Favorite Cartoons: Mickey Mouse Clubouse, Special Agent Oso, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Imagination Movers.

Words: Mama, Dada, Kitty, Chloe, Milk, Yeah, Blue, Moo, Woof, Ba (his pacifier and blanket... we continue to call it paci and blanki and he contines to call them "ba"), bye-bye, color, blueberry (this one is pretty butchered), banana, snack, ball. Well that is 16 words I came up with. We don't think he is talking quite as much as his little friends his age, but every day he keeps picking up on more and more. He is like a sponge absorbing everything we say and do these days. We love it!

Phrases he understand: "hold my hand", "can I have a hug?", "can I have a kiss?", "is your diaper P-U?" (He plugs his nose too cute!), "can I change your diaper", "do you want to go bye-bye?", "do you want a snack?", "Let's eat breakfast (lunch or dinner)", "Are you ready for bed?", "Where is the kitty/Chloe?", "Do you want water/milk?", "Give me you paci!", "It's bathtime!!!".... There are so many, but you get what I'm saying :) Ryder is just really starting to understand what we say to him and doing what should be done with that phrase. I love saying things to test and see if he knows what were saying... he's getting pretty good!

Gosh... I know there is so much more stuff he is doing that we are taking for granted. He is just in a big "immitation" stage basically! Anything we do he wants to do, and is slowly but surely wanting to "say"... we love our little man's voice. It is too cute!

Ryder Lee your Mommy and Daddy love you more then you will ever know! We dislike waking up early in the morning, but love seeing your face as soon as your in bed with us giving kisses, snuggling, and watching cartoons. We dislike being home for every meal since you think throwing food is a "good" thing to do these days, but cherish our meals of you in your high chair with only your diaper trying to get as much food as you can on your "k" (fork) for each bite. We dislike that anywhere we go you give us five minutes to get in and out if you have to be contained, but have learned that most things can wait until later, aren't as important as we thought they were, and that playing at home with you is always the funnest thing to be doing! This toddler phase is a fun one, we are all learning how to embrace it, I think we make it through each day knowing that most things "will pass" and that you'll be coming around pretty soon to give us a hug so hard that we can let go and you'll still be dangling from us... and we know everything is ok! You have made our life so complete and you know how to put a smile on our face always!

We look forward to this next "half year" with you. Who knows what it will bring. I'm sure it will involve lots of moving... as always! We will make the best of it and be thankful to have our family together through this journey. I'm sure it will fly by... the biggest question is where will we be having your birthday party?!? Arizona, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio (dream big right? HAHA!).... I guess only time will tell, but for now i'm going to embrace the sweetness of you taking a nap in our bed for the first time since last spring training! You had a rough morning and are having a hard time with your nap lately (we might try moving it back some), but Daddy was so thrilled to see you napping in our bed when he got home and has now curled up next to you! I'm just gonna go watch a little longer :) Mommy Loves You Little Man!!!