18 Months Old!!

Wowwwww!!!  Ryder is ONE and a HALF today!!!  Can you believe it??  Me either!  I must say though, that I am loving every second of this age.  I love seeing his personality, and hearing him talk, and watching him walk, it amazes me that Alan & I created a life…a life that is now his own person making his own decisions, it’s amazing!

Here’s what’s going on at 18 Months Old:

• Talking, talking, talking!  I’m not even going to name new words that he’s saying because I’m losing track, but believe me it’s a LOT!  His little country boy accent is adorable…deer to Ryder is pronounced “deeyerr”.
• Walking, walking, walking!  All over the place.  People said that would happen once he got the hang of it, and they were right!  He doesn’t stay still long, and he knows it, you can often hear him saying “Go, Go, Go” or “Run, Run, Run” or “Around and Around and Around” because…that’s what he’s doing!
• He is still so sweet, he asks for a “Tiss” and wants you to kiss him and all of his animals.  And he FINALLY said the word love!  I said “Ryder, Mommy looooooves you!” and he said “Lub!” then the next day I said “Ryder do you LUB mommy??” and he thought about it for a second, then shook his head and said “no”.  Thanks buddy!
• This month he has started to tell us “poop” and “peein” when he is going potty, as he becomes more aware we’ll start to introduce the potty, so I guess this is the start of good things to come :)
• He’s staying small, still wearing 12 month clothes, size 4 diaper, and a size 4 shoe.  He’s really good about putting shoes on now and does well walking with or without them.  He gets fitted for his Orthotics next Monday!
• He loves to listen to music! He asks for me to put his CD on every time we get in the car and he has favorite songs and songs that he doesn’t like.  He’ll let me know that he doesn’t like it by saying “noooo” and then I change to the next and he’s happy.  I know which ones he doesn’t like so sometimes I put them on just to see if he’s paying attention.  He always is!
• Speaking of paying attention, not much gets past this guy!  He is very aware of what goes on around him and remembers so much, like where people live and what kind of car they drive, and even something that they said to him or did with him.  He will piece stories together (one word at a time!)
• He’s very sociable and friendly, always saying “hi” and waving, and wanting to play with other kids. 
• His favorite things right now are: Vaseline (i’m serious…he carries it with him everywhere yelling “LEAN!”, takes the top off, gets a tiny bit on his finger then rubs it on his arm!), his fort, Chick, fruit snacks, Pop Pop, keys, and anything that he can ride!

We’ve got big things coming up in the next month…should get answers to ongoing insurance/therapy issues, getting his orthotics, Daddy’s birthday, and Ryder’s very first vacation!