21 Months!!

Wow Ryder, how in the world are you 21 Months old already??!!  Time flies by so fast, but with every month, I see huge changes in Ryder and his development.

Here’s what’s going on this month:

• We’ve had a huge break in the teething department, he has been set with his 8 teeth up front and 4 molars for a few months now, so I’m not surprised to see his gums swollen and his next teeth trying to push through.
• A big transition for Ryder this month has been sharing the attention with Baby Nick at Nana’s house every day.  I’m very proud of him though for always treating the baby so nice, giving him hugs and kisses, and only being mean on ONE occasion (I’m hoping that was the first and the last time!).  Hopefully this time with Baby Nick will help prepare him for what’s going to rock his only-child-world in about 6 months!
• He still has a great appetite, his favorite foods right now are popsicles, broccoli, spaghetti, fruit, and still with the (make Mommy want to puke these days!) vienna sausages!
• His words are getting bigger and his sentences are getting longer!  The other day at therapy he was playing with the fake food and he said “put da butter on da bread” and his therapist was like “HE JUST SAID A 6 WORD SENTENCE!!!”  He’s definitely a chatter box and there is no limit to the things that could possibly come out of his mouth now!
• He’s very much into having a routine, and will narrate the day for you, in case you forgot what should come next!  “Tummy needs milk!” “need a diaper change” “Goodnight Daddy, time for bed” “Mommy say prayers” and in the car he often shouts directions at me “Turn Left!!” “Keep going!” “We’re heeeeere!”
• He’s going through this horrible phase of putting a “dont wanna” in front of everything I say.  When its time to leave for Nana’s in the morning if I say “Time to put your coat on” he will say “dont wanna put my coat on!” and then when we get there, if I say “let mommy take your coat off” he’s sure to say “don’t wanna take my coat off!!!”  It’s a very confusing and frustrating phase for Mommy because I think he just says it to have something to say, rather than to really mean that he doesn’t want something.  Because sometimes he sticks to it, and other times he cries if you don’t do the thing he said he didnt want, which makes me think he did want it even though he’s steady saying dont wanna…confusing…see! 
• He knows all of his colors now!  The only two that he gets confused every now and then are blue & purple.  He’s got ABCD down for his alphabet and 1,2,3,4 down for numbers.
• He’s probably the only 1 yr old that knows the difference between his left hand and right hand!  But he knows exactly what we mean now when we tell him to do something with lefty.  It’s great to see that his brain sends an automatic signal to his left hand when we mention it!

I know this next month is going to fly by, but we are SO excited that Christmas is right around the corner!!  Ryder is at such a fun age and I think this 21 month old is going to have a blast this Christmas!  He got to open his first Christmas presents from Ree-Ree this weekend and he absolutely loved all of his Thomas the Train gear he got!

Stay tuned…there is lots more Christmas excitement to come and you know we’ll be sharing it all with YOU! :)