I can't deny it!

Ryder is becoming such a big boy! Right now he is 16 1/2 months old. He amazes me everyday at the things he is learning!

He is awesome at body parts! He knows Head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, elbow, fingers, belly button, toes, feet and we are working on knees. Usually when someone asks, "Ryder where is your_______?" He points to his and then points to everyone else's in the room. It gets a little awkward when it's bellybutton. Hahaha

He loves to read! (He may in fact be squealing for me to read him a book right now.) Throughout the day he will bring me books to read to him. And anytime I change his diaper he wants me to read to him. So I'll usually read one to him and then he "reads" it while I change his diaper. He doesn't really have a favorite book, but there are some he doesn't like as much as others. I'm slowly, but surely making him a quietbook. Hopefully he will LOVE that book.

He eats pretty much everything we give him. I have no idea what his favorites are. Cheese, fruit, cottage cheese. His newest food is chips. Today at the summer free lunch program at Harris Elementary they had Nachos. I let him eat it to see how he did and he loved it! He did so good! He loves to dip his food! I try to include a dip when I can. He usually will just suck off the dip and then eat what ever was dipped. We have been so lucky that Ryder is such a good eater!

Ryder's vocabulary is expanding! The other day we went to the Mesa Arizona Temple and walked around the visitors center. Ryder would point to the pictures of Jesus and say "Jeez". If that doesn't make me feel like a good Mom I don't know what does. Our son knows who Jesus is!!! Some of his other new words is Poot (poop), Sit (used around the dogs, will also point to the ground kind of like how we do when we tell them to sit), boot (Book), He says Dat (meaning he wants something, replacing "ink" if you read his 15 month post).  Ball is still his most used word.

On top of vocal communication Ryder does some sign language. He mostly does More and is starting to do Please. I'm really hoping he'll get the hang of please soon. Right now he just screams...

We love our Ryder Bug and are so grateful to have him in our life!

We Bought a Zoo

I have been really bad at posting lately. Chase is home a lot more since it's summer so I waste a lot less time. Not the the blog is a waste of time, but I usually thinking about updating after I've wasted time on Pinterest of just googling everything imaginable. I will try to do a few update posts this week, but no promises.

Saturday We went to Mesquite Jr High for my Niece Brittney's 6th Birthday Party! It's crazy how old these kids are getting. On the way home we were hungry so we stopped at Fili Bs and got ourselves a feast. Ryder was asleep by the time we got out of the pool parking lot so we knew he'd be out for awhile so we decided to rent a movie too. We rented We Bought a Zoo from Redbox with our free code:)

It was a really good movie. Nothing really bad in it which I love. The romance was hardly even there. The only reason I even bring this up is because something funny happened that I wanted to share. Half way through the movie Chase says, "this is seems like the type of movie someone would cry in." He turns to me, "Are you crying?" HAhahaha yep it is the kind of movie someone wold cry in. Me being that someone. I am such a baby when it comes to movies and everything really. I see someone cry and I have to do everything in my power so I don't cry too. I hate it. Even if I don't know the person or they are crying over something that isn't really necessary to cry over. I cry along. SO ANNOYING!

If you haven't seen it, rent it! It was really good. If you are anything like me though, you've been warned.

Craft Blog

So I am starting a new blog to record all of my crafts and whatnot. I would love the support! You can check it out here and I would love for you to follow me. I hope you like what you see.

Mother's Day!

First things First! I had a wonderful Mother's Day! I'm so lucky to be a Mother to my sweet Ryder. He makes being a mom so much fun and I love every second of it!

Chase was very sweet and got me a few gifts:)

We have a unofficially tradition that Mother's Day and Father's Day we do like a little scavenger hunt, the gift are spread over the house.

I woke up and went potty to find a clean bathroom and some shea butter and sugar scrub. I felt so pampered after using it!

Then in the kitchen I found a step stool which is perfect because I can't reach a lot of shelves in out home. Last was a new wallet with my stuff already loaded into in. 

We went to church where our ward gave all the Mother's a rose. (I think it's a great idea and all, but personally I thought the flower was more of a hassle. I had to carefully carry it around church all day and then by the time I got home it was withered.

We had Mother's Day with the Packer's on Saturday night. We got my mom some of the easy find lid tubberware because she has been complaining about her tubberware for so long! I also got her a cork board frame and some homemade button thumbtacks. See them on my craft blog here.

For Chase's mom we got her frames with all the kid's Wedding Pictures in them. She had been talking about this for a long time (we have too) so finally we just did it. Unfortunately, in some spaces the frames are too big so we need to trade them in for ones with smaller edges. She LOVED the idea though.

We got to Skype with Dallin. He is serving in Spain. One more time to talk to him and he'll be home!

Sunday Night we had a international themed potluck with the Gibson's. Chase made a soup from his Mission in South Africa called something with a click in it. English version is Samp and Beans. It was really good and we are thinking of adding it to our list of dinners. He also made a dessert that he loved there. He talks about it all the time. It's called Mulva Pudding even though it is more of a cake. It is very rich!

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So Ryder is getting to that wonderful stage where he will actually watch TV. Well really movies since out TV doesn't actually play TV, not even local channels. Maybe some day. He especially loves the Wiggles! We watch Curious George on the computer through Netflix (someday will get it hooked up through the Wii). Here are some pictures I took of him watching his shows. Hahah

Now comes the challenge of limiting time on Tv/ computer. It is so easy to just put on a movie to keep him entertained.

I can't sneak up on this kid!

I bought this book at Seagull Book. He loves it! It was $1.99 it rattles and when you pull the link and let go it vibrates.

Mother Nature's water day

Where did that rain come from last night! It was completely out of no where. All of a sudden I get a call from Chase seeing how the dogs were because it was pouring where he was. Sure enough there was a pretty heavy rain coming down.

I took this opportunity to re-introduce Ryder with rain. Living in Arizona it doesn't come around very often and I didn't want to miss this chance.

He wasn't so sure of it at first, but he grew to love it! 

 

Ryder 15 moths check up

Ryder is doing great! He was the perfect patient at the Doctors Office. I'm kind of annoyed with the Dr right now because the Dr. we had when Ryder was first born moved to a different office or I don't even know what happened to him. I was bummed because I really liked him. So I met with the new Dr and liked him even more. Well now he is gone. I'm starting to consider switching to a different Dr. Not only have the Docs been changing, but the waiting room doesn't have anything in it for kids. No toys or books! They do have a well room and a sick room that is actually separated by a wall! (My sister went to one that was separated by a huge fish take so sick air could get in and out and then you had to walk through the sick room to get to the room. No sense at all!). The office I go to also has a movie playing which helps.

Anyways here are his stats:
Height: 31 inches 50%
Weight: 24lbs 12 oz 50%
Head: 49 inches 90%

Some of the questions asked:

•  How many words can he say? Around 5 consistently
•  How many hours is he sleeping a day? Around 13
• Can he point out body parts? Sometimes. Ryder where is your nose, nothing. Ryder where is your eyes Nailed it! We've really only worked on eyes and nose and ears.
• Does he do things you ask him to do. Ex. go get your shoes and bring them to Mommy. (2 part commands). Yes he does for the most part.
• Does he interact with other kids. More than just playing beside them. Yes! He thinks he can do everything the big kids can.
• Does he know how to do stairs? Yes he crawls up and down them.
• Does he point out animals like in books? Only dog
• Does he listen to you read to him. Yes he loves books!
• How is his appetite? He eats pretty much anything we give him.
• How does he act when you leave him with someone else, like Grandma? He does fine for the most part. Usually if he is tired that is when he fusses when we leave.
• Does he use a spoon when eating? I give him one with almost every meal, but he just holds it in one hand and eats with the other one. Sometimes he'll stab at food with the wrong end of the spoon.

They said that he was doing great! He had to get 2 shots:( He handled it pretty well though. he is such a tough guy! Next appointment will be in August.

Bed Hair

This is what I found when Ryder woke up from his nap yesterday! Crazy Bed Hair! He pulls it off nicely though:) Isn't he the sweetest boy ever?!?!?!

I love how when he wakes up he doesn't just scream and cry anymore. He just talks to himself. It's so fun to listen to. He'll just lay there or sometimes sit up. But almost always with his legs/feet sticking out through the bars. Love it!!!