21 Months

Well this post is loooooong overdue. I can't believe how much toddlers change in just a few months! In February when i last posted Ryan was barely saying a few words, but now he speaks in toddler sentences. His vocabulary and communication has suddenly (and i do mean instantaneously) exploded. It's like he decided to just wait until he can speak to start saying much. I stopped keeping track of words because he can attempt to say almost anything and speaks in 2-5 word sentences. Like tonight he said "Ride bicycle. See moon, fireflies" and "Mine lawn mower. Cut grass" when he wanted a little toy mower at Kmart. It does often take repeating for Jake and i to understand what he's saying, and is even harder for others to understand him, but i'm still amazed at some of the things he says.

Physically i haven't noticed any drastic changes. Toddler strength is crazy, he can pick up stuff that i have difficulty with. Like the 10 pound bottle of Tide that he hefted up and then said "Heavy! mama" before trying to hand it to me. He runs, walks, climbs and gets into trouble faster than he used to. He still can't jump with both feet off the floor, but he's really cute when he tries. We've been working on letters a lot and Ryan knows almost all of them, but mostly only uppercase. His favorite cartoon is Super Why and it is all about letters and spelling/reading, so he has actually learned a lot of them from there. He can also count to four and understands the concept of quantity up to that point. Jake gave him two apple slices yesterday and we were naming all the foods on his plate and instead of saying "apple" he said "TWO apples".

Ryan loves to help us do everything. His favorite food is oatmeal so he already knows exactly how to make it. This morning as i was sitting at the computer he came walking in with a pot and grabs my finger. "Up Mama" So i stand up and let him drag me to the kitchen. He hands me the pot and says "Fire". I put the water in the pot and let him impatiently sprinkle raisins in it before he insists "FIRE!" again. I put the pot on the stove and turn it on before asking "Now what?". He points, "Oatmeal" so i put that in. "Cinnamon" I continue meeting his demands: "Stir" "Milk!" He's very bossy, and i have no clue where he got it from. It must be the Bolton side of the family. At least the babysitter won't need any instructions from us...that is if he'd ever had a babysitter in his life. He also loves helping me do laundry and tells me when to put in the soap, "blue milk" (fabric softener) and "juice" (oxi-clean).

We are so underwater on our house that there is no way we would be able to sell it anytime soon. Sooooo....i'm excited that we're working on our backyard and are installing a "playground" and fence. Ryan will be so thrilled, he LOVES playgrounds, and i can't wait! Ryan also has a new love for his Batmobile. After being scared to ride it since his birthday he suddenly thinks it's the most wonderful thing in the world. Jake attached a basket to the back and every day he drives to the little garden that we planted and fills it full of cucumbers, tomatoes, peaches and peppers. We've never actually seen a red tomato because Ryan is too impatient to let them grow long enough, but he eats a cucumber every day now. We also have a little kid trailer attached to our bike that he insists on riding in multiple times a day. Basically anything outside is where he wants to be.

And most recently...my little brother got married and i have a new sister!!!! Phillip and Kristyn's wedding was soooooo gorgeous, we had so much fun :)