1 Year Old!

Height: 30.75 inches (75th percentile)
Weight: 23 pounds 7.5 ounces (56th percentile)
Head Circumference: 19 inches (91st percentile)
Milestones: Ryan has a real word! Other than the occasional Mama and Dada he knows "outside" (although it sounds like "Ow SIGH") and will toddle over to the back door and bang on it just to make sure you understand he wants to go out. He has learned to clap his little hands and boy does he have an ego. Every time he does something he thinks you should be proud of he claps for himself and grins at you. If he REALLY thinks you should be clapping (and you aren't) he'll grab your hands and clap them together for you! He is using gestures like this to show what he wants, and will imitate things such as dancing and peek-a-boo. He can now walk well in shoes and can bend/squat/lean over without falling down. He tries to run and mostly succeeds but trips himself up a lot doing so. Jake bought him some bathtub crayons and tonight he finally learned how to scribble on the tub and he *squealed* with excitement, but then he drew all over the cabinet...
Favorites: Sadly, his pacifier. He knows they're in his crib (we try to limit use to only when he's sleeping) and when he gets tired or whiny he'll go to his room and try to climb in his crib and throw a tantrum until you give him one. I try not to enable him, but i guess having a stash of 8 pacifiers in his crib at all times doesn't help. The tantrums consist of crying or whining until he gets whatever it is he wants, so you can NOT let him see a paci ever unless you're planning on giving it to him. He throws tantrums about other things he wants, too, but we can usually distract him with something else eventually. Ryan also loves going outside now that he can walk around and explore. He's also a little thief and will find something he knows he isn't supposed to have (today it was my chapstick from my nightstand), grab it and take off RUNNING so you can't get it away from him. When he starts high-tailing it down the hall we know he's found something he shouldn't have and chasing him just perpetuates the cycle, but i don't mind because he giggles the whole time and it's really cute.
Sounds: We're just starting to realize that Ryan understands a LOT more than we realized. Like i'm pretty sure he's seldom heard the word "balloon", but after his party he can now identify that word and point to them. He is beginning to follow simple commands such as "Go get your truck" "Bath time" "Up" and "Eat" and today the holy grail: He understood and OBEYED when i told him No!!! Well for 30 seconds anyway...that still counts doesn't it?
Foods: No food allergies, yay! He is fine with eggs and milk. I think the only allergenic things we haven't tried are strawberries and shellfish. Ryan is now getting a mixture of 2/3 formula and 1/3 whole milk in his sippy cup and it has gone smoothly. We'll just gradually add more milk and less formula over time, but i'm starting to worry that he hasn't gained any weight in several months. Is that normal? For the first 9 months he grew so fast (and so big) that this is just really weird for me.
Hours I Let Mommy Sleep: I love that we get to play all day with our little monkey but when it's bedtime we get a nice 12 hour stretch when he sleeps. I love it so much i'm actually starting to second-guess having to start all over again. Maybe one is enough? It would be even more awesome if i actually went to sleep at a normal time. Ryan is down to one nap a day and generally goes down around noon and sleeps anywhere from one to three hours. This nap schedule is supposed to remain more or less the same until he's 3. Here's hoping it lasts!
Other News: This has been such an amazing first year and the time has flown by! I can not imagine life without my little man. How fast he grows and changes just amazes me. To think a few months ago he wasn't even mobile...that seems like another lifetime. I can't wait to see what comes next :)

We Love Gymboree!

Ryan started classes at Gymboree last week and he LOVES it. He's very interested in watching what all the other kids are doing, and sometimes he'll walk up to them to "play",  but most of the time he is just all over the place climbing, crawling, rolling and having a blast. This weekend we decided to create our own little climbing area and the fearless little monkey went nuts...

11 Months

Height: 30 inches (72nd percentile)
Weight: 22 pounds 11 ounces (60th percentile)
Head Circumference: 19.1 inches (97th percentile)
Milestones: Ryan is now a full-blown toddler. The majority of the time he is walking and seldom crawls anymore, which makes me sad because he is growing so fast. He points at EVERYTHING, and i foresee the temper tantrums ahead when he points at something he wants and we don't know what it is he's pointing at. Although he still has separation anxiety and takes a few minutes to warm up to *anyone* other than Mommy and Daddy, he has become very social and will wave and smile at random strangers from the comfort of his stroller or chair. At the farmer's market yesterday he loved people-watching and waved at all the cars, and when we go to restaurants he will not sit still until he finds someone to smile or wave to. I think he's an attention hog. He is becoming more interested in putting objects in a container and how things work or what they do.
Favorites: Books! We moved all his books to the bottom rows of the bookshelf so he is constantly pulling them off the shelf and "reading" them. He especially loves the touch-and-feel ones. He also has a sudden fascination with the ceiling fans and feels the need to point to them at least 5 times every time we enter a room in case maybe Mama or Dada forgot they were there. He loves to play peek-a-boo by hiding around a corner and sticking his head out to "peek" at you.
Sounds: Ryan is understanding more and more words every day (although he isn't saying any of them). He knows who Mama and Dada are and says those words when he's in the mood (but never when you ask him to). Other words we can say and he will point or perform the action, such as "Ready to take your bath?" and he'll walk to the bathroom. If you ask if he's "hungry" or wants to "eat" (and if he is) he'll start smacking his lips. And if you ask him to "dance" he starts shaking his little butt, it is so cute! He understands "No" and will at least pause when he hears it but generally decides to do whatever he's doing anyway. He can shake his head yes and no, but only in response to *us* saying the words, not asking him a yes or no question and making up his own answer. I guess i'll have to start paying more attention to what i say around him. :)
Foods: We have been giving Monkey more and more new foods to try and he's doing great with eating a variety of things and feeding himself. He is nowhere close to using utensils yet (should i be letting him practice/play with those??) We had been holding off on most of the allergenic foods, but last week we gave him his first taste of peanut butter. At first there was a lot of smacking as he got used to the stickiness, but yesterday he stole 2 bites of Jake's peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Last night he also had his first fish! Jake got some fried catfish at Williamson Bros and pulled out some of the meat and Peanut LOVED it, he ate almost half a fillet! I HATE fish but i should probably try to learn to eat it since it's good for you and as a family we could eat it more often. The catfish was actually really good! Next up is scrambled eggs and whole milk.
Hours I Let Mommy Sleep: Ryan has generally been a great sleeper since we have been pretty strict with a nap and night schedule, but for the past week or two we've had some trouble. He is transitioning to 1 nap a day and so sometimes 1 nap isn't enough but 2 naps makes bedtime impossible. For the past 4 days he has only had 1 nap a day and so far it is going really well! Bedtime the first night, however, was horrible. He went to sleep pretty easily but then woke up an hour later hysterical. After a few minutes when it was obvious he wasn't going to calm down i went in there to rock him back to sleep but he fought and fought sleep. So i put him back in the crib after 20 minutes. He got hysterical again so Jake tried to get him back to sleep, and again it failed. It seemed he was getting more agitated by us being there so for the very first time we had to let him "cry it out" and by the time he fell asleep it was nearly midnight. I hated hearing him cry and i hated that we weren't able to comfort him, as he was obviously overtired. I was dreading the next night but he only woke briefly one time and cried/whined for 10 minutes before going back to sleep. But last night was PERFECT! I just had to share on facebook "As i was rocking Ryan to sleep and singing lullabies (poor kid) he was cuddled in my arms with his eyes closed sucking on his pacifier. Never opening his eyes he reached up and pulled the pacifier out, said "Mama" and popped it back in before drifting off to sleep. Heart melt ♥" Here's hoping that the good nights continue! Other than the getting-to-sleep part he sleeps like an angel for nearly 12 hours.
Other News: I can't believe my little baby Peanut is almost a year old. Nobody told me they grow and change so fast!! I still have no idea what i'm doing about a birthday party, so i guess i need to get that figured out soon. Ally FINALLY moved to Canton!!!!! (I win!!) My evil plan is to now convince Jana and Jenny to move here next year. And then Phase 3 is Carla, Phillip, Kristyn, and Jefferey. It's a long-term investment.

Now that Ally is back Ryan and Lucas can finally hang out! Already Peanut is absolutely fascinated by Lucas. On closing day we went to see the house for the first time and Ryan attempted to crawl around after Lucas and then took some of his very first steps to him! (This was after i accidentally threw Ryan head-first into a light, but i digress) He was so interested in how fast Lucas could walk and run and i totally blame him for teaching Ryan to walk too soon because ever since that day he has been full steam ahead and toddling all over the place.

And a preview of what's to come...

The Monkey Cave is Finished!!

Our new room and, most importantly, the Monkey Cave...is finished!! Unfortunately we decided to teach Ryan how to turn the light on and off...and on and off....and on and off. It's like going to a light show every time we go downstairs to play.