15 month appt (and other updates)

It must be the summer that makes me such a bad blog updater. Update #1: Ryder graduated from physical therapy a couple weeks ago. He essentially has no head tilt 90% of the time and when he does have a head tilt, it's typically when he's looking down at something he's playing with and it's only like 2 degrees. Big deal. Not worth PT anymore! So, Nancy gave us her blessing to no longer come to see her anymore!! woo hoo. It was really super cute: before we left Ryder had his very own "graduation ceremony". There was one of the physical therapy ramps that has two bars on either side of it so that you can walk while holding onto the bars. At the end of the ramp was a mirror so you could watch yourself when you did your exercises. For his graduation walk, Ryder held onto my hands, walked the length of the ramp and when he got to the end of the ramp by the mirror he reached out an high fived himself!! It was very cute :)

Update #2--->As far as movement, he's finally walking better when holding onto my fingers/hands and he can push toys and walk behind them. He scales along the couch and around the coffee table like he's superman. I'm guessing it won't be too much longer before he walks.

And then today we had his 15 month appointment. He SERIOUSLY is one sassy child. The pediatrition came in and Ryder was smiling, holding his hand out to the doctor and having a good time....that is, until the doctor wanted to poke and prod the kid. We laid him on his back and the doctor was trying to listen to his heart and lungs, and feel his belly among other things and ryder was NOT having any part of it! At first he swung and landed a couple face slaps as the doctor was hovering over him. So I held his arms down. Well, okay...no hands available?? Okay, then I'll just start kicking the doctor in the gut! So I reach down to hold his legs and what happens? A hand gets loose and reaches for the stethoscope...and Ryder yanks the stethoscope right out from the doctor's ears. Nice. The doctor said, "my he sure knows what he wants or doesnt want, huh?" Understatement of the century doc. So I said, "Don't worry, I'm a little afraid of him too" :)
So the stats for my gigantic boy:

Height at 12 months: 30.25 inches (60%) Height at 15 months: 32 inches (75%).

Weight at 12 months: 26 lbs (90%) Weight at 15 months: 28lbs 9oz (92%)

Head at 12 months: 48 cm (90%) and Head at 15 months: 48.9cm (90%) (I also would like to mention that we measured my head just to see the difference and my head measures 54 cm....guess which side that giant melon comes from?!)

So overall Ryder is a big boy (duh). The only other thing that the doctor mentioned was Ryder's lack of talking. Yes, he babbles and says "baby" and "mama" but other than that it's nothing. The doctor said that most kids Ryder's age say at least 5-6 words at this time, and the doctor was hoping that Ryder would start saying some words over the next 2-4 weeks. Now, the Type A personality in me gets a little worried and bothered by that (how dare the doctor mention being "developmentally slow" in regards to talking to me!!!) But then the chill, more relaxed care free type B personality in me (thank you dad!) says, "whatever" he'll do it when he's ready. When I was talking to my dad about the doctor's appt, he made a good point. He said that Ryder, since the day he was born...a week late....has been letting us know he will do his own thing on his own time schedule. And he's so right. So I'm going to not fret and just enjoy it all before he learns the word NO! haha.

Over anything else, there is one thing that makes me sad about Ryder becoming a big boy. No, it wasn't him turning one. It wasn't seeing milestones like crawling, scaling the couch, or walking behind the push toys. It wasn't even walking in on him for the first time one morning to see him standing up in his crib (very proud of himself if you can imagine). The one thing that makes me kind of sad is the peach fuzz hair that he now has on his legs and arms. Bye bye hairless, soft baby skin...hello to my little growing toddler! But for now, I will cherish every moment I get to cuddle and snuggle with my baby:

Happy 4th of July!

I LOVE the 4th of July...it's the epitome of Summer and it always brings back great old memories from when I was a kid. And now I am lucky enough to be able to create new memories with my family. Unfortunately my camera battery died half way through our vacation...and before it died, I didn't even take very many pictures. I have been so bad about taking pictures lately!

Anyways, after I woke up last Thursday afternoon (I worked the night before), we were off to Alexandria to visit my Grandparents and my parents. The weather was absolutely beautiful and the water was warm. I was super pleased because Ryder was an angel! As many parents know, taking a baby/infant out of their schedule and routine can sometimes spell disaster....but really he was SOOO good. I couldn't have been happier that my parents and especially my grandparents got to spend some quality time with Ryder.

We headed out to my grandparent's land where Ryder took a spin with Grandpa Donn on the 4-wheeler. Seriously, this kid LOVES anything with a motor. Blender, vaccum, lawn mower, and now 4 wheeler....

Here is my Grandma starting up the 4 wheeler for us because we didn't know how...seriously, doesn't she look bad ass on this?

And this one is my favorite: Ryder kept reaching out to his Great Grandpa Frank and everytime he would touch his hand, he would burst out giggling. Nothing better than a good baby giggle :)

Since it was hot, we filled up the floaty raft with water and stripped a baby down naked and let him play in water. He enjoyed himself!

We stayed in Alexandria Thursday, Friday and then left Saturday morning to head to the Haskins' cabin in Park Rapids. Again...GORGEOUS weather! I have very few pictures from the weekend, but here are a couple--->

Captain Cubby Bear driving the pontoon (ignore that he has no life jacket on... It was a battle that lead to complete meltdown whenever we tried to put it on him)

And the two Haskins brothers jamming out on the boat before jumping into the water.

Even though it was a fantastic 5 day vacation, I was ready to come back home today and get back into our regular routine again. I might think differently in a few days, but for now I am excited to be back home :) Happy 4th of July!!!

Meaty Seat

I happened to be scanning through some old picture folders and came across some pictures scanned in from our wedding reception slide show. This picture totally caught my eye because Joe's rear-end as a baby in this picture looks just like Ryder's does now....like father like son. Now that's a badonk-a-donk butt!

Dancing with Daddy

A new favorite activity that Ryder enjoys is dancing around the kitchen. A couple nights ago in particular he was having an extra good time enjoying dancing with Daddy! he was laughing and giggling and if Joe stopped, he got all sassy and upset. Unfortunately (per usual for me) I did not get a very good shot of his laughing face, but I tried. You get the idea.

I love my boys :)

Como Zoo

Today we had an impromptu visit to the Como Zoo. Now most people who know where I live know that I live quite far away from Como Zoo, but it worked out just fine. While Ryder took his morning nap, Joe and I decided that it was really nice and we were both home for the day so we better take advantage of the situation and do something fun. So we packed Ryder's bag, got some lunch ready for Chubbs and we were off as soon as he woke up.

When you get to the zoo, some of you might know that there is an amusement park that you walk through to get to the zoo. He was looking left, looking right...LOVING watching all the kids. There seriously were about a MILLION children running around. Strollers everywhere. Kids running. Kids crying. Pure chaos. But good entertainment for Ryder. One thing we realized is that Ryder might be a tad too young to really enjoy the zoo quite yet. Half the time he was looking at other people or kids than looking at the animals. The only time he was really into an animal was if it was up close where he could really see it move. He loved the seal because it was swimming back and forth below us in the water and he could see it really well. And he also really liked the penquins because they were flapping their wings and swimming by us. The polar bear was a good one too. Other than that, it was just people watching. Unfortunately I kept forgetting to take my camera out because I was too busy trying not to run over little children (Camille, you would have LOVED it there! haha) So I only took one picture of Ryder and Joe by the lion den. Neither of them looked to impressed with me taking out my camera :)

Jenna's Bachelorette Party

This past weekend was such a blast (understatement of the century!) Friday I met up with Ashley and Camille in Maple Grove and we carpooled it up to Alexandria. We were the first group to get up there around lunch time. Unfortunately it was freezing on Friday, but that didn't stop us from going out on the pontoon before the rest of the gang got there.

Friday night consisted of games---flip cup, catch phrase, cards---of course I was on the winning catch phrase team, much to Ashley's dismay... ;) Then after much debate we headed to a nearby bar called The Green Iguana. After a few drinks and some crazy flash dance choreography creation...we headed home. A good night! We woke up Saturday to sun and blue sky! It was so nice to be able to lounge in our swim suits, get some sun and play all the bachelorette games outdoors. We were a big group, 21 in all:


We even made it out on the boat (well, only 18 of us made it on the boat) and in the water too. I figured if Jayna jumped in the water, I HAD to as well....it was a tad cold.

For dinner we headed back to the patio at the Green Iguana. And afterwards the party bus picked us up and the fun REALLY began!!! Whether it was Jenna dancing on the bar or the whole bachelorette party spreading through each bar to bust out in our Flash Mob Dance it was a blast---> a great way to celebrate our friend Jenna!!

Bachelorette weekend

I'm very excited for this coming weekend because it's my best friend Jenna's bachelorette party up at the cabin!! Ms. Jenna Ackerman is getting married to Mr. Jon Juris August 6th and it will be the first wedding I get to be in ever :) I'm very excited and the whole bridal party is a ridiculously fun group so I can't W.A.I.T. I'm pumped to hang out with all the girls of course, but especially Jenna!!! Now let's just pray I can feel better and kick this NASTY cold I have before this weekend...ughhh!

Spring Jam

Gopher tailgating-->in the bathroom at the Metrodome...I believe we were laughing about me superman flying over Jenna after she fell on the pavement ;)