14 Months!

It is crazy to look back at videos from the beginning of this month and see how much Ryan has changed in such a short amount of time!

This buddy is a walking/talking machine.

He loves to parrot what we say and babbles throughout the day. He has also gotten pretty fast with his walking and tends to move a little faster than his balance can handle sometimes. But when he falls, he stands back up and says, "Bop!" and keeps on going. Sweet thing.

Another recent "skill" of his is shaking his head "no" when he doesn't want to do something. Like give you a kiss, or give you five, or share his toy/food. Where oh where did this little opinion come from?! It's pretty hilarious though. (For now?!)

When we get close to home, he has started repeating, "Tal Tal" with a big grin on his face. And then when I ask if he wants to go see Tally he says, "YES!" and claps. Love.

He loves going up to Tally and asking for kisses:

Separation anxiety is in full swing- sweet love. We actually got called out of church this month because the sweet buddy was just not interested in anything but having us back. We took advantage of the early lunch and then the sweet thing crashed when we got home.

He has started saying "Uh-OH" and enunciates it very carefully. We're learning that things that are dropped on purpose aren't actually "uh-ohs" ;) and that his water cup goes back in the circle on his tray when he's done taking a sip, not thrown over the back of his chair- ha! 

One of our FAVORITE things he is doing right now is dancing, a lot. He loves to get going when a song comes on- any song really. If it's slow, he'll stop what he's doing and sway; if it's fast, he'll even bend his knees or drop to the floor and do what his Papa has coined the "rump bump." It's pretty amazing. And sometimes, he'll randomly bust a move to whatever music he has going on in his head:

He is saying "pees" (please) now instead of signing it, and will now sign "thank you" or attempt to say something that sounds like it- makes this mama very proud! The first time he does this without me asking him will be a sweet day. :)

This was the first month where he really "played" on the playgrounds. He loves climbing up and sliding down. And if there is water at the park, believe you me he will find it. ;)

He loves, loves, loves his shoes. He wakes up wanting to put them on: "Shhh, Shhh" and pointing to where they sit on his dresser. And when I say, "Should we put on your shoes?" he excitedly says, "YES!" and claps with his big cheesy grin. My sweet sis-in law passed down two other pairs to him this month as well and he loves them just as much. It's like he knows he is a bigger boy when he wears them. Love him. Here he is wearing his shoes for the first time:

He recently started waking up calling for me instead of fussing to let me know he's awake. It's like he realized, "Wait, I actually have a word for this. I'll just call 'Mama' instead."

He loves playing "on" and "off" with blocks, lids, tops... anything that can go on and off really. The other day, Matt and I went to get him from his nap, and when he saw Matt in there too, he sat back down in his crib and grabbed his two blocks that I keep in there and looked at Matt as he said, "on" and "off" and stacked and unstacked the blocks. It was like he wanted to show his daddy his new trick. He kind of stared at Matt afterward like he was waiting for his reaction. 

As busy and funny as this age is, it has so many opportunities for building up his little accomplishments and moments of intentional good decisions.

Here are some highlights from the past month!

Looking at pictures of "dada" while he's at work. This boy loves his daddy.

And he LOVES being outside- playing in the water table, adventuring through the backyard, playing with his red car that his Aunt Dre passed down to us. Anything that's outside is his favorite. Usually he wears clothes, but sometimes, a naked messy transfer much easier to the tub. :)

Big announcement from this future big brother!

Bouncing on the bed with dada after bath is one of his favorite things. He points to it and says, "beh, beh" as we get him out of the tub.

He loves pointing to his "eyes" and sometimes misses ;) but it's hilarious either way.

Sweet Maddox left one of his stuffed animals when he and Noah spent the night with us and Ryan was quite happy to keep an eye on it while it stayed at our house.

He's very into attempting to feed himself with a spoon. This can get a lot messy, so I try to pick times that will minimize food on the walls and let him give it a go. Honestly if this is yogurt in this picture, that would not be what I consider a food-on-the-wall-minimizer, hah- but apparently I just went for it this day.

That hair- hahah

Serenby trip!

Seeing a horse for the first time

Trying a milkshake for the first time

PDK airport park! This buddy loves to watch planes and helicopters in the sky:

He is a climber. And he is fast!

Ryan and Tal peeking in on Nonna as she painted their baby sister's room ;) ...Nonna is the BEST! And they love her so.

Watching the rain

Working on an escape plan

Play date fun! During, and after:

The hose is the greatest outside water toy ever invented in case you didn't know.

Reynolds turns ONE! Ryan has started calling him, "Rey Rey" and gets so excited to see him. It is the SWEETEST!

Love this little cheeser

Getting ready to go see Mimi and Papa- he gets SO excited about going to visit them!

First "taste" of s'mores! (And by taste I mean he ate an entire one- whoops!)

Bouncing with his cousin Riley! Love the "boy vs. girl" that this picture captured- Ryan's getting air in the background while Riley poses sweetly with a golf ball in her hand. :)

Yes he is! This is him walking over to her when she arrived one afternoon. He loves his Nonna so much!

First pumpkin

Sweet Tal- ever patients with all sorts of climbing and swatting ("petting")

This buddy can spot a farm animal a mile away. Walking through Homegoods the other day he suddenly started "mooing" quite loudly. Hahah- wouldn't you know there was in fact a cow right there for him to see.

He also loves going to the pet store:

A little "nack" on the patio :)

Exploring the halls of the school where I used to teach

All dressed up for last week's Friday night game and waiting for daddy to get home. I'm pretty sure he's setting up his line for the next play in this picture. ;) Matt and I have worked on a little agreement that our boys can cheer for FSU and our girls can cheer for Clemson. :)

This picture is so Matt as a baby. That belly and those cheeks. Goodness.

And speaking of daddy getting home- it is a major highlight of his day!

Of all the times this buddy plays shoeless and naked in the backyard, this was not the best time to be fully clothed and "shoed"- haha

Beachin' it like the cool kids do ;)

Bring on the next month! We're having so much fun with this little guy. Every day he's trying something new and cracking us up. We are so thankful for him!