9 Months Old

My little cuddle bug is 9 months old! He is growing up so fast! He is still as happy as can be and so smiley and cuddly. He is definitely a mama's boy...at least for now, but he is a friendly little guy and will smile at anyone. Sometimes he'll act shy and when someone smiles at him he smile back and then tuck his chin into his chest and look down. It is really cute.

Ryker is officially crawling now! He's getting super fast and now I remember how it is to have a crawler around. Dexter's food has become very interesting to him and I've caught him a few times with dog food in his mouth. That usually has to go up on the counter while he's in the kitchen. Another one of his favorite things to crawl towards is our DVD player and Wii. We also have little drawers on our TV stand that he loves to open and he's shut his little fingers in there a couple of times. Those are now off limits, and I think he's learning what "no" means pretty quickly. It's hard to say no to his cute little face. I'll say, "Ryker, no, no," or, "Ryker, no, ouch!" and he'll just turn around and smile at me and do a little giggle. Ah! He's so darn cute! Brody is now very concerned with Ryker crawling. He knows what is off limits to Ryker and if I don't catch him fast enough, Brody is usually there saying very sweetly, "Ryker, no, no." Or he'll yell to me, "Mom! Ryker is playing with the drawers!" I love that he watches out for his brother.

It's also been hard with Brody in other ways. Brody is very particular about some of his "special" toys, like his Lightning McQueen car. If he leaves it on the floor and Ryker gets ahold of it, he isn't very happy. He'll say, "Ah! Ryker! Stop playing with my car!" or I hear very often... "Mom! Tell Ryker to get away from my toys!" Oh, it's been hard with the whole sharing thing still. I hope it gets better. But at the same time I think Brody has enjoyed having Ryker crawl around with him. They'll follow each other around and giggle in the process. So cute!

Ryker also has started signing "more." His first time doing it was on Christmas morning. I was so proud of my little man! He signs it all the time now, and now I'm trying really hard to be more consistent with other signs and I hope he picks up on those quickly too. He claps now and puts his hands above his head when we tell him he's a big boy. He's so proud of himself! He also loves to play "peek-a-boo." If a blanket is within his reach he'll pull it over his face so that we get the hint he wants to play. He'll even cover his own eyes to play every once in a while.

He has started eating more and more finger foods and is doing really well with them. Some of his favorites are: cheese, avocado, peaches, and cooked carrots. He loves to eat. He absolutely loves yogurt...just like his brother, and he loves bananas! His acid reflux has been doing really well still and hasn't been an issue.

I love Ryker so much! He brings so much joy into my life and I can't imagine life without him!