14 Months Old

Ryker loves being chased by his big brother.

Best buddies!

Already feeding himself with a spoon!

Always happy when he wakes up!



 Time is just flying by these days.  Ryker is 14 months old!  He is definitely not a baby anymore and has graduated to the toddler stage.  He is still just the sweetest little thing, but the tantrums have now come full swing.  The nice thing is...they never last very long and he's very easily distracted and forgets pretty quickly what he was even crying for.  Really, the only times he starts to throw a fit are if he doesn't get exactly what he wants, (i.e. candy or a treat), or if he wants to do something all by himself and I won't let him, (like eating a Gogurt).

This little man is just so independent.  It's nice, but so hard at the same time.  He wants to do everything by himself, and most of the time it works out okay, but for example...when he wants to eat a Gogurt by himself it literally gets everywhere!  He squeezes it out all over the place, so he's still a little too young for that, but there are other things he's starting to get really good at.  He's starting to feed himself with a spoon and fork, he likes to try to wipe his own face off, he throws his trash in the garbage, (and other things that he thinks should belong there that don't), he puts his dirty clothes in the hamper, he likes to brush his teeth all by himself and his hair.  He's also really close to being able to go down the stairs on his belly all by himself.  He gets the part of turning around and getting on his belly and starting down, but then right in the middle he thinks it's a good idea to stand up...it scares me to death, but he'll get it down soon.  Even though it's hard sometimes to let him do things on his own I love seeing him so proud of himself when he is doing something that makes him feel like a "big boy."

Some cute things Ryker is doing are: whistling for Dexter, giving Dexter hugs and kisses, putting his finger up to his lips for "shhh", getting his own cup out of the drawer and taking it to the fridge for me to put water in it, trying to take his clothes off while squealing because he's so excited to get in the bath or shower, and playing superheroes with Brody.  He wears a cape and everything and even pretends to fly around with Brody.  He'll also make the superman doll we have fly by making a flying noise and walk around with him in the air...it is so cute!

Some other things Ryker has started doing are: pushing furniture around, (like our barstools or his highchair), pointing at things and saying something that sounds close to, "what's that?", throwing a ball trying to play catch, and he's now wanting to sit on the couch with Brody to watch a show...it usually only last about 30 seconds though.  Haha.

The things he's now doing the most that show he's a toddler now are: he will not sign at all now.  He just jabbers and thinks he's talking.  He will still sign "please" or "drink" or "eat", but everything else he just talks to us and I can usually figure out what he wants, but I just think it's hilarious.  He really does think he's talking.  As long as he doesn't start to get frustrated I'm fine with him not signing.  He also only eats "big boy" food.  No baby food at all anymore.  Some of his favorite things to eat are: hot dogs, grapes, raisins, cereal and anything that has pesto on it.  He loves milk and juice.

I love my Ryker D. so much!  Even though he's too busy and won't just sit and cuddle with me anymore, he still comes up to me and gives me random kisses and hugs throughout the day and he's still a mama's boy, so I can't complain too much.  He is so happy and sweet and I'm so thankful everyday that he's my little boy!