Getting caught up on the pictures, I just posted the 13th month gallery this evening. Check them out!
Quick Link:
Ryan’s 13th Month Gallery
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Ryan’s 12th Month and First Birthday Galleries
I put two new galleries on the site tonight, Ryan’s 12th Month and his 1st Birthday Party pictures.
Thanks to everyone who attended Ryan’s First Birthday! We had a great time and were happy that the whole family came to celebrate with us! And thanks to everyone who sent cards and gifts, Ryan’s enjoying his new toys and books.
Quick Links:
Ryan’s Standing and Walking Progress
Just the other day, Ryan figured out how to stand up without holding on to anything. Once he got it the first time, he did it every time following without a hitch. In this video, he shows how he figured out how to do it by starting on his hands and feet. The very next day, he figured out how to do it without even using his hands, just by getting up to his knees and standing from there. We don’t have any video of that yet, but here’s the video of him going from all fours. You’ll also see how far he can walk and how well he turns corners. He’s a fast learner!
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ONE
It’s been too terribly long since I’ve updated, so I’m bound to miss a few things. Anyway, Ryan is more and more of a joy. He went from taking 2-3 steps very cautiously to cruising the whole living room and turning 180’s without falling down within one month. He gives hi fives, claps his hands and will show you “how big is Ryan” on request. His favorite word is still dadada. On a special occasion I will hear mamama. His one Dr. visit found him in outstanding health. It worries me that I haven’t had to even test his temp in several months. I’m sure the monsoon is coming. He’s fallen in the growth percentile from 95 to 60 which the doctor says is still fine. It must have something to do with Ry refusing to eat again. He’s still loving his formula but doesn’t have the patience to chew – we’re working on that. We celebrated his 1st birthday recently. All the Michigan aunts and grandparents showed up, plus a few cousins. Great party, thanks to all who attended.
We also recently took a camping trip. Ry tends to not sleep as well when away from home, so it was a bit of a challenge to get him down for his two naps plus bedtime every day, but it was worth it. Lots of fun. I got cold at night but Ry was snug as a bug cuddled up to daddy.
I need to work on Dave to get a few more pictures up. I think Ry has grown so much. He’s up to 23.6 lbs and 30 inches. He gets heavy very fast. Mom has got to grow some muscles!
Ryan’s First Steps & 11th Month Gallery
Just a few days before Ryan turned 11th months, Jen was playing with him on the floor seeing how long he could stand by himself without something to lean on. We decided to see if he would walk a few steps unsupported between us, and he did! Up until this point, he has been “cruising” for several weeks (where he’s holding on to something like the couch, and walking alongside it.)
Now he’s starting to look to take a few steps from one thing he’s holding to another, without Mom or Dad involved. It’s fun to watch because he’s very uncertain of these steps, and tends to lunge toward the next item he’s going to lean on.
So here’s the video:
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Then I added the 11th Month gallery, as well as completed the 10th Month gallery. Here are the quick links:
Ryan’s First Photo Shoot
We did Ryan’s first studio pictures last week. He’s 10 1/2 months in these pictures.
They were done by Kelli Wiseman at Clever Creations Photography in Grand Rapids. It was a photo event where she brought in live bunnies, chicks, and ducklings and you show up without appointment on that day to get kids pictures. It’s a pretty neat deal because she’ll give you your pictures on a CD and will release copyright to you, so you’re free to share and publish them. All for $25 – not a bad deal!
Ryan was in a happy mood but it was difficult to get smiles because there was so much going on with cameras and flashing and all.
Ryan’s Tenth Month
Ryan just turned 10 months old today, so I got around to starting the 10th month gallery. I’ll put the rest of them up in a few days.
The last month has been one of leaps and bounds in Ryan’s development. He quickly mastered crawling, then advanced to pulling himself into the standing position (supported), then to letting go of whatever he’s holding on to and standing freely (now up to about 10 seconds at a time), then to moving along the front of the couch while holding on to it. He’s now saying “ma ma ma ma ma ma” and “da da da da da da” and while we’re not certain that he’s talking about Mommy and Daddy, I believe he is.
He’s getting very strong. Earlier today, he was holding on to the back of the couch and I went to pick him up. His grip was so strong that it made me pause so as not to pull on his arms. He gets to be more and more fun every day!
Ryan’s First Crawl Video and 9th Month Gallery
A week after Ryan turned 8 months, I was setting up the camera on the floor to take some video while he played. He decided he had to come and get the camera, and I captured his first real crawl of 4-5 steps. Prior to this, he had been lunging and maybe taking a few strides here and there. Within a week after, he was motoring all over the house.
He just turned 9 months this week, and I’ve published his 9th month gallery.
Quick link to Ryan’s 9th Month Gallery
Here’s the first crawl:
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9 Months Old
Ryan is changing SO fast. In the last 3 weeks he has started crawling. Within a week of that he started pulling up to stand. Now he can get just about anywhere he wants. Sometimes he’ll get stuck under a chair and get frustrated or get wedged in between the furniture and wall and needs to be rescued. Right now he seems to be going through a “mommy’s boy” phase and needs to keep me in sight. If he gets bored in one room and starts to get fussy we can just move to another room and he’s good for at least another 20 minutes. He has been a very picky eater lately and clams up after a few bites of most of his baby food, but he’s drinking more formula than ever.
We just got back from his 9 mo. doctor visit and he got good marks all around. 21 3/4 lbs and 29 inches. Still above the 95th percentile for height and weight. I asked Dr. Sova about his speech, and Dr. said it’s fine that Ry isn’t babbling yet. It’s fine he’s been boycotting food as long as he’s hydrated. Ryan used his new car seat for the first time for this trip, and boy do I miss the portable one already!
Dave is beginning to recover from a few days of a pretty bad cold. It is the sickest I’ve ever seen him since I’ve known him, and we’re both a little terrified that Ry will catch it. I think the hardest part of his cold for Dave was that he had to go a few days without holding his son. Ryan has yet to be sick except a couple of days of a runny nose back in early January.
Ryan’s 8th Month and Christmas 2008 Galleries
Ryan just turned 8 months old this past weekend. He is now able to easily move to and from the sitting position routinely. He is starting to crawl – he spends a lot of time on his hands and knees, and you’ll see the legs working, but not moving in sync with the hands just yet. He can generally get to where he wants to go, though, by moving a little at a time, lunging, or rolling.
He’s starting to sample our food once in a while. One of the funny things he likes is dill pickles. If we’re having a sandwich, we’ll let him suck on a dill spear. He’ll chew at it a little bit and he’ll make a big sour face, but keeps coming back for more.
I don’t know if we’ve mentioned it here, but we’ve been working on teaching Ryan some sign language. The first one we worked on (probably since around month two) is the symbol for “milk.” He’s been doing it for a few months now, although sometimes you almost don’t notice it because he does it with both hands, and doesn’t look at you like “hey, I’m trying to tell you something!” He just kind of goes about whatever it is he’s doing and you’ll see his hands start to open and close.
So anyway, I just completed the 8th month gallery, and also posted a gallery of pictures from the Martin Family Christmas at our house. We got together the Saturday following Christmas and celebrated the holidays as well as Zack’s birthday.
Here’s some quick links to the galleries: