I'm afraid I've fallen way behind in updating Ryder's progress. Over the last week it occurred to me that I need to get these memories recorded before it all slips away! I'm continuously amazed at how quickly Ryder is changing, growing, and learning new things. I fear I'll forget what he's like at this stage, and be left with no memories of his childhood. This of course is crazy since we take so many pictures, usually of him zooming past me, and we try to video, although he usually stops doing whatever we wanted to capture the moment the camera comes out! Isn't that just how it goes?? :)
Ryder doesn't talk much at this point, but he understands a lot. I guess I should clarify, Ryder doesn't speak a lot of English yet, but boy can this boy jabber all day long in a language that sounds vaguely like Mandarin Chinese or possibly Zwahili, who knows?! He especially loves to ramble in his unique language when he has a phone pressed to his ear. He'll wonder around the house with one hand clutching the phone to his ear, his head bent to lock it in place with the other hand behind his back as he rapidly spills every unintelligible word he has. I enjoy watching this so much that I sometimes break my own rule and allow him to have my cell phone to let him babble! He does know a few English words, however. "Waffle" is his most recent, and he only says it first thing in the morning shortly after getting up and coming downstairs. He'll run to the kitchen, point to the freezer, grunt, point to the toaster oven, grunt again, and when I take the prize out of the freezer, he exclaims, "Waffle!" over and over again until it has finished cooking in the toaster over, and then replies with "Taintoo," another of his words, when I hand him his waffle. If you can't decode baby talk "taintoo" is Ryder's version of "thank you." It's not quite perfect, and unless you are listening for it, it's sometimes hard to catch him saying it, but we're working on it! Along with "please" but that one seems to be still a ways off in accomplishing. Ryder also says, "mama," which makes Tyler a little jealous, however, I have explained to Tyler that he need not be jealous since Ryder pretty much calls all people that he likes and wants their attention "mama" including Tyler, myself, his aunt Caitlyn, etc. We're working on "dada" if for no other reason than to keep from Tyler getting a complex over being called "mama." :) Ryder also says "woof, woof" when referring to a dog, mainly Boston, or when he hears one bark, and many times if he hears a dog barking he will persist in saying"woof woof" until someone acknowledges him and the barking dog! He says "nana" for banana, but his favorite word by far and away is "ball ball!" This boy loves his "ball balls" and insists that every spherical shaped object is a ball that he needs to hold including tomatoes or peaches at the grocery store, pictures of the sun or globe in books, and any toy that is remotely spherical in shape including a plastic lemon from his kitchen set. We've decided this boy will most definitely be a ball player, or we'll be very surprised!! :)
But as I said before, although his word count is still in the single digits, this child understands an unbelievable amount of what we say! He knows what I mean when I say bathtime, bedtime, storytime, time to eat or let's make lunch/dinner. He knows that when I say you need your diaper changed that we need a diaper, wipes, and he will lay down in the floor to be changed. If I ask him if he wants to read a book, he'll walk to the shelf, select a few books, and come back to sit on my lap to read. He knows that if I say we're going "bye-bye" he needs to get his shoes on and will go to the basket to get them and then go to the step to sit down for me to put them on. I'm continuously amazed at how well he understands routine and can pretty much act it out on cue. There are times that he doesn't like what I ask him to do espeially if the word "no" is used, and he occassionally throws a tantrum because he wants his way and not mine, but overall he's an agreeable child. He may not know many words, but he can certainly communicate by pointing, taking our hand and showing us what he wants, and if all else fails climbing in our lap and giving us a hug to get our fullest attention.
I love our sweet, silly boy! :)
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