What was that?

Ryan is talking up a storm these days, learning how to put words together, coming up with new phrases, etc. Most of the time we can understand him, but sometimes it's completely beyond us. Here's a recent conversation:

Ryan: appa-doo-doo, appa-doo-doo

Mommy: Ryan, what is "appa-doo-doo"?

Ryan: iono (complete with hands up in the air and shrug)

Luckily Theresa at daycare cracked the code for us. Turns out "appa-doo-doo" means "Happy birthday to you". Apparently there have been a bunch of birthday celebrations at daycare lately, so when Ryan saw the Father's Day card on the table, he thought we were doing birthdays. They pick up so much more than we think!

Random 18-Month Old Musings

Ryan had his 18 month old check up yesterday and despite a little asthma here and there is healthy as a horse! Here are his new stats:

Height: 32 3/4 inches (92%)
Weight: 24 lbs 6 oz (25%)

The doctor told us Ryan was "in style" being all tall and skinny. I guess that's good, we wouldn't want an out of style baby I guess. Ryan is right on schedule with his development too, running, walking backwards, eating and sleeping, and talking up a storm. He has a countless list of words now and has started putting them together. When we read at night he usually says "bye-bye book" to the book when we're done. As for the asthma, he hasn't wheezed at all since he started on Flovent. Since we're in the summer months, the doctor took him off of Flovent for the time being and we'll probably start up again in October once the 6-month-long cold starts.

In bath news, he has now decided he LOVES taking a bath. Except he calls it a "bawth" like he has an English accent. So pompous.

Ryan's other favorite activities involve anything outside. Last weekend we took him camping and he loved it. Just being able to be outside all day long and play in dirt was the coolest thing. Justin and I didn't get a whole lot of sleep since he woke up at the crack of dawn, but other than that we had a great time.

I'm really seeing my little baby become a little boy. Last week when I was leaving for my European work trip, I started to cry as I said goodbye to him. He looked up at my face and gave me a huge hug, just knowing what his mommy needed. And when I got back, he ran into my arms and gave me another big hug, again just what I needed. My little boy really knows how to take care of his mommy.

The Young and the Restless

I wrote about this on Facebook, but it really deserves more space than a status update. Ryan has his first crush. There happens to be a 3 year old at daycare named Daniella who has captured Ryan's heart. While Ryan loves to say all the names of his daycare people, his favorite name is Daniella. He not only says it all day long, he sings it. Dan-iell-a! Dan-iell-a! But before you go, "oh, it's just a fun name to say, that's all", there's more. One day last week I showed up at daycare and Ryan, Daniella, and Alice were sitting on the stoop hanging out. Ryan reached for me like always but then bent over so he could give Daniella a kiss. She pushed him away and giggled. He just stared at her, even as Alice tried to say goodbye. Today I picked Ryan up and heard that Ryan tried to hold Daniella's hand when walking back from the park. She apparently didn't want to hold his hand and he threw himself on the sidewalk in a fit of despair. She ultimately relented (thank you Daniella!). Meanwhile Lucy was perfectly willing to hold Ryan's hand, but he only had eyes for Daniella. Guess he likes older women.

Bahamas

A couple of weeks ago we spent a week in the Bahamas with the Summerses. We had a great time playing on the beach, swimming in the pool, and generally enjoying the awesome Bahamian weather. The only problems we encountered were due to what we called "Island Time". The people of the Bahamas generally adhere to 2 speeds: slow and stop. When you are just adults hanging out on the beach with no schedule, it's pretty nice. It was a tad more complicated with the kiddos. For instance, the poolside restaurant opened at 12:00 everyday which really meant 12:30. Not a big deal for us, but not great for Ryan who was starving and generally unhappy by the time we got food an hour later. We learned pretty quickly though and got groceries so we could feed the kids on our schedule and not on Island Time. Oh, and a tip to anyone traveling to the Bahamas with young kids - bring your own crib. Our resort not only didn't have them for us the first night as promised, but when we complained they actually told us to just put them on the sofa: "They're 1? What are they doing in a crib anyway?"

But despite any minor setbacks, we had a great time. At one point I was sitting in the hottub watching Ryan and Justin playing together at the pool with a view of the ocean behind them. All I could think was "Life is good".

Click here for additional pictures from our vacation!