Saturday, November 12, 2011

7.5 MONTHS

Winter has slowly been creeping up on us. It gets dark earlier, thanks to the time change and when the sun starts going down, it really cools off. Despite all of this, we have been making sure to get outside as much as possible before Winter's full force hits us. We've been getting out to see Dirt a lot lately. Ryder does not like sitting in the barn on the blanket I bring for him. No, he wants me to "finger walk" him all over the farm yard. He wants to watch up close while the farier trims Dirt's feet, he wants to lick the rails of the fence, he wants to eat horse cookies so that he can taste all that is farm life!! He lights up when he sees any of the animals and particularily enjoys grabbing at Dirt's nostrils. Dirt Face has begun to associate little people with treats. My girlfriend, oftne joins us out at the farm with her 2 year old and her 6 month old. The two year old, LOVES feeding Dirt treats. He has learned to keep his head low so that when a little person approaches, his mouth is accessible. Ryder likes to stand right under Dirt's face and reach up for those nostrils. Ofcorse Dirt has to check for treats, by sucking off his little fingers. I get sooo much joy out of watching the kids interact with eachother and with Dirt Face who is turning out to be quite a patient "kids" horse.



I brought toys and a blanket to the barn the day the farrier came. I thought Ryder would sit in the warm barn while the farrier trimmed Dirt's face's feet, but Ryder was not gonna miss that party!!
Here he is "helping." He only did that for a few minutes before he insisted that I finger walk him right over to the hoof she was filing so he could watch.

Ryder discovered my computer and how much fun it is to hit buttons...

We make weekly trips to the library. Here is Ryder with his basket of books. He still prefers to "eat" the books but I know one day he'll read them...

My adorable little boy (Thanks, Max for the hand-me-down shirt)

Ryder has begun demonstrating that he has a memory. I really started noticing it when he became obsessed with walking to the bathroom upstairs. Every time I "finger walk" him, he heads for the bathroom. He turns towards the cupboard and looks up. The first time I lifted him up, he grabbed the pink water bottle I keep there and sucked water out of the straw. The next time we walked to the bathroom he did the same thing, walked to the cupboard and wanted up...now this happens every time. He recently discovered the sink and loves it when I run the water. He splashes and splashes. He has started wanting to go "up" onto the counter where he always turns towards the sink and waits for me to turn the water on...so neat to watch him discover stuff as simple as running water.
He isn't pulling himself up yet, but he is trying and now that he has had a taste of standing, he no longer wants to sit at all. He will straight leg it every time I try to sit him down. He is able to balance himself now and will do so on whatever he can find that is the right height.

Scout and I spend a lot of time lying on the floor watching our pride and joy, little Ryder James.


Ryder also likes to come into our bathroom ensuite. He hasn't ever had a bath in our big tub, but he likes to sit in there sometimes while I am in the bathroom.




Just being cute in the cart at Costco

Learning dexterity. Thank you, Cheerios for this lesson....every Cheerio that misses his mouth, Scout thoroughly enjoys!

Ryder has not mastered crawling yet. He can get on all fours and rock and rock. He can move backwards and around in circles. He can finger walk like crazy, but he has yet to master crawling. While we wait for him to be able to move forward on his on, we develop strong back muscles, leaning over to walk with him. I wouldn't trade that "work out" for anything!!!


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