Rocking horse master

Ryan is still struggling with his teeth and had a rough night last night. But today he's still as chipper as ever. He is vocalising up a storm and experimenting with his voice a lot. We get grunts and squeals and squeaks. When I bit his nails off that were too long and spit them out with a ptooey he copied that same sound each time! So funny. Today he asked for a horse ride and when I stopped rocking, instead of asking for more he just did it himself! That's the first time he's done that. So exciting. He is mr independent.

Swimming!

My little guppy has really gotten into swimming. It's so cute. We got to class early and he was raring to go. Couldn't wait to get into the pool. He kept pointing at the water and vocalising. It was clear what he wanted! He loves the ball retrieval game we do first and kept saying ba, ba-ba and grabbing for the balls and kicking his legs and smiling and laughing. He then puts them in the bucket. He remembers that game each week. It's so cute! He is going under water more and more and getting more comfy with all aspects of the class. He's chattier after each class too. It's so fun to watch him blossom each class and see him make such rapid progress. He's cruising so well now too and he crawls so fast. He loves to play chase games and play his musical instruments. I just can't get over what fun he is :)

Sleep how I miss thee

This feels awful Truman showish but here's how Ryan finally fell asleep one time last night. Didn't look too comfy to me. He loves the corners and the edges of his bed for some reason though I guess I'm the same so I can't judge. He is struggling so much with his sleep at night. He wakes 2-4 or more times and insists on nursing. Can't be a growth spurt for this long so I think it's teething and ? Anyway poor little guy sounds like a sad little morning dove when he wakes up and wants comfort. I wild love to get some sleep one of these days though. I swear he knows when I finally relax and get comfy and then he wants me.

Babies are amazing

Well at least I think Ryan is anyway. I don't know other babies. We hung a few of our photos on the wall and Ryan immediately pointed to one with two dogs in it and started jabbering. He looked at the dogs and pointed and said dah dah and the turned around and pointed to Jose's bday card I gave him of a cartoon dog riding a bird and said dah dah. He kept doing that back and forth telling me look mom I see dogs there and there! It was pretty amazing. He's also really really good at cruising now.

Stair climber

Yes folks that's what we've got as of today. A sure footed billy goat named Ryan! He amazed us by climbing the stairs today for the first time and really really fast! It was incredible and kind of terrifying. Baby gate time. Just two days ago he got a yoga block and took it to the base of the stairs to help climb them. He did that all by himself. I can't get over how smart he is and how good he is at observing and problem solving. He loves the stairs and he loves songs. He loves where is thumbkin and when I moo like a cow. Go figure. He loves to touch fingertips like in ET. And he loves to be chased!

Daddy's 35th birthday!!

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> Jose turned 35 today! I can't believe that we are now in our mid thirties. Seriously when did that happen? We both feel 21 still. Sigh. I remember when we first met at 27! This morning Ryan and I gave daddy his card and presents and then we had Boston cream pie and coffee. In peru they celebrate bdays with cake and ponche (Lima bean drink that we don't have here) so we approximated that for him. Then sarah joined us for lunch at Baja Betty's where they helped us celebrate in style with a fabulous fugly Betty drink and an awesome balloon crown. So much fun! Ryan had a blast and at his own big lunch and danced to abba at the table.
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Little cook and low rider

Ryan is changing in leaps and bounds! Every day he does something new and amazing. Yesterday he investigated the fridge contents and looked like he was planning a gourmet meal :) he babbled away as he pulled veggies out of the drawer. He opens the cupboards and talks to the pots and pans. He knows where we put things away that he likes to play with and finds them again and again. He asks to ride in his truck and sits in it like a low rider. It is so cute. And he honks the horn as daddy wheels him around the house! He is so interactive. He gives us stuff and asks to play games by pointing or making noises or handing us something like a ball. He Points to me when he wants me to keep doing something like playing with his toes or saying a funny phrase. It's so much fun. He is into everything!

First ever Gymboree!

It's been ages since I posted. It's been a very tough transition to the states for us. I'll post photos and info from the past three months soon. Anyway my little tiger is 10 1/2 months old and has a big personality these days. He's teething like crazy (now has 7 teeth!), rolled at 8.5 months, crawled 3 weeks later and is well on his way to taking his first steps! He makes these cute tiger like noises all the time and drums his fingers on his tray when he's bored and waiting for his meals. He loves to eat with our forks and is obsessed with cups of any kind. He loved Gymboree. He was very cautious at first and just looked around. Then he got into the balls and chewed hard on those. He pushed other kids away when they got too near his toys which surprised me. I've never seen that before. He got into it as the class went on and went through a tunnel and down a slide and up some stairs and up a ramp! He even rocked in a little wooden boat! He practiced lots of gross and fine motor skills and said buhbuh for bubbles! By the end he was confidently crawling up ramps solo! He also says da or dada for daddy, mama for me of course, bah for bottle (water bottle since he abhors baby bottles), duh for duck and dog, and buhbuh for bubbles! He points to things he likes and wants. He knocks on doors. He's been pulling to stand since 8.5 months and cruising since 9 months. He also nips me on the shoulder a lot - teething or love bites? He goes to the chiropractor, swim class and now Gymboree every week which is so much fun. We also try to get to the park at least once a week and the zoo a few times a month but it's been way too hot for that lately. He is mr independent and has the cutest laugh ever.