17 months

Ryder is 17 months old.  Today I saw a photo of him a year ago on my screen saver and couldn't believe how much he has changed.  He has totally lost his baby look and is such a lean, strong little toddler.  I love our little monkey so much and he is SO much fun right now.  Here are some highlights of him at 17 months:

•  Running everywhere, and I do mean running.  He tries to keep up with his sisters and he's pretty fast, but when he gets going really fast he loses his balance and bumps into walls.  It's pretty comical.

• He's using utensils on his own and doing really well.  He's never enjoyed being fed, so it's nice that he can really do it on his own with a fork and spoon.
• Still breastfeeding. Some days it's only 2x a day, other times it's more.  No signs of weaning any time soon.
• Talking more and understanding everything.  You ask him questions and he says no or nods.  He's saying a lot more animal sounds this month and loves to grab a fake phone and say 'Hi Dada'.  He leaves out the 'h' sound so it sounds like, "I Dada".  So cute.
• Loves drinking spinach juice smoothies, yogurt smoothies, & water.  I still have to force the whole milk a bit.
• Climbed out of his crib three nights in a row so we dropped the mattress to the floor.  It seems to be working and I don't think we're breaking any safety regulations.
• He really wants to sleep with his sisters and when it's bed time he points to their room and yells out Ryan's name.  I'm starting to look for bunk beds that they can all share next year when he's ready for a bed.
• He is obsessed with cars and really enjoys anything with wheels, but the Disney Cars characters have a special place in his heart.  He has 6 Lightning McQueen cars and carries them around everywhere.  If he was older and we took our kids to the movies, then we'd be going to see it when it comes out in 2 weeks.  Instead, we've just watched the trailer on YouTube about 100 times.
• I'm not sure how tall he is but I think he's gained a couple pounds, maybe at 22 pounds now.  He's got such a skinny waist that I can put him in 6-12 month shorts and he's wearing 18 month t-shirts.
• He just started swim lessons and seems to be going good so far.  A few tears in the beginning but he's a champ at going under water.
• His hair is L-O-N-G.  Cory wants it to keep growing so we'll see how long it gets :)

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