2nd Year Photos

If I had to do it over again, I may not have chosen to have a baby in late September (too hot!).  However, it is a great time to take pictures - close enough to the holidays for cards & gifts, but not so close that things are overbooked and busy.  Nicole, who took these great pictures last year, once again did a great job capturing our little family.  

Letter to My Baby: 2 Years Old

September 20, 2012

Dear Ryder,

You are now two years old.  While you still have so much growing to do, this feels like the official end of a chapter.  You will always be my baby, but undoubtably you are also now my little boy.  You assert your independence daily, yet remain your sensitive and affectionate self.  You are thoughtful, deliberate, and also a little cautious.  You have a stubborn streak, but can also be very helpful and cooperative.  You love to engage us, and are quick to laugh and smile with those you love, although sometimes you are sparing with your smiles in new places.  You are a delight.

At your two-year check you were 28 lbs, and about 34 inches.  I say “about” because you were very unhappy about having your height and weight checked and refused to stand up against the wall.  Mommy had to show you several times before you would even consider it, and even then you were crying and highly suspicious of the whole affair.  Your head still makes up a large percentage of who you are - measuring in at 19 3/4 inches (97%).  No wonder that little mind of yours seems to always be in overdrive!

Your vocabulary has just exploded in the past couple of months.  You easily have more words than I can count and you string together more complex sentences everyday.  You frequently inform me of things, and get annoyed when I don’t understand exactly what you are saying.  You now respond “ya” even to the most rhetorical questions.  You frequently tell me “no _________” for the things you don’t want to do or have.  I find now that I am most often Mommy, instead of Momma, although for a two week stretch you decided to call me “Hannah.”

You love to have us read to you and will sit with us for a very long time.  Your current favorites are Dr. Suess books, specifically One Fish, Two Fish (“fish boop”) and Green Eggs and Ham (“wiggie-ham”).  You know these stories so well that you can finish the sentences for us!  You also do the same things with songs, finished parts of sentences in your deep, off-key voice as you ‘sing’ with us.

The week of your second birthday you decided that you wanted nothing more to do with your pack-n-play.  You walked into the bedroom and declared, “sweep couch.”  You have been there ever since.  Now at bedtime we lie together and read a story, and then sing a song.  Your most request songs are, Return to Pooh Corner (“pooh”) and Baby Mine (“bebe mine”).  You like mommy or daddy to lie with you, but have a hard time falling asleep if we do, so we usually limit it to 5 minutes.  Even then, you often lie awake in bed until we go to bed a little while later.  You hate to miss anything that is going on in the house!

You have many toys that you like to play with.  You still love your trains and spend a lot of time with Daddy on the floor building train tracks and then racing around the “choo choos.”  You quite often crash (“oh no.  it’s a crash”).  You are becoming more interested in animals, and often bring out your stuffed elephants - one for mommy or daddy and one for Ryder.  You call most animals by their sounds a “woof” a “tweet”, a “neigh”, etc.  Your car collection keeps growing, and you are just started to become more interested in blocks and puzzles.

You love to play outside.  The summer as been hot (“too hot”) so we haven’t been out as much as we would like and are looking forward to cooler fall weather.  When we are able to go outside you draw with sidewalk chalk, go for “trips” in your car (“bye Mommy”), swing and blow bubbles.  You like to slide, but only if mommy or daddy “helps” you.  

You have an amazing grasp of technology, and if you can get your hands on an iPhone can turn on Elmo.  You also love shows like Winnie the Pooh, Toy Story, and Blue’s Clues.  You frequently ask for shows, and get mad at mommy when she doesn’t let you watch shows whenever you want.  A couple of times you have sent me to my room (“Mommy go room, be happy”) for not giving in to things you want to do.  It is funny to see how quickly you learned that - we have you go to your room when you are having tantrums until you can calm down and “be happy.”  I also get lectured during the day if you feel that I don’t respond to you quickly enough.  It is funny to hear you talking sternly to me.  Fortunately, I often get hugs and kisses afterwards, since that is what we do to feel better.

You want to do everything we do.  You wear dad’s shoes, quite literally.  You try to shave.  You are quite the helper with the broom and the vacuum.  We often clean and cook together.  You love to be where we are, and even now that you are big, are the most happy when someone is holding you. 

I’m sure, even as I’m sitting down to write you this long letter, that there are things that I’m missing; little pieces of you that I haven’t captured.  I haven’t talked at all about visits from relatives, trips to UT and Disneyland, friends, or other events that occur in our lives together.  I hope, though, that as you read these letters when you are “all grown up” that you will get a glimpse into who you are now and of our lives together in this moment.  

I love you, baby mine.

Mommy

Letter to My Baby: 18-21 Months

June 20, 2012

Dear Ryder,

You are growing to be such a fun little person to be around, although it is strange to me that, seemingly overnight, you have gone from being a baby to a little boy.  

Most mornings you call for daddy (“dada, dada”) to come get you out of bed.  You ask for food (“foo”), and greedily scarf down your eggs or french toast or oatmeal.  You love to steal Daddy’s shoes in the morning so he has to chase you around the house to get them back.  You wave “bye” when he goes to work.

Uncle Corban and Aunt Amanda came to visit us and we went to Disneyland.  While we were there you spoke your first sentence.  We had taken you on some of the children’s rides, and after we got off you pointed to the entrance and said “Beep Beep Mo?”  You were also very good about getting into your stroller so we could walk to the next ride.  I think you were finally starting to understand how this whole ride / Disney thing works.

You have so many words now, and you are getting better and better about using them.  You use the word “mo” (more) anytime you like something.  “pse tos” (please toast) and “mk pse” (milk please) are some of your other first sentences.  You are starting to understand what “please” means; or at least you understand that if you say please you are much more likely to get what you want.  When you climb stairs you count “1, 2” no matter how many stairs there actually are.  Quite often now you pop out a new word that takes both your daddy and I by surprise.  One night as we were walking home you pointed to the sky and said “moon.” 

You are starting to show us your preferences and that you remember little games that we play with you.  Daddy and I have been watching old Star Trek: Next Generation reruns.  When we turn on the show you say “Space” and you conduct the orchestral music through the credits.  You point all your fingers together and move your wrist around in a circle.  You expect us to conduct with you, watching expectantly until we start waving our arms too.  It makes Momma laugh when she thinks about how this would look if someone were peaking in our windows!

You love things that move.  You always point out the airplanes that fly by our house.  You are a fan of Thomas the Train, both the toys and the show, and you have many trains that you like to drive around on your track.  We took you to Fillmore, where they have an annual “Thomas the Train” ride on a real train.  You loved every minute.  

You like cars, and usually have at least a couple of cars with you at all times.  We decided to buy you a push car.  You loved helping Daddy build it and had to sit in it the whole time it was being put together.     

You are still quite the little artist, frequently asking Daddy to “draw” with you at his computer.  You also enjoy playing with colored puff balls, moving them between two bowls with a spoon.  Another favorite activity is helping daddy make cookies by dumping all the ingredients into the bowl, licking the spoon, and stealing chocolate chips.  Of course, you also love the finished product!  

Of course, being almost two is also quite hard at times.  We are starting to see more tantrums as you try to express your frustration when the world doesn’t work out how you want it to.  Fortunately, you quickly bounce back to your happy self.

I love you.

Momma

First Haircut

I love this little boy's hair!  He was born platinum blond.  It never fell out.  It hasn't changed color.  However, even this Momma has to admit, the mullet look belongs to the 80's. 

 The matted-can't-be-combed-in-the-back look isn't the greatest either.

 So, on December 26, 2011.  Ryder received his first haircut from his daddy.  The before shot:

The during shot:

 The after shots:

(Someone thinks he is ready for the cover of GQ.)