Happy 22-month birthday, Ryan!

Ryan turned 22 months old on Sunday, April 7. He is SO stinkin' cute these days! He continues to be a little parrot, repeating everything we say. As such, his vocabulary is really impressive. I can't get over how articulate he is and how he understands what words mean and can use them in context.

Every morning, I typically ask the boys if they know what day it is. Sometimes there's something particularly special that they'll say. Other times, we just remember together that "This is the day that the Lord has made!" Ryan remembers it clearly and always happily proclaims when I ask him what day it is "We will REJOICE and BE GLAD in it!" I love hearing it from his mouth. He loves to sing the song, too.

Speaking of singing, he knows the words to many songs now. He'll sing the "sunshine" song and the "God" song when I pause - he jumps right in with the missing words. He also likes the "La - la - la WHATEVER" song (AKA Tonight, tonight) and it cracks me up when he says "whatever" and "doesn't matter!" His little voice is so sweet to listen to.

He also tells us often that he loves us "bestest" and when he says that something makes him "SO happy" he grins with a cheesy smile from ear to ear, which makes all of us crack up. We are often laughing at our little ham. He has brought so much fun into this family!

He loves his older brothers, and they love him back. Both older boys are so gentle and sweet with Ryan. I love how well they all get along. It truly blesses us, and I can fully testify to the fact that it IS good and pleasant when brothers dwell together in unity (Psalm 133:1)!

Ryan loves to read books together (him listening and pointing to all the pictures to tell us what they are). He could listen to the same book over and over again for hours! A new favorite of his is the "Baby, I Love You" book we bought him for Valentine's Day. At first he didn't seem to like it, and now he asks for it every night. He also likes the "Barnyard Dance" and the "10 Little Puppies" and the "Farm" book lately, as well as Finding Nemo and many others. I love to snuggle and read together, which we do almost every night before bed.

Ryan knows all his shapes, so I sat down to work with him on colors. I obviously had no idea when the boys started remembering those, but I thought it was probably time. We looked at these preschool cards I dug out from the older boys. I said "Point to something purple" and he found a purple balloon! I said "Where's something yellow?" and he said "A yellow duck!" Wow! I was impressed. Then he pointed to a pumpkin and said "Here's a yellow apple." It was neither yellow, nor an apple. I said "This is an orange pumpkin." He had gotten lucky on the first couple - the rest of the time together he didn't get the colors right. He could tell me what the items were, but he doesn't seem to recognize the color. I was concerned - is my little boy color blind? I asked the pediatrician (when we were there anyway) about what age they expect children should know colors. His answer was that they should know at least three colors by age three. Whoops! I guess I'm expecting a little much for age 1 then. Poor Ryan! We had fun exploring the things anyway. And I guess it's pretty decent he recognizes all his shapes.

Beyond shapes, he seems to know counting somewhat. When I saw 1, 2, he'll continue to say 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. But, when we count something together, he doesn't necessarily count the actual items on the page. So, I think he's more remembering what number comes next. Either way, it surprised me the other day when he joined right in with counting.

One thing I've noticed is that his upper body strength and gross motor skills are highly impressive for this age in comparison to his brothers, and I would partially attribute that to going to the gym on a regular basis. He has to climb and pull himself up if he wants to join the other kids on the slides and bounce area in the kidmazium, and our little man never wants to be left behind! He does many things that make me nervous, but he's doing great!

He is also trying to jump, which cracks me up! He doesn't quite get both feet in the air at the same time, but he keeps trying. LOVE it!

I've let Ryan wear big boy undies a couple times (see picture above). He is SO excited to be in them! And he's kept them dry for a couple hours at a time. But he has yet to do anything on the physical potty. He's downright terrified of it! He cries and acts like we're trying to hurt him when we put him on it (big one or small one). He shakes and seems so nervous that it breaks my heart. And yet, I know it's for his best. I don't want this to be a traumatizing experience, but I can see readiness signs. He tells us that he is going poo-poo, and he'll also play hide-n-go-poop (if you know what I mean). So, pray that he starts getting more comfortable with the idea in general. I'm ready to be done with diapers and his changing table (and crib, really).

Ryan is full of life and energy and funny expressions. He keeps us smiling. He is often Daddy's little buddy and will play with him all night long when allowed (which is great, especially when I'm teaching two nights a week). They are very close! We are all glad he's part of our family of five. Happy 22-month birthday, Ryan!