Ryan turns 1

Ryan turned 1 almost two weeks ago, but I'm really only a week behind because we didn't celebrate until last Saturday, after we'd had a week to get settled into the new house.

Ryan was happy to get his very own coloring book he could tear apart without his sisters getting mad at him. He carried this one around for a while, pages marking where he had been in the house.

We got him lame presents like a new car seat and clothes, so the day before his "party" I saw this water table at Costco and decided we should get him a fun toy (which the girls would also love). They'll get TONS of use out of it this summer. They've just had it for a week and played with it almost every day. A good way to pass the 80+ degree days we've been having. I love Ryan's face in this one:

I used a cake tin we've had for years and never used. Those cupcakes are supposed to be puffs of clouds and in real life looked like they said choo choo, not choe chio.

 With the girls their experience with cake when they turned one was one of their first cake/super sugar experience. Not so with Ryan. He's an experienced cake/sugar eater. He puts it away real fast.

mad that it's all gone?

Opening his presents:

Then back outside to play with the fun one. How convenient, water to drink.

He's getting a sense of humor and knows when he makes us laugh. He thinks he's hilarious.

About a week before he turned one I saw him standing up in the middle of the rocks in our front yard, for the first time having figured out how to get to standing without having something around to help him up. I told Jake that he'd be walking for real soon, and sure enough, the next day he started walking everywhere. He walks like a drunken sailor. Or a penguin. Sometimes a drunken penguin.

We're happy to have our little guy in our family. He's still falling barely below the curve for weight, coming in at 18 lbs 6 oz. He's about 30th percentile for height and growing right along both curves, so he's fine. If he hadn't had a week and a half of diarrhea and no appetite just before his 1-year doctor's appointment he probably would have weighed a bit more and maybe even hit the 3rd percentile mark to be officially back on the charts. Oh well. He's a happy child and we're happy to have him around. (Well, most of us are. Annie still beats him up pretty regularly, but occasionally says something like "I love my bruduh (brother)." that makes me think there's hope.) Ryan's favorite things include his blanket (which he carries around everywhere, and if he sees it after having left it behind for a while, he'll hurry over to it, lay down on it, and give it a big hug), his binky, and his mommy (if he notices me walk by him without picking him up he usually has a meltdown). He also really likes forks, spoons and cups. Especially if they belong to someone else. He also thinks Rachel and Annie are pretty cool (despite the occasional whack or bucket of water over his head from Annie). He'll laugh at them and follow them around, especially loving to play chase. He's a joy in our family. It's been a fun year with him around.