17 Months Old

 Ryan's 17 month picture was accomplished by playing one of his favorite games, run-around-the-crib/peek-a-boo.  We pulled the crib away from the wall so he can't reach the curtains and because the walls are cold in that corner, and it's the perfect space for him to run around, pausing to peek through the bars to make sure I'm following him, then laughing hysterically when you peek around the corner.

Ryan's vocabulary continues to expand almost daily. He's pretty good at repeating words or trying to say things you ask him to. Here's a few categories of words he uses:

Food: snack, spoon, crackers, milk, juice, cheese, apple, apple sauce, hot (while holding his hand above the food pretending that it's so hot he can't touch it, even if it's fruit cocktail) He also refers to the stove as "hot"

Toys: books, ball, basket ball, color, balloon, car

People: mommy, daddy, brahm-pa (grandpa), mama (grandma), Abbie, Andy, Emily, Natalie, baby (usually in reference to pictures of himself as a baby)

Animals: dog, cow, "a moo", duck, Milo, and Nika (nee-na). He also makes the following sounds: moo moo moo, neigh, woof woof, meow, cock-a-doodle-doo, gobble gobble, quack, and he sniffs to try to make a pig sound!

Other: nose, mouth, eyes, nigh-nigh, my (his word for his pacifier which he still uses when sleeping), cold, outside, snow (which sounds a lot like nose)

Ryan has also started to climb more. He sets up his Step 2 chair next to his Step 2 table so he can climb on top of it to reach the couch, then climb down off the couch and do it all again. He is getting good at climbing up and down the stairs and can push all sorts of things around the house--boxes, laundry baskets, chairs, and even his little table.

Ryan loves to wrestle (both Adam and the dog) and loves to help "fold" the laundry. He even started helping put it away by shoving it in random drawers. He dances to the music on the TV guide channel and chatters non-stop! But sometimes he'll just stop what he's doing, pull a book out of his box or the shelf and page through it. Sometimes he'll even provide commentary as he looks through it.  He is getting better at pointing to things we ask him to find on the page. He especially likes books with animals or colorful photographs of real people or objects.

He is exploring more and more and can play more independently. He continues to be a great sleeper, has a little more separation anxiety than before, and can be a bit stubborn if there is something he wants to do that we don't want him to do (bang on the china cabinet, crawl behind the couch, throw his utensils, empty the Tupperware cupboard, hit the dog) or if there's something he doesn't want to do that we want him to do (lay still so we can change his diaper, sit down in the bathtub, let me brush his teeth or cut his toenails)

We can't wait for the weather to warm up so we can go on more walks and get the Cozy Coupe outside!