Ryan at 11 months

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: my life is flashing before my eyes.

Ryan is 11 months old. WOW. This must be the fastest year ever!

Ryan is making some serious progress when it comes to being mobile. The kid is FAST. He reminds me of my little brother Tom when he was little- dashing here and there. Ryan's crawling speed is truly impressive. And- he does it with flare- waving as he goes. He's cruising around furniture now, and standing for 2-3 seconds at a time before very carefully sitting himself down.

He's pretty curious- about outlets, wires and computers. The word NO means nothing to him in this regard...he laughs at me....my gray hair is growing.

He is prefers to feed himself an entire meal now- but does not mind the occassional bowl of pureed stuff (I think he sees the benefit of how fast it fills him up- no chewing involved!). He's getting pretty accurate with the 'ole pincer grasp and ends meals with little-to-no food in his lap. He especially loves fresh mango, fruited yogurt and cheese. Another major step- milk in a sippy.

Ryan is still a pretty social baby- he especially loves to see other babies, or pictures of babies. He talks to himself in the mirror, and he loves to play with Cate's baby dolls and give them kisses and hugs.

After about a month of crankiness (which I attributed to a general bad attitude- bad mommy!), I finally brought him to the doctor when a rash broke out all over his body. Diagnosis: Scarlet Fever. I was pretty freaked out, but it turns out that really means Strep Throat w/a rash...thanks to a 5-day round of antibiotics, he's ALL better!

At his doctor's appointment, he weighed in at 10.06 kilograms = 22 pounds at 10.5 months. So, he's definitely bigger at this age than Catherine was at 12 months. But he's already thinning out, what with all the crawling and playing.

His top front left tooth has popped through, so now he has 2 left top teeth, and nothing on the right! Looks like the second one over on the right will be the next to come in. He's taken to biting my shoulder- hard. I actually yell out in pain, and have a bruise from the repeated trauma...I hope those next 2 teeth come in SOON.

Favorite things to do include putting blocks in buckets, taking blocks out of buckets, bathtime, swimming, chasing after various balls, opening/closing doors and drawers, sorting through (and chewing on) all our Little People, repeated standing/sitting, discovering books, cuddling, pushing little cars and making the brrrrrr sound, climbing over me when I'm laying down, his music table, babbling, waving "hi" and eating.

Everyday life is pretty simple, as we've been concentrating on a schedule:
Wake up: 7:00
Breakfast: 8:00
1st nap: 9:30
Lunch: 12:30
2nd nap: 3:00
Dinner: 5:30
Bedtime: 7:30
I feel like our social lives have been put on hold over the past 6 weeks or so, but the payoff has been great- he is a happy, predictable baby now and I have to admit, I'm proud of both of us (and Catherine too, for tolerating all this time-keeping!) for being diligent!

We're headed back to the States in 2 weeks, where we'll celebrate his 1st birthday. God has blessed us this year- our son is growing up to be a fun, curious, adorable child. We are thankful!

Playing with sis:

Bird-watching:

Walking around the house:

(In his best John Wayne voice): "I'll take a beer"