Another month has come and gone, and Ryan is now only one
month away from being one YEAR old! Crazy! We’ve probably said this before
about some other month, but it truly seems like this eleventh month is the one
in which Ryan has grown and changed the most.
To us, it has been most fun to see him grow in his language
learning! Like other babies, Ryan can understand many words. When we ask, “Where’s
_?” and fill in the blank with a person’s name or an object, Ryan knows right
where to look. He can follow basic commands, like “play the music” or “turn off
the light.” He has also started communicating a little on his own! He claps
when he sees others clapping or hears the word “clap” or “yay.” He waves and
says “bye bye.” He tries to repeat words he hears us say, even attempting to copy
inflection. He makes the baby sign for airplane when he sees/hears one in the
sky. He can say (with meaning) Momma, Dadda, brr (when we open the fridge) and
baby (though “babies” are often children that are older than he is!). A few
days ago, he even said airplane “ah-pluh” while doing the baby sign and
pointing to a bird we have hanging from our kitchen fan. So funny! A few times,
it has seemed like he called Ian “buh-buh,” which may be short for “Big Brother”
(what we often call Ian).
Like last month, Ryan is always on the go. This month,
though, he’s even FASTER! He crawls and cruises with determination, especially
if he knows the object he’s headed for is a no-no. He often likes to push a
book along underneath his palm while crawling. He likes walking behind objects
or while holding someone’s hands. Ryan can stand alone for a few seconds at a
time.
Ryan is getting much better at feeding himself finger foods.
He definitely has his favorites – like Cheerios, Puffs, bread, yogurt melts,
peas, black beans, and baby snacks like MumMums. He LOVES yogurt but still
refuses most of the other pureed (fruit/veggie) foods that we try to feed him. He
recently learned how to drink water from a sippy cup by himself.
Ryan is still taking two naps a day and generally waking
once per night to nurse. He is finally sleeping unswaddled at night and seems
to prefer sleeping on his side or tummy.
Ryan still would much prefer to be with Momma or Daddy than
anyone else. He generally only tolerates a baby-sitter while the sitter pushes
him in a stroller (and can’t be seen – ha ha!). He is a cheerful baby and (if Momma/Daddy is holding him) smiles when he
sees others and then tucks his head shyly.
Like most almost-toddlers, Ryan generally leaves s trail of
where he’s been. :) Ryan
loves opening and taking things out of/off of cabinets, drawers, baskets, shelves,
and laundry hampers. He loves throwing magnets off the fridge, taking clothes
off the hangers in Momma and Daddy’s closet, unrolling toilet paper, playing
with/eating dirt, dropping objects from his high chair, trying to take glasses
off people’s faces, and picking up and eating small fuzz from the ground.
We’re thankful that Ryan’s obsession with the fake moss on
our fake tree has been replaced by an obsession with our TV remote. (Much
neater! :)) Other
favorites this month include playing with water, pointing at people, giggling
at Ian, pressing the music button on Ian’s toy Hummer, reading books
(especially Peek-a-boo Baby and Where’s Baby’s Belly Button?) exploring
the fridge when the door is open, touching other people’s mouths, and throwing
balls & balloons.He loves music and will "dance" whenever he hears it. In typical Schleicher/Walquist fashion, he already seems
to like games, too. Peek-a-boo (covering himself up and sometimes even saying “a-boo”
when we find him), Chase-the-ball (throwing a ball and then crawling after it
to throw it again), and Hide-and-Seek (finding Momma behind the loveseat) seem
to be his favorites.
Ryan definitely makes us laugh and smile and daily thank our
Lord for the blessing of life!
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