duck pond and recent developments

Last week we went to play at the duck pond for the afternoon and it was a blast. Ryder was pretty much having the time of his life chasing the ducks all over the place. He did seem to think that feeding bread to the ducks was a little ridiculous, opting instead to eat the bread himself. He's just become so much fun lately, so interactive, opinionated, and full of curiosity. I love this stage right now where everyday he seems to learn new things and is full of all sorts of new tricks. Here are some of the recent developments...

• walks like a boss, he's all over the place!
• now that he can walk he seems to think that he should walk at any given point and to wherever he feels so inclined- makes shopping near impossible
• signs he knows: eat, more, milk, dog, please
• is loving books right now and when he wants to be read to will go and get a book and then proceed to plop himself down in your lap and put the book in your hand
• loves keys and remotes, will carry them around the house and try and use the keys on our side door and the remote to turn on the tv
• will often take our phones or a remote and hold it up to his ear and start babbling
• LOVES to play outside or even just be outside, wants to explore everything!
• words he knows: mama, dada, go, dog, ball (dog and ball sound pretty similar... "dah")
• will go into his room and start pushing around his stroller saying "go go go" when he wants to go on a walk, which is usually a couple times a day
• is starting to really love to be with other kids, especially his cousins who love on him constantly
• walks around with such a wide, cowboy-like stance and very deliberate steps, looks like he just got off a horse.
• will now successfully nap and sleep at night without a swaddleme blanket
• loves walking around the house with a spatula- it proves to be the perfect tool for pointing at things he wants, smacking furniture, and keeping his balance
• still kind of a picky eater, I've become that mom that hides fruit or vegetables in things... zucchini muffins, green smoothies with spinach & fruit, quesadillas with refried beans and thinly sliced avocado, grilled cheese with thinly sliced lunch meat, banana bread, etc. Whatever works.
• such a lover of all things carbs. Will eat any kind of bread.
• goes crazy over animals... especially dogs. Whenever he spots one, whether that be on a petco commercial, a dog on our walk, or the fake one on the Old Navy display, he starts signing "dog", says "dah", and trys to wiggle away to get closer.
• gives hugs and kisses on demand