{ Ryder :: 18 months }

Ryder man cracks us up. He is 18 months old and every day he surprises us with his new tricks and friendly personality. Here are some Ryderisms of the moment:

• words he knows: mama, dada, cracker, tractor, bye, no, papa, nana, Costco, dog, duck, car, ball, keys, where it go?, milk, all done, more
• animal sounds: duck, horse, cow, snake, dog, cat, lion, elephant, tiger, bear, crow
• loves all things cars, trucks, tractors, airplanes, helicopters, motorcycles... and has a sign/sound for each one. Our whole road trip down to Las Vegas was spent spotting semis and Ryder pumping his arm up and down and making a honking noise.
• Loves to be chased and tickled.
• Picky eater… refuses to eat most fruits and vegetables, choosing instead to only eat: quesadillas, grilled cheese, crackers, cereal, toast, fruit smoothies, and pretty much any treat we’ll let him eat. He’s pretty sure crackers are a food group and should accompany every meal.
• Has this habit of playing with the tag on the back of his jammie top while he's starting to wake up.
•  Seven Peaks is one of his favorite places, loves to splash around and go down the big slide as many times as we’ll let him. Every time we get to the bottom he claps and enthusiastically motions for “more”.
•  If things don’t go the way he wants them to, he resorts to banging his head on any hard surface available [floor, wall, chair, etc].
•  Favorite movie is Cars and Cars 2. Anything Cars.
•  Loves to sit in the front seat of the car and pretend to drive the car.
•  Will use various objects as a phone, put it up to his ear, and start jabbering away. Objects include, but are not limited to: calculator, ruler, small books, and anything else that is small-ish and rectangular-ish.
• Goes down the big slide at the park but insists to slide down on his stomach, going backwards.
• Can't make it through grocery shopping without a meltdown unless we have the car cart.
•  Although not the most cuddly kid in the world, he's always good for loves and kisses.