More 5 Months Old

Video of Ryder Dec 2012

Ryder and his daddy in New Zealand--5 months old

He's 11 months old now!

Ryder, two days old

Ryder is now 11.5 months old. 

He is more human and less monkey every day.

Sydney apartment, 10 months old

Ryder-10 months old

Ryder turns 10 months old tomorrow. He will be taking a flight back to Port Vila after spending a few days in Tanna and getting constant attention from the villagers there.

Brainwashing Ry with travel magazines on Air Vanuatu

He is a special boy. I couldn’t be more proud of him. He loves everyone he meets and in turn, everyone can’t help but love him back.

A Walesian woman from New Caledonia holds Ryder at a Vanuatu beach

He has discovered how to clap his hands. He does this with huge grins, as well as direct a beat in the air, when we sing to him.

Confession: he still comes and sleeps with his dad and I in the middle of the night for a feeding. He flops over onto his back when he’s done and conks out between us and I just let him stay. He’s just too warm and cuddly.

While I read my novel du jour, he totters around me and I absent-mindedly feed him peas, which he loves to sog up and then spew out when I offer him another. We don’t know if he has ever actually swallowed the pea.

He is a smart boy. He can figure out how to open anything. I’ve realized that he’s not just playing with the items around the house, he is figuring out how to get inside. Once opened, he puts it in his mouth. It’s his current life mission.

He has four teeth, two below and two up top. He was very hot when teething, but it only lasted a day or two. It looks like he’s going to have a gap like his dad’s.

It’s a wonder this cat did not scratch Ryder at his mistreatment

Everyone always comments how strong he is. In fact, it is a combination of strength as well as determination that makes it nearly impossible to hold him in your arms. When he fixates on something, he does everything in his power to grab it.

I thought having a child follow you around would be exhausting or annoying, but to be honest I love it. (Well, as long as he’s not sobbing and clingy and bored.)  I love having a little shadow. When I’m putting my make up on in the morning he’s sitting at my feet examining my hairbrush. When I’m hanging the laundry up on the line he’s crawling behind me banging the washtub. When I’m sitting to lunch at a café he’s in the stroller sharing bites with me. It’s fun to have a companion, and he’s so popular he makes me friends. In fact, he has already made a friend on Skype! Little Junior from Anabru Lodge in Port Vila wants to chat with him.

He is so much fun to travel with. I wish, wish, wish that everyone back home could hold him and see what an affectionate and happy boy he is!

8 Months Update

Ryder will turn 8 months old this weekend.

It’s time to tell you a few things that make me laugh daily. And this kid does make me laugh all day, despite my sleep-deprived state. He still wakes up during the night. He can go back to sleep by himself, a lot of the time, but it still wakes me up when he cries. So I only get a few hours of sleep at a time. Roughest part about being a mom for me, but it’s worth it.

* He aggressively grabs his bottle by both hands when he wants to eat, but holds it up with his feet while he drinks.

* He says “Dada” for everything. I suspect sometimes he’s also saying “Mama” when he yells the “N” sound, but his dada is clear and consistent. Sometimes he just whispers it. Sometimes, he just mouths it. Jacob always says “Hi Dada” when he greets Ryder, and I tell Jacob he’s giving Ryder identity confusion.

* He likes to hold my hair lightly while breastfeeding and then start yanking it like crazy. In fact, he likes to gently probe and then wildly yank just about anything, including my lower lip.

* It always makes him laugh to put his hand inside my mouth and then have me bite on his finger. Every single time.

* If he hears anyone, and I mean anyone laughing, he courtesy laughs with them. There’s a difference between his spontaneous laugh and his courtesy laugh.

* He tends to avoid the toys I set out for him and go for any tiny speck of dirt on the floor he sees. One time, I saw him chasing ants. As soon as he gets something in his hand, he maneuvers it into his mouth. We’re lucky the honeybee I found in his mouth did not sting him.

* The little guy loves people, and he especially loves strangers. He’s happiest when someone’s holding him, and if that someone is a new face to poke at, so much the better.

This family gave us a tour of the island.

* He loves to give me wet willies on my shoulder.

* He loves, the little goofball, to get his nails clipped. It’s about the only time he will hold perfectly still, and stare in fascination.

* He loves to head butt me.

* He clenches his fists, in and out, to show he wants to be picked up.

* He rears up on all fours now and tries to crash out of his bed to get our attention.

* He crawls with only his arms, like an army crawl (and like my dog Mellie.)

* He dives his head down to get his milk in a sudden burst like a beast heading for his prey. And while he eats, one of his hands always bumps behind him. If I’m trying to read my iPad at the same time as feeding him, for example, his hand will be behind him bumping and grabbing it. He’s quite the little multi tasker.

* He is an impossibly wiggly little worm. He flails, kicks and twists with the happiest expression on his face—his joie de vivre is to be able to move.

* His favorite toy besides small pieces of trash is our badminton racket. He likes to ride it like a Quidditch broomstick.

I like to try and see what his personality is looking to be like. Everybody always compliments him, saying he is “sage” (well-behaved in French) and easy-going, but what they don’t know is he much less fussy when he’s out and about than at home. When at home, he begs to be held and entertained much more.

I can’t help but see a little wackiness in him, which means he might have a little of me in him after all   I taught him to yell into tubes like a microphone, and he does a lot of that now.

He seems mischievous and sweet already. He heads straight for what he shouldn’t every morning (the outlet where the cords are plugged in) and every time I catch him as he pulls himself along, quickly, with his arms, and he turns back to see if I’m watching, he grins a huge grin and pulls himself toward it even faster. He is tough—if he falls and hurts himself he doesn’t cry at all, or not long, before moving on. He is self-assured—there’s something about the way he approaches the world and looks around that seems to say, “I know I’m an important person.” 

Jacob and I both chose the same description to sum him up in one word: curious.

He is our fearless, confident, social little fella. He’s his daddy’s son.

At the Robert WAN Pearl Museum in Papeete

Six month update

We took Ryder to the pediatrician today.

It’s only his third check up. It wasn't easy to visit doctors out of our campervan in New Zealand, but now that we’re in Tahiti we’re a bit more settled.

He is 17.5 pounds and 26.7 inches, which is just slightly above average in weight and height, but then again we are 10 days past the six month mark as well.

He can sit up on his own, he is curious and friendly, and the doctor said he is a beautiful and well-behaved little boy.

The doctor also said he cried much less than other babies receiving their shots.

I feel like Ryder passed his final exams with flying colors or something

 

 

Other things new with Ryder: He’s just starting to get a tooth and loves to chew on anything. A particular favorite seems to be Jacob’s rubber bands. Our little athlete. Or is it gourmand?

 

 

As always, he is my grocery shopping buddy. We are staying in an apartment on the top of a hill so it’s our daily routine to walk together—I think of it as my workout—and get groceries.

 

He’s so easily bored interested in everything that I’m always trying to give him new things from around the apartment. Here he’s playing “She loves me…she loves me not” with a flower.

 

 

Ryder loves animals, real…

 

Or not quite.

 

 

His favorite things are: getting a bottle before bed, watching mom and dad make faces at him and laughing like crazy, and reaching for anything he can get his hands on.  He’s such a funny, sweet, and social little boy. He loves getting held by strangers. He’s not shy at all, and will grab their hair/hands/noses and refuse to let go if given the chance.

 

So anyone want to come babysit? We’ll let you stay with us in our apartment in Tahiti…. I haven’t figured out how to get to the beach yet with a baby. 3 weeks in Tahiti without yet visiting the beach for me! We’re planning on hiring a babysitter here soon enough. I want to learn how to body board with Jacob.