Ryan - Month 9

Wow - Matt has been on a tear with the Home Improvement blogs!!  But now, back to your regularly scheduled Ryan programming :)

Month 9 was a big month for the little guy, as he learned to crawl!!  Having a mobile baby has been crazy and fun and nerve-wracking all at the same time.  What started as a few hesitant moves forward quickly turned into full-on, fast-paced charging for what he wanted.  And of course, the first things he wanted to crawl for (besides Mom, Dad and Jordan) were the most dangerous things he could find at eye level (the stairs, outlets, the fireplace, etc.)  So Matt really had to step up his baby-proofing to make sure we stayed on top of his safety.  The crawling is so fun because it lets us know what he wants without us having to guess.  If he wants me to hold him, he just crawls over and climbs into my lap.  If he wants a toy, he simply crawls to it.  Awesome!

This month we also moved him out of his little newborn/baby tub and into the real bathtub.  Matt was getting tired of having to clean up the tsunami of water from all of the splashing he did during bath time.  He loves all of the room and the freedom to crawl around a bit, and also loves that multiple toys can fit into the big boy bath with him.  Now I am just excited for when he is old enough for bubbles and bath paints!

A sweet new social development is that Ryan learned how to share this month, and loves to do so as much as possible :)  He will be playing with his favorite duck in the bath, and suddenly get a smile on his face and turn up to Matt, handing him the duck to take a turn playing.  Or when he has a toy or pacifier, he will hold it up to my mouth to see if I want to take a bite too (of course I do!)  Matt's mom, who watches Ryan regularly while I'm at work, taught him to hand things over by asking "Can Grandmom have a turn?" then passing items back and forth between the two of them.  He even tries to share with the dog.  Such a sweet boy - I hope this sharing thing continues.

He also began to choose between things, so we are trying to give him options wherever possible to practice the art of decision making.  When we sit down to read a book, I will hold two up and tell him the titles, then ask him which one he wants to go with.  He looks at one, looks at the other, and then thoughtfully chooses the one he wants and reaches out for it with a smile.  Matt and I are terrible decision makers, so hoping to have someone in the family who can boldly state their preferences.

Lastly, we decided to be bold this month and go on our first family vacation.  We decided on San Francisco since it was a relatively quick plane ride and Matt and I had never been.  That will be the topic of it's own post, but Ryan had a great time and was quite the little traveler.