10 Months!!!

We have a walking baby! Ryker started taking steps last month and has taken 13 steps in a row now. It is adorable, sometimes he hesitates, squats, and takes a step. He has improved his eating as well. He loves chicken nuggets, any ice cream/sweets, carrots, applesauce and bananas. He has learned to fake laugh and knows we think it is adorable so he will do it to make us laugh. He cried when I dropped him off at daycare for the first time today. Usually he doesn't want to leave! A few weeks ago he made a new friend at church, an 8 month old baby, and gave him kisses on the head. He is in between 12-18 month clothes right now. He loves to play chase and dance and clap his hands. He thinks it is funny when we play incy wincy spider and I try to play patty cake but he just giggles. He loves it when Jeremy tickles him and gets a silly contagious laugh when he is tired. He has become fond of jumbo Legos and also playing with his socks. He says mamamama a lot, which I love. He loves phones!!!  My mom had to take the batteries out of one of their cordless phones and send it home with him because he wanted it so badly.  He can be entertained for hours with phones.  We have bought him two play ones but he prefers the real thing.  He also saw my digital camera on the ground and altough he doesn't know what it is, he knows it is important so he likes to play with that and my iphone stacking them on top of each other and carrying them around.  Here are a couple pics:

9 Months Old

At Ryker's nine month appointment, he had actually lost a lb. Our Dr. Isn't too worried about it, he has become a lot more active recently and hasn't been wanting to eat as much as he used to, hopefully he will have a growth spurt soon. Ryker is standing on his own and has attempted to take a couple steps on his own. He is getting both of his lower anterior incisors and loves to say Ya ya ya because he can feel them with his tongue when he does. He can clap his hands together and makes a lot of cute sounds including a very excited playful scream. He loves being tickled and snuggled and kissed. He hates getting his diaper changed and wiggles around nonstop.

Christmas 2012

Christmas this year was so much fun. Ryker was pretty good at opening his presents, it was so enjoyable to spend the holiday with our family and friends. Ryker was pretty spoiled this year, he got many great gifts. One of his favorites is his lightening McQueen ride along car. He likes to walk with it more than ride it though. He also got a Nabi 2 tablet that Jeremy and I enjoy more than he does so far. He got some really fun toys from Grandma and Grandpa Zimmerman and also from Grandma and Grandpa Ault. For Christmas Eve we were able to go to Jeremy's parents for their annual holiday dinner and it was great food and company. Christmas day we went to my parents for brunch and my Grandma and Grandpa Ebell were able to come as well. I love that we are able to visit family and live close enough to do so. I am so grateful that we are able to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and I hope that we will always be able to share the importance of the season with Ryker and any other children we may have.

Eastern Carribean cruise

The last month has been so busy. We took Ryker on a cruise with my family, minus Taylor who had to work. We had to take three flights and sit at the airport for a long time, but Ryker was a trooper. We went to Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, and Nassau the Bahamas. We swam in the ocean and Ryker was so relaxed he fell asleep in my arms floating. It was precious. He got to try all sorts of foods
and he especially liked pizza and creambrûlée and ice cream. We went to the Atlantis resort which had always been a dream of mine and Jeremy's. It was amazing and we didn't get to see all of it, or go on all the watersides. One of the funnest ones was on a tube and you go through a giant shark tank. Ryker also went down a small slide on my lap and didn't quite know what to think of it. We brought a small umbrella stroller to take with us everywhere and Ry loved to be held and push it himself. He also loved riding on suitcases and dancing to Pitbulls Bon Bon song. He was pretty go go go most of the trip. He loved getting attention from everyone especially our dinner staff who loved babies. We had such a great time with the whole family. I also got to go on a horseback ride through the ocean with my mom and sister. It was a beautiful trip. I am looking forward to hopefully more in the future.

8 Months! Can time please slow down!

Ever since Ryker was born, it seems like he is growing so quickly and achieving one milestone after another.  I wish time would just pause for a moment, so that Jeremy and I can catch up!  He is stubborn and determined, as well as so playful and the light of our lives.  Here are some fun facts about him at this stage.
-He loves his BYU blanket that my dear friend Jenae made him, he has it with him most of the time
-He can stand up on his own pretty well
-He loves straps of any kind, paper, and tags more than any baby toys
-He loves bread
-He loves splashing in the bathtub
-He babbles constantly
-He yells if someone is eating something he wants
-He likes all his friends at daycare and is sometimes sad to leave.
-He gives kisses
-He has the sweetest smile, and cheeser grin
-He has an adorable and infectious laugh
-He likes to be read to
-He would like to feed himself and sometimes refuses to eat when I am feeding him with a spoon
-He makes everything better and more fun
-He loves his Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles

Making a mess with carrots

Eating Pumpkin Pie

Jeremy dressed Ryker in the cutest outfit

My cousin Heaven's baby Spencer and Ryker are such great friends

Standing in his crib after we lowered it

First time standing in his crib

Dressed for church

Our little family at Thanksgiving

Ryker loves snuggling

7 months!!!

Ryker is so much fun! We love having him as a part of our family. He has been trying to crawl for a month now and is getting so good at it! He also climbs to standing and has stood for a few seconds without holding on to anything. He loves going for walks and has gone to his first corn maze! He eats Cheerios and little baby cheese puffs and cereal stars. He smiles and laughs all the time. When he gets tired he gets in a loopy stage where he rolls around, buries his face in the bed, gets up and crawls a little, rolls around some more, it is adorable. He has become a fan of eating while he is sitting in his jumper. He will bounce a little, stop to eat a bite, and then go crazy bouncing. He went trick or treating as bugs bunny, but we didn't actually collect any candy. He loves to pet the cats, especially Fiji who will put up with anything. We are so excited for Ry's first holiday season.

Ryker and Dad

So big!

BYU Blackout game

He LOVES bath time!

Snoozing through the BYU game

Ryker and Mom

Ryker's first corn maze

Ryker and Tanner

Playing in leaves at Aunt Marlo's house, and not loving it

Bugs Bunny for Halloween

Halloween

Nothing gets in his way

6 Months Old

I took Ryker to his six month appointment a few weeks ago and he was measuring in the 50th percentile across the board.  His weight was 17.8 lb, height was 26.5 in, and head was 17.5.  He also had to get his six month shots but he didn't cry as much as he had in the past which made me very happy!  Here are some pictures and fun stats about Ry at this age:

-He has been tailgating and to BYU games
-He sits up by himself
-He eats very well, he loves turkey and sweet potatoes baby food
-He likes to feed himself
-He loves army crawling everywhere
-He loves blankets and snuggling
-He hates to have his face cleaned/ nose wiped
-He loves to smile and laugh
-He loves other kids and babies
-When he is getting sleepy he will talk to himself in the cutest voice til he falls asleep

Mr. Model

Fell asleep and got an imprint on Aunt Alicia's bed

Wearing his BYU jersey signed by Kyle Van Noy and Ryker Mathews

One of his favorite things to play with