Ryan at 15 months

What a fun age Ryan is at now! Although he's keeping us on our toes with his curiosity and new-found ability to explore, we're just loving him and all our adventures with him. Here's an update of what's he been doing lately:

• He's walking! After months of the infamous "bum scoot" and very little crawling, Ryan decided to start using his legs and walking around. Once he got brave enough to try a few steps, it only took a couple of weeks for him to be everywhere. His favorite thing to do now is just to run around and explore. He doesn't need many toys or entertainment; as long as he can wander around, he's happy. In fact, he burns so much energy running around that the first week of walking he was waking up in the middle of the night to eat. Luckily for mom, he's figured out how to compensate for those extra calories during the day now.

• Hats....need I say more? Along with the wandering around the house, he likes to find Dad's hats to wear while he wanders. Can't even begin to tell you how many times a day I pick up hats - perhaps I should start shutting the closet door?

• Ryan's our "social butterfly." He LOVES people, especially other kids. If kids are around, Ryan somehow become years older...he thinks he's one of the big kids and joins in the fun! As long as someone's around him, he's happy. One of his favorite things to do is ride around the grocery store and say "Hi!" to every person we pass. Trips to the store are now taking much longer since everyone he says hi to has to stop and chat.

• Ryan's vocabulary is slowly expanding. He now says "mamma, dadda, bah-bah (bottle), ball, more, hi, and hello." We only get to hear him say "hello" when he sees a phone - then he holds his hand to his ear and says "hewwo!" just like someone's there.

• Ryan has turned into a daddy's boy...don't get me wrong, he still loves mamma, but he cries and bangs on the door when dad leaves in the morning, and waits for him to get home in the afternoon. When he gets really upset or tired, he wants to cuddle with his Dad. Too cute :)

• He's still a pretty good eater....he'll try most anything, but his favorite is fruit. He also loves cheese, yogurt, pasta and anything sweet.

• Ryan's down to 1 nap a day. I think he could actually benefit from a short morning nap and an afternoon nap, but with my work schedule, we've cut him down to one. That seems to help him get to bed earlier as well.

• Ryan loves to give hugs, kisses (full on open-mouth kisses!) and fives. He waves "bye" anytime he hears the word, but his hand is usually facing himself.

• He now has 10 teeth: 4 top front, 2 bottom front, and 4 molars (one on each side, top & bottom). He's been a great teether - fussy and feverish the day a tooth breaks through, but that's it!

• Ryan loves music and loves to dance - he's got natural rhythm and jive...don't know where that came from!

• Bathtime is a must - he's probably not messy enough to need a bath every night, but he takes one anyway, just cuz he thinks it's so fun. Splashing mom and dad is a favorite :)

• At his 15 month check-up, Ryan weighed 18 pounds, 1 ounce, was 30 inches long, and his head was 18 inches around. He's still a little guy, but he's growing and he's definitely getting longer.