ONE

It is July 2...Ryder turned one yesterday!  I am so amazed at how fast this year has gone by and how slowly it has moved.  On one hand, I just can't believe that my little baby is a one year old!  He is doing so much and growing so fast.  On the other hand, it feels like it's been ages since I was pregnant!  I feel like it was forever ago that I was on maternity leave.  I am so thankful for the past year I have had with Ryder.  I'm thankful that I am a teacher so that I have more time off to spend with him. I'm so thankful for all the memories we have made already.  I am thankful for all the ways he makes me laugh by just being himself.  I am so thankful that Ryder is such a good baby- he has slept through the night for a long time, he's good natured, very well behaved when we go places, and just all around awesome.  My thankfulness is overflowing for this kid!
At a year old, Ryder is wearing size 4 diapers, size 4/5 shoe, and size 12/18 month clothing.  Mostly 12 months on the shorts and 18 months on the shirts.  We go to the doctor July 6, so I am anxious to see how tall he is and how much he weighs.  I can tell already that he is going to be so long and so lean...probably super skinny just like his daddy was growing up.  I think it's safe to say that we are officially off of bottles AND pacis!  It has been days since he has had either!  I was worried about the transition from bottles to sippy cups, because I had been trying to give him a sippy cup since he was 6 months old and he wanted nothing to do with it.  Finally I took some people's advice and went almost cold turkey.  He would just get one bottle at night before bed.  This seemed to work!  Ryder LOVES "beating" or "hammering" anything!!  If you give him any sort of stick or long-ish round thing, he will hit it on things.  We often have to take things away from him because he won't stop hitting other things with it.  He also loves his stuffed animals.  He hugs them and kisses them all the time.  He loves playing the "uh oh" game, which we do not love so much.  This consists of Ryder throwing something on the ground, saying "uh oh", us picking it up and giving it back to him, only for him to repeat the cycle.  We are working on this one!  He really likes to do it at restaurants....he thinks it's a pretty fun game!  He is walking pretty well now...still looks a little wobbly from time to time, but he's really getting the hang of it.  He loves eating finger foods!  I've made him sweet potato pancakes lately, and he loves them!  He would much rather eat finger foods than baby foods.  When he eats finger foods, though, he will just graze for the longest time.  Sometimes over an hour.  He just loves to take his time and enjoy each bite.  If you hand him a comb or brush, he knows what to do with it.  Same thing with a phone....he's ready to talk!
Ryder had his first hair cut on June 25, and I was pretty nervous about how he would do.  He actually did really well!  He did not cry or even whimper.  He just sat in his seat and looked around very curiously.  The hair cut place was nice, and we were amazed at how fast the lady cut his hair.  I think she may have been a little too fast, because we ended up having to go back and get it fixed because it was crooked in the back!
Today we had his birthday party.  We invited close friends and family, and it was a great party!  We cooked hamburgers and hot dogs, had chips, dips and drinks.  Ryder had the cutest cake from a place called Cross Your Heart Cupcakes.  We were very happy with it!  Ryder was very interested in the presents from the start, because he was intrigued by the bows.  As we began opening, he seemed to love the cards more than the presents.  He got so many great things!  We are so blessed to have such great friends and family.  Ryder was spoiled rotten today!  And he did great with his smash cake! I was afraid he would not show interest in it, because we had family pictures taken yesterday, and we were supposed to also do a smashcake photo shoot.  Ryder could not have cared less about that cake.  He did not want it at all!  But today, he loved the cake.  I think he had a lot of fun on his first birthday.  I wish we could throw him a party every day to make him feel extra special, because I love him so very much.
There are times when I'm tired, and I wonder what I ever did before Ryder got here.  My life is so consumed with him now, it's hard to remember how I spent all of my time!  But I don't need to remember, because I have loved every second of this past year spent with Ryder.  He is the greatest thing, the love of my life, my pride and joy, my soul, my heart, my happiness. 

Happy Happy Birthday, Ryder!  I love you soooo much!