Ryan -- 23 Months

Dear Ryan, 

Wow, just ONE month before you turn TWO. You are growing before our eyes and showing more and more of your personality. 

One day you put soggy cornflakes in your ear, just to see what would happen.

You have the funniest hair sometimes. Every once in a while I take some scissors and clean up your hair a little, best I can. Especially because it gets so tangled in the back, no matter what I do.

I love this artwork you made while at OMSI with your nanny, Abby.

This month you showed some fabulous development on the balance bike. It's really neat to see you gliding along on it when we're at Black Butte. When we're home in Portland, you practice pedaling on your tricycle while Daddy or Mommy pushes you around in the back yard, one of your favorite things to do outside.
Also this month showed the full emergence of your canine teeth, the last of your first year teeth to come through. I'm so glad you now have a full set of teeth! Makes eating a bit easier. Speaking of which, you like to eat all sorts of things. While you've always been somewhat of a picky eater, the variety that you're willing to eat is great right now, although you are partial to fruit, as you always have been.
Another thing you love is band-aids. Oh, how you LOVE band-aids, especially the box of Sesame Street character band-aids that we got. You want a new one on your finger or other body part every day, even though there is no owie. It makes me laugh to randomly find discarded Sesame Street band-aids around the house.
But the coolest new development this month is seeing you self-identify. All of a sudden you've been able to express "me," "Ryan," "mine" while pointing to yourself.
Sweet Ryan, while your increasing need for independence hasn't been easy for any of us, we're cheering you on and loving you and so glad that you're growing the way you should. Your happy moods most of the time make you fun to be around (you save your bad moods for bedtime), and your smile lights up our days.