11 Months!

Ryan is now 11 months old! I didn’t do an update for 10 months but he is changing soo fast. He is so so busy playing and crawling. He won’t sit still for more than 10 seconds and then he is off again.

These are some of the things he has been doing/is learning to do

Crawling everywhere. He would much rather be on the ground than be held right now.

Cruising. He is pulling up and walking around all the furniture

Walking – we have seen a few first steps – about 1 ½ before he falls but he is getting brave and is trying it more often. His favorite thing to do is walk behind his stroller and push it himself when we are at the store or on a walk.

Talking all the time. Sometimes I wonder if he is telling himself jokes because he will be talking and then just start laughing at himself. This also includes screeching. When he’s happy or having fun he just screams at the top of his lungs just for fun – this is not necessarily a skill we want to encourage – as there are times and places when it’s not appropriate but we are trying to teach him when he needs to be quieter.

Becoming more consistent in naptime length as well as bedtime. He consistently sleeps from 7-6:30 – which I thought would never happen.

In the last month or so I feel like he has changed from a baby to a little boy. He is showing more emotions and interests and likes and dislikes. We are so enjoying watching him grow. He loves to play and laugh and he is learning so many new things about the world!

Two Weeks of Adventure

It has been a BUSY start to our summer! When I started this blog, I had hopes of writing more often. But with a very busy 11 month old, the woes of the first trimester of pregnancy and various other things, it has fallen behind J 

This post is very text heavy – I am horrible at taking pictures so I will add the few I have J

Awhile back, we decided we needed a vacation! We decided on St. Louis as our destination because it was close to my home so that we could leave Ryan with family and have some time for just the two of us – but we were also close enough that if he had a hard time without us we could come back.

We started out by driving to Kansas City and spending a day there. Then we (Josh, Ryan and I and my mom and sister) drove to Columbia. We stopped at Shakespeare’s Pizza for lunch. This is one of the places we definitely recommend to eat in Columbia – some of the best pizza we’ve ever had J While we were there, Josh’s sister Heather and her boyfriend Ryan met us for lunch and a walk around Mizzou’s campus. It was so fun to see all the places we used to pass by everyday and all the new changes even since I was there – just 2 short years ago.

Ready for some pizza!

Becoming familiar with his future school 

Learning about what grass feels like from Nanny Heather - this trip was his first real experience with grass since we don't have much here!

We had to take a picture on the Columns 

"This sun is so bright!!"
While he was crawling on the grass he rolled down a small hill and I think the sun was so bright he couldn't roll over to get up so he just laid there

Later Saturday, we drove to O’fallon (this was a busy day! But we had so many things we wanted to do in such a short amount of time). Josh went to high school here and some of his best friends are still there so they spend the evening having a guys night and catching up while my mom, Steph and I hung out in the hotel and watched movies in the dark on the laptop so Ryan would stay asleep – traveling with a small child is a very new experience!

Sunday we went to the St. Louis Zoo – which is free! However it was very hot and very crowded so we didn’t stay long. We ended up back at the hotel for an afternoon nap and dinner with a longtime family friend.

Monday, my mom and Steph took Ryan back to KC with them and Josh and I headed to St. Louis for a few days on our own. We spent the afternoon/evening in Old St. Charles, Mo shopping and eating at some of the little café’s they had.

Tuesday, Josh and I went to the City Museum in St. Louis and also visited the St. Louis Arch. We both really enjoy history and learning about new things. Tuesday night we stayed at a wonderful Bed and Breakfast in St. Louis the Fleur de Lys. I would recommend it to anyone staying in St. Louis. It was the perfect relaxing end to our mini vacation as we headed home Wednesday.

At the top of the Arch

At the top of the Arch

View from the Top

Another View from the top

Josh, Ryan and I drove back to the Springs on Friday and my mom and Steph then joined us on Saturday for a vacation extension! We spend the next week going shopping and going to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo – post on that later. Ryan and I drove back to KC with them on Thursday so I could attend a ceremony for Steph’s school – she has one year left! And we flew home Saturday night – after a 2 hour flight delay.

When I look back it’s almost exhausting just to read about all we did and I left out quite a bit – otherwise this post would be more like a novel! but we had a great time with family and friends and we wish we could go back more often!