Naughty Ryder

Ryder has always been a very well behaved little boy – he sleeps through the night, signs ‘please’ anytime he wants something, gives his mommy kisses voluntarily, and giggles all day long. However, I’m afraid he’s starting down a path of mischief. His latest escapades include:

1. Not too long ago, as I was busy in the kitchen doing something or other (probably sneaking a bite of ice cream), I heard ryder making some noise in the direction of the bathroom. I didn’t worry too much, as there are latches on the cabinets and there’s nothing too harmful in little arm's reach. Or so I thought. I then heard a loud slam, and I wish I had caught a photo… Ryder was standing at the toilet with the tv remote in hand anxiously trying to squeeze it under the lid. Who taught him how to open that thing up?!?

2. So, as most of you know, I am an ‘independent PR consultant’ (what that means exactly, who really knows?) and do some work from home for the PR firm I worked for prior to Ryder’s arrival. The company has summer parties each year in its based cities, and they were kind enough to invite us to the SF bash – dinner at MoMo’s (awesome!) and a giants game at AT&T Park (go Giants!). Unfortunately, Todd had something come up at the last minute, which left me and Ryder to join the group alone. Wow… dinner at a fancy restaurant and a giants game with only me to watch a 13 mo little guy while trying to hold up a reputation and further good impressions. Ryder could sense the pressure, so in an effort to help, he displayed his newest talent for everyone to see…

blowing bubbles in his drink as loud and as much as he could… followed by some great vocals every time I would try to take his glass away. Everyone just giggled at him… and although I can think of a billion other venues to pull out this new act, I honestly didn’t even care.

3. We’ve had a couple of fairly warm days here… warm for San Francisco, that is. So one afternoon I pulled out the little pool and set it up in the family room in anticipation of a fun afternoon in the sunny courtyard. Ryder LOVED it, and would just sit in the middle of the empty pool kicking his legs with his little duck. I left him there to entertain himself while I quickly got myself ready for the day (a task that seems to happen less and less these days). A minute later I heard quite a bit of squawking, and around the corner came this…

Over his head is the case to the little pool… he got it perfectly over his head but couldn’t figure out how to get himself out!! Poor little guy.

4. And the final story… Ryder has a good friend, Bella, who he absolutely adores. He doesn’t have very many friends his exact age, but several about five months younger… perfect, in his eyes, for stealing toys from and sitting on. They’ve taken a few adventures together as of late, including morning runs in their joggers and adventures to Golden Gate Park.

One day they had a playdate, along with their moms, to a couple of children consignment stores here in the city. I had no chance of keeping Ryder contained in a stroller, so I let him down to play a bit while looking through some clothing. And being the nice boy that he is, he wants to share everything he discovers with his good friend. So when he found a fun new treat on the floor, he tried to shove it in Bella’s mouth. Her mom patiently pushed his hand away, seeing as she didn’t know exactly what it was and her little gal doesn’t quite eat everything ryder does yet. And then she looked down to find this in Ryder's hand…

Luckily Jen just started laughing… but I gave Ryder a nice talk about the word of wisdom on the way home. :)

And there you have it… Ryder’s latest mischievous exploits. More to come, I’m sure.