a bit of bragging

to us, ryder is a 'normal,' happy little boy who loves life and loves to learn. we really don't know any different... he's our first. but many a people (including his pediatrician) have told us how brilliant he is for his age. at 17 months of age, ryder can say well over eighty words, he can sign roughly thirty signs, and he picks up things very quickly.... (which is good and bad, seeing as he copies everything we do.)

i think he takes after his father in his brilliance. he even organizes things just as his father did as a child. todd used to refold all of his laundry (at age three) and organize it in a particular way in his drawers. just to make sure he didn't grow up to be too controlling, todd's mother would come in and mess up all of the clothes when he wasn't looking. :) ryder isn't to that stage quite yet, but he does organize anything of sets - the nativity pieces, cars, dinosaurs, etc. and he's not the most efficient at it, i might add. he'll carry one piece at a time from room to room until he gets them just where he wants them. funny kid.

ryder just recently said his first sentence - 'that's scary.' and he's putting two words together more and more....... he has even mastered his own version of octopus - 'opotos.'

ryder's latest achievement is counting. just before Christmas he could count to two - as in, point at different objects and actually count them. and now he can count up to six. today we attended three of todd's high school alumni basketball games, and the gym had exactly six basketball hoops. ryder kept saying 'hoops' and counting them over and over. we hear this isn't normal for a 17 mo old, but he's just our boy and we're proud regardless. we LOVE being parents. nothing brings a greater smile than your little boy wrapping his arms around your neck and kissing both of your cheeks while giggling. we love him.

for those of you who are skeptical, here's ryder exhibiting his new talent...

p.s. oh.... and ryder also makes a mean surprise face. :0