solving for x

nigel has been the best dog at not playing
with ryker's toys - unless ryker teases him.
on sunday, ryker was throwing a ball down
the hall, pointing, and saying "GO!" to nigel.
nigel would give us half a glance and then
take off to fetch the ball.

ryker would be fine with this until nigel
would refuse to drop the ball. at which time,
ryker would get mad and yell "No, Doggy, No!"
eventually we would have to get nigel to drop it.

this game went on for a while and we could
tell nigel was getting frustrated with not being
able to chew on the ball. so our (surprisingly) brilliant
puppy decided to solve the problem himself.

the game between ryker and nigel stopped and
we didn't think anything of it until graham noticed
ryker's toys scattered in the backyard.
apparently nigel's solution was to take ryker's
toys to nigel's playground (or at least to where
ryker can't easily access them).

smart puppy!

on an unrelated note, ryker had his 18 month check up
he is doing great and his asthma is under control!
he weighs 32 pounds (94% percentile) and
is 36 inches long (97% percentile).

i heard you can double your kid's height
when he is two years old to get an idea
of how tall he'll be when he is an adult.
if that is true, ryker is well on his way
to being over six feet tall.

last night we were reading ryker's usual bedtime books
(his choice and he rarely deviates from his favorites;
my personal favorite is when we are done with one book,
he'll flip it back to the front and say "more."
oh good, i eagerly anticipate the climatic ending to see
if our hero keeps norman the fish! anyway, i digress...)

ryker surprised us with his new animal sounds.
as i turned to a new page, i asked ryker where the fish was.
he pointed, made a fish face, and opened and closed his mouth.
later, we were reading barney's animal farm book and
ryker pointed to the duck and said "ducky QUACK QUACK!"
what a funny kid! i love seeing him learn new things!

so we'll add these to his current list of animal sounds:
dog = sticking out his tongue and panting (just like nigel)
cow = moo
cat = some kind of high pitch noise
lion, bear, tiger, monster = a very quiet roar
pig = pushes up his nose and blows his nose or shakes his head
bird = open and closes his hand (imitating beak movements)

we are so excited for christmas with this kid and promise to
post tons of pictures (including some of ryker giving santa
high-fives at our family brunch last sunday)
happy holidays everyone!