the first word

ryker is doing the funniest thing!
he squints his eyes and chuckles
to get people's attention.
it works! the kid is adorable.








ryks has also been starting to eat
more solid foods and loves the gerber cheetos


the other awesome things ryks is now doing
include high-fives, waving good bye,
and shaking his head when he hears music

but the best thing ryker does is says "mama!"
the first time he clearly said it was when
he was jumping in his bouncy chair.
he stopped, looked at me, and said "mama"
then started bouncing again.
a few days later he was standing in the crib
at my parents house and said "mama" while trying
to reach for me to take him out of the crib.
so i'm calling it - his first word was "mama!"

all of that plus fun with
hannah and the robinsons,
the living planet aquarium,
easter,
cousins, and
family parties,
it has been a great couple weeks!

oregon part two

last weekend we went to grandma and grandpa's house in oregon.
ryker did great on the plane rides. he flirted with the ladies
and played peek-a-boo with everyone sitting around us.

we had the best weather in oregon and really enjoyed our stay.
it is so beautiful up there! we came back very relaxed.

when we were in san diego last year, i enjoyed feeling
ryker kick whenever i was in the ocean.
so it didn't surprise us that ryks LOVED when we went to the beach.
he smiled the whole time and couldn't take his eyes off the ocean.

we had a great trip and are looking forward to
grandma and grandpa coming here this summer!!

































p.s. dear family - i promise to update this blog more frequently!

happy birthday graham!

"happy birthday" from two little kids....
who wanted to decorate a cake for you,


who love to laugh when they are together,








and who love you very much!

Catching Up

I try hard not to compare Ryker to other kids but I usually fail two or three times a day. It’s just that Ryker is a super cute, handsome, and happy baby with the best smile and whose teachers love him more than the other kids at school (see, I can’t help it). Comparing Ryks to other kids only became a problem when I started to worry that Ryker wasn’t crawling yet. After all, his cousins and friends started crawling around six months only to start walking between seven and nine months. Ryks is almost eight months and hates tummy time, won’t roll over, and doesn’t want to crawl. So we spent time this last weekend trying to get Ryker to crawl. Predictably, this was a failure. However, after looking at the milestone chart in the baby-first-year book, I learned that not only should parents not compare their kids to others (nothing like learning a lesson over and over again), but Ryks is doing great. He can stand holding on to someone, throws a fit if you take something away from him, plays peekaboo, claps his hands (thanks Grandma Robertson!), passes toys from one hand to another, responds to people talking to him, and says “mama” and “dada” indiscriminately. And he now has four teeth!

I love how these little things amount to so much when we think about how much he is growing! Speaking of which, Ryks is now 25 pounds and wearing 18 month pants. You’ll notice the awesome rolls on his legs in the pictures below. I love chubby babies!

And thanks to Aunt Shelley and Uncle Dave for Ryker’s Vancouver 2010 shirt! He wore it to a party on Friday night for the opening ceremonies and everyone loved it! He looked adorable!

Graham and I are doing great. Graham is back in school working on his other degree. I think managing such an aggressive school schedule, working full time, spending time with Ryks, and then having to deal with me makes Graham the husband and father of the year. I am so impressed with everything he does. Graham was even a superstar when I had to go out of town for work. I hated being away from my family but Graham and Ryker sent me videos and photos every day making the first time I was away from Ryks manageable.

Nigel and Kylie are still doing great. Like us, they are excited for the crappy weather to move out so we can play outside more often. Meanwhile, they continue to be sneaky in their attempts to sleep on beds and couches while we are at work. I guess they will always be puppies.

Next month we head to Oregon to visit Grandma and Grandpa Weddick. I’m already getting excited at the thought of Ryker getting to spend time with them (and the thought of Graham not having school for an entire week).

Enjoy these pictures – next time we’ll include more of the dogs, Gray, and me.

tempered laugh

apparently ryker doesn’t like it when you take his toy away.

he does, however, like having a diaper waved in his face.
(click the play button below to watch this video. you'll love his laugh!)

bursting at the seams

thanks kylie and nigel.
because you are both two years old now
we thought you were past the puppy-destruction stage.


looking good ryks! (and yes, those pants are size 12 months)