Hansen Family Blog: Ryder . 2 1/2 Years Old

Ryder is 2 and a half years old. He is wearing size 4T and 5T shirts, 3T and 4T pants, size 9 shoes, and weighs in at about 36 pounds.
Since the last "Ryder update", Ryder has already grown and changed so much. He remains an amazing big brother. We have never had to deal with any issues of jealousy. Ryder is patient (typically) with Harvick and Jarrett, and willing to share his toys with them. He does; however, make the decisions of who gets to play with each toy - the rule is that if he wants a toy that they have taken, he has to give them a different one. Luckily, Harvick and Jarrett are also typically easy-going, and are willing to have a different toy in place of the one they had!

Ryder is doing great in school. He absolutely loves attending! Every morning, since he was just an infant, as I get him ready I tell him what day it is, and what is planned for the day. He caught on quickly to "Tuesday" and "Thursday" being school days, and was very sad over the 2-week Christmas break. By all means, he does still love his babysitter, but school is something that is special, and just for him.

As previously mentioned, Ryder's diagnosis of Apraxia of Speech has been a difficult one. Ryder is receiving weekly Speech Therapy through PCMC, as well as twice monthly therapy through our school district. It's a (very) slow progression, but Ryder has already started responding well to the new therapy techniques. Ryder's understanding of vocabulary is immense, and seems to increase constantly. The road to get Ryder to speak at an "average" ability is a long one, but we are confident that our little guy will do it!

Ryder has no "favorite" food, but is a constant snacker. His go-to snacks are typically granola bars, fruit snacks, or most recently bananas (this could be in part because he is now able to say "banana"). Ryder continues to be a good eater, and an excellent milk drinker! Ryder is currently completely fascinated with cars, trucks, and especially trains. He loves to jump, and play "go" with us - meaning he runs around the house until someone tells him to "stop" - then, he waits for someone to tell him to "go", so that he can run around some more! At stop lights, Ryder is the first to inform us (every. single. time.) that the light has changed from red to "green, go".

And, what would an update post be without way too many pictures?!

Ryder continues to love the bead maze!

Eating two of my favorite foods - Nutella (with apples!) and Mexican Bread!!

Ryder loves reading - we allow him to have two books in bed with him for naps and at night. It helps him to stay calm until he is ready to fall asleep.

Ryder has shown very little interest in most crafts, but recently he has been enjoying coloring more.

Eating a cookie at the Hooper "Halloween Haunt".

Notice all of the trucks in the background!

Ryder played a fishing game at his school's Halloween Family Night - he won a slinky!

Caught eating snacks out of two cups!

Cute boy!

Ryder loves to help Patrick and I in the kitchen - in this picture we were making mini pumpkin chocolate chip muffins to take to school for his Thanksgiving lunch.

Silly boy!

Ryder (typically) loves getting ready to go to the babysitters or school - he can put his shoes on by himself, but he rarely turns down an offer of help.

Bathtime!

Playing with Patrick:
LEFT: Jumping on the puzzle mat the boys got for Christmas
MIDDLE: I love this picture! Patrick put Ryder up on his shoulders - Ryder is still a bit nervous with balancing like this, so he grabbed at Patrick to balance!
RIGHT: Patrick was hanging a new shelf in the hall, and Ryder ran to grab his Handy Manny tools to "help"!

Yes, the picture is blurry - but, it shoes how Ryder carries his cars around. He really utilizes his hands, arms, and chin! I picked up a small bag at Target for him to use, but he still loves this method!