Ryder . 3 Years Old

These quarterly posts take a long time for me to put together.  I have to sort through the past 3 months of pictures, find ones to share that haven't been used already, and that also represent what has happened in the past 3 months!  So...I'm a little late with this one.  Oops!

As you know, Ryder turned 3 years old recently.  Of course, I can't remember his weight/height measurements at the moment, but I do know he was in the 98th percentile for weight, and the 100th percentile for height!  He is a big boy, for sure.  Ryder is often mistaken for at least a 4 or 5 year old.  He is frequently asked where he goes to school (meaning Elementary, not preschool!).  When the person finds out he is only 3, they are most often quite surprised.

Ryder continues to be a great big brother.  Patrick and I have noticed that Ryder tends to react more positively to his brothers when he is one-on-one with them.  When both try to play with him together, it seems to overwhelm him...and, really, you can't blame him for that...when Harvick and Jarrett want my attention at the same time, it overwhelms me too!

Ryder has adapted to his new "school" (Wednesdays only - daycare) well.  He enjoys attending, and especially love that the school has trains for him to play with when they have "free play".  He took a bit longer to adjust to this school than he did his previous - we think it is a combination between going only once per week, and having left a school so recently with a very different daily routine.  He is now enjoying it, and we receiving regular good reports about him!

I am asked, often, if Ryder's Apraxia of Speech has "gone away" yet.  The answer is no.  And, it is hard to know if it ever will.  There are frequently reported long-term effects for people who suffered with Apraxia.  HOWEVER, Ryder has made tremendous progress.  His verbal expression is still quite limited, but he is engaging in more initiation of speech (rather than waiting to be asked a question), and also has started providing longer answers (combining multiple words to attempt sentences).  My most recent favorite words came the other night - Ryder went walking with me before bed, and as we walked we heard fireworks all around.  I called Patrick when we were nearly home to see if we might have any leftover fireworks from years past...and, thankfully we did!  When Patrick lit off the first firework, Ryder exclaimed "hoe-wee how!!!" (holy cow!).  It took us a few attempts of Ryder repeating the words for us to figure it out, but it made us laugh when we figured it out...turns out we must say that a lot?!

Ryder's current favorite foods are breakfast foods - pancakes/toast/waffles/muffins, eggs, yogurt, and fruit.  He remains a good eater...but, has his days.  He is gaining more independence on what he eats, and exercises his opinion often!  He enjoys almost any snack (minus pretzels), and loves to drink milk (especially with a dash of chocolate milk!), juice (1/2 water, 1/2 juice), and water.

Ryder's 3rd birthday party invitation.

This boy loves to be in boxes...or storage containers...or laundry baskets...

Ryder helped me make cookies (adding chocolate chips on top of pre-packaged dough) as a special movie night treat with his brothers!

Ryder LOVES to be outside!
Ryder came with me to the dollar store to pick up something, and saw the bat - he was intrigued by it, so we picked up one - he is getting good at hitting it, but has a tendency to face forward when he needs to swing!
In an effort to help Ryder not fear the lawn mower, he would sit outside with Patrick (with juice and a snack), while Patrick mowed.  Getting his own mower has also helped!
More outside playing!
The merry-go-round with Patrick and Papa!

Ryder enjoys picking out his own clothes...and the way he will wear his hat when we go walking!

Cute baby boy!

Ryder loves his trains!  He is frequently found on the floor playing with them...or building lego ones when his trains aren't available!

Fun with slides!

Cute boy.

Bath time!

Playing (and feeding) with his brothers!

Ryder loves to read!

Just before Harvick and Jarrett could transition to their forward facing carseats, Patrick put Ryder in the old carseats to just see how big he has gotten.  He was so cute!

For the first year or Ryder's life I photographed him in this chair, with this dog (he would wear a white onesie).  On one of the last weeks we did the same for Harvick and Jarrett, Ryder got in the chair to get his picture taken!