Almost Caught Up

I am actually almost caught up with my blogging cuz this is the last group of pictures from LA. Now I'm only one! month behind. Ryder is really growing up fast and his vocabulary is expanding by the minute. Even though he sounds like a broken record sometimes, it's fascinating to hear him put words together into a sentence. Most of the time they are only about 3 words long but it never ceases to astonish me. Like today, I was at the cash register paying for some household items and he came up to me with a toy and said "daddy buy car". I was so pleased that I ALMOST bought the car. Then I remembered the 47,000 cars at home and I had to trick my son by saying we would buy it tomorrow. His imagination is also growing and he plays wonderfully by himself now and he's always murmuring words like he's telling a story while playing. Jax and I are just ecstatic that Ryder has grown up to be such a happy little boy and we love him so much. His enthusiasm and smile has always had such a profound effect on those around him. You can't help but be happy around the little smurf. Tell me you're now smiling right now!?! Here he is with his best jack-in-a-box imitation.Now it's Ryder-in-a-box!Jackie was also able to visit one of her best friends Daphne who just had twins a couple of months ago. Raising one child is difficult but having twins is a whole 'nother story. Just imagine doing double the work with half the amount of sleep. It could make you go nuts as a parent. But auntie Daphne and uncle Paul are doing great and we are thrilled that they have a healthy boy and girl. We are jealous that they have one of each but I'm not jealous about the double diaper duty. As you can see, Ryder is not a jealous toddler, as long as you put him in the center of the picture.
Ryder's memory is also improving because his cousins were in town a couple of weeks ago and he remembers who they are. He has so much fun with Russell and Austin that he's always asking where they are cuz he wants to play with them. Austin takes really great care of Ryder too because I think it gives him an opportunity to finally be the BIG brother. He loved LA so much that he didn't want to leave. He made a big fuss at the airport cuz Grandpa and Grandma Sophie were leaving. We don't plan on being back in LA for a while since we have hopefully! the Beijing Olympics in August, auntie Carolyn's wedding in Spain in mid-September, and Xmas with my family this year is tentatively set for somewhere in Asia. In all likelihood we won't be back in the States till 2009. Here he is flying with my now favorite "babysitter" gadget, the portable DVD player and his new frog headphones that his grand-auntie Linda bought him.
Last bit of great news: I found my video camera!!! Which means I have the memory card with the infamous walk/run/fall down the wedding aisle. I will download it as soon as possible which means sometime in the next month. But stay tuned for its world premiere!!!!