So Zoe is at the dinner table, playing with her stickers while Corey and I finish dinner. She's doing her usual yacking and singing while playing. I looked at her and just really saw my girl in all her wonderfulness, with her creamy skin glowing in the light and her curls and her total immersion in her sticker project, singing Dora and Backyardigan songs. I said, "Zoe, can I give you a big hug because I love you?". Miss Smarty Pants goes, "no.", then without missing a beat, says, "Okay, just one. Okay, maybe two." I give her the first big squeeze of a bear hug and she says "or maybe three" while smiling. So we hugged three times and we loved it.

Ryders 10 month Picture!
technically, Dec. 25th (Christmas 2009), but close enough... We've been busy.


Ryders 9 month Picture!
and incidentally, Thanksgiving 2009 which we spent at Uncle Ray & Aunt Leahs House.

Ryder can walk!!!
You began walking about 2 weeks ago, but it was only baby steps, and few of them at a time. Well, those baby steps have developed into full on walking. For the most part, you can walk as far as you want to with an occassional fall to your butt.

Unfortunately, it's hard to pinponit the exact day because it was a gradual process. Whereas with Zoe, she just put it all together in one day and began to tear it up.

So, Ryder, you officially started walking at 9 months old. In case you are wondering, Zoe began walking at 11 or 12 months old. It's documented in this blog somewhere. NOT that its a competition or anything...

Dad... not so much.
So... This weekend, mom and Zoe are at Zoes Ballet class. You (Ryder) and I are home doing "man stuff". I decide to let Lucky out to use the bathroom. Because it's cold outside, I stand in the mud room with you in my arms. As I'm watching Lucky, he begins to use the bathroom in our main yard (we don't let him go there). So I yell at him and simultaneously step down to the next step.
Well, I miss the step altogether and completely loose control. I fell forward down the next 2 steps (3 steps in all); somehow I managed to partially twist my body so that my side made impact with the ground 1st, allthewhile keeping you safely cradled in my arms. As I made impact with the ground, I took out 4 or the "Candy Cane" Christmas lights we put up rolled over once and then stopped.

I immediately got to my knees and looked you over having no idea what to expect. It all happened so quickly! Did I land on one of your arms and break it? Did your face or head make contact with the ground? Did my body weight crush you??? All of these things raced through my head. As I looked you over, amazingly I could see no visible signs of damage. You cried for about 15 seconds because the fall scared you (probably not as much as it did me) and then you were fine.

I could not believe it and was sooooo relieved that you were OK. Sorry about that son. Dad will be more careful from now on.

A few bits of info on Ryder:

• You have begun blowing "raspberries". They generate a ton of drool.
  
• You have begun to play in Zoes playroom. Your favorite activity is opening and closing the doors to her kitchen play set ovens.
  
• In addition to the fact that you can walk, you've also begun to crawl. You are officially mobile. Much to moms chagrin.
  
• Mom took you to the doctor for your 9 month checkup last week. You were 20.3 pounds and 27 inches tall.
  
• This morning, you and Zoe got in your first fight! Mom left you and Zoe in the playroom for a moment. She heard a thump and then you crying. She investigated and Zoe confessed to pushing you down. She got sent to her room for a while.
  
• Zoe and Ryder saw their 1st snow a few weekends ago. We got a few inches and went out and played in it. Here are Zoe and Mom having a snowball fight:
  

Ryder: You have learned to stand up in your crib!


Current Events:

• Tiger Woods was caught cheating on his wife
  
• Obama has decided to send 30k more troops to Afghanistan.

UPDATES:
Zoe, over the weekend you and I put up Christmas lights this past Sunday morning. We had a great time doing it and you were a big help. However there was one point where I was working on a particularly difficult strand of lights (they only worked if you shook them for a moment and then gently set them down). Anyway, I'm getting frustrated with the lights and you are talking and touching the lights, so in my frustration I blurt out "ZOE! DON'T. TOUCH. ANYTHING!!!"
Shortly after that, realizing that I am probably ruining the moment, I look at you and say "Having fun yet?" to which you replied "yes daddy". The incident reminded me of a scene from the classis Christmas movie "A Christmas Story".

Zoe, Grandma took you and mom to see the Nutcracker at the Kennedy Center. You had an "amazing" time. I was worried that you'd lose interest after 10 minutes, but you were enthralled throughout the show! You have been talking about it since you went. In fact, when you got home you showed us some of the ballet moves you picked up while watching the performance!

In previous posts I stated that Ryder was beginning to take steps. You continue to take steps and you're getting better by the day. A new development now emerging (since this morning) is that you have found a new method of transport, crawling.

Some updates on Ryder:

• You can now easily prop himself up into a sitting postion
  
• You can site up all by yourself
  
• You are currently waking up twice a night. Once at around 11:30 and once around 3:30 (that is the painful one). Mommy gets up to feed you and then you go back to sleep (most of the time)
  
• Your 2 top, front teeth are now coming in. Your mouth is like a fountain of slobber as a result
  
• You LOVE to walk! Mommy and I set a few feet apart from eachother and you walk back and forth between us. For the most part, you take a few steps and then collapse into our arms, but every now and then you'll get on a roll and walk the entire way. It shouldn't be long before you're walking on your own.
  
• You are a bruiser! You've taken a few spills resulting in you bumping your head or face and you are not even phased!
  
• Last night, I was giving you a bath and you reached for my nose. You grabbed on, hooking one of your fingers inside of my nostril and causing my nose to bleed. Thanks.
  
• You almost always greet us with a big smile when either mommy or me enters the room.
  
• You use a pacifier; when we put you to sleep, we give you your pacifier. If you are not ready to sleep you'll screw around in your crib, occassionally tossing your pacifier over the top onto the ground. We then have to come in and get it, as soon as you see us you crack that grin of yours....

We got together with Aunt Leah, Uncle Ray and your cousins Riley and Jaydon. We went to a pumpkin patch.





This is just a cute picture of Zoe and Ryder in their Halloween shirts that Nina got for them; Thanks Nina!!!:
A couple of other picture of the kids:



We went to Sydneys 4th Birthday Party:

Zoe and Jason "Throwin it up!"

Zoe and Sydney fought over this phone which allows the kids to "talk" directly to Chuck E. Cheese himself:


The Birthday Girl:



For Halloween, we went to Uncle Ray and Aunt Leahs house. Zoe had been talking about Halloween for the past 6 months and how she was going to be Dorothy, Mommy was going to be the Good Witch, Ryder would be the cowardly lion and I would be the scarecrow. Kia went out and got all the costumes. We had dinner and then spent a half hour putting on our costumes and getting ready to trick-or-treat. We finally went out; the kids lasted about 20 minutes before melting down. We called it a night.

A few pics:



A few bonus pics of Zoe as Dorothy:




Zoe with Miss Sarah; her Ballet instructor/hero:

Kia and Zoe made Halloween cookies:

Zoe:
This morning, we were in your bedroom getting you dressed and as I was putting your socks on, you said: "My feet are too big", to which I replied: "The only thing that is too big is your mouth", to which you replied: "The only thing too big is your head".
After that, you and momma gave eachother a high five.

We got you the movie "Up" yesterday. You refer to it as "Up and Down".

Ryder:
Yesterday, as Mom and I were video taping you attempting to walk, you surprised us with a new milestone... you sat yourself up for the 1st time!

Also, last night when we put you to bed, you went down "kicking and screaming". Using your newfound ability to sit yourself up, you just kept on sitting up and falling back. Finally, you were able to pull yourself up to a standing position in your crib!!! Seeing this, we had to lower your crib to be sure you didn't pull yourself completely up and over the edge.

Also, you are now able to sign "Milk" when you are hungry for milk. Its very cute.

Ryders 8 Month Picture

A few updates I want to write down before they slip my mind:
Ryder:

• About 1.5 weeks ago Ryders teeth broke through. He has been teething for a long time and finally the 2 bottom fronts broke! Here are Pix:
  
  
• Ryder, you love to stand and balance by yourself. Yeserday mom and I were recording you and you stood for the longest time yet! Way to step up under pressure.
  
• Related to the above, Ryder, you also began trying to take steps yesterday. In fact you took 1 step forward while maintaining your balance... so that counts as your 1st step!

Anecdotes and such:

Last weekend we decided that daddy would take you (Zoe) to a movie. We were going to see the 3-D version of "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs".

So we went to the very first showing of the morning at 11am. We got there early and got our popcorn and reeces-pieces, we got settled into our chairs and prepared for the show. When the previews started, we put our 3-D glasses on and began to watch. The very 1st preview was for an upcoming remake of "A Christmas Carol" (the story about the scrooge being visited by Ghosts of Christmas past. Well... when you saw the ghosts you immediately began crying your eyes out. It took me a minute to realize you were crying because the sound was so loud. When I realized you were crying I scooped you up and we left the theater. I tried to get you to go back into the theater but there was no way you were going back in there!

We wound up going to the 5pm showing that same evening and we had a much better time.

Other stuff:

Zoe can write out the alphabet by herself. We discovered that she did that tonight (09.30.09)
Ryder is beginning to say his B's and M's.
He actually said MaMa yesterday (the 29th of Sept)
Zoe went to the dentist for the 1st time on Sept. 21st:

















Ryder and Momma:


Momma surprised me by bringing you both down to meet me when I got off of my bus from work:

Ryders 7 Month Picture

Some updates:

Zoe, you love to play on the computer. You just sit there and type away. You're very good at it too! We'll type a word and you'll retype the word all by yourself. AND... if you make a mistake, you bit "backspace" to correct the mistake.
For example, we'll type
BIRDSONG
and below it you'll type
BIRDSONG

Last night we broke out some old video of Zoe when you were a baby. Ryder was asleep so me you and mom watched the movies. One of the movies was of the day you were born. We had our "birthing music" playing in the video and it made you cry. You're so emotional... mom says you get that from me.
ALSO, as you were watching the video, you tried talking to mom (the one in the video) and you said to the actual mom (She doesn't hear me!).
ALSO, you kept referring to youself in the video as "Baby Zoe".

For the past 2 weeks, your BFF Sydney has been spending the days with. You are on cloud nine! You both go 100 miles an hour ALL DAY.

On another note, we are looking forward to the arrival of Kias brother and his family. They are moving from Texas to Fort Belvoir, VA... not too far from us! They will be arriving sometime in October.

Ryder is 6 Months old!


You love to play in your excersaucer.

When we put you on your tummy, you can now prop yourself up and pivot and turn in a circle.

You loves to play and interact with Zoe. If she is leaving the room and you want her to stay, you will literally scream at her.

You will also, if within range, always reach out and try to grab a clump of Zoes hair. She is hip to your game so she has learned to keep a safe distance.

A few noteworthy updates:

• Zoe, last night I was putting you to bed and we recited "The Lords Prayer". Mom taught you the prayer. Well, when we got to the part where you are supposed to say "the kingdom, the power and the glory", I said "the kingdom, the power and the holy spirit (don't ask where I got that from)". Anyway, you were quick to correct me and you said "It's Glory daddy". Later that night, you got upset and cried and mommy came in to check on you; you looked at her as serious as can be and told her "daddy doesn't know the word of God".
  
  
• Ryder, you are getting sooo big. You are now eating "cereal". Yesterday you ate 2 entire helpings. You are sleeping better too... although you wake up EVERY morning at 4am.
  
  
• Uncle Charles, Aunt Bernie and your cousins Indigo and Orlando came to visit a few weeks ago. We have some great pictures that I'll post asap.

A few anecdotes:

Kia and I were talking about Zoe and Kia said, "I wonder what Zoe is going to be when she grows up?". To which Zoe replied, "I'm going to be a Pumpkin"

Kia and I were trying to get Zoe to do... something, neither of us can remember exactly what we wanted her to do... We were both telling Zoe to come here and do whatever it was we wanted her to do... She kept objecting saying "I want to give Ryder a hug"... for whatever reason, we weren't listening to her and weren't letting her finish her sentence or give Ryder the hug... We were basically just talking over her saying "COME HERE!"... Finally, she got fed up and yelled back at US, while pointing her finger at us for emphasis... "I WANT TO GIVE RYDER A HUG!!!" We both held back our laughter and Zoe proceeded to give Ryder a hug and then came to do whatever it was we wanted her to do.

Last night, for the most part, Ryder slept through the night... You normally wake up at 5am and cry in your crib until we get you at 6am. This morning, you woke up at 5:30am and instead of crying until 6am, you just played around in your crib. Mom and Dad hope you keep this up...

Lastly... Zoe, like Ryder, we recorded video of you immediately after you were born. Shortly before we left Arizona for Virginia, we wanted to look at your video. I went to get the video only to find that I could not find it. I tore the house apart looking for the video, but couldn't find it anywhwere. I told Kia that I couldn't find it and we were both pretty devastated. I always held up hope that it would materialize because I couldn't imagine what could have happened to it. Well, last night I decided to go over all of the tapes that we DO have to see if it was in there but mislabeled or something. Long story short... I FOUND IT!. It was on a tape labled 2007 (you were born in 2006). Both of us were very happy to have found the footage.

Uncle Rob came to visit for the 4th of July
Zoe, you took to Uncle Rob quickly. We had him, Grandma and Grandpa over for a BBQ, and you were playing with Uncle Rob. Then Uncle Rob got sleepy and fell asleep on our couch. You got very sad and couldn't understand why Uncle Rob wouldn't play with you. We kept trying to explain that he was asleep but you insisted "he's pretending!!!" and you cried and cried.

Ryder is 5 Months old!


A few of Ryders Milestones:

• Today, you rolled over onto your tummy and back for the 1st time!
  
• You can sit up (with our help)
  
• You love to play with your toes
  
• When we take baths together, you like to lean all the way forward and put your toes in your mouth!
  
• You are able to reach and grab objects
  
• You like to scream! When we are changing your diaper or when you are playing in your excersaucer, you'll just scream to test your voice.
  
• You like to do "raspberries" with your mouth. Zoe did that too!
  

Current Events:

• Mike Vick was reinstated into the NFL.
  
• Michael Jackson passed away earlier this month. He was the "King of Pop" and had millions of followers. Mommy and Daddy were never big fans (although Daddy did go to a Michael Jackson concert when I was a kid with Uncle Rob). I was a Lionel Richie fan! He was Michaels closest rival. I would later become (and still am)a big Prince fan.
  
• President Obama is in the process of trying to pass Universal Health Care. It's not going to be easy as the Republicans (aka The House of 'No') will fight it to the end AND, there are democrats who are not necessarily on board.... Losers!

As I did with Zoe, I'm going to put up Monthly pics of Ryder. Here is his 1st. Ryder is 4 Months Old:

We enrolled Zoe in her 1st ballet classes. She had a great time. Her ballet teacher (Miss Sarah) said she did great and was very focused.






We took Zoe to play with Sydney. Vanelda took the kids to the park to play tennis. This was a fairly big deal because it's the 1st time we've really left Zoe with anyone. Here are a few pics:






We celebrated the 4th of July at Grandmas house. We had a great time. Grandma and Grandpa made us dinner and then Uncle Rob, his friend Kevin, me and Zoe walked to Iwo Jima to watch the fireworks. Zoe loved it. The only downside was that after the fireworks, she did not want to walk home so I wound up carrying her the whole way.











Zoe is becoming quite the artist. She loves to draw pictures (spiders and monkeys) on her little sketchy thingamajig. Here are a few samples of her work:








Other items of note:

• For a few weeks now, Ryder has been reaching for things. When we give him baths, he reaches down to touch his feet.
  
• He really likes his excersaucer which is great because it gives us a little bit of freedom to get things done.