16.5 Months

I'm sad to write that my Grandfather passed away on Monday night. My dad's father had been in hospice / nursing care for the past several months and passed peacefully in the presence of my Grandmother, who had been with him for 68 years. Saturday is the funeral down in Toledo so the fam will be headed that way on Friday.

Ryan will be joining us and we're hoping that it won't cause too much of a commotion. We think he's beginning to cut his bottom molars since the top ones are fully through. Last week we swore he grew in front of our eyes. And he's beyond independent. If he hurts himself he barely wants to cuddle the hurt away. If we try to brace him before he falls, he pushes our hands away! Today he went down the slide at the big boy park on his own: a major challenge. This morning he started amusing himself by crawling backwards.

We'll keep it "short" and let the photos do the rest. Thanks for everyone's support and prayers over the past few months.
Court, Max + Ryan

Ryan loves his new big boy bike...It was actually a Christmas present that has made an appearance with Spring.

We took Ryan to Meijer gardens to see the butterflies (out-of-towners: they fill an entire tropical atrium with butterflies that flutter around visitors.) Here he is in the children's garden area.

Ryan had a tea party at the gardens with some of the other children. He actually went up the the girl in the foreground and rubbed his head against her lap like he nuzzles Cali. It was so funny.

Ryan loved the peek-a-boo window in the tree house at the gardens.

Our friends Kelly and Seth came over for dinenr and spent a little tickle-time with the boy.

This is "So Big."
Ryan got a new hat for playing out-doors and loves wearing it. His red hair is already starting to bleach out to blond from just a few days outdoors without it.

Ok, so he got two new hats cuz mom couldn't say no.

Here's my little activist wearing his shirt for March of Dimes. Even though it was rainy, we made it through and had a great time supporting an important cause in honor of our friend's granddaughter Iris.

Another left eye injury...this time no black eye, but just a scratch.

Last Sunday Henry, Carrie and Dan came for a visit. The boys were so excited to see one another. It was great to watch them together.

Ryan loves to take his four red fire trucks and line them up in order of size (and variations of tech...from wooden to battery operated singing) on various pieces of the furniture. He's recently taken to stacking them in size order on top of one another.