Leaves, Rocks, and Garbage Cans

Miscellaneous Ray Cuteness

Here are a few recent shots of Ray for no particular reason except that they are mondo cute.

General Ray News: Ray has transitioned to a single nap per day and that has made sleeping overall much better! It also means that we can go places and stay longer an hour-and-a-half. In fact, Ray just had his first bus ride yesterday down to Pike Place Market. For weeks he's been obsessed about busses, pointing and "Oooooooo!"'ing at them whenever he sees them. He enjoyed the ride and had a nice nap on the way back. His molars are coming in, which hasn't caused as much of a problem as we feared, and he's getting bigger and heavier seemingly daily. He is also quite the little walker and recently got his first pair of real shoes. He preferred the leopard-print pumps, but we settled on some nice blue sneakers. His comprehension is also pretty astounding now -- he understands most of what we say to him and can now responded with "Nah" for no, and "Ya" for yes.

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Ray and the Great Pumpkin

It was a gorgeous autumn day so we all ventured out to a pumpkin patch where Ray got to hunt for pumpkins and visit some farm animals.

See Ray and the Great Pumpkin in the Gallery (login required)

Ray's Birthday Redux

We forgot to post these photos of Ray opening gifts from Grandpa Doug, Carlene, and Amanda from a few weeks ago.

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Ray's Outdoor Playtime

Ray's favorite thing now is to go outside. He indicates his desire to go outside with a sign. He also sometimes brings us our shoes or puts on his hat. Once outside, he loves all manner of nature, from rocks to leaves to bark. He selects specimens of each depending on some criteria known only to him, and he carries them around. He's is also inexplicably fascinated by garbage cans and mailboxes, and stops to point them out whenever he sees one. He's walking up a storm now and loves adventuring.

Here is a fairly long (5 minutes) video of Ray showing off most of his outdoor activities.

Ray's Outdoor Playtime (Windows Media format): High-quality (18.5 MB) | Low-quality (3.7 MB)

Playing with Toys

Lest you think that Ray plays with leaves and rocks because we don't buy him actual toys, here is a short clip of him playing with a (borrowed) pop-up toy and his big red barn.

Ray Plays Outside (with Toys): (Windows Media format): High-quality (11.5 MB) | Low-quality (2.5 MB)

Ray Walking Video

Short video of Ray walking. Enjoy

The Big Oh-One

Ray turned ONE on September 7 and had a grand old time with his Grandma Kathi and the neighborhood kids (video forthcoming). He received a Radio Flyer tricycle and some new shoes from Kathi, a big "Play Farm" toy from mom and dad, some books and toys from the neighbors, and some geneorous gifts from his other relatives (thanks everyone!).

He's taking multiple steps now (7 is his record) and has increased his vocabulary of signs to about 15. He recently learned "poop," which will be very handy when potty-training time comes. The only problem is that it's pretty close to "banana" ... and Ray loves banana.

Daddy is still on active nighttime duty. Ray's harder to put down to sleep than before, but things are going better at night -- he's sleeping up to 7 hours at a stretch now. We think separation anxiety may be kicking in. Amy is grateful for the uninterrupted sleep and Jim's ... dealing with it.

Take a look in the Gallery for some birthday photos of the boy (password required)

Ray's Trip to the Beach

Ray spent some time as a beachcomber the day before his birthday.

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Ray's First Haircut

In preparation for the big Oh-One on Tuesday, Ray got his first haircut the other day.

We have an edited (but still long) video for your pleasure.

High Quality: Ray's First Haircut (QuickTime video) (36 MB)
Low Quality: Ray's First Haircut (Windows Media) (6.7 MB)

First Steps

A couple months ago, I predicted that Ray would take his first steps before his first birthday, and the little guy proved me right! Last night (the 1st) at about 4:00pm, he took an unaided step toward Amy, who promptly called me (since I was on the bus home and missed it). Later on, I was able to get him to do it again. Just one small step, but we all know how important that is for mankind!

He's also signing "music" and "toy" now, after only about a day of "training." Oh, and he signed "bath" the other day despite the fact Amy had only shown it to him one other time about a month before. Utterly amazing....

Seven Nights of Daddy

After last Wednesday's successful daytime experiment in which Jim was able to get Ray down for 2 naps all by himself, we've extended it into the nighttime and are now 5 nights into "Seven Nights of Daddy." Amy is sleeping down the guest room and Jim is in charge of the boy. The first night wasn't so great; Ray woke up every hour or so starting at 9:30. But he allowed Jim to settle him easily each time. Things have gotten progressively better. Last night, he slept from 7:30 until 2:30 -- an unprecendented 7 hours! He was up-and-down for the next hour or so until Jim finally called Amy in for reinforcements (and milk). But progress has been made!!

Marvin Ray

Yesterday, on my way home from work, I turned the corner onto my street and spotted Ray on the sidewalk with Amy. Ray had his little push-wagon, as usual, and when he saw me walking toward him, he threw up his arms (we've been playing "So Big!" which he loves) and then started pushing his cart toward me. As he neared, I started to hear some faint music. About halfway to me, he stopped and started "dancing" (rhythmically bobbing up-and-down at the knees). I got a little closer and saw that Amy had given him a little transistor radio for his cart, which was playing "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye.

So that was my greeting last night: a squealing 1-year old rushing toward me and bopping to Marvin Gaye!

Amy says he also loves playing with the knobs and that she never thought she'd have to be telling him to turn the music down until he was a teenager.

Grandma Ann's Visit

Grandma Ann (Jim's mom) flew up a couple weeks ago to visit her #1 grandson. We took the ferry to Bainbridge Island, explored the downtown and Pike Place Market, and generally introduced her to the greatness of our city. She and Ray did some bonding and had a very nice time together.

Grandma Ann tooks some photos, which you can view in the Gallery (logon required)

Ray's Eleven (Months)

Ray turned 11 months on August 7th. He is blur when crawling and he loves walking with his new push-wagon. He even once managed about 7 seconds of free-standing, which, in the Baby Rodeo, is enough for a blue ribbon, I'm told.

He's also getting really good at sign language; he now understands and can sign "more," "food," and "milk." And really, what more do you need? Reinforcing his new communication skills has, however, proven to be a double-edged sword as now Amy is obligated to nurse him when he crawls up to her and demands "milk!" He's currently working on "water," "all done," "book," "sleepy," "thank you," "outside," and "bed."

He also seems to be waving at more appropriate times, like as Jim leaves for work (though usually after he's already out the door) and at the end of a meal, when he waves "bye-bye" to his bowl.

Sleep is getting better. It's clear that he's trying his hardest to settle himself and let himself drift off to sleep. He's still waking up at the usual times at night, but we are seeing some progress.

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Ten Months of Ray

As of July 7th, Ray has been with us for 10 months. He continues to enjoy standing, cruising, and crawling and seems to be learning certain words. In addition to "kitty," he now can find his "wagon," his "cups," a "book," and even points out the tiny pen-and-ink drawings of kittens in the appallingly bad book Goodnight Moon. He's getting reeally good with fine motor skills and picked up the concept of the "shape sorter" toy in no time, although he still tries to put the pentagonal shape in the round hole (and in daddy's mouth, and in Tim, etc.)

Enjoy some new photos in the gallery [requires login]