Cousin Autumn's First Birthday

Little A had her first birthday party on Sunday.  I can't believe my niece is 1 already!! Here are a few photos from her special day.

Her first taste of birthday cake

Everett and Ryder

Cousins 

Playdate at Maple Maze

For cousin Autumn's birthday on Wednesday, Shawn, Laura, Nick and I took the little ones to the Maple Maze at our community center.  Autumn and Ryder had a blast roaming around the toddler area :)

"Ahhh! This is sooo cool!"  Ryder in the middle of one of his many high pitched squeals of excitement.

Dad did a lot of supervising, but at least he was able to come witness all the giggles.

Ryder dove into the ball pit head first as soon as he saw it.  Autumn was a little more calculated and thought she'd observe a bit first...

And then she slid in, too :)

Ry loved all the tunnels and slides

Such busy bodies - it was tough to get a picture with both of them in the same area! 

Hope you had a happy birthday Little A!

Fat Tire Weekend

This past weekend, we enjoyed a family get-away to Spooner, WI.  Shawn had been training for the Fat Tire 40 mile mountain bike ride all summer.  Since he couldn't actually participate in the event this year, we thought we'd still head up to visit with and cheer on friends and enjoy the mini family vacation.  This was our third year attending the event and Ryder's second...check out the comparison photos below :)

I can't believe he grew into this tee already!!

Ry and dad spend some quality time together on the sidelines.

Ry clapped for the bikers :) So cute!

Our hotel had a super warm swimming pool - the kiddos loved it! 

Ry and Daddy hanging out at the Tripp house after a delicious breakfast of biscuits and gravy.  (I'm sure this tee will make a number of appearances on our blog, but here's its debut! - Thanks Jen!!)

Official Party Pics

Last Sunday, we celebrated the "BIG 1" with Ryder's Grandparents, Aunties/Uncles and his close friends. It was a few weeks late due to daddy's injury, but he didn't seem to mind.  We also had his 1 year doctor appointment last week, so here are his official stats:  Height: 29" (25%), Weight: 20 lbs 9 oz (10-25%), Head: 47.3cm (75-90%).

Ry loved mom's home-made "smash" cake.  Surprisingly, it took a little encouraging to get him started, but once he had his first taste of frosting, he dove right in :) 

 

Ryder was so excited all his baby buddies were able to help him celebrate!

Big Boy Seat

Today Ryder opened another birthday present from mom and dad - his new big boy carseat!  We haven't taken it out for a test ride yet, but he seems to like it so far :)

Yes - he has started trying to walk!!! He takes a step or two and is extremely wobbly and falls, but he's going for it!!

Another attempt at walking! He was so super excited about it, too!

Checking out all the features of his new seat :)

Last Surgery For Daddy!

On Wednesday, we headed back to the hopsital for daddy's next surgery.  Thankfully, with the results that came back on his MRI for his knee, this is the last surgery he'll need :)  The doc fixed the other side of the ankle with a few screws and the hairline fracture at his knee will heal on its own.  It was a long evening at the hospital for Ry (about 7 hours), but he seemed to find plenty of things to do to pass the time.

He caught up on his reading...

He went for lots of walks...

He talked Gma and Gpa Billing into chasing him around the waiting room...

And he kept his family and friends up to date with his daddy's progress via text messages :)

Dad's new footwear

1 Year!

I can't believe how quickly this first year has gone.  At the same time, I can't imagine life without Ryder - it seems like he has been part of our family forever.  We will officially celebrate in another week, but we wanted to make sure we acknowledged Ryder's birthday even among the craziness of our stay in the hospital.  With cake, balloons and a couple presents, Ryder had a great time partying it up in room 220 :)
A few notable milestones this month:

• Walking along furniture
• Standing!! For maybe 30 seconds at a time and then sitting down with control
• He seems to eat almost solely with his left hand.  His highchair tray is usually completetly clear of food on the left side first.
• Unofficially, just shy of 22 pounds. 
• Pushing toy cars and trucks around

It was very tough, but we kept him from eating the cake so that he can truely go at it when we officially celebrate :) And then he'll be in a highchair...probably outside...much easier to clean than the hospital!

But he did get to lick the frosting from the candle :)

He also got to open a couple presents.  It's so fun that he can actually do most of this on his own! He loves tissue paper & wrapping paper!

Happy Birthday to our little Digs (Diggity) / Pumpkin / Ryman!!!