Another first

Last week we went to the beach for six days to enjoy some fun in the sun. It was also Ryan's first family vacation! We've done short day trips to the beach when it was cooler but this time the weather was nearly perfect so we could swim in the salty waves and splash in the pool. We weren't sure how Ryan would like it but our worries were soon set aside when we witnessed how much he LOVED the water! This kid has no fear :

• salt water in his eyes and mouth - didn't care
• waves crashing into his feet - he squealed and jabbered with delight
• bouncing up and down in the "weeeee weeeee" (AKA waves) with Daddy, Katie and Braden and he loved getting in the inter tube with Mama and chilling in the water. He had a fit when it was time to get out of the water
• throwing himself into the surf as it hit the shore - I was tempted to give him a snorkel and mask
• jumping off the side of the pool into the water (and this was only his second time in a pool ever) 
• swimming all over the pool in his puddle jumper like his big brother and sister

He is just amazing!

Here are a few videos:

(At the zoo where Ryan saw lots of birds. Birds are his favorite animal)

We did see our fair share of marine life, too - 4 sharks, 2 manatees, and about two dozen sting rays. Of course that's just what we could see while we were on the balcony or at the beach. We've never seen so many critters at the beach!

We also got to hang out with cousins. He had the best time playing with them. :) The little one is eight months younger than Ryan so they will get to grow up together. RYAN HAS COUSINS!!!

Before we left for the beach we celebrated 5 MONTHS HOME with this sweet boy! He is talking up a storm! Some of his new words are - Get down, Wow, There it is, Uh oh, Oh no, More please (with the signs for these, too), Get the ball, bubbles, stroller, color (which means crayons or side walk chalk), Bubble Guppies, Clean Up (to the tune of the Barney song), Nap time (to the tune of the Yo Gabba Gabba song). He is stringing lots of words together all of a sudden. He still babbles a lot but his words and babbles seem to have more meaning, or at least we are better able to understand him better. I am SO happy for these strides in language development! It still blows my mind that he understands everything we say to him. I can ask him to do something and he knows exactly what I'm saying. Amazing! Of course he doesn't always do what I ask him to but it is getting a little easier reading his cues and trying to reason with him. There's no reasoning with him (or any toddler) when he's tired or hungry. He also gets SUPER hyper when he's tired. He winds himself up and has a tough time winding back down so we try not to get him too excited when it's time for bed.

His current favorite food is cheese. He loves slices of colby jack cheese. He would eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I let him. He's finally enjoying milk (chocolate milk) thanks to his sweet baby sitter. She got him hooked on milk with ovalteen. He still enjoys all foods except vegetables so I sneak those in when I can.

We are enjoying every bit of summer vacation with no set schedule and no where to be for the most part. August will be here soon enough so we're soaking it all up.