"Baby Bootcamp" Graduate

Ralph has finally decided to become a walker. We instituted "baby bootcamp" a few weeks ago. He will now initiate walking, stand-up unaided, and is more sure of his balance and steps. He still likes to walk holding onto one hand - sometimes to lead us somewhere; sometimes to be led somewhere. Most falls are accompanied by a "whoa." Wish we would have gotten more videos of the earlier steps but his legs seemed to turn to jelly everytime we brought out the video camera.

Ralph can not do things the simple way - instead of just pushing the mower or the popper; he had to push both - unfortunately they didn't always go the same direction.

Celebrating 16 months

Sometime in the last month we have weaned Ralph from all bottles. He was getting one in the morning and at night but we decided it was time. We were slow to wean him since he is on the lower end of the weight scale and needs all the calories he can get. Sure enough his milk consumption has gone down but we are hoping he picks a little back up as he adjusts to life without bottles.

New words this month include "grandma" (ma-ma), "hot", "buckle" (buc), "snack" (nac), "grapes" (mapes), and "puppy". Puppy is the most voiced word - he sees one on our cereal box, on signs at the grocery store, in the neighborhood, and at grandma and grandpa's. No, he won't be getting a puppy any time soon.

Ralph can identify parts of his face . . .if only we could get him to stop poking himself in his eye.

He walks a little more independently but does not initiate walking on his own much at home - rumor has it he is doing more at daycare. (He is practicing his moves in the photo.)

Ralph has discovered ketchup. It seems to make everything taste better right now.

He likes to imitate - especially blowing on hot food and yawning.

Ralph is starting to give "bumps" in addition to "high fives".

Just a picture

Ralph received both of these items as baby gifts. The shirt is hard to read but its from McNeilus Truck and the truck is from Nebraska Truck, both companies Mike works with. Ralph has fun turning the drum and moving the truck.

The 4th of July

We ventured to Waverly for their parade. Ralph had a good time - waving his flag, clapping to the music, and collecting trash (candy). We were a little surprised at the amount of candy thrown at him since he is still young. About half-way through the parade Ralph started to help us pick up his candy but called it "trash" and put it in his bag. Mike & I are enjoying Ralph's "trash".

Just being a Ralph

~ Ralph is all about the accessories. The more apparel he can put on, the more cool he is. Can you tell he put these on himself? We still have not figured out the appropriate times to wear hats and sunglasses - sunny, cloudy, rainy, inside, outside, no matter, it's all good.

~ The last couple of weeks Ralph has been helping me push the trash can out to the curb and back. For some reason this is a fun activity. He likes to point out others trash cans - and we had to walk over to the neighbors trash can one day when she hadn't put her away yet. Luckily, she got home before we had to move it for her. He likes to say "trash" (or "ash") and likes to put things in the trash can . . .so far it's just been trash.

~ Last week Ralph dumped out his small bowl of Cheerios we use to try to 'entertain' him before supper. He then crawled over to the lazy susan and pulled out the yellow box of Cheerios - as if he knew exactly what he wanted. Smart boy!