All About the Dude

Dude, Buddy, Spud. Whatever we choose to call him on any given day Steve and I adore our little nephew Rylan and last Wednesday he turned one. What an exciting day to remember a year ago when he was born and how much he has learned already and how our lives have changed in the past year.

Wednesday they had a small family party with the grandparents, great grandparents and aunts and uncles. So a whole bunch of adults with Rylan as the star of the show. He decided to show off his walking and walked almost everywhere. He loved using the unopened gifts as drums, sneezing on several of his guests and had a great time making a mess of his cake. (case and point)





Just to look back... here is Rylan and I,
January 12, 2010 and then January 12, 2011.


Looks like we've both pretty much kept the same hair style although this is technically his second crop in 12 months. My hair is shorter but the same colour. Last year I was in the midst of my Grade 3 year and had just returned from Mexico. I was lighter than I am now by a couple of pounds. He was considerably lighter last year. : ) This year, well I talked about that a couple of posts ago. No need to rehash.
















While Rylan may not smile for the camera
(rare smile caught in this picture)
or get all excited he has definitely developed a super awesome personality in the past couple of months. He does get super excited about some things. Often he gets super pumped to see his Uncle Steve (especially if Uncle Steve has yogurt) and he loves soft things. At our house he loves this awesome faux bear blanket that we have. He cuddles his face into it and gets all happy. He also loves squishing his fingers in our shag rug. Rylan likes shopping and seeing himself in mirrors (which is easy entertainment when we're doing the former).

He also (and I don't think that it's just my unobjective opinion) recognizes that there are pictures on the wall of Bridget and him (which excites him) and he definitely knows when his name is being called. His favourite place to go at our house after his cuddle with the blanket is the Tupperware cabinet. He knows exactly where that is and can empty it in no time flat.

Listen to me ramble about this boy. I just love him to bits. In a year that had it's ups and downs he has been my up all year. Often if I had a rough day at school I would call Rachel and ask if I could come to play with Rylan. Just seeing his cute face lifts my heart. And because I was off for the summer and now with subbing I've had more time than I would have, and because Rachel's been on Mat leave there's been time to shop, have breakfast and have coffee. I've seen him at least once a week for all 52 weeks that he's been here and I am SO very excited to see all he's going to learn and do as he marches to two. By this time in 2012 will he have a name for me? Will he be mischevious or obedient? Will he have a case of the terrible twos? What will make him laugh and what will his favourites be?

Happy Birthday Rylan! Maybe one day, on your fourteenth birthday maybe I'll pull this out just to prove to you that I was crazy about you all along!