All About Ryder

Tonight Zak was sent to bed early because he was misbehaving all evening and was obviously exhausted. This left Ryder with some alone time which they each always love. Ryder took a shower with me which turned into more of a binding, singing, learning time than actually getting clean (meaning I will need to actually take a real shower later tonight). I was amazed at how talkative Ryder was during this alone time with me. He has so much to say and was so happy the whole time, as was I. We then filled the tub with water and sat down to play some more. We sang songs, counted, worked on colors, and just had a good time. Once the water got cold I decided it was time to get out.

After we were dry and dressed we came downstairs. I decided to take the camera out and try to catch some of Ryder's newest skills on video. Usually when I try to do this he becomes shy and won't "perform", but tonight he actually did well. Below are four videos that I was able to get of him....

(1) Counting: Ryder is extremely visual so he counts much better if there is something in front of him to actually see and count such as fingers, toes, blocks, crackers, etc. Tonight I placed 10 animal crackers on the floor in front of him and as I pointed to them he counted. He normally talks pretty quiet so I had to tell him to yell in order for the camera to really pick up on his voice.

Ryder Counting

(2) Itsy Bitsy Spider: We sang this song every single time we went to Ryder's therapy class over the last year. Normally, Ryder would just do some of the hand motions, but not say any of the words. Recently, he has started to say some of the words which I was able to get on video. Sometimes if I sing with him he will finish the song, but this is what he does without any help.

Ryder Singing Itsy Bitsy Spider

(3) Wheels On the Bus: This is the other song we sang at every therapy class we attended. He usually sings to this one a lot more than the spider song. But he won't sing it at all unless you start it out for him so you will have to hear my voice. He loves to sing the word "town" at the end of each verse. This is just one verse, but his favorite is usually "the mommies on the bus say shhh-shhh-shhh".

Ryder Singing Wheels On the Bus

(4) Colors & Shapes: These are two of the skills we are currently working on. He is usually very good at labeling circles and triangles and the color green and purple. Other than that everything is usually green and he tends to skip saying the shape. So this is definitely one of his emerging skills...

Ryder Working on Colors and Shapes

On Thursday night we are going to Ryder's school for a Meet & Greet and Back to School Night Combo. This year they are doing both in one night. At 5:15pm there is a picnic dinner followed by a meet & greet with the teachers in the classrooms. Then they will continue into a Back to School Night type of thing where the parents stay in the kid's classroom to hear from the teacher what the kids will do throughout the year and ask any questions they might have. All four of us are going to go, but if the boys have trouble behaving the whole time Ben will take them outside or go home and come to pick me up when it is over.

Ryder's first day of school is in 9 days! I will go with him the first day and he will only be there for one hour. The next day he will ride the bus and go for the whole 2.5 hours!

(Side Note: I did get Zak registered for his sports class at the YMCA which starts September 8 and continues through October 20 every Wednesday from 10-11am)