first haircut/first step/first word

Last Sunday, I gave Ridley his first haircut. My goal was not to cut
his little ears, and I was successful. I even managed to cut it
straight despite him moving his head the whole time!

When I picked Ridley up on Monday, grandpa Steve said that he'd taken
one step, all by himself.

And both Josh and Grandma Heidi have heard "kit-tee!" coming from
Ridley.

Yay buddy!

Handsome, Huge and Hungry

We had Ridley's nine-month doctor's appointment yesterday, and it went very well. He did not need any shots, so this made things more pleasant for him too. Ridley is now 29 inches tall (75th percentile) and weighs 20 pounds, 9 ounces (50th percentile). I guess he isn't lying when he tells us he is SO BIG!!!

Josh asked the doctor how awesome Ridley is on a scale of one to ten. Her professional, medical opinion? Eleven.

(But we knew that already)

After Ridley's appointment, we brought him out to Josh's parents' house to spend the evening with Grandma Heidi, Grandpa Steve, Auntie Stacey and Uncley Scott so Josh and I could go to the Science Museum with Leann. Their current special exhibit is Titanic, so we went to both the Omni show and the exhibit itself. The exhibit was excellent. They have many actual artifacts recovered from the Titanic on display. It is really amazing to see how well maintained things are after sitting thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean for so many years.

Yesterday, Ridley tried chicken for the first time. He liked it! His meal times are starting to be a lot of fun as he tries new foods and textures! Some foods he likes....

applesauce mangoes carrots peaches

peas puffy snacks chicken

yogurt sweet potato rice cereal pears

Robin, Ridley, and the Reids

Ridley's Uncle Robin (my brother) is in town visiting from Washington DC, so a whole group of family from my mom's side of the family got together on Saturday. We went to my uncle's house in Dennison, MN, which is near Northfield. Robin and I ended up taking a bit of a scenic drive through some corn and soybean fields since the google maps on my phone thought that would be the quickest way to go...

In addition to my uncle, aunt and cousin Sam, my grandparents, and my mom and her husband were there too! Ridley had not seen his great-grandma and great-grandpa Reid since April, so he was sooo much bigger!

My uncle not only is a fantastic cook, but he and his wife both work for food coops and they raise their own chickens, so we had an amazing lunch (including deviled eggs made from eggs from their chickens!).

My grandma brought a quilt for Robin that she had made. She's been working on it for a while, and it's turned out absolutely amazing. You can't see much of it in the picture below, and even so, a picture wouldn't do it justice. Beautiful work, Grandma!! (And Grandpa, who helped cut fabric pieces too!)

It was good to see everyone, and we are excited to see them all again in a month for our cousin Joey's wedding!!

Here We Grow!

Even though I tell him not to, Ridley just keeps on growing. We are often asked how tall he is and how much he weighs, but since his last doctor's appointment was at six months, we don't have a very good answer. (His nine-month appointment is August 20, so we'll report back then).

But when we ask Ridley how big he is, he has a pretty good answer.

(Ridley's Auntie Stacey sent me a cute video of Ridley doing this too, but I couldn't get it to post, so we had to make our own).

Julie & Julia & Ridley

Ridley has discovered that reading is a good way to pass time in the
car. His favorite books are "Yummy Yucky" and his Sesame Street Shapes
book, but yesterday he decided to read some of mommy's copy of "Julie
& Julia."

Visitors From the East

Ridley and I are having a very exciting early August! Not only is Ridley turning nine months on Wednesday, but two important visitors are making an appearance in Minnesota!

A good friend of mine from work moved to China in August of last year, and is back in town for a week before going back to China for another year. When she left, Ridley was a rather large bump in my belly. So she was very excited to meet him, and we spent most of the day Sunday with her. Ridley charmed her and flirted to the best of his abilities, of course.

Our other visitor from the east is Ridley's uncle Robin who will be coming back to MN on Thursday! He will be here for just over a week, and we are very excited to see him. The last time he saw Ridley was in early February.

I suspect with all the excitement, August will pass as quickly as July (if not more so), and fall will be upon us before we know it.

Teeth/Video Test

If this works, you should see all four of Ridley's top teeth in this
little video!