Ryland seems to have grown and developed a lot in the last month.  He loves to be standing to play, so his favorite toys have been anything that he can play with on the couch or a box.  He got a lot of new toys for Christmas and birthday recently, so we'll see which ones become new favorites this month.  He is getting more confident in his ability to walk around furniture and climb on or over obstacles.  He loves to get into the kitchen cabinets and pull out all the tupperware.  We've moved him out of the infant carrier and into a larger car seat, and he seems to like sitting up a little higher now.  He communicates some words through sign language: more, all done, please, want, milk, eat, bed/sleep, bath, bye-bye.  He says "daaade" for Daddy, and will sometimes say "Mamamama" for Mommy, but just as often says it for yummy.  He makes the "aaaaa" sound for a duck quack, and the "oommmm" sound for a car vroom.  He loves to look at books, and is starting to imitate reading by pointing to something in the picture and "talking."  He also imitates talking on the phone when there's nobody there, but when there is somebody talking back to him through the receiver, he is in such awe that he won't make a noise (this happens to Daddy all the time).  Here are some pictures from the last month: 

We celebrated his birthday with family and friends Friday evening.  Ryland is so blessed to have so many people who care about him!  We had a few games incorporating Ryland's pictures from the past year.  We had pizza, cake and ice cream.  Ryland got to dig in to the top layer of his cake: buttermilk devil's food with white chocolate frosting...yum!    Here are some pictures from Ryland's ONE-derful birthday party:

Height: 29.5 inches (39.28%)

Weight: 18.2 pounds (1.78%)

Head Circumference: 17.5 inches (6.12%)

The doctor said he is healthy and developing right on schedule.  She also told us that the MRI scans of his brain were completely normal, so the problems he has with his eyes are muscular and not neurological.  Here are the pictures of Ryland at the hospital a couple weeks ago for the MRI: