Ridge's Favorite things

Ridger Man is 21 months old. He is all boy with some funny quirks that make him so unique. Here is a list of what makes this sweet little boy our Ridger Man.

• picking oranges. Ridge LOVES to pick oranges. He watches the tree in the backyard daily and as soon as one starts to turn orange he starts pointing and jumping. When Rusty gets home Ridge pulls him by the finger to the back door. He points and grunts at the tree. Rusty grabs the fruit picking pole, pulls the orange off the tree, and Ridge takes it out of the little basket and is as proud as he can be.



• Checking the barometric pressure. I have no idea why this thrills Ridge. Every day he points to a little decorative weather instrument that we have hanging on the wall. We lift him up and tell him the current temperature, barometric pressure and % humidity. We also point out the deer that is on it. He smiles and wiggles to be put back down and goes on his merry way.



• Playing the piano. He loves to play the piano, but it just so happens that the only time he wants to do this is when Kyleigh is practicing. She loves it some days and other days it drives her crazy.



• Mr. Pig. Neither of the girls were ever attached to anything. Early on Mr. Pig became Ridge's favorite stuffed animal. Now the poor thing has a nasty, dirty tail that Ridge is either using as a handle or sucking on. Some tree sap is stuck to it's back and it stuffing is awkwardly distributed. Note: I do wash Mr. Pig regularly.



• Changing seats at mealtime. It is not a meal at our house if Ridge doesn't pick up his plate, silverware, and cup and move to another seat at the dinner table. Usually it happens more than once.



• Throwing everything. It isn't just balls that this boy likes to throw.



• Books. Ridge really loves books. He will let you read anything with pictures to him but his favorites are the books with animals. Even the nursery leader commented on how excited he got when he found a book with animal pictures.



• Hanging on the hang board. Rusty has a hang board, which is kind of like a pull up bar but has different "holds" on it. It is used to practice pull ups in an imperfect situation, as happens when rock climbing. Another favorite thing for Ridge to do when Rusty gets home is stand under the hang board with his hands in the air until Rusty lifts him up to hang for a few seconds.



• The moon and stars. Ridge always has an eye on the sky. Even when the moon is out in the middle of the day and partly covered with clouds he can spot it. He yells out, oooo, oooo, and we know he has spotted the moon. When we come home at night he throws himself out of the car with his finger pointed to the sky looking for the moon and stars. In the middle of the night he wakes up and points to the window asking to look for the moon. When we can't see it I tell him the moon's Mommy tucked him in behind his cloud blanket, and that Ridge's Mommy has to tuck him in, too. He usually accepts that and goes back to sleep.

It's hard to remember life before Ridge. We love him so, so much!