Checkin out the Children's Museum

Well, its still winter here in Pittsburgh and even though the sun was shining today, there was still snow on the ground and a chill in the air.  So we made the most of having to stay inside and took an early morning trip to the Children's Museum.  We had never been there before and didn't know what to expect, but we had a great time!

We started in the art department where Riley painted a picture, made an art project with magic paint and played with clay.  We decided it was time to move on and try something else when he was convinced that a ball of clay was an apple and kept trying to put it in his mouth.

In the next room, he got to play with all kinds of blocks and tools and learned the foundation of architecture and construction.  I wouldn't necessarily recommend living in a house that he built quite yet, but there is still time for practice and a formal education.

There were so many different rooms to explore with puppets and stars and trains and slides that we spent a few hours checking out everything that we could see.  This is the kind of place that we could go over and over again and since its so hands-on, there is always something new to explore and something else that Riley will be big enough to do.

We played with sand and glass beads, we learned that Riley now knows the word "mine" when he didn't want to share his toys, and we gauged the timing perfectly so that we were able to keep Riley's eyes open just long enough to make it home for nap time!

Checking out SportsWorks

This afternoon, we made the most of the still cold weather and took advantage of our museum membership by heading to SportsWorks at the Science Center.  Riley and I picked up BiBi and went to check it out as none of us had ever been there before.

We weren't quite sure what to expect, but when we walked through the door, we were presented with an indoor playground with all sorts of sports activities and simulators to try.  Even though the kid "working" the front door assured us that Riley could use most of the games, he was still a little too little for the majority of the options.  No, he was not strapped into a harness and encouraged to flip on a trampoline - nor was he allowed to bike across a tightrope, but we found things that were more age appropriate and had a great time exploring and people watching.

We tested Riley's vertical jump (he still has to learn how to get both feet off the ground) and timed his sprint (he will go much faster when he learns that he doesn't have to flail his arms around when running) but his favorite activities were the huge Operation game and a hockey simulator that he played more like Whack-A-Mole.

This is the kind of place that we can go to over and over again and each time, there will be something new to play with that he was too small to do the time before.  It's a great place to go when it's cold or rainy and now that we know what to expect, I indeed to head over much more often!  How else is Riley going to start practicing for his surgery rotation?

He finally said it!

Well, it took only 18 months to get here but the day has finally come that Riley says Mommy! I am no longer "Daddy" and finally have my own title!  It has taken far too long but it is well worth the wait cause it's so fun when he says it now!  

And just in case you want another fun movie, here is story time with Riley!

Riley the Reader

Just a quick post and a cute picture about Riley's bedtime ritual.  We have a very set regiment (on most days) of bath time, jammies, story time and bed time.  Riley gets to pick out the book and we either make it through the whole thing or we read the first 2 pages and he decides its time to start another book.  

His favorite book this week is the Hebrew vocabulary book that Aunt Stacey bought him when he was born.  No, he doesn't know Hebrew, and we will probably not get past the words in the book, but the pictures are great and he can point out almost half of the pictures and name them correctly from cows to trucks to pants!

Come on over and Riley would be happy to read to you! 

Hap Birt Ril

Today is Riley's year and a half birthday and we had all intentions to celebrate, because who doesn't like a reason to have a party with cake.  Too bad a little "bug" decided to get in the way and ruin the celebration...  Riley has not been feeling well for the past 24 hours and unfortunately,  no one wants to have a party when you aren't feeling well.  I think Brad said it best when he said "It's Riley's party and he can cry if he wants to"!

The good news is that when the Motrin kicks in, everything is fine!

We had a family dinner but never got around to cake and singing.  Hopefully Riley will be feeling better tomorrow and we can catch up on cake time!  Thanks to everyone who tried to celebrate with us!  We will let you know when the re-do is!

Movin' on up!

Today was Riley's first official day in the Toddler Room!  He had been transitioning for the past two weeks by spending a few hours a day with the big kids by playing in the gym or making art projects but he spent the whole day in the new room.

The main differences between the Infant Room and the Toddler Room is that the kids eat at a table rather than in highchairs and they take naps on little maps instead of in cribs.  Eating at the table is going pretty well but taking a nap on the mat is a little more challenging.  It usually takes Riley some time to wind down so making sure that wind down time is on the mat and then actually falling asleep will hopefully work well.

The teachers said that the day went well but they warned me that he would be pretty tired tonight - they had a very active day.  Riley had a little melt down on our way out of school for no reason, but by the time we got to the car, he was ready for the ride home.

Dinner was up and down and we went between squeals of joy and shrieks of frustration.  And between the rounds of macaroni, Riley put on quite a show.