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.

Drop and give me 20

On Sunday mornings, we have been going to the JCC to have family workout time.  This morning, Mommy, Daddy and I did Boot Camp while Chris and RIley swam in the pool.  In the past few weeks, Riley has been a great distraction in running around the gym and it makes the tough workout seem easier because I just love watching him in action.

Even though they were swimming, the boys came into visit at the end of our class and helped us for the last few exercises.  My last plank was extra hard as I had an extra 20 pounds to support - and it was hard to stay steady (hence the blurry picture)!

After our morning workout, we attended a Purim celebration which included story time, a mask making station and hamentashen!  We saw a few friends and enjoyed an early start to the holiday.

After a nap and some playtime, Riley and I hit the grocery store to pick up a few things.  He was a great helper and really enjoyed himself in the store making friends in the aisles, eating free cookies from the nice bakery ladies and trying to convince me that the honey bear was really a juice box...

Snow Day

This has been quite the winter, with snow coast to coast, and record low temperatures.  But when the stars align, you have a Sunday morning, where the snow is new and the sun is out and the temperature is just right for playing.  So we bundled up and took to the hills.

Riley and I were in charge of playing and keeping an eye on Addison, while Chris was in charge of shoveling.  Riley had a great time playing in the snow and has almost all of the right gear for the task at hand.  The only thing we are missing is snow boots, but they come in short supply - hopefully they won't be needed for that much longer.

The snow is tolerable on the weekends and when you get to go outside and play, everyone is happy! 

Look at what a difference 1 year makes!

Valentine's Day Delivery

Today, Riley got a special Valentine's Day delivery from Zaydie and Safta!  He opened the package and started with the card.  It was a cute puppy and heart card that when he opened it, the card sang - and Riley loved it!  He was kicking his feet, bouncing along and I think he's trying to learn the words.

Also part of the delivery?  Chocolate!  Riley has had little tastes here and there, but this is the first time he actually had his own piece of chocolate - and he loved this too!

And if he's anything like his mama, he will now track down chocolate just about every day for just about any reason!