Big Boy

One of the new phrases Riley likes to say is “big boy.” And it’s true; he really is becoming such a big boy.

We recently started calling him that after he sat in one of the kitchen chairs all by himself for an afternoon snack one day last week. And, as you can imagine, he picked up on the new phrase mighty quickly. (The child DOES. NOT. STOP. TALKING.)

He just looked so big sitting there in his cute train overalls, eating his raisins (“ray-rays”) and drinking his juice.

I’d just like to know, though…...where did my tiny little boy go??? This is certainly not the face of a baby.

Big boy is right.

Big, sweet, adorable, happy, beautiful boy.

Seventeen Months

Riley-bean is seventeen months old today, and he shares this “birthday” with his daddy. Happy happy Birthday, Ken! We love you lots.

At 17 months, Riley weighs approximately 27 lbs and stands about 35 inches tall. He is definitely a growing boy.

Here’s what I want to remember from this past month:

• The biggest thing was that he dropped down to one nap a day, starting mid-month. He naps after he has his lunch and usually sleeps for a couple of hours, although some days are better than others. I’m still not sure how I feel about this change, but I think it was the right thing for him.  We shall see how it goes from here!
• He tried a few new foods this month, including tortilla chips, sour cream, shrimp, grilled cheese, kingcake, frozen yogurt, pecan, fresh spinach, “cuties” (clementines), raisins, and goldfish crackers.
• He has gotten a little bit pickier about what he eats, but he still enjoys a wide variety of things. He drinks like a champ these days, both milk and juice, which means a couple of additional diaper changes. Wow.
• He now has 10 teeth.
• Lots of new words this month, and he is still talking constantly: sleeve, on, noise, heavy (“hebby”), bead, elbow and knee (and knows where they are), tickle, sausage, giraffe (“garaffe”), hippo, machine (“sheen”), chickpea, hair (and knows where it is), bean, bubble, guitar, slide, tractor, fleur-de-lis (“lur-la-lee”), pickle, printer, paper, house, tunnel, fishy (“shishy”), broccoli, tuna, apple, strawberry, crumb, poopy, wet, hole, hay, cow.
• Lots of new phrases/names too: Scoutie, Riley, Riley-bean, Grandpa, Mater, Lightning, Rocky, Mickey, “oh no!”, “I’ll get it,” “not nice,” “big boy,” “choo-choo” for train,“ah-ah” for monkey, “cluck-cluck” for chicken, “oink-oink” for pig, “caw-caw” for macaw, “tweet-tweet” for bird. He has also been responding with “hayyyy up!” when asked what the farmer says for a couple of months; Grandpa loves this because it’s how he calls the cows at the farm!
• He’s getting better and better at controlling his balance and coordination, although he has continued to take some tumbles on account of running and tripping over his own feet. Nothing serious, though, and he usually picks himself up and carries on. He’s tough.
• Daddy taught him to do what we’re calling his “tarzan” move, where he beats his chest with his fist and makes a sound while doing so.
• As you may have seen last week, he’s doing great with his colors. Most of the time he can identify green, yellow, red, blue, orange, and purple by name. He can also usually pick out the letters A, B, and R.
• He continues to amaze me with how smart he is. He picks up on things so quickly and he is incredibly observant.
• He LOVES his trucks, especially Chuck. We put his trucks to bed each night in the toy bookcase downstairs, and he tells them night-night. Then in the morning after he has breakfast he wakes them up! Too cute.
• He still loves his baths (especially with bubbles…..I have also done this with him and really want to do this too), being outside and collecting sticks, watching the airplanes take off and land, and having his belly rubbed.

Seventeen months old and getting cuter and cuter! Happy happy birthday to both of my boys. :)

Video Friday: Colors

I hope you have all enjoyed this mini Video Week. Things have been crazy busy for me around here the past few days, so I am glad I had a stash of videos taken last weekend to post every other day this week. Otherwise, you may not have seen anything new until Monday!

Riley is doing really well with his colors these days. He is able to correctly name green, yellow, red, blue, purple, and orange most of the time. Such a smarty-pants, my Riley-bean.

Happy Friday!

Video Wednesday: Tunnel Fun

You just never know what will happen on the weekends when Daddy is around……skeleton pajamas, one glove, lots of books, and some fun in the {child-sized} tunnel. Good times.

Happy Video Wednesday!

Video Monday: Cayenne

Last Thursday morning, QP came over as usual, but this time she brought a friend with her, Sharon, who was in from out of town visiting. And Sharon happened to bring along her new Labrador puppy, Cayenne, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Riley, meet Cayenne. Cayenne, try not to jump ALL over my boy. I know you’re still a puppy and he’s just your size and everything, but he’s quite easy to knock down, and I would prefer that not happen. Okay? Okay.

Or not.

Riley didn’t care one bit, though, even when he did get knocked to the ground by the exuberant pup (which happened more than once). He loved every second of it, and I heard the giggles to prove it.

   

I eventually did run back inside to switch cameras so I could video some of their interaction, but I unfortunately captured most of the good parts in stills.

No matter. It is Video Monday after all, so here’s one for your weekly fix with double the cuteness, if you can stand it: a puppy and a Riley-bean, in action.

Happy Monday!

Making Messes

Riley is at the age where I don’t feel like I have to constantly watch him. This is nice because it lets me get some work done on the computer while he wanders from room to room, playing and babbling to himself.

However, this is sometimes not nice because, more than once, the slippery little sucker has scooted himself down the stairs before I can get to him. I’m glad we taught him well on how to navigate the stairs, but he hasn’t yet grasped the concept that he shouldn’t go up or down them by himself. Crazy kid.

Lately, if he chooses to ignore the stairs and part of my attention is otherwise occupied, Riley-bean has taken the liberty of getting into some things that aren’t his and making a few messes.

Those first two I was completely aware of, as they were happening practically right at my feet. He actually has gotten into my shoes and my purse a number of times, and I let him since it’s an easy thing to pick up and it occupies him for a decent stretch. However, he did not have my permission to empty out his wipes container onto the floor of his bedroom one afternoon.

All of the blame lies squarely on my shoulders, and I fully accept it. I was focused solely on editing a photo project on my computer (more on that soon!), and although I knew he was in his room, I only noticed the silence after he had been quiet for a couple of minutes. I walked in, found the mess, and immediately dashed back to my room to grab my camera.

As messes go, Riley really hasn’t created any big ones. Yet. I know they’re just around the corner. Another blogger mom says she makes sure to document every mess her son makes before cleaning it up, just so she’ll be able to look back at it one day and laugh.

I hope I retain the wherewithal to do just that when Riley has colored the walls with crayon or dumped flour out all over the kitchen floor or some other such nonsense.

Because I have a feeling he is going to be trouble with a capital T in no time.

Winter Bubbles

I’ve said it before, but January 2012 is really proving my point. Winter weather in Louisiana is exceptionally unpredictable. One day Riley is bundled up in a long-sleeved shirt, sweater, coat and hat…..

…..and the next, the hat and coat aren’t needed.

 

(How cute are those shoes, by the way?)

No matter the temperature, though, Riley-bean loves being outside. And, one afternoon last weekend, Kenny decided to break out the bubbles to entertain his boy.

Even though he had seen bubbles before, Riley was mesmerized at first and seemed almost frozen in place…..

…..but it didn’t take him long to try to stomp on the bubbles as they landed on the ground. Typical.

Then he tried to reach out and grab the bubbles as Kenny was blowing them. And, I just have to say, thank goodness Nopsi has a really nice camera. These shots he captured are amazing.

Ah, to be a toddler again and see the world through fresh, innocent eyes.

Then again, at 32, I still think bubbles are magical.

Retro Riley

Nopsi brought back a carload of stuff from Houston last weekend and thus needed to make some space in his closet. He was forced to clean out a multitude of old items that had been collecting dust on his closet shelves for years.

Boy, were there some gems in the pile, let me tell you. Old Mardi Gras costumes, two huge plastic knives, a stuffed duck that screams out “Aflac!” when squeezed, a kind-of-neat vintage model car (that has apparently been passed on to my husband), and a deranged-looking gorilla that dances to the Macarena song. (It’s okay to be jealous of that last one. It was quite a find.)

There was also this:

My original Rocky! I immediately rescued him from among the junk, and he is now safely ensconced in the boy’s crib with the rest of his menagerie.

 

And Riley already knows his name. Be still my heart.

But then there were these three special pieces:

A straight-from-the-80s retro sweatband and wristband set that Nopsi used to wear. Nice.

I’m shocked that Riley left it all on for as long as he did. He toddled around the kitchen, pushed his favorite truck around the den, and even sat in his highchair with his milk for a little bit before he had had enough.

I would have removed the bands before he got too into his lunch, though, even if he hadn’t tired of them.

We wouldn’t have wanted them to get messed up beyond repair, now, would we?

I should think not.