Twenty Months

Twenty months. More than halfway to being two years old. Man.

He weighs 28.6 lbs and stands about 34 inches tall. He’s still in size 5 diapers (size 6 for overnight) and wears clothes ranging from 24 months to 2T.

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

• He tried a few new foods this month: crawfish, cinnamon roll, pretzel, kiwi, crab (including soft shell), crouton, cabbage, red onion. I also gave him small sips of white wine and coffee. He didn’t make a face at either. He also started calling his milk “squishy milk” because of the soft spouts on his sippies.
• His vocabulary continues to increase and he is enunciating better with every passing day. Some of the new phrases he says are “juicy-juice,” “milky-milk,” “don’t want it,” “no sir,” “no whining,” “don’t you dare,” (he picked up on those last three from me), “light on/off,” “shoes on/off,” “close the door,” “pay for it.” He also says, “Trash? Throw away?” and “Mess? Clean it up?” And he is doing well with saying “please” and “thank you” correctly but when prompted. However, he says “siss-ah” when he doesn’t know the answer to a question or what something is.
• He knows the difference between on/off, open/closed, big/little, and up/down. 
• He is referring to himself in the third person.
• He knows just about every character on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, as well as “mouseketools” and “hot dog dance.” He asks for the show every day, so I have a stockpile of episodes on our DVR.
• He’s learning to distinguish shapes, especially circles and triangles.
• He has started telling us when he’s pooping and that he needs clean pants. We have started putting him on the toilet before his bath but he doesn’t like to stay there for very long.
• He’s taking more of an interest in his longer books. His patience is really growing; he no longer wants to flip through the pages quickly but instead will let me actually read all of the words on each page, even if there are a lot.
• He is really testing his limits these days: throwing things onto the floor (especially from his highchair), climbing up onto coffee table, putting things into the toilet, etc. Fun times.
• He LOVES to rock-rock and asks to do so all throughout the day. He even delays being put in his crib for a nap or for the night by asking to “rock-rock more.” He also asks to rock-rock his toys or anything interesting he spies. From his carseat: “Biiiig truck! Yellow truck. Go see it? Kiss it? Rock-rock it?” Crazy kid.

Twenty months old!

Tall Ships

Ten impressive tall ships and modern warships arrived in New Orleans last weekend to help commemorate the bicentennial of the War of 1812. The ships were moored along the riverfront, and Riley and I joined Nola and Nopsi on a little field trip to go see them last Sunday.

We started out with lunch at Felipe’s (love that place), then we walked over to where the ships (and the crowds) were.

 

It was an absolutely glorious day, and the four of us had a great time out in the fresh air and bright sunshine.

Riley, of course, immediately honed in on two leaves, that he then proceeded to carry around with him the rest of the day.

 

He seemed to enjoy seeing the ships, but all he really cared about was being outside, Outside, OUTSIDE!

Once again, it’s going to be a long summer.

Sunglasses

Until very recently, Riley would immediately rip off any type of sun shading device I would attempt to put somewhere on his head. He preferred to squint through his wagon rides instead of being a cool dude.

I’m not sure what happened to change his mind (oh right, he’s a toddler), but now he actually requests to wear his shades: “Bright outside? Glun-glasses on!”

He also definitely knows that he is a cool dude when he wears his sunglasses.

We were getting ready to leave the house the other day, and our conversation went a little something like this:

Riley: “Mama sunglasses?”

Me: “Yep, I’m going to put mine on, buddy.”

Riley: “Lyley sunglasses?”

Me: “Yeah, you can wears yours, too. It’s bright outside.”

Riley: “Cool dude.”

Me: “You sure are, bud.”

Riley: (notices my sunglasses) “Mama cool dude!”

Me: (laughs) “Crazy kid.”

Video Wednesday: Airplane

One of Riley’s latest tricks often occurs when he is in his highchair for a meal. He will inevitably pick up a piece of whatever he is eating and pretend it’s an airplane.

The first time he did it, I about fell out of my chair.

He has also started declaring random pieces of his food to be different things such as dinosaurs, whales, or robots.

Scary smart, I’m telling you.

Happy Wednesday!

LP’s Wedding Shower{s}

I can’t believe that in less than two weeks LP and DB will finally get hitched! It seems like they got engaged just yesterday. Seriously, where does the time go?

They had two wonderful wedding showers thrown for them, and both are officially in the books. Their couples shower was way back at the beginning of March. It seems like such a long time ago, especially considering how much has happened since then!

Then on April 15 my fellow bridesmaids and I gave Lizzie her bridal shower. We all deserve pats on the back; it was one beautiful shower, if I do say so myself. Most of the credit has to go to Janessa and Ashley, though. They collaborated so well to come up with festive decorations, two fun games, and a delicious menu. Good job, girls!

Lizzie was a picture-perfect bride-to-be, and I think she was really pleased with the way the afternoon went. We had a good turnout, the food was unbelievable, and the bride went home with some mighty nice gifts.

After the last present had been opened, Lizzie looked a little shell-shocked, to say the least. I was proud to be a part of the group that made her feel as special as she truly is. Congratulations to you, LP. DB is one lucky guy!

See you at the church…..NEXT WEEKEND!

Back to the Aquarium

When Aunt E was off for her spring break a couple of weeks ago, we took Riley to the aquarium.

 

He was a totally different kid compared to the first time I took him, and it was so wonderful to watch him as he ran all over from exhibit to exhibit.

 

Aunt E commented that we probably got through the whole building faster than when she takes her first graders there on a field trip, but I didn’t mind the fast run-through. My boy was just excited, and it was fun to see.

We rounded out our visit with a trip to the outside bird enclosure, which Aunt E had never seen before. Just like last time, the birds fascinated Riley, probably because there were so many of them flying around so close to him.

The bright yellow one I had managed to coax onto my feed stick didn’t appreciate when he reached out to touch her, though.

Bye-bye, birdie.

Crabby But Cute

I found this romper in Riley’s drawer the other day. He hadn’t ever worn it before, but I decided there was no better time to pull it out and put him in it. This is practically his motto these days. I’m not kidding.

He can be SO crabby these days, but he’s still awfully cute. The cuteness doesn’t make it any easier to deal with the crabbiness, though. Don’t get me wrong: he’s ultimately a very happy little boy. But he can go from smiling to whining in the blink of an eye lately, so the only for sure times he’s completely manageable are when he’s sleeping:

  

But then there are times like this when he’s most definitely awake and he’s a happy, happy boy:

Of course those times are usually when he’s outside, but I’m trying to come to grips with this obsession of his. However, ask me how I’m doing with it come August.

Again, bleh. I may just have to suck it up, though, to avoid the crabbiness. I much prefer the smiling boy to the crabby boy.

Blue Shoes

I did it.

I broke down and bought Riley a pair of Crocs.

I’ve never really liked Crocs (Kenny neither), but I’ve seen them in various stores lately, and I’ve debated buying Riley a pair every time I see them.

I finally went for a reasonably priced blue pair I found at Target, and they look so darn cute on him. Plus, they’re so easy to slip on when he wants to go outside (which is always), and it doesn’t matter if they get wet, which is crucial.

Riley apparently thinks they’re pretty great because he asks for “blue shoes on” all the time.

And with the way he plays when he’s outside, I have a feeling I’ll be going back to Target for another pair before the summer is out.