Ten Things

1. Showing off his Lego truck collection. He’s so proud of it.

2. We went for a walk to the levee a couple of weekends ago, and Rory and I spent a nice few minutes sitting on the rocks watching the water. Kenny and Riley were walking on the rocks a ways down from us. I turned around to look at a plane taking off right over our heads, and when I looked back a big wave smacked Rory and I right in our faces. You can see my shocked expression, and, if you look closely, you can see water dripping from my fingers. We both got soaked, Rory cried, and I was flabbergasted. If only Kenny had snapped the pic a second earlier!

We were much happier when we got home and changed into dry clothes.

3. A new way to watch tv. Crazy fries.

4. I hadn’t sat Rory in my lap like this for a very long time, and I just happened to snap a picture when his eyes were closed, even though he wasn’t sleeping.

What a difference fourteen months make, huh?

 

5. Wonk potatoes being wonky before bed and crazy fries with crazy morning hair.

6. My little smoothie stealer.

7. We had some friends over for the LSU game two weekends ago (UGH.), including Claire and her family. Josh and Amy also came, so I finally got to meet Murphy. He is so cute.

I love these two together. They are so cute.

8. Post-bath happiness!

 

9. He found a new friend in his brother’s room.

10. Riley being silly with Kate and the two brothers having fun playing in their fort that Daddy made for them.

Couch Potatoes, a Bit of Sickness, and a Visit to Dr. N

Two Sundays ago, Riley was watching tv on the couch when Rory decided to climb up too. He looked very proud of himself after he had settled right next to his big brother.

However, the little one has a problem with sitting still. That is, he doesn’t do so for very long. So I wasn’t surprised when I looked over and saw him rolling all over his brother. Don’t you love Riley’s expression?

But my heart melted when I saw this. Sweet boys.

Riley actually came down with a fairly high fever the night before, and he still wasn’t feeling his best. However, this was the day we went to the aquarium. Might not have been our finest parenting decision, but it wasn’t like he was throwing up or anything. He napped really well in the afternoon, but it was obvious he just wasn’t feeling great.

Fast forward to the next day. Riley still had a slight fever on Sunday evening, so I kept him home from school on Monday. He was racing around with his dinosaur monster truck while I was getting dinner ready when he faceplanted into the dining room floor, giving himself a fat and busted lip. It bled a lot and he cried hard for a while, but he’s tough. Talk about add insult to injury, though. (Or is it the other way around in this case?)

Luckily, our next round of regular check-ups with Dr. N were scheduled for Tuesday morning. Riley hadn’t had fever for about 24 hours by the time we saw her. She said it was just a little cough and cold, not to worry, and to send him to school. Done.

In fact, both boys checked out just fine. Riley weighed 40 pounds (79%) and stood 43 inches tall (93%). His blood pressure was normal (98/56), as was his temp. Rory weighed 26.15 pounds (81%) and stood 31 inches tall (7%)*, with a head circumference of 19.5 inches (94%). They don’t measure his blood pressure yet, but his temp was also normal.

*I actually think he’s taller than that, but he was screaming when the nurse tried to measure him, so I guess she was going for speed, not accuracy.

They both had to get shots: Rory got one, and Riley got two. Rory understandably cried, but Riley didn’t even make a sad face when he was pricked in his arm or in his leg. I was so proud of him. Told you he was tough.

Two days after seeing Dr. N, Rory developed a high fever (102.4). I guess all of that brotherly closeness on the couch the weekend before wasn’t the best idea. He had a couple of off days but is feeling much better now.

I suppose I had better get used to having sick kids at this time of year. It always seems to happen at the beginning of school, when Riley is exposed to all sorts of fun germs from being in close contact with so many other kids. Remember last year when he was sick on his birthday?

Maybe I’ll call it “Sudden Start of School Sickness.” Giving it a name and knowing it’s inevitable might not make it so bad to deal with, right?

Sunday at the Aquarium

Whenever we don’t have any specific plans on a weekend, Kenny and I rejoice. But then we realize that we still have to entertain the boys some kind of way. We can never figure out what to do at a reasonable hour, and that’s how we found ourselves on the way down to the aquarium at 10:30am last Sunday.

The Saints game that day was at home. At noon. There was traffic.

After parking in the garage with the “curly ramp” (Riley’s request), we finally walked into the aquarium a little after 11. And sure enough, 10 minutes into our visit, Riley started whining that he was hungry. But we powered through and spent about an hour walking around and looking at the fish.

It helped that we spent a good amount of time in the “play area” (as Riley calls it), the Geaux Fish exhibit. Both of the boys, and the two of us as well, had fun with a new interactive feature projected onto the floor. It shows a school of fish swimming and when you step into their path, they change direction to go around your feet. Very cool.

 

However, the neatest part about the timing of our visit was that Riley got to touch a snake. A really big snake: a red-tailed boa named Basil. Brought me right back to my days of doing Creature Features when I used to work at the aquarium!

 

When we made it down to the Gulf of Mexico exhibit (my favorite), Riley declared he was done. This outing had been his request, but he was ready to go back to playing with his Lego trucks.

I swear, sometimes it’s just easier to risk the boredom and stay home.

Oh, and a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Nopsi today….we love you!