Stairs

I remember when all Riley wanted to do was climb up and down the stairs in Nola’s house.

When he would inevitably escape my attempt to corral him in the living room and head straight for the hallway.

When he could only crawl up each step, not walk.

When he could only slide down on his belly, not hold the handrail and walk.

He still likes the stairs, even though he doesn’t spend quite as much time on them as he used to.

Usually he’s already halfway up and calling to me that he wants to “play upstairs, play upstairs” before I even realize where he went.

Please stop growing up, my Riley-bean.

Before I know it, you’ll be sliding down the banister and leaping up those stairs two at a time.

And I am so not ready for that.

Road Trip to Daphne

Last Friday Bridget and I piled ourselves and our three kids into my car and headed to Daphne, AL to visit our friends Michelle and David. They had their second son, Alden, at the end of May, and neither of us had met him yet. We would have to wait just a bit longer, though, as we decided to first take the older kids to a small splash area while David stayed home with Alden.

 

Once the four kids were sufficiently worn out (and hungry), we picked up Chick-fil-A for lunch and headed back to Michelle’s house for the rest of the afternoon. The kids had a great time playing with all of Jackson’s toys (Riley especially….I’m not sure he would have noticed if we had left without him), while Bridget and I loved on sweet baby Alden and caught up with Miche and David.

 

It was such a nice afternoon just hanging out with friends we don’t see often enough. And, as always, the time to leave came way too fast. So we got all five kiddos onto the sofa for a group pic (much to Riley’s dismay: I had to physically remove him from Jackson’s room) and then said our goodbyes.

Thanks so much, Michelle and David, for letting us come visit. It was so wonderful to see your newly expanded family. Alden is adorable, and we can’t wait to see y’all again sometime soon!

Video Monday: Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Most nights, Kenny and I sing to Riley-bean when we each put him to bed. My go-to song is always “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” while Kenny usually sings “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”

Based on the video evidence below, it would appear that Riley pays more attention to his daddy than he does to his mama. He even added his own little special “boom-boomp” onto the end of Daddy’s song!

I apparently have some work to do.

{Oh, and the second half of the video has nothing to do with the first half but I decided not to edit it. Hope you enjoy the extra little discussion on cucumber and jicama.}

Happy Monday!

The New Coconut Beach

Although Kenny and I don’t play anymore, the volleyball team we founded back in 2005 is still going strong. The number of members may have decreased to just four players (Uncle Jeff, Aunt Lizzie, Uncle Doug, and Jay), and the location of the beach may have changed (from by the lake in New Orleans to by the lake in Kenner), but they are still having some fun out there.

Kenny and I took Riley out to the beach to watch the team play on Tuesday night. Even though it wasn’t his first time in sand, it may as well have been since I’m sure Riley doesn’t remember our beach trip last September. At first, he wasn’t quite sure what to do or how to walk or how to deal with it between his fingers. But he quickly got over his hesitation and was soon covered in sand.

 

It ended up being a fairly nice night, especially considering we’re in the middle of summer in Louisiana. I had brought along a few of Riley’s pool toys from Nola’s house, and he had a ball playing in the sand with some trucks and shovels.

We moved over to behind the team’s net once their game was close to starting. Riley got to hang with Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lizzie for a bit, and Aunt E was even there to join us on the sidelines. Riley liked burying her feet in the sand. {And throwing sand all over her lap, but we won’t talk about that. Sorry, Aunt E.}

  

Riley mostly just wanted to play in the sand, but every once in a while he caught a glimpse of the volleyball game going on right behind him and stopped to watch for a bit.

Then during a timeout, Riley decided he wanted to play. He ran to get the ball and, with Daddy’s help, went up for a spike. Score!

 

He was up way past his bedtime and loved every minute of it. He even woke up on Wednesday morning asking to “go play in the sand.”

Perhaps Riley-bean will carry on the tradition of our team at Coconut Beach 15 years from now…..

…..and maybe, just maybe, Doodlebug will be standing in the sand right next to him.

Somehow I think Uncle Jeff, Aunt E, Kenny, and I will have no problem sitting on the sidelines then, drinking a few beers and watching them play.

How fun would that be??? Let’s make that happen, Jeff!

Video Thursday: Face

First of all, I apologize for disappearing for a few days. Life around here has been pretty ordinary the past week so I really didn’t have much to report. I have to admit, though: I enjoyed my little blog vacation!

Nola and Nopsi returned from ten days in Michigan late Saturday night, and we had them over for dinner on Sunday. They arrived while the boy was having his dinner, and Riley surprised Nola with a face he’s been making lately in his highchair. Shocked, she said it looked just like one I used to make when I was little. I think I even remember seeing a picture of my original version in an old photo album of Nola’s. I’ll have to see if I can find it.

I don’t have any stills of Riley’s “face,” but Kenny did get a short video of him doing it earlier in the weekend, so please enjoy.

Happy Thursday!

First Gymnastics Class

Yesterday morning was Riley’s first gymnastics class at Ivanov’s. We arrived early, and Riley wasn’t too happy he had to wait to go play. He watched another class having fun out in the gym, and he wanted to do the same.

Once we were finally allowed out into his class area, he didn’t know what to do first! There were five minutes of free play, and then we started on the apparatus rotation. Floor was first…..

  

…..followed by bars and beam…..

 

…..and, lastly, the trampoline.

  

Not surprisingly, bouncing down the long trampoline was the kids’ favorite part, and we practically had to tear them away for their ending circle time. Luckily, little hula hoops provided a good distraction.

 

The very last thing was getting a stamp for participation in the class. Riley was fascinated with his, even though he kept calling it a sticker. The stamp was a picture of a bear with the word “straddle” down the side, and perhaps by the end of the session he’ll know how to do one!

Gymnastics is obviously much different than music class, but Riley-bean really seemed to enjoy his first go at it. He probably would have stayed and played in the gym for another hour if we had let him. Not that I blamed him; it’s a pretty cool place.

Thanks, Grandma; we can’t wait for another fun class next Thursday!