Napkins and Egg Nog and Jumping... Oh My!

Maybe this is just a particularly fun age, but I feel like I could write a novel about the funny things Riley does every day.

For example, he is learning how to "jump". So anytime you ask him to "jump", he will crouch down as low as he can possibly go and then stand straight up with flair. Not even a centimeter of air makes it under his feet, but he still claps and smiles like he is the best jumper that has ever lived.

Or yesterday, before we left the house for dinner, Daddy insisted that Riley pick up the toys he'd been playing with (numbered and colored little pieces you put together to make a full bug). After we returned from dinner and were hanging out in the family room, Riley spotted a bug's head under the couch. He picked it up, walked into his bedroom, retrieved the container the bugs were stored in, brought it to Casey to open for him, placed the bug's head in the container, put the lid back on and carried the container back to his room and put it in the exact spot on his bookshelf where it had been. Then he came back into the living room where Casey and I were sitting and started clapping.

Or last night, when Casey and I were drinking egg nog and Riley asked me for a sip of mine (I promise there was no alcohol in it). Thinking he would hate it, I consented. He took a sip, walked away, continued playing with his toys and then came back and said "Pees" (translation: "Please"). So I gave him more. He walked away, played some more, came back for "Mo Pees" and continued this cycle at least 5 times. I think I got about 2 sips of the egg nog.

Then there was dinner at Mario's last night when he decided to make even Emily Post proud. He found a napkin on the table, picked it up, and immediately dabbed at his face (apparently he was tired of having pizza sauce all over it). Every time he had a bite, he would repeat this process (obviously delighted at our response). Finally, his napkin was kind of grossing me out, so I got another from the napkin holder on our table and gave it to him. He immediately dabbed at his face then crumbled the napkin up in a ball and asked for another one. Repeat process after each bite. I think a whole tree sacrified its life for the sake of learning table manners.

Finally, there was yesterday morning just after Riley had woken up. After eating his typical first-thing-in-the-morning banana, he walked into the kitchen, positioned himself under the cabinet where we store the cereal and pointed. Casey picked each box of cereal out of the cabinet one by one, and Riley shook his head "no" for each. When we ran out of cereal boxes, Casey picked up the box of pancake mix. Riley immediately got excited and had a death grip on the box... pretty much until Casey safely returned from the grocery store after buying the eggs necessary to make the pancakes. Seriously, how many kids are lucky enough to have a daddy like that?

Time Flies!

I am not sure how so much time can pass so quickly. I guess that is life with an 18-month-old little boy. Yes, I said 18 months...

Here it is the first week of December. Christmas is only a few weeks away. I wish I could say that I have it all together - that the Christmas cards are done and sent, that the presents have all been purchased, that the decorations are up and that we are at home each night quietly enjoying the holiday season. But it is not to be.

Fall comes upon us so quickly. It seems like the pool just closed and we just returned from our week in Maine. Halloween crept in and we spent the weeks leading up to it getting excited for our trip to Florida and Riley's first "real" Halloween. The actual holiday weekend flew by between enjoying time with Casey's parents and spending quality time at the pool. We came back only to find ourselves counting the seconds until we left for Thanksgiving in Harbour Island, Bahamas. Thrown in there, we had a health scare with Winston that ended with a trip to the emergency room and much worrying and tears as we thought we were taking him there to put him to sleep, only to find that there was nothing seemingly wrong with him (except for a sensitive stomach and arthritis from his knee surgeries). Winston recovered in time for Wrigley to have a health scare of her own. Not as dramatic, but still, she didn't eat for days and didn't even want to play ball much, both bad signs for her. They both recovered in time for our Thanksgiving travels and spent time "recovering" at the home of their favorite friends. Harbour Island was as amazing as we'd imagined it to be, and the week was over before it even began. We were sad to return home, only to realize that it meant we would be in Chicago celebrating Christmas in the City and then with my family soon enough to make our return from our time with Casey's family tolerable. And then we return from Chicago only to turn around and head back to Florida a few days later to spend New Year's with Casey's parents.

Phew!!! No wonder why time flies. But all for good reason, and all with the many wonderful and amazing opportunities that we have been given. Thankful? Absolutely. Exhausted? Certainly. Would I change a thing (other than getting to spend more time with those people (and animals) that I care about so deeply)? Definitely not.

But still, I find myself wishing that I could turn back time.