Last Day of May

The last day of his birthday month was not a whole lot of fun as it was spent pretty much entirely in the car on the long drive home from Chicago. However, a day of forced rest probably wasn't a bad thing. We could all use it after a long and fun weekend, and an exceptionally long month.

I can't believe my little guy is 2 already. It has been fun devoting a whole month to documenting his latest conquests and hope that it has offered a little bit of insight on what makes this 2 year old such a special and amazing guy.

Memorial Day

The first day of our vacation in Chicago was rainy but great. Riley, Maddie and I celebrated our birthdays. A big group of us (my parents, Jen, Ed, Cody, Maddie, Belle, Nancy, Casey, Riley and me) went out for some mexican (Maddie's birthday meal choice). We opened presents, caught up, had some drinks, ate too much and had a wonderful birthday.

The second day of our vacation was filled with tornado warnings, debates on whether or not we should spend some time in the basement, card games, Red Sox/Tigers double header and then a glorious evening outside after the weather had passed.

The third day of our vacation (Memorial Day) was spent mostly outside. In the morning, a walk to the playground with Uncle Ed and Grandpa Jim. Later in the morning, on a big kid swing with Maddie. Right about high noon (on an extremely hot day) is when Riley grabbed Grandpa Jim by the back of the leg, said "here" and steered him towards their destination. Unfortunately, the destination was the very small plastic house in my sister's back yard. He insisted that Grandpa "sit down" in the very small space, and also decided it would be a good idea to stay in there for almost an hour while he ate his lunch and hung out with his grandpa. It was very cute and very sweet, but my poor dad had some serious issues straightening his stiff muscles back out and getting out of the house. And pretty much as soon as he did, Riley was steering him right back in.

After a solid nap, Riley's battery was recharged and we decided it was time to head to the pool for the first time this year. He seemed to love it even more than last year. He also seems much more fearless (uh oh). He also thought it was a whole lot of fun when he was in his cousin Cody's care at the pool and ran back and forth down the side of the pool while Cody swam like mad to keep up with him. Not sure who was more exhausted by the end of the day.

I am leaving many parts of the weekend out, as he had precious moments with my mom, my sister, Nancy, David, Casey and me too, but I will have to save those for another day.

All in all, a wonderful Memorial Day and we were so thankful to be able to spend it with my family. It is always sad to leave, and the long drive home doesn't make it any easier.

Fun Times with Belle

Riley thinks his cousin Isabelle is super cool. Today he learned how to play Ring Around the Rosie with her. After they would fall down, both of them would kick their legs in the air and "act like bugs". One of the cutest things I have ever seen.

In spite of being nicknamed "Monster", Isabelle is truly amazing with him. He clearly adores her.

Boo-boos

As most children his age can be, Riley is a bit uncoordinated at times, which often leads to small injuries, or "boo boos" as he calls them. I think in a prior post I talked about how I always had to kiss the boo boos and then he'd pronounce himself "all better". This has taken on a new twist -- instead of me kissing his boo boos, he now has to kiss them himself. My favorite is when he has a boo boo on his knee and feels the need to kiss it while he's standing up. Needless to say, this is difficult for anyone to execute, but particularly a clumsy two-year-old. He almost always tips over, but refuses to move on until he has kissed his boo boo. Sometimes it can take a good five minutes before he declares himself "all better" and moves on.

Sweet Voice

There may be very few things in this world cuter or more innocent sounding than a child's voice. I could sit all day and listen to Riley count. "Ooone, twoooo, tweee, fo-uh, siiiix (he always forgets five), sebeeen, eiiight, niiiine, ten." For whatever reason, he likes to draw out the vowels in all numbers except for ten, which he always finishes abruptly. Usually this is following by a lot of clapping, smiles and "Yay, Riley!!!" (all of which he does for himself -- very quick to self-congratulate).

Listening to him sing is equally as cute and hysterical. "Winkle, Winkle" (his version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star) and Issy Bissy Spidah (Itsy Bitsy Spider) are two of my favorites.

I wish I could record his two year old voice and listen to it forever.

Alice the Horse

It has become apparent within the last few weeks that Riley is starting to develop an imagination.

Case in point: Tonight Riley and Casey were in Riley's room playing with Riley's rocking horse. I overheard their conversation only enough to hear Casey ask Riley, "Horsie's name is Alex? Or are you saying Alice?"

I immediately knew the answer. Alice is the wonderfully kind lady at Riley's school who serves the children their food each day. It is clear that Riley adores her. Whenever he sees her, he gets a great big grin on his face, points to her and says "Alice".

There is nothing about the "real" Alice that resembles a horse. But still, I found it sweet that he would name his horsie after her. I also found myself wondering when it was that he figured out that real people can enter his make-believe world.

Stalling Tactics

I have always heard of children coming up with creative ways to stall. Typically I believe this occurs at bedtime. In Riley's case, dinner time was the cause. Tonight's dinner: spinach salad, cheese and bread. We knew the spinach salad was a long shot, but cheese and bread are typically mealtime favorites. Tonight (proof again that he is truly my son) all he wanted to eat was the bread and lots of it. When he asked for even more bread, I decided to draw the line and tell him that he couldn't have any more until he ate some cheese. He pitched a mini fit and then had a drink of milk (stall tactic #1). Seeming to think that we might forget about the cheese if a little time passed, he said "hug" and put an arm out in my direction and an arm out in Casey's direction. Unable to refuse giving our sweet guy a hug, a group hug ensued. Three more requests for hugs followed. Sensing our moment of weakness, he again requested bread. Being the enforcers of rules that we are, we again refused. Another request for a hug. 10 minutes later, the hugging ceased (we finally had to refuse our sweet guy since at this point we knew we were been manipulated) and we carried on with dinner. Two pieces of cheese later, Riley got his bread.

I'd say maybe we can call that a tie?

Reading Skills

This morning Riley insisted on reading his Red Sox book while I folded some laundry. He pointed out Wally and the baseball, and then all of a sudden started frantically flipping through pages clearly searching for something specific. When he found what he was looking for he said something that sounded like "Teh Wee-ums". I had no idea what he was talking about, but he kept repeating it and pointing to the picture in the book. Curious, I stopped folding and looked at what he was pointing to. Much to my surprise, the picture on the page was unmistakably Ted Williams.

Wow.

Language Lessons

As we were on our walk this morning, Casey found himself picking up after the dogs for the 2nd time within about a 10 foot stretch. Simply commenting on the misfortune of the circumstances, he muttered, "Great, now I get to pick up more crap." Perhaps not the best choice of words, but it was better than some of the alternatives.

Would not have given the situation much thought at all, except that Riley almost immediately began saying over and over and over and over "more crap". Strange that this would be one of the first multi-word "sentences" that he pronounced absolutely perfectly.

As you might imagine, Casey got many evil looks from me which were immediately followed by a lecture on when was the appropriate time to start watching what we say in front of Riley (which, apparently, was yesterday).

Nonetheless, we were both practically in hysterics as we walked behind Riley down the street as he happily bopped along saying "more crap" for a good 2-3 minutes.

Breakfast Time

The morning started out innocently enough. He got dressed for school. He said good morning to his rocking horse. He gave Winston and Wrigley a hug and a kiss. He charged into the kitchen for breakfast. And then it happened...

He pointed to the kitchen stool, said "Big boy chair" and with that made his declaration that he was no longer a baby that needed to sit in a high chair. This was not his first time sitting on the stool, but this was his first time to refuse the high chair.

I was ok with that at first. After all, he understands his limits and isn't too squirmy when sitting on the big boy chair. I know he is growing up fast and there are certain milestones that he is going to reach whether I like it or not (and let's face it, putting the big ol' high chair in storage for awhile is not the worst thing in the world). I even tried to be the bigger person by allowing himself to sit in the big boy chair relatively unsupervised while I tended to various tasks around the house.

However, when I returned to the kitchen from folding some laundry, I was unprepared for what I would discover. Riley, quietly sitting in the big boy chair blissfully content reading the newspaper (ok, it was a magazine - we are too cheap to have the newspaper delivered to our house, but still...) and eating his toast. I thought about pouring him a cup of coffee.

When did he turn 25?

Otis

Riley's most recent discovery is that he has a last name. I suspect this has a lot to do with the fact that we are often shouting "Wrigley Otis" and "Riley Otis" when one (or both) is misbehaving. Now, when he wants to get someone's attention, he will yell their full name. For example, on a recent walk, he shouted, "Re-lee Otis bah hee" (translation: "Wrigley Otis back here"). This morning, while eating his breakfast, he was apparently practicing names - Daddy Otis, Monny Otis, Winston Otis, Wrigley Otis, Riley Otis. I was so impressed that he seemed to know exactly who the members of his family were.

It was right about the time that I was high-fiving and congratulating myself on his imminent full-ride academic scholarship to one of his grandfather's fancy ivy league schools when he uttered those shameful yet unmistakable words: "Kitty Cat Otis". Not only is there not a cat in the Otis family, but cats are the sworn enemy of Winston and Wrigley.

Here's to hoping he's a lefty.

Favorite Mispronunciation

Riley's vocabulary is rapidly expanding. His pronunciation of words is also getting better and better. For the most part, I do my best to repeat the words that he's saying back to him so that he eventually learns the correct pronunciation.

There is only one word that I refuse to correct. "Monny." Monny is how he pronounces "Mommy" and I could not love it more. Something about it just seems sweeter than the correct pronunciation. "Hi Monny." "Morning Monny." "Bye bye Monny." I just love the way it sounds. I swear he will be 50 before I let him in on the secret that it is pronounced "Mommy". Every kid calls his mom, "Mommy". Not me, I'm Monny.

Corruption by Example

Today was not the best of days for me (Kelly). The stress of having so much on my plate at work, owning two houses and getting very little down time just got to me today. Leave it to Riley (and Casey) to turn things around.

Casey's story is somewhat sweet. I came home from my tennis match (one that I really didn't feel like playing) to find freshly baked chocolate chunk cookies and a sweet note from my husband on the counter. How great is he?!?

Riley's story is more comical in nature. For whatever reason, he is terrified of airplanes these days. If he hears one, he will come running from near or far to wrap himself around your legs and whine, "Airplane" over and over and over until the sound goes away or you can convince him that airplanes are not scary. (Incidentally, his fear of airplanes coincided with a local plane crash a month or so ago. He doesn't watch tv, so it's not like he would've seen the story on the news, but still, I swear it was right around the same time. But I digress.)

In an attempt to distract Riley from yet another fly-over, Casey decided it would be a good idea to show him how to throw food (a piece of banana) into the air and catch it in his mouth. After all, what a cool trick, right? The distraction worked and Riley was delighted by his daddy's skills. Everyone moved on to more entertaining things like some people walking past on the other side of the street. About 5-10 minutes later, as Riley continued eating his banana, he pulled about 1/2 of it out of the banana peel. Before we even knew what was happening, he tossed the 1/2 banana in the air and tried to catch it in his mouth.

Now, we know you are not supposed to laugh at things your kids do that you do not want repeated, but we just could not hold it in this time. I cannot remember the last time I have seen something so simply funny.

I think it was yesterday that I said, "What will he think of next?" I'm afraid to even ask this time.

Say Cheese!

I guess it was inevitable. After all, Riley has been the subject of an awful lot of photos in his 2 years. But still, I was unprepared for the sequence of events this morning. He woke up fiesty (in a good way) and in an exceptionally good mood. I first discovered that he was awake because I heard him in his room practicing his A-B-C's (seriously could not have been any more precious). After listening to him for awhile, I heard him talking about his horse. First "horsie" then "rock rock rock" (obviously he has a rocking horse). When I entered his room, he immediately pointed at said horse and just had to go over and pet him and give him a kiss before getting dressed. Still clearly on a mission after he was dressed, he again insisted on going over to horsie. This time, he climbed on and then unmistakeably said, "pitter". After he repeated this a few times, I realized he was commanding me to take a picture of him riding his horse.

My iPhone is not great at photos of moving targets, but here he is.



After he was satisfied that he was done with his photo shoot, he then barked out "Sit dow" (sit down) and pointed at the floor of his bedroom. He proceeded to sit on my lap, grab my phone, and rifle through the ever-expanding collection of Riley photos on my phone.

What will he think of next?!?

Driving Mr. Riley - Daddy's Turn

Today Casey got out of work a little bit early after meeting with a client. He took the opportunity to pick Riley up from school (something that is normally my responsibility). I received a phone call shortly thereafter to inform me that not only had Riley climbed into the car by himself, but that he had climbed into his car seat all by himself. Casey says it was amazing to watch, but both of us felt a little sad. He is growing up so fast -- pretty soon he won't need us at all. But still, it also makes us proud to think that he is becoming so capable and that he wants to do things on his own.

As an aside: I had had a truly awful day at work today, and when I pulled into the driveway tonight, Casey, Riley, Winston and Wrigley were all sitting on the steps leading to our walkway (I cannot tell you how much it brightens my day to turn onto our street and see them out there waiting for me). When they saw me, the dogs immediately came running and jumped up on the side of my car. Riley grinned from ear to ear, started squealing and ran towards me. Although I know it was mostly because he likes to sit in my lap and honk the horn, turn on the radio, push buttons in the car, etc. as we "drive" up the driveway, I do believe there was a small part of him that also was genuinely excited to see his mommy. Even after a day like today, I couldn't help but feel blessed.

Words

As predicted earlier on this blog, the sound of silence is becoming a rarity. For now, however, it is just so much fun listening to Riley learn words. Now when he is curious about something he is unfamiliar with, he will point to it and say, "This?" As in, what's this? Once you tell him what the item is, he will attempt to repeat it. On of my favorites to date is helicopter "el-i-cock-ah". Motorcycles and bikes are both "bi-kick-cle". Winston is "Win-ton" and Wrigley is "ree-lee". If the doorbell rings, he says, "Juana" (the name of our cleaning lady), most likely because she is the only one that ever rings the bell. "Alligator" is always accompanied by clapping his hands (Gator chomp), "music" always includes a little sway of the shoulders back and forth.

He also likes to label things. "Hannah's house" when we walk past his little friend Hannah's house. "Charlie's house" where Charlie the dog lives. "Jamie's mommy" when he sees our 75 year old neighbor (who is the mom of our 40 year old across the street neighbor, Jamie - who he loves). "Jamie's truck" when he sees a car pull into the driveway across the street. "Riley's cup". "Daddy's drink" (when spotting any beer bottle - I wonder if this is a bad sign?). "Mommy's" (when spotting a bottle of wine at the grocery store).

It is amazing to hear him try new words each day and to listen to him trying to talk to other people.

And just about the time that I cannot feel any prouder of him and think he could not get any sweeter, he talks back. Thank goodness for reality.

Story Time

So much has changed about our schedules recently since we spend much of our time either keeping our current house clean or trying to make the new house habitable. Bedtimes have been delayed, meals are rarely homemade, naps are interrupted by unexpected showings, favorite toys are stored away. The one constant is story time with Daddy. Riley loves this time of day (and Daddy does too). Often it involves Casey reading stories to Riley and Riley either running around the room or crawling all over the dogs or sitting on a completely separate couch. But still, I know he is paying attention and that he loves this special time with his daddy. On a rare night, he will actually look at the pages of the book while Casey is reading and will contribute sounds ("moo") or words ("boat") or squeals of laughter ("and the BEAR WANTS MORE"). Story time rarely involves me, except when I am commanded to "sit" on the other couch and listen, but it still is one of my favorite times of day. Watching my two incredible boys together can always make even the longest, hardest days end on a good note.

Sleep

Riley has always been an excellent sleeper. He has never really pitched a fit at bedtime (although he has been known to stall occasionally), usually gives us at least 12 hours at night, and is generally pretty happy when it's time for night-night. Until recently. I don't know if he just isn't tired (unlikely given the amount of time he spends on the go), or if he's afraid he's going to miss out on something or what, but about a month ago, he started screaming each and every time we put him to bed. We tried putting him to bed earlier (maybe he was overly tired), putting him to bed later (maybe he was getting too much sleep and was trying to tell us to extend his bedtime), rubbing his back (so spoiled)... anything to make the process easier.

One day it finally occurred to me that maybe he thought we were having tons of fun after he went to bed (little does he know that all 4 of us almost immediately run to our own bed because he has exhausted us so much!!!), so I tried explaining to him that the rest of us were going night night too. I had Casey go get into bed and pretend that he was sleeping and then after I put Riley into his pajamas and brushed his teeth, I told him we had to be really quiet so we could go see that daddy and the doggies had already gone night night. He was surprised and delighted to see Casey "asleep" and told me to "shhh" and put his pointer finger up to his lips. We quietly left the room and Riley went to sleep without incident. Now all I have to do is talk to him in a soft voice and say "shhhhh" when I am getting him ready for bed and putting him in his crib. He says "night night Mommy" and lays down without protest.

Is it bad that I feel victorious for tricking a 2 year old?

Something in Common

Winston has always enjoyed sitting on the steps on our front porch. He and I have spent countless hours out there watching the world go by. The steps have now become a favorite resting spot for Riley as well. He will often walk out the front door, sit down on the steps, point to the spot next to him and command you to "sit".

Here are a few pictures of my two boys sitting together on one of their favorite spots. I am really going to miss that front porch when we move.

Icky

About a month ago, as we were on a weekend walk, Riley was walking behind his stroller (he is way too cool to actually ride in his stroller most of the time these days) and pulled a plastic bag out of one of the stroller's many pockets. He proceeded to take the plastic bag, walk over to the grass, bend down and use the bag to touch the ground.

At first we looked at him a bit perplexed. After a few seconds it dawned on us what he was doing. In almost perfect form, he was mimicking Casey as he picks up after the dogs on our walks. Fortunately, we were able to take that moment to explain to him that dog poop is "icky" and that it is not to be touched.

Nonetheless, he continues to be fascinated by this. Since our house is on the market, we end up spending a fair amount of time in the yard picking up after the dogs. This has become one of Riley's favorite outdoor activities. He is a very good "spotter" and will walk over to a certain spot in the yard and repeat "icky" over and over (and over and over) until you pick it up.

A delicate topic, but one that is so hilarious (and adorable) that I felt it was worth an honorable mention.

Rainy Day

The first thing Riley said to me this morning was "rain". It is, in fact, a rainy day. Unlike me, Riley was very excited about this because rain means puddles and puddles mean splashing and stomping. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy playing in puddles with Riley as much as he does, but not on work days when I'm in heels. No matter, he was excited and he was determined to make the most of the rainy day. When I asked him to go put his rain coat on, he ran to his closet and pointed not to his coat, but to his matching rain boots (which, mind you, are WAY too big). He insisted on wearing the boots along with the coat. Here's a picture of my excited little man in his rain gear.



When he arrived in his classroom at school (after much puddling stomping), he was like a celebrity. All his little friends made a big circle around him and pointed at and touched his boots. I have a feeling they are going to become a staple of his wardrobe.

Spiders

So, these days every single bug that Riley sees is an "itsy bitsy spider" (pronounced "issy bissy spier"). Never just a spider or an ant or a fly or any other type of bug. Always "issy bissy spier". The bug could be 2 feet long and it would still be "issy bissy". Nonetheless, it is still hilariously funny to hear him talk about it. This morning as I was changing his diaper and getting him ready for school, he started talking about the "issy bissy spier" and was having the "spider" crawl up his arm. Before too long, the "spider" was crawling in mommy's hair. Somehow this was the funniest thing that has ever happened, which is probably because I had to act terrified each and every time the "spider" was crawling in my hair. The squeals of laughter were enough to make even this Monday morning a good one.

Mother's Day

There are many times when I end the day particularly exhausted and I think to myself, "My mom is so lucky that she didn't have so many things going on when I was a kid." She never looked exhausted, she never complained, she never got to be sick, she was just simply always a loving, caring mom.

I think, "Well, she didn't work full time." She did.

"Well, she didn't volunteer." She did. A lot.

"Well, she didn't come home from work and have to make dinner and keep the house clean." She did.

"Well, she didn't have to tote us all around creation to our many activities." Of course she did.

"Well, she didn't stay up half the night worrying about us and our well-being." She did.

"Well, she didn't often feel like she had to try hard to maintain friendships that were worth keeping, but hard to squeeze in to her daily life." She always had friends around.

"Well, she certainly didn't spend the few hours per day that she had with us simultaneously trying to discipline us, make us feel important and make us feel loved." Really, she didn't? Of course she did.

"Well, she didn't give up pieces of herself so that there would be more time with us." Are you sure? Didn't she want to be a teacher in her other life?

I often get caught up in how many things I have going on and how many sacrifices I think I make that go unnoticed or unappreciated all for the sake of being a good mom to Riley (and even the dogs). But when I truly think about it, they are not sacrifices at all. They are blessings. And I learned this from my own mom who was the best example I could ever ask for.

I hope someday when Riley is older and reflects on his memories from childhood, he will think of how I taught him to blow his nose "so loudly that Daddy can hear it at work" and how I could "kiss it and make it better" and how he had to "work" by doing chores to earn the things he wanted (like hockey school) and how I used to make brownies for him and his friends just slightly gooey so that they could all eat them directly out of the pan with spoons and how our house was always the one at which everyone wanted to hang out.

I am so thankful to be a mom and so thankful to have a great one of my own.

Working Man

The new house needs a LOT of work done. I cannot even stress how much. Our short list: removing not one, but two, layers of wallpaper from at least 5 rooms; washing walls; scraping peeling paint and then repainting each and every room (who knew there was such an ugly shade of green) - walls, ceilings and trim; resurfacing the wood floors. These are what we have deemed "do it ourselves" projects, unlike the kitchen that hasn't been updated since at least the 70s and needs to be completely remodeled or the unfinished basement. Since the house is new to us, we have a lot of enthusiasm about our projects and want to spend our time on the weekends working.

Today was weekend day #1 since we purchased the house. And of course Riley (and the dogs) have to be with us at the new house while we are working on it. I was convinced that this was going to be a disaster. After all, it is extremely difficult to keep a 2 year old occupied for any length of time. As it turns out, Riley is a natural. He loves the roller, the scraper, anything which allows him to mimic what Casey and I are doing. His favorite thing, however, is the broom. He has "swept" every room in the house by now, I am certain. The broom can entertain him for very long stretches of time. When he gets bored, the empty cabinets are the source of much amusement.

I can't say that the progress we've made on the house has been monumental so far, and I'm sure at some point we'll get sick and tired of spending all of our "free" time working, but for now, it is really fun working on this house together. And when it is done and we can see what we can only call "potential" right now, there is a very large part of me that thinks it will be pretty amazing to look at our dining room and know that Riley helped paint it. I think I will forever have etched in my memory the sight of Casey standing on the ladder and Riley standing on the floor below him, both of them with rollers in hand, Riley trying so hard to be just like his daddy and looking just like a miniature version of him.

Hiring someone to do this would certainly be easier, but the memories we will make doing the things which we are (somewhat) capable of doing ourselves are irreplaceable.

Coffee and Muffins

In honor of Mother's Day, Riley's school had some coffee and muffins waiting for us when we arrived to drop the children off at school today. Riley was so excited to see the food when we entered the door and immediately grabbed a few muffins. He then pointed at the coffee and said, "Mommy coffee" and insisted that I get some to drink. He took his muffins over to a tiny little table with tiny little chairs, and we proceeded to have a very sweet Mother's Day breakfast together. As we sat together, each of us in one of those tiny little chairs, I watched (really watched) him as I so rarely take the time to do. And I was so proud to see the little boy that he has become. Simultaneously sweet and energetic. Always taking the time to give the dogs an extra kiss goodbye in the morning and to give his little friends at school a hug before he leaves. Giving high fives and knuckles to the wait staff at the Club. Smiling and saying hi to neighbors as they walk past our house. Flirting with little girls and older women (which, thanks to his father, is sometimes accompanied with an exuberant "Hi ladies"). Reading books. Saying "sorry" (pronounced "saw wee") when he knows he's done something wrong and following it up with a hug or kiss, as if he might actually understand what it means to be sorry.

It strikes me at times like this that maybe we have done something right as parents, but then I wonder if he's just a sweet little guy at heart. Either way, I am proud to be Riley's mommy.

Short

This entry will be short, but so is the subject matter. It has been quite warm here for the past week and Riley has been wearing shorts to school every day. This morning we woke up to cooler weather and some rain and it was time to bring the jeans back out. Much to my horror, the pair that I put on him had shrunk considerably in the wash. Or so I thought until the second and then third pair (which had not been washed recently) also were a good inch and a half too short as well. So I grabbed a pair of 2T jeans that had been much too long a few weeks ago when I tried them on him only to find that they were not too long at all now.

I wonder who growing pains hurt more -- the children whose bodies are stretching or the parents who are suddenly startled to realize that their little baby has grown into a little boy literally overnight.

Riley's friend Wally

I cannot remember if I have posted about this in the past, but Riley has a mobile with a bunch of Wallys (Boston Red Sox mascot) and a baseball hanging from the ceiling fan over his crib. He has loved Wally from the minute his eyes could see far enough to notice him. (I have some adorable pictures of him smiling and reaching towards Wally from when he was an infant.) Well, now he has begun to understand that Wally has a particular song that goes along with him. Each morning he will point to Wally and say "Wally's song". At which point you absolutely MUST sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" on repeat until he (or you) grows tired of it. It was during one of these delightful renditions of the song that we discovered that Riley understood what "1-2-3" meant. Turns out that he can count to 10 (although it often takes some prodding). Who knew?!?

We also discovered that they must work on their ABCs at school too. When we first started singing the alphabet song to him at home, he could usually repeat it up to c or d. About a week later when I was singing it to him again to distract him long enough to change his diaper, he made it to h. Then he'd say a few unintelligable things and come to "elmo p", which I'm pretty sure is l m n o p. A few weeks later and he can make it through the whole alphabet (well, at least on some days). It's amazing how quickly they seem to be able to learn at this age.

Guess it's time to really pay attention to what we are saying in front of him.

Bittersweet

Today marks a very important day in the life of the Otis family. Today we closed on the purchase of a new house. We are extremely excited on the one hand (after all, it's a really neat old home in Buena Vista, a neighborhood which we have always aspired to live in), but on the other, we are very sad to be leaving our current house and street and neighborhood (Ardmore) and park (Miller Park) and all of the amazing and kind and fun and thoughtful neighbors that we have met over the 8 and 1/2 years that we've lived here. I doubt there could ever be a better street than Elizabeth Avenue. In fact, just last week while Riley, the dogs and I were walking back from the park, we encountered a film crew preparing to film a commercial on our street because they felt that it was a perfect example of an "All American" street. It is.

But the new house and street and neighborhood are going to be wonderful as well. After the papers were all signed, the deed was recorded and the house became officially ours, Casey and I left the office and went in different directions. Casey went to the grocery store to pick up a bottle of champagne and then home to pick up the dogs. I went to pick up Riley from school. We all arrived at the new house at essentially the same time and explored together. The dogs were delighted to find a golden retriever and yellow lab next door. Riley was excited to have a house with absolutely nothing in it so he could run back and forth from wall to wall for about 10 minutes straight without anything interrupting his progress. Casey opened the bottle of champagne (he even had the foresight to place in an ice bucket with a bunch of ice and bring two champagne flutes - wow, I love this man), poured a glass for each of us and then all three of us "cheersed" -- Riley with his plastic cup full of water and Casey and I with our champagne.

Eventually we wandered outside to check out the yard and it was there that we encountered our first group of new neighbors. I immediately felt we had made the right decision when we discovered that the next door neighbors have three little boys under the age of 5 who Riley promptly abandoned us for. The sounds of their little squeals while running around the yard was a perfect way to end the very long process of buying a new home.

Driving Mr. Riley

Driving Riley to school has become one of my favorite times of day. There is no shortness of entertainment. After he is buckled into his seat and I am safely buckled into mine, he will point to the stereo and say "Usic" (as in "music"). When the music has been turned on, he will put his hands in the air and wave them around and clap and chair dance until he grows tired of it. Usually this is right about the time that he notices a bird. Then he tucks one little hand into his armpit and flaps his arm around and says "tweet tweet". Shortly after that, he usually spots a garbage truck, school bus, bicycle or some other delightful mode of transportation as we are still driving through our neighborhood. He is obsessed with all such items and will point to it, tell you what it is, and then either tell you that it goes "round and round" or "beep beep". He would do this all five minutes of our drive to school if we didn't happen to pass the Ronald McDonald House on the way. But we do, so he has to point out each and every morning that Ronald, in fact, is still sitting on the bench out front. "Hi Ronald" is what I hear from the backseat. (I swear I only told him once who Ronald was, but they apparently became very close friends quickly.) He continues to talk about either Ronald or the flags that we've passed until we spot another exciting vehicle -- the ambulance. There is a parking lot full of them on our way to school, and he shouts "am-boo-lance" from the backseat before he can even see them. He then proceeds to tell me how they say "whe ooo". Luckily, we come across a stop light shortly thereafter and then he repeats "light" over and over and over until we arrive at school.

I suspect there will be a day when I find his constant chatter and enthusiasm from the back seat a bit irritating, but for now, I couldn't think of a better way to spend 5 minutes in the car.

May has arrived!

I feel like I blinked and all of a sudden May has arrived again. It has been an interesting spring to say the least, and with all of the business and exhaustion, this blog has been one of the things I had to let slide. It strikes me, however, that documenting our doings for future reflections on days gone by is one of the things I most enjoy doing and it's a pity that I have let it go because I have been "too busy" with work and worrying about other things I cannot control.

So, as I did last year, in honor of Riley's birthday month, it is my intention to write an entry for every single day of the month leading up to my little man's second birthday. Some may be short, others may be long, but all of them will hopefully showcase the little guy he's becoming -- so full of life and energy and personality.

With the exception of when he is sleeping, there really are not many moments that Riley is truly still. Unfortunately, some days he can still be a bit clumsy and falls and scrapes and bumps are a common occurrence in his life. Unless it is hurts a lot or is very scary for some reason, he rarely cries after a tumble or bump. And as much as I hate that he hurts himself in even some minor way, I have to say that I find these "injuries" to be the source of much sweetness and hilarity to me. Pretty much each and every time he finds himself with an "injury", after he has recovered from fright of it all, he will point to the injured limb or head and say, "Mommy kiss." After I kiss the spot (and believe me, he lets me know if I have kissed the wrong place), he will point at the offending object or surface, wag his finger at it, and say "Bad boy" to it. The things he comes up with...