Smiles

How is that after almost an entire year, I am still amazed at how much Riley's smiles brighten my day. Every morning as I'm backing out of the driveway to take him to daycare, dreading another day at work, I catch his eye in "Panda" (his mirror) and he just grins and starts giggling and kicking his feet. Absolute BEST way to start a morning.

Civilized Morning

As the days get longer, and the morning light comes through our bedroom window sooner, I find myself able to get out of bed a little earlier and easier. This morning it was about 6:45 when I got out of bed. Riley was still sleeping, so I figured I'd attempt to have a civilized morning. I put on a pot of coffee and waited for it while I made up Riley's bottles for the day (as an aside, this month is the last month of both formula and bottles -- he graduates to milk and sippy cups on his 1st birthday at the request of his teachers). He was still asleep when the coffee was ready, so I poured myself a cup and sat down to watch a little of the Today Show (which I never get to do because we do not allow Riley to watch TV yet). I enjoyed about 10 minutes of this before Riley woke up. After he'd been changed, I set him down in his little "Riley" chair and gave him his bottle, which he drank while I folded laundry and finished my cup of coffee. I know this doesn't sound like much, but I felt like I had everything under control this morning, which doesn't happen often.

The reason this was such an usual situation is that before Friday, we did not realize that Riley was capable of drinking the bottle by himself. I'm not even sure how the topic came up, but somehow I discovered that Riley was drinking unassisted at school. Upon further questioning, I was told that not only was he drinking by himself, but that he had been doing it for over TWO MONTHS!!!!!!!!!! Little guy has totally been scamming us, acting like he needed help drinking his bottle. I'm not sure how an 11-month-old (or really a 9-month-old since it's been happening for a few months) can outsmart both of his parents, but sure enough, upon giving him the bottle and stepping away so that he knew I would not be cradling him in my arms and feeding it to him, he drank away (incidentally, it was SO cute!!!!).

I was proud, not only of the fact that he can feed himself, but truthfully for knowing that either (a) he is smarter than we give him credit for or (b) still preferred to have that special time with mommy and daddy even though he knew how to drink on his own.

I was also a bit embarrassed that we had been conned for so long.

Either way, I wonder if these "civilized" mornings will be a regular occurrence now.

Independence

Tonight we had dinner at Josh and Carrie Brown's house. A delicious dinner, and GREAT company. I was struck most, however, by the fact that while the 4 adults were eating and the 3 dogs were being unruly, sweet little Riley spent the ENTIRE dinner playing with "Chuck the Truck" and other toys. No crying, no fussing, nothing but smiles when he'd turn around from playing to look at us. Just a kid happy to play independently while his parents enjoyed a little adult conversation.

In Honor of Riley's Impending 1st Birthday...

I truly don't know how it has almost been a year already. Time just will not stand still for us, no matter how we try. I haven't been as good at updating this blog as I would've liked, but oh well. However, in honor of Riley's birthday month, it is my goal to write one thing I love about him or one thing that amazes me about him each day this month.

Today's comment:

This morning I ran a 5K in the Race for the Cure with the girls I coach for Girls on the Run. During the race, I spotted Casey, Riley and the dogs on the side of the road, waiting to cheer us on as we passed. It amazed me that out of the 12,000 +/- runners, Riley was still able to pick me out of the pack. I remember seeing his little feet in his new little sandles and thinking how lucky I was to have such a sweet little guy grinning at me from his stroller. Oh, and I felt more than just a little lucky to have such an awesome husband who would spend his Saturday morning trapsing all over downtown Winston-Salem with a baby and two crazy dogs to support me.

The Kid Eats Better Than the Parents

As we sat on the porch at the Club tonight eating dinner, it struck me how far we've come in such a short period of time. While I ate a sandwich, Riley was feasting on Alaskan King Crab, mashed potatoes, a breadstick, salad and cheese. For dessert: Mommy - nothing; Riley - ice cream sundae.

Taking the "Re-use" Part of Recycling to a Whole New Level

As it turns out, we were not the only family in Winston-Salem looking to buy a sled this week. Every store I tried was sold out. So... we improvised.

Here is Riley's first "sledding" adventure...

Winston and Wrigley lead the way.



Here he goes.



A bit tippy.



Sledding is fun.



The boys have a stare down.



Our three babies.

The Perfect Winter Day

As I write this, we have 6-8 inches of snow on the ground in our yard. This is North Carolina and snow storms like this don't happen often. Riley is napping in his crib. Winston and Wrigley are so tired from playing in the snow that moving is out of the question. Casey is snuggled up on the couch reading a book. I have completed the laundry and am now enjoying a cup of coffee and a few minutes of peace. It seems that all of the stars have somehow miraculously aligned to give us the perfect winter day. Of course, it's noon, so who knows how the rest of the day will shape up, but still, this is one of those moments where I actually have time to realize that life just doesn't get much better than this.

Granted, Riley has been sick with a stomach virus all week. I am still trying to get rid of an ear infection. Casey is recovering from a sinus infection. Winston has been nursing an ear infection for about 4 weeks now, and his surgery to repair his knee is on hold until the ear infection is completely gone. Sleep has been spotty for all of us, Riley's stomach virus has led to a mountain of laundry so disgusting that all we can do is rinse it out and throw it directly into a Oxyclean-filled bucket, and everyone has been on edge in anticipation of this snow storm. Perhaps that's what makes this quiet, sleepy day seem so great. Or maybe it's that the roads are pretty much unable to be driven upon, forcing us to stay put for the first time in who knows how long. Whatever the reason, I wish days like this were more frequent.

Riley may still be pretty much immobile (although we can already tell that those days are going to come to a quick end very soon), but still, life as the parents of an 8-month-old and two crazy dogs is pretty exhausting. I can't wait to see what I'll be saying a month from now when Riley is crawling (or even walking) while we are nursing Winston back to health after his surgery...

For the time being though, I am going to sit still for a few minutes, take a few deep breaths, and appreciate the many, many wonderful things that I am usually too busy or too exhausted to pay attention to.

Specifically, a fun day playing in the snow.