Short on Words

Tonight, Riley accompanied me to a parent committee meeting at his school. I have always known him to have tendencies as a flirt, but tonight I got to really see him in full effect. He'd look at one of the other moms in the room and grin, then turn away and bury his face in my shoulder, then turn back and grin again, this time with his head tipped to the side.

Like father, like son. I'm in trouble.

Evening Stroll

Casey left today for a long weekend away to celebrate his dad's 70th birthday with his family. They are going on a white water rafting expedition in/near Yosemite, which is why Riley and I are staying behind (much to our disappointment).

So I am playing the role of a single mom for the next 5 days (Lord help me!!!). I left work early to take Winston to the vet (double ear infection/seasonal allergies) and then picked Riley up from school. For the record, picking up Riley from school is normally Casey's thing (which they both love). I was afraid that this change in routine would cramp his style. However, when I found him playing on a little rocking horse on the playground and he saw me standing there, he just grinned and reached his arms out to me. Makes a mommy's heart melt.

After dinner, Riley, the dogs and I went on our nightly walk to the park. It is not the same without Casey here, but we still had fun regardless. Riley fell asleep on the walk home, and it still amazes me how peaceful he looks when he is sleeping. I just sat and watched him for a few minutes before I took him out of the stroller and started the bedtime routine.

Now I sit here, sipping a glass of wine, hanging out with Winston and Wrigley, and reflecting on what a relaxing evening this has turned out to be. A year ago I would've been huffing and puffing on the walk, slugging massive amounts of water, eating my face off, laying in the bed uncomfortably, stressing about to-do lists that would never be finished in time, and counting the seconds until I could see Riley. I still count the seconds until I can see Riley, but at least now I know that I can peek in on him sound asleep in his crib if I really just can't wait until morning. A year ago, I just had to be satisfied with kicks to the ribs in the middle of the night.

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.