Mother's Day Delights

Today Riley amazed me by just being his happy-go-lucky, easygoing self. Casey was out of town -- at Yosemite with his parents and sisters celebrating his dad's 70th anniversary by going on a whitewater rafting expedition -- and this was my very first Mother's Day together with Riley. Along with Winston and Wrigley, we had such an amazing day. It started with the four of us taking our weekend walk to Starbucks (although on a delayed schedule because Riley slept in until 8:15). Then a trip to Miller Park to play ball. Then Winston and Wrigley stayed home to rest while Riley and I had a normal weekend excursion to Costco. We came home and Riley took a 2-1/2 hour nap, which would've been heavenly except that about 1 hour of it conflicted with the baseball game we were supposed to be at. I actually had to wake the little guy up so that we didn't miss the whole game. We ventured to the new baseball stadium in town to watch the Winston-Salem Dash play a Red Sox farm team (we were conflicted on who to cheer for). Riley loved the game, although little of it had to do with the actual baseball. He loved all of the people, and particularly enjoyed the music. We started the game with me having to flap his arms and bop him all around. We ended the game with him "dancing" all by himself. So much fun to watch!!! After the game, we came home, only to be stopped by our neighbors across the street. It turns out that sweet Casey had left some Mother's Day cards and gifts with them to deliver to me since he was not going to be here with us (it is no wonder that I love him so much). After opening the gifts (which were new charms for my bracelet), Riley, Winston, Wrigley and I went back outside to play in the yard. Turns out that Riley was ready to walk -- with one hand holding onto his emergency vehicle and the other hand holding one of mine, we walked (with Winston and Wrigley surrounding us for "protection") all the way from our driveway to the house 3 doors down.

Now that is what I call a GREAT 1st Mother's Day!!!

Off to the Races

The Steeplechase returned to Winston-Salem this year, and Riley and I (along with several friends) decided to venture out to watch. Dressed in our finest, with big hats and all, we made our way to Tanglewood Park to watch the horse (and terrier races). Riley slept some, ate some and watched some, and all in all seemed to have a great time. It amazed me the most to watch him see the bagpipers and the horses and just point at them. He can't say much, but that pointing lets me know that he is watching and is interested. It is amazing to see the world through a child's eyes -- everything being so new, taking nothing for granted. Makes you wish you never lost that kind of vision.

Our lives are about to change forever

There is nothing more amazing than seeing your child develop in front of your eyes. At this age, it seems like Riley does something new and incredible every day. In the past week or so, he has started pulling himself up to a standing position and ever so slightly "walking" while holding onto furntiture for dear life. I just know that our lives are going to get chaotic here before too long. For now, I just cannot get enough of standing about 10 feet behind him and seeing his chubby little legs, and diapered little backside, wobbling and testing their limits.

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.