THREE MONTHS

It's no secret. Riley is a big boy. And he likes to eat . . . a lot. I decided to jumpstart giving him solids, and gave him his first taste of rice cereal today. He ate it like he was born with a spoon in his mouth. I have a feeling we won't be having the picky eater issues with him like we've had with Connor. He's our Chunky Monkey.

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........Riley's first taste of cereal . . . ............................ and his "deer in headlights" look

Ice Cream Social

Our community has an ice cream social at the town center park each year. It happens to be within walking distance for us, so I loaded the kids up in the stroller and walked over to check it out. We ended up meeting up with Rita and her parents, which was a godsend. It would have been near impossible for me to handle Connor running all over the playground while also taking care of Riley. Thankfully, Rita's parents were able to help out, especially when it came to Connor trying out his Spiderman abilities. Both Connor and Rita seemed to enjoy running around even more than the ice cream.

Jake's Party

One of Connor's buddies from daycare, Jake, is turning 3 this week. To celebrate, he had a big birthday party this afternoon. Jake's parents hired someone to do face painting and balloon animals. Connor wanted nothing to do with the face painting, even though he thought the snake Jake's brother got on his face was pretty cool. Instead, he settled for a snake tattoo on his arm. Rita didn't want anything to do with the face painting either, but settled for a fairy tattoo on her arm.













Like two peas in a pod, Connor and Rita followed each other around. At one point, the two of them were standing at a water table. Another girl was standing between them, and out of the blue she decided to splash Rita, which did not make Rita happy at all. Connor looked at the girl and immediately splashed her as payback. Later, Connor and Rita were jumping in a blow up "bouncy house." The same girl knocked Rita down. Connor came to Rita's rescue again and helped her stand up, reached out to smooth down her hair, then continued jumping. What a little gentleman!

Watching TV

Oh boy. He has the TV blank stare, just like Daddy and his big brother. It appears we have another couch potato. The picture says it all.

Do Me A Favor

Connor's teacher at daycare called me last week to let me know there are a few openings in preschool and they think Connor is ready to move up. There's only one catch - he has to be potty trained. We agreed to increase our efforts in getting him to the point where he can make the switch. Connor has known for a while now when he needs to go potty. He just doesn't want to go. In fact, he's been known to stand in front of me, look me in the eye, and actually tell me he's in the process of doing his business in his pull up. It's been so frustrating! Luckily for us, his best friend Rita has moved up. As he puts it, she's now "in the big girl class." Surprisingly, this has lit a fire under him and he is now very willing to do what he needs to do so he can be in the big boy class. The other night, he announced he had to go potty. We were so excited to hear those words and rushed him into the bathroom. He asked for some privacy, so we closed the door. After a minute or so, he called out from the bathroom . . .

Connor: Hey Dad?
Daddy: Yeah buddy?
Connor: Can you do me a favor?
Daddy: Sure. What do you need?
Connor: Can you give Riley a hug for me?
Daddy: Sure.
Connor: Thanks.

A few minutes went by. Then . . .

Connor: Hey Dad?
Daddy: Yeah buddy?
Connor: Can you do me another favor?
Daddy: Sure.
Connor: Can you give Riley a kiss for me too?

This morning he woke up a bit early. I went into his room and asked him to play quietly while I got ready. Right after I finished blow drying my hair, I heard him rummaging around in his closet. I couldn't fathom what shenanigans he was getting into and soon heard him calling for me. When I opened his door, he greeted me with a big smile and wearing nothing more than his pajama top. He excitedly told me he had gone to the bathroom in his potty. It's a little portable potty that has been more useful as a step stool for him than as a potty. Until today. Realizing that he had to go, he took it upon himself to drag the potty out of his closet and took care of business. I think my eyes actually filled with tears of joy.

4th of July

The 4th of July was pretty low key for us this year. We stuck around the house most of the day, waiting for dinnertime for my family to join us for a BBQ. As in past years, we didn't have to go far to see the fireworks display. We can sit in our front yard and have a great view. Riley didn't last long enough to see the fireworks. He pooped out early, so snoozed in his crib while the rest of us watched the sky light up. Lexi wasn't sure what to think of the fireworks at first and ended up falling asleep in Nate's lap.