March Birthdays

With so many family members, my family has at least one birthday each month of the year. We decided rather than trying to celebrate each birthday individually, we would start setting aside one day a month to celebrate all birthdays in that month. Tonight we celebrated March birthdays for Nate, Kristin and Connor. One of our family traditions is to do "heavy, heavy hang over your poor head" with each present. Connor gladly accepted the task of doing it or Nate's gifts. Didn't need to twist his arm.
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Connor was thrilled to receive a bunch of Spiderman stuff, including a Spiderman scooter, in addition to one of his favorite movies, The Chronicles of Narnia. Since he won't receive his "big" gift from us until his party, we still wanted to give him something tonight. I made up an announcement for Disney on Ice and paired it up with Buzz Lightyear. I don't think he quite understands what the announcement is all about. He keeps referring to it as his "golden ticket." I think it will all come together for him in a few weeks when we go to see the ice show.

So Big!

Grandma and I worked up quite an appetite while watching Riley get his hair cut, so we headed around the corner to Chili's for a bite to eat. While we ate, Riley took it upon himself to flirt with anyone within a 10 foot radius. Of course everyone around us loved it. How could they not? He also demonstrated how he is "sooo big."

Shearing the Sheep

Connor was pretty much a baldy and didn't need a haircut until his first birthday. He didn't even need one then, so it was done more as a ceremonial right of passage for him. Riley, on the other hand, was born with a head full of hair. We had a quick cut done right before Thanksgiving, but I don't really count it (mostly because I didn't get to take pictures of it being done). It's been driving me crazy lately though, so I felt it was time for an official "first haircut." We picked up Grandma, and headed over to Lollilocks for a good shearing. He wasn't too sure what to think of it. He kept wanting to watch the girl. Grandma did a pretty good job distracting him though, first with a book, then a toy, then bubbles.

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Overall, he didn't squawk too much. I'm guessing he wouldn't have lasted much longer though. He was fairly impressed with himself when he was done and we all started oohing and aahing. Somehow the haircut transformed him from my little baby into a little boy. But he sure is a handsome boy!

Practicality

It turns out that Riley is quite resourceful. He has a few favorite objects he likes to tote around with him. Many times, he'll be holding one item, then go to pick up another item and realize his hands are full. So what does he do? Inserts one of them in his mouth so that he can pick up the other and continue on his way.

More Connor-isms

Maybe he's just at that age where he thinks he's so grown up . . .

Connor was showing me a picture he had colored for Valentine's Day. He pointed at Cupid and said, "See that guy? If he shoots you with an arrow, you'll fall and love."

Dre reminded me of this quote today: "Mommy, when will I be a man?"

If our timing is right, sometimes Rita's mom shows up at daycare at the same time I do after work. If that happens, Connor and Rita will play "hide and seek" while Jennifer and I chit chat. After doing this one evening, we loaded up in our cars to head our separate ways. Rita used to live in the same area as us, but moved a few months ago. When Connor watched them turn the opposite way out of the parking lot, he asked where they were going. I reminded him that Rita moved into a different house. His response was, "you mean she doesn't live at the ball Cheetos house anymore?" I told him no, they live in a different house and he should remember since he's played there before. At this point in time, he informed me that we need to move as well. I asked him why, and he stated it's because "our house doesn't have ball Cheetos either. We need to move to a house that has ball Cheetos."