FIVE MONTHS

He's such an adorable little chunk!

Misunderstanding

After picking Riley up from Grandma's house, then Connor from daycare, we headed over to Aunt Tin's to drop off an electric sander. She's in the process of doing some home improvements and is learning to use all sorts of tools. Since it was already late and we still needed to eat dinner, I had to break the news to Connor that we were stopping by her house but wouldn't actually be going inside. When we arrived, she came out to the car to get the sander. After talking for a few minutes, we said our goodbyes. As I was pulling away from Aunt Tin's house, Connor had a few questions . . .

Connor: Why did we have to give that to her?
Mommy: She needs it to do some work in her house.
Connor: Why?
Mommy: She wants her house to look nice.
Connor: Because her house doesn't look nice now?
Mommy: Well, no. It looks nice now. She just wants to make it better.
Connor: [silence] Is it sick?

Randomism

Connor was unusually quiet on our way to drop him off at daycare this morning. As we were sitting at a light, waiting for it to change, he blurts out the following - completely out of the blue.

Connor: Mommy, I love Spiderman.
Mommy: Well, he's pretty cool.
Connor: Well, actually . . . I love Spiderman AND Jesus.

And there you have it.

Labor Day

In honor of Labor Day, we invited my family over to play and have a BBQ. Connor showed Lexi the ins and outs of playdoh, with help from Grandma.

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When both kids grew tired of the playdoh, we headed outside. While most of the family played some croquet, Lexi hung out on the patio. Sadly, we had not mowed in preparation for the croquet, so the game was played "in the rough."

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Hungry Monkey

Since he's just 4 months old, Riley still has a ways to go before he'll be able to sit up by himself. Maybe in a month or so. Standing will come even further down the road, but he still likes to try. The one thing he doesn't have a problem doing, however, is sticking things in his mouth. If it's within his reach, it will go in.

I coaxed him into sitting up a second time, but he wasn't as focused the second time around. I think he was more determined to try to get the camera.

My Big Boys

I know I sometimes comment on Riley's size (admit it . . . he's huge), so I thought it was time for some comparison. Although I don't know much about football, I often joke that Connor will be our quarterback (you should see him throw!) while Riley will be our linebacker.

FOUR MONTHS

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Just too cute for words. And look at those rolls!

Bouncy Babe

If you've seen Riley's legs, you know that they're massive. And I say that with love. The rolls of chunk make me smile every time I see them. You can't help but squeeze them! Once he starts getting more active, I'm sure the chunks will melt away. Until then, he's found a fun way to put them to use.

Contagious

Beginning when he was just days old, Riley has been smiling and chuckling in his sleep. Starting when he was about 6 weeks old, he's been all smiles when he's awake. However, until today, he had only laughed in his sleep while in la-la-land. He loves to stand up, so I decided it was time to drag out the exersaucer. If I had known that's all it took, I would have dragged it out much sooner. Big Brother seems to bring it out in him as well.

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.

TWO MONTHS

He's such a happy baby . . .

The Big Screen

In the three years he's been alive, Connor has seen many, many movies. And he's seen those many movies many times. Until today, he has watched those movies on a measly 42" TV. We've been biding our time with sharing the ultimate movie experience with him. I kept hoping The Incredibles or Toy Story would come out with a sequel, but came to grips with the fact that they won't have sequels anytime soon. Giving up on Disney, DreamWorks finally released a movie that I decided would be sufficient in fulfilling Connor's first movie experience . . . Kung Fu Panda. He had no idea what was in store for him. He helped Daddy purchase the tickets and buy the snacks for us, including a kiddie pack for himself. When he walked into the theater and saw the big screen, his eyes just about bugged out of his head. Like most kids, he covered his ears when the sound reverberated through the theater, but soon became accustomed to it. He barely moved throughout the movie, but started squirming a bit about 10 minutes before it was over. So at 3 years, 3 months, and 4 days old, Connor saw his first movie in a movie theater. With that said, Riley saw his first movie in a movie theater at one day shy of 2 months old. Just like his big bro, he barely moved throughout the movie. In fact, I don't think he even opened his eyes. I guess he takes after his mommy - snoozing through the movie.

Thank Yous

Both Connor and Riley were spoiled with gifts when they were born. In fact, we received so much when Connor was born, there wasn't much we needed when Riley was born. Therefore, we really weren't expecting much in the way of gifts. We should have known better. Family, friends, and co-workers were more than generous. Because so many gifts were given before Riley was born, instead of just sending a thank you, I wanted the giver to see Riley with their gift. It took some creativity, lots of wardrobe changes, and breaks for napping and eating. All in all, Riley proved to be very cooperative.

Cousins

Since we had the family together, we had to get an updated picture of all the grandchildren together. We've had three new additions since the last photo was taken. We didn't think it would be a big ordeal to take the picture. The two older kids (Micah and Mischa) and the three babies (Lexi, Kameron, and Riley) were the easy ones. It was the two in the middle that gave us a run for our money. The little stinkers wouldn't sit still. We finally had to just take the picture.
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I partially blame myself (but not too much). After all, I did get them matching t-shirts that said "Rebel" on them. With Connor's haircut and their matching shirts, they looked pretty similar. It kind of threw us for a loop.

I also bought matching onesies for the babies. Kameron and Riley got blue, while Lexi got pink. Unfortunately, we forgot to get a picture of the three of them together. We almost forgot altogether, but remembered in time to at least get Kameron and Riley together. In the midst of taking their picture, Riley stuck out his bottom lip and gave his most endearing, break your heart, sad face. Connor used to do the same thing.