Updates

This will be a quick "updates" post. I'm only putting this since this blog is kind of serving as my milestones, etc. list for Riley. During the hiatus of blogging while we were getting ready to move and were moving, these were some new things going on for Riley.

During that time, he went from a hesitant cruiser to very fast within a short period of time. He was able to stand for up to 5 seconds (not much has changed in that department - he can stand a little longer, but gets rubber legs. He could stand probably all day, he's just scared to do it). Riley got a total of seven teeth - 4 on top, 3 on bottom. It's been that way for quite some time now and he is only now starting to get the 4th one on the bottom. It looks like the canine next to that 4th one may be coming in too. I can see two white spots under the gums. During that time, Riley starting eating more and more finger food and more things that we eat. I try not to feed him too much cheese since he gets plenty of calcium, but he loves anything with cheese. He really likes spinach calzones which is his Daddy's and my favorite meal.

Riley loves to watch the videos of his baby friend Natalie (from her blog). He's great at repeating what she does. By watching her videos, he learned to clap to patty cake, high five, and army crawl. We thought Riley was going to army crawl until he started walking. He really did that a long time. He would only really crawl for short periods and on certain surfaces. Soon after we moved, he started to crawl normally all the time. Man, he's fast!! If we open a door that is typically closed (like the bathroom), he guns it. Sometimes, he will look at the door and then look at us and then pretend to play wherever he is (maybe easing a little closer), but when look away from him, he's like a speeding bullet to get in that room. It's amazing.

For a while, Riley was consistently saying "me me" when he wanted milk. He did this for about a month but has stopped now. If you say "me me," he knows it means milk and will act the same as if you say "milk" - HE WANTS IT. So, we don't say that word unless it's time or we suspect that's what he wants. He makes it pretty clear once you say the word. Although, his dad HAS been known to say it if he wants me to take Riley - even if it's not anywhere near that time. I don't necessarily appreciate that, because then it BECOMES that time.

He still just loves his books. He has several favorites. One of them is "This is my puppy" that his Grandaddy and Nana gave him for Christmas. Each pages ends with "and he says..." and there's a button to push that says "woof woof." After we push the button, we repeat what it says, "woof woof." During this transition time, Riley started to push the button and would make a similar noise. Sometimes, that noise was "woof woof," but mostly it was just a "nnnn nnnn" or something like that. One day, Scott was reading it to him and after pushing the button said "arf arf." Riley twisted his body (he was on Scott's lap), looked him in the eye and said "woof woof." It was one of the funniest things we've seen him do. He loves all of his books, but some other of his favorites are "Bears in the Night," "Goodnight Moon," "It's Time to Sleep My Love," "You are my I Love You," "The Mitten" - there are more favorites, but I won't name them all. I'm so glad to be able to calm him in this way and hope this is something we will continue for years.

One of the best things we did during this break was spend time with Riley's Grandma. She flew in from Washington to help us move from Auburn to Crestview. She was a HUGE help, and she and Riley had some good bonding time. We could not have made that move without her. We all three feel so blessed to have her and Gramps. Both are flying in for Riley's first birthday in just over two weeks (March 14th). We can't wait to see them!

Also, Riley finally started to share soon after we moved here. Sometimes, he doesn't want to share, but he knows how to now. He will occasionally share without you even asking.

That's probably good enough to cover the break.