14 months old

I'm not doing so good keeping up with this blog. Here's what Riley's been up to. He doesn't say much, but his comprehension gets better everyday. He understand "hand me" and "bring me" and loves to play games where you have him bring you things over and over. He also understands "sit in my lap," goes to the bedroom door when you say "it's time for a nap" or "let's change your diaper," goes to the door if you said "let's go outside." He LOVES outside, so it's a word we spell unless we are about to leave. He cries if you say it and then it takes a while for you to get going. Whenever we're going somewhere, he'll either grab our shoes and hold them up for us or grab the keys and reach up for the door knob. He knows you have to have certain things to leave. Riley really likes going in our back yard and looking at the wildflowers, trees, plants and grass out there. A couple of weeks ago, I was watching Scott and Riley outside and saw them sharing some blackberries. Half of our yard is sodded and the very back is not, so there are several patches of blackberries. Often throughout the week, we go get a few while we look around. Earlier this week, I got one that had large seeds in it. So, I spit the seeds out. Riley copied me right away. The two times we went since then, he eats his half of a blackberry and spits immediately. It's kind of funny. He actually is pretty good at spitting the seeds out though, because sometimes they land on me. Riley also understand "breakfast," "lunch," and "dinner" and will go to his high chair when you say one of them.

When we were eating breakfast earlier this week, Riley kept saying "dum dum." I thought, "oh no, what is your daddy teaching you?!" Then I realized that I had said "is that yum yum?" right before he said "dum dum" the first time. Since then, he's been saying it a lot. Sometimes it sound likes "num num" (what Scott actually says) and sometimes it's closer to "yum yum." Other than that, he doesn't say much more than "mama" or "mom mom," "dada," "hi," "hey," or "No, no, no" (which sounds like "Na na na"). He has said "all done" and says "Nah Nah" when we look at Natalie's pictures on her blog. That was pretty cute when we realized that he did that every time. On Monday, Riley said "hey dada."

Riley's cutting his top molars right now, so he's waking up every 2 hours at night. Not fun, but it could be worse. Small parts of the teeth have emerged so far. He's also got his second ear infection.

He really likes to bring us books and turns around and backs up to sit in our laps. Then, he wants us to read the book again and again and again. He will also bring us hats or his sunglasses to put on. Riley doesn't really like wearing hats or sunglasses (he wants us to wear them). He thinks it's pretty funny. I think he thinks that Scott's Aussie wide-brimmed hat is mine. He always wants me to wear it.

Random things: Riley's starting to get a little shy with strangers, which I really am happy about. He was a little too friendly before. He always wants kids' attention though. He loves pointing at things especially the kitchen light and then dada (as in, turn the light on), giving kisses (we're working on not finishing big kisses off with a bite), dancing to music (he bobs and sways), Extra Special Elmo, clapping to "if you're happy and you know it," the park, saying "dada," going to get the mail, OUTSIDE. If you don't spend enough time outside when you go, he arches his back and pitches a fit. He's starting to hum and "sing" when we hum or sing to him. He's learned how to snuffle recently. Riley's eyes get browner every week lately. He had salmon for dinner and loved it, and right now, he's bouncing (self taught - apparently today) and rolling the ball with daddy. I'll add pictures soon.