Updates

Much time has passed since my last blog.

Quick updates:

• Spent a wonderful Christmas in Washington with all the Pokswinskis.
• Riley turned 2 on March 14th. We had lots of family celebrate with us on the 13th. Riley's 2nd birthday was exciting and a little sad for us. The time is flying by.
• A little less than 2 weeks after Riley's birthday, we found out we are pregnant with our second child (due December 2). We'll find out what we are having in about 6 weeks.
• Soon after, Riley and Mama made a trip up to see Baba. On our way, we stopped and saw several of our dear friends from Auburn/Opelika. It was so sweet seeing how all of the babies have grown and to visit with the moms.
• Easter weekend, we went up to Montgomery for a Wright (Robin's dad's family) reunion. We had a great time, and it was extra special, because Uncle Rocky and Aunt Charlene flew down from NC and were with us the whole time. We also saw Baba, Uncle JT and Tatum a little during this visit.
• In April, Gramps and Grandma Pokswinski came for a visit. We spent some of the time in Panama City Beach and had a great time.
• Right after Gramps and Grandma left, we started potty training. We have had a few rough days in there, but Riley's been doing quite well. After he uses the potty, he loves to ask who is proud of him. "Grandma proud of you?" "Oh, yes, Grandma is SO proud of you?" "Gramps?" "Baba?" "Grandaddy?" "Nana?" And lately, even "Charlie Brown, Snoopy, proud of you?" Silly boy!
• The three of us went to Okaloosa Island one Saturday to enjoy the beach before the oil rolls in. Another weekend, Baba came down and Riley, Baba and I (Robin) met Rachael and her girls to go to Navarre.
• Memorial Day weekend, we went up to Lake Martin to see Grandaddy, Nana, and Aunt Sandy and her family. Riley had so much fun running around outside when it wasn't raining and loved the attention from his older cousins and Nana and Grandaddy. Grandaddy even let him "drive" his big patio boat. Riley talked about that for days.
• We thought of going to the beach the next weekend for one last trip, but the oil was finally showing up, so we didn't go. The weather was bad anyway.

Riley's talking a lot. He repeats a lot of what his Dada says word for word. He's become a little bit more of a picky eater. SIGH! Hopefully, he'll get over it. It's hard to even make him take "just one bite" of something he doesn't want. He starts gagging before it even gets to his mouth. That reminds me more of his dad than myself. It's hard not to laugh when he does it. He still loves to sing and often requests specific songs. He say a phrase from the song, and we have to figure out what it is. Most of the time, it's obvious what he's asking for, but sometimes, the phrase he quotes is kind of obscure. Once he hears even the start of the music, he knows if that's the song he wants or not. And he lets you know quickly! Riley loves to color, especially with markers. He can really fill a page. He likes to play with his Duplo blocks (Lego) almost everyday. Most often, he makes a "plane" but sometimes he makes a house, car, tractor, fire truck, or train.

He's still a big helper. If I'm dusting, I have to let him dust too. If I'm vacuuming, so is he. He's gotten really good at cleaning up his toys, and often without me asking. Sometimes, he rushes around to clean up his toys and then comes to ask me for something else or to watch something. We let him watch a little bit of "TV" (we just have Internet and Netflix on Wii). He likes watching Dora, a Charlie Brown summer special about baseball, Super Why sometimes and Bob the Builder sometimes.

On Mondays and Fridays, we go walk with friends at the new walking park in town. Riley loves to go see the pond, ducks, geese, turtles and his friend, Ashlyn. She's only 3 month younger than him. They eat Cheerios, drink water and sometimes laugh at each other in their strollers. The other day, they reached over and held hands. It was so sweet. He also said "Ashlyn buddy" when we saw her last. He loves saying "Dada buddy" "Riley buddy" "Mama buddy." He definitely likes for the three of us to play together and cuddle. A couple of times, the three of us have gone to the walking trail together. He really loves that, because we let him run and walk around the trail. He mostly runs quite fast. Faster than I can walk and keep up with. He can mostly run the whole way around, which is 1/2 mile. He probably could go longer if we didn't make him rest. He's usually quite red and sweaty by then.

Scott and I have EA Active for our Wii. Scott exercises with it every so often. When he does, Riley stays with him the whole time and does everything Scott does. He also repeats everything the "trainer" says. Throughout the day, everyday, he often pauses and says "right cross" "left cross" "squat, and up" "high knees" "kickups".... and does the action for that thing. He even makes his stuffed animals and Duplo man do the exercises. He keeps Scott accountable too, because he's often saying, "Dada, exercise! Dada, exercise!"

When I was pregnant with Riley, I felt him quite early. I started feeling "flutters" around 12 weeks, but I wasn't sure, because it was so early. As he grew though, I knew that I had felt him starting then. I think I started feeling stronger thumps and kicks when he was about 15 weeks, a few weeks before my ultrasound (at 18 weeks). I started feeling this baby squirming even earlier, early in my 11th week. It's so neat to feel that squirming, and today, I even got several thumps in succession. I'm 14 weeks and will be 15 weeks on Thursday. I've had three ultrasounds so far. The first one was quite early, 5 weeks. They couldn't see the baby yet, so I had another one a week later at 6 weeks. This time they could see the baby, and I got to hear the heartbeat. It was amazing. Scott was there for that visit. At 10 weeks, they couldn't pick up the heartbeat with the Doppler, which also happened when I was pregnant with Riley at 10 weeks. I got to have an ultrasound. Scott was home with a sick Riley, so he didn't get to see it. It was amazing!! Just a little tiny baby. The ultrasound that I had with Riley at that point made him look like a gummy bear, but this ultrasound was so clear, it didn't look gummy bearish at all. The arms and legs were so long - just like a miniature baby. The baby was moving so much, the tech couldn't get a clear picture. It was awesome to see though. The heartbeat was in the 170s (172?). We're looking forward to our 20 week ultrasound.