Put on your racing shoes….

If you know my kids…you know…they don't wear socks and they definitely don't wear shoes.  So once my kids learn to walk…walking in shoes is kind of a struggle.  Riley didn't walk in shoes until 15 months Tate 14 months and now Blakely…

She is different.

Maybe cuz she's a girl and understands the importance of shoes finishing an outfit or maybe it's because  they make special shoes now that babes can walk in…not heavy, stiff shoes.  

Whatever it is…I put on the shoes on her and off she went.  

And she didn't stop.  

She even worked up a baby sweat

And got her first knee scrape, which is really a milestone in our household.

Riley The boys decided to race to see who was the fastest…I don't think Tate knew he was in a race…or he didn't care.  I'm sure the neighbors were placing bets…on who would fall and biff it first.

Extra-Cirrcular Activities

WAAAAAYYYY back in May/June Riley had some extra-curricular activities.  We signed him up for t-ball and swim lessons.  I was nervous for both…there was very little details on the city website about what each class would entail.  

For example: we showed up to t-ball with nothing but the clothes on our back.  I assumed that this beginners t-ball would a bunch of kids hitting a large ball off a T.  

I was wrong. 

How could I have been the ONLY parent who didn't know to bring a glove, a bat, a ball and a water bottle.  

oops!

To make it worse…they took water breaks every 2 minutes and Riley would yell at me 

"MOM YOU FORGOT MY WATER!!!!"

Sure enough for practice #2 we remember the water bottle!  

However the act of getting a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds together to play a team sport was agonizingly painful to watch.  I really thought Ryan would be the problem, yelling and trying to correct Riley.  But it was me…the parent pacing the fence trying to yell through my teeth

 "RILEY!  pay attention!" 

 "RILEY GET ON THE BASE! "

"RILEY DO NOT DRAW IN THE DIRT!!!!!!"

"RILEY! STOP TALKING ABOUT DINOSAURS!!!!!!!!!"

There really was no organization, the college girls coaching had no idea what they were doing.  And by the 3rd practice, most of the parents were standing on the infield coaching their kids on the side.  We TRIED to back off, but sometimes we HAD to step in.  And other times we just hung our heads in shame.  

One particularly BAD practice went like this:

the coach said to the group

"Do you guys want to play a real game today!"

All the kids jumped up and down and said "yeah!"

and Riley said "I want to play a WILD KRATTS game!"

The coach responded "Well…I was thinking we would play a baseball game!"

again all the kids jumped up and down and said "yeah!"

and Riley said "welll….how about we play a wild kratts game first!"

Before the coach could respond to Riley's rebuttal…a bellowing dad voice said 

"NO!"

Later during a similar pow wow…while the coach was so poorly explaining to 4 and 5 year olds how to catch a pop fly…Riley was drawing "sanajeh" tracks in the dirt.  Soon all the -once good listeners- were on the sanajeh ban-wagon, drawing in the dirt…no one listening….coach still talking.  

Painful.

To top it off…as if it couldn't get any worse or confusing…there were 2 Riley's.  And the "well-experienced" college girls kept putting them on the same team!  Their solution…make one take their hat off and say "Riley with the hat"  and of coarse Riley thought she was saying to take his hat off…I just couldn't watch some nights.

BUT!

Riley had so much fun meeting new friends and telling them all about dinosaurs and learning absolutely nothing about t-ball.  

$35 well spent.

On to swim lessons….
For this activity we brought all the right gear.
Riley had never been in a big pool and the life guard made the parents stay back, so I had to watch from a distance…far enough he wouldn't be able to hear me yell "QUIT TALKING ABOUT DINOSAURS!"

However, he listened really well at swim lessons.  And did everything they told him to do, including going under water.  That really surprised me.

What didn't surprise me was when a buzzard flew over head and Riley stopped in his tracks, pointed to the sky and yellled "LOOK MOM!  A HARVEY EAGLE!!!!"

Tate really didn't like having to be on the sidelines for these activities…

Redneck Summer

Who doesn't love free stuff?  So when I was driving home from Wal Mart, I saw this slightly used cube climber/slide at the sanitation building.  It was in pieces and had no idea if it was all there.  I did a U-y and pulled in the parking lot.  I tried to shove it in the back of the van, but it was too big.  I knew Ryan wouldn't like my next idea but I had to take a chance…cuz it will be worth it!  I quickly drove home…maybe I sped a little…I didn't want another cheap mom to get it before me!  I ran in the house and told Ryan he had to go get it with the truck.  He cocked his head to one side and sighed.  And from the comfort of his recliner, he reluctantly went and got my hunk of junk.  When he got back, we put it together and the kids instantly LOVED it.  Sure there is a jagged crack on the slide and holes in the structure filled with who knows how old sewage smelling water…but we love it.  

Why?  

Cuz it's fun and FREE!

The only thing that would make this wreckage any better…water.  

Redneck water slide.

STAR WARS PARTY!

DA--- DA--- DADADA-- DA---DA--DADADA-DA-DA-DADADA-DAAAAA!

Star Wars Party!

Riley spent a couple days with his grandma, so I could decorate the house and make his party a surprise.  And boy was he surprised…

When Riley arrived he had specific instructions from Master Yoda:

Riley walked in and said "Is this all for me!?  You did a great job mom, thank you!"

And of coarse Master Yoda was waiting to greet Jedi Riley

Along with a little Ewok...

We had a height comparison for the Star Wars Characters and the Kitchen was the "Dark Side"

In the kitchen"dark side" were storm trooper balloons, a star wars fan quiz (I'm pretty sure Aaron knew all the answers? Can you say SUPER FAN!)

The Death Star (a spray painted ball) and tie fighters hung above the bar.

I made print-outs for the styrofoam cups and one for a recycled tin can that held the straws.

 In the bathroom I converted our garbage can into a R2D2

The menu included: The Dark Side Chips and Salsa, Hans Sandwiches, Obi-Wan Fruit Kabob-ies and Darth Vaders Veggies.  I made light sabers napkin holders out of construction paper and duct tape

On the Cake Table was Luke Sky-Water, Leia's Mini Cinnamon Buns (recipe here) Chewies Wookie Cookies (recipe here) Yoda Soda (sprite and lime sherbet)

 And of coarse the cake…I used foam letters and stars for the topper.  I found light saber food picks on amazon.com.  The cake was chocolate with buttercream frosting and I sprayed it with color.  It was delish!

 The birthday boy got a lot of cool presents!  Everything he wanted needed!  A millenium falcon, a BLUE light saber and ANOTHER BLUE LIGHT SABER!!!!!  A HARVEY EAGLE!  TWO ANGRY BIRD STAR WARS SHIRTS!!!! WRECK IT RALPH!  (fix it felix whoop whoop!)

 It was the best!

Riley just realized this light saber made noise and lit up!

 This little ewok was thirsty after all the present opening!

 Hug and Thank Yous!

Let the Epic Light Saber Battle Begin!

 Once Again! THANK YOU THANK THANK YOU…to everyone who came and helped us celebrate!  These parties aren't as fun without family to share them with!

FIVE

remember this little one…

Our first little love.
Our first little surprise.
Our first dimples.
Our first sleepless night.
Our first worry.
Our first ear infection.
Our first tantrum.
Our first "is that normal?"

OUR FIRST!

Riley had us on our toes from day one…looking back he was particular about what side he fed on and later he was particular about what spoon your fed him with.  Part of the blame is on our first time parent stupidity and part is to blame on our little rain man.  He has had us scratching our heads more than once, from lining up his cars from biggest to smallest and in rainbow order to rearranging the 5 hour energies at Wal Mart.   Despite his quirkiness, he has kept us entertained and laughing the whole way.

The people who love and know Riley the most, understand and have learned to expect what conversations you will have with this 5 year old.

"did you know…."  is how he starts most of his sentences.  Even if you have never met Riley…and you give him eye contact, that is his signal that you would like to learn about the Harvey Eagle.
 I go to self-checkout at Wal Mart because Riley will talk the regular checker's ear off about beluga whales.  But even at self checkout we aren't safe.  If someone gets in line behind us he says "Did you know that master yoda….?"  And I just give the innocent by stander a look like "too damn bad, you gave him eye-contact"

And as he gets older…the more we see our personalities coming out in him.

Like what he inherited from his father.

When we are driving Ryan will ask…"should I turn right or left?"
And I say…"I don't know!  Right?"
Ryan turns right and says "UGH! we should've turned left."
"THEN WHY DID YOU ASK!"

When we are driving, Riley will ask…
"Mom, does luke skywalker have a green light saber or a blue light saber?"
and I reply "he has a green light saber."
And Riley then says "Weeellll….actually he has a green and a blue light saber."
"THEN WHY DID YOU ASK!?"
----------------------

In college Ryan would scramble minutes before class to find his note and read them for 5 minutes.  I would ask him…
"what are you doing?"
he replied…"I have a test and I didn't study"
"when is this test?" I would ask.
he replied "in 5 minutes…"
He would come back and I would ask "how did the test go?"
He confidently respnded "Oh, yeah... I got an A"


Recently I starting teaching Riley basic math, like <, >, + and =
At first I just wanted to see if it would be too challenging for him…so we started simple with a computer game that asked questions like:

"which is greater 18 or 16?"
"2+3=__"
"match the number to the flower with the same amount of petals"

"okay riley, look at the picture of the 4 flowers…which flower…"
and before I could finish telling him the instructions he was...
CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK and got them right.
I looked at him in bewilderment and said…."how did you know what I wanted you to do?"
he said "cuz my brain is big."

Well if he gets his book smarts from his dad…he might have gotten some creativity from me. I spent most of my childhood in my own little world, as my mom would say.  I didn't mind playing by myself and I always had some sort of pretend play going on.

Riley is always coming up with a "set up" for a museum, a race track, a garage sale, a camp fire…and he has NEVER, not even as a baby, used toys for what they were made for.  

 

I could write a book on Riley…he has basically kept this blog thriving with funny stories.  The things he says or does leave me speechless at times and laughing later when I tell Ryan.  He has turned into such a smart, caring, creative and funny little boy.  Him and Tate are soul mate/brothers…who get into a lot of trouble together, especially at bedtime.  And Riley is so kind and caring to "Blakalee".  Riley always wants to help or be involved…he is not shy…at all…and I hope he never grows out of that.

From Turtle man "YIYIYIYI" and "LIVE ACTION"  to stars wars "Laugh it up Fuzz Ball!"  you will hear all kinds of one liners from this little man…he memorizes books, movies, tv shows and even the way things look.

He is the most brilliant and fun kid and at the same time the most irritating and stubborn.  He causes trouble and makes things easy…but we know what to expect

 5 days

 2 weeks

 2 Months

4 Months

8 months old

14 months old

20 Months

 2 years

3 years

4 years

5 years