Happy New Year!

Woooo, almost 2008! It's crazy how fast time flies when you're knee deep in bottles, strained peas (yes, Riley still eats baby food!) and onesies!

The holidays were good to us...we're both very lucky as our parents still treat us like 10-year olds on Christmas, getting us whatever is on our Xmas lists! Thanks! I made out like a bandit in gift cards and lotions and potions and whatnot...and Jim got tons of 'puter parts and otherwise good stuff! Riley got a bunch of new toys and some cool clothes...which is good b/c he's growing like crazy! Luckily, he's thinning out and growing taller these days, although he still has a nice round belly that he loves to punch and squeeze! He also likes to do the same to our bellies...which is um, not so gratifying for us, ha ha.

It's back to work for me on Wednesday (Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!) and after more than a week off, I'm still not ready to go back! ha ha. Jim has had off for most of the week too, which has been nice but of course, it was still a "busy" week at home chasing the litle guy around! Tonight, for New Year's Eve, we're making some yummy eats (pics to follow tomorrow!) and then tomorrow, we're heading over to the Pierces for a New Year's Day Potluck Brunch- should be fun, and I can't wait to hold Gibson in my arms again, b/c that little guy is adorable!

So, what's the skivvy on Riley these days, you ask?

1. He LOVES to dance and spin until he falls down...last night, he "stole" the tv remote and put on some Latin music and was going to town with his dance moves. He's a much better dancer than either of his parents, but that's not sayin' much, I suppose!

2. He's been eating up a storm- he will try ANYTHING! We went to a Spanish Restaurant on X-mas Eve and he pretty much ate anything and everything that anyone gave him- chorizo, celery, langostinos, shrimp, scallops, etc.

3. He's been saying a bunch of new words, but I doubt he knows the meaning of most of them- Belly (comes out like baby), NOOooo! (he does know the meaning of No!), Yes, Yay!, baba (knows that one too), puppy, Daddy, Mommy! Last night, we were watching the Sprout "Good Night" show and he walked around saying "Nina", which is one of the hosts, for about 10 minutes.

4. We haven't caught it on tape yet, but Riley LOVES Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline"...we sing it and he does the "Bah bah bah"...but of course, whenever we have a video (be it from our phones or the camcorder), the kid goes all Michigan J. Frog on us!

5. Laundry basket "rides" is totally the new horsey. He loves it.

6. Oh, and we seem to be through the looking glass with Riley's sleep issues...we've only had one night (he woke up and I guess was scared b/c he did this weird hypervenilating cry that he only does every once in a blue moon) where he slept with us in bed and he's been going through the night until about 6:30am! Yay, us!

Anyway, pics to follow in the next few days! Have a good New Year's Eve!

Some of my fave Xmas pics....

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve everybody...hope the holiday treats you well! Xoxo, Jim, Alison, and Riley too!

Pics of the Xmas mayhem to follow soon!

Giggles make everything alright

If these don't make you smile after watching them (turn up the sound!) then the Grinch has nothing on you.

The Great Sleep Experiment

So, as mentioned before, Riley has been a really bad sleeper lately...not sure if its his molars or what., but man, we've been feeling like it's the first month all over again! So, this week, we've entered into a new sleep experiment:

1. we gave him a blanket (I think he's old enough and our fears of something awful to be done with the blankie are "eh" at this point)

2. No more bottles after 6 pm...and even then, he's only getting about 2 oz. of milk during his "chill out" period

3. if he wakes up at night, we change him and just put him back in his crib and deal with the wailing (this is by far, the toughest part)! We made the mistake of getting him used to being held and cuddled to go back to sleep when he wakes up with a wet diaper...b/c when he was sick (and he's been sick a LOT this autumn), we would do this b/c, well, how could you not?

1st Night? 1.5 HOURS, that's right, hours of screaming. It sucked and Jim eventually went in and scooped him up and slept with him on the couch, so score one for Riley that night!

2nd night? I changed him, chucked him back in the crib and he only cried for about 20 mins!

3rd night? One little peep and he slept until 5:30am!

4th night? well, the little bugger is still sleeping and onlty made a little peep at 4:30. In fact, as I type he is snuggling with his blankie. Too cute for words.

Jim read online somewhere that there's a "2 night" lull...meaning he might be back to the same ol' same ol' tonight...but man, even with a cold (I'm sick), I feel like a brand new woman! And Jim has a little a spring in his step this morning too!

....Ah, I hear a little fussing from Riley's room! He's up and I'm off to work!

Riley's getting Dog Food for Xmas...

Yup! Forget toys, I'm just going to wrap up a bunch of dog toys and treats.

Riley finally managed to score a morsel of Maggie's food today. I thought I got it out of his mouth but he socked away a little juicy nugget to munch on..the little turd even clamped his jaw down when I realized he still had a piece in his mouth! That's one of his new tricks!- locking down his jaw as tight as possible when you're trying to get a peek at all his crazy new teeth or trying to rescue something he shouldn't be eating, like, um DOG FOOD??

Anyway, things are good, although as hectic as I guess it should be with 2 parents working and the holidays quickly approaching. I already realize this week will be a blur since I have a gazillion things to do at school to get prepared to be "paper-grading free" for my winter break...plus, I need to wrap presents, do my last minute shopping, bake cookies, AND address Xmas cards! eek. Well, getting back to Riley...he's doing good, a bit on the crazy side lately with his sleeping but realized this weekend that he has the "upper hand" so, we're going to slowly try and curb his whole getting up in the middle of the night (sometimes even before midnight!) NOT going back to sleep unless he's on top of one of us. He's running around like madman, loves being chased, loves to take our gloves, hats, and scarves out of our winter bin. He also has a particular penchant for two of my "evening" bags that are housed with our winter wear...which we think is hilarious b/c he walks around the house with one of my Mommom's sequined bags with such grace! He's been learning lots of new words but mostly he is just saying them as "repeats" not with much real meaning or direction yet. He does do YEAH! and OH NO...pretty good though!

Hmmm, Christmas should be interesting this year, I don't think he's gonna "get it" but I know he'll have a blast. Until then...hopefully, we'll get some pics up soon!

PS- Riley has apparently inherited his parent's "foodie" gene. He LOVES lobster ravioli, Brussels Sprouts, penne with vodka sauce. Oh yeah Boo loves the Ling too!