Dinner Reservations at 5..

So, Riley loves the play kitchen at school and my parents were going to get one for him for Christmas, but the one I had been eyeing up was on on back order for what seemed like forever. Lo and behold, it was in stock this morning, woooo hooooo! Thanks Grammy and Poppy for the awesome Oompa gift certiffy! Soo, Riley will have in his possession, his very own French kitchenette very soon! Now all he needs is a pair of those black and white houndstooth pants and a chef hat!

In other exciting news, I have bronchitis, and Riley is still kinda sorta sick & Maggie has to get an operation to get a tumor removed near her bum (luckily, it's benign). January needs a swift kick you know where if you ask me.

Riley has learned three new words: boobies (yes, and he knows what they are), book (booh), and ball. He's been saying ball for quite some time but now he actually knows what it means now- cute. He's also very excited to have finally mastered getting on the couch himself..and chairs, and our bed. Luckily, we taught him how to get down many months ago, now we just have to tame the wild jumping on the couch and we're all set.

We're going over a friend's house for lasagna tonight, so wish us luck, as Riley, how shall I put it, has been leaving quite a bit to be desired in the evening hours. However, last night I was craving sushi (and not particularly interested in having jim or me cook) so we went out to dinner and Riley was awesome. He pounded down cubes of tofu and japanese omelet (tamago) and generally was such a good boy. We were impressed and it was a really good night out. ha ha, "night out" cracks me up since we were home by 6:45pm. It seemed to be a good night for Riley too since we came home he played for about 20 minutes, we asked him if he wanted to go to bed, he said "yeah!" and then walked back to his room, put his hands up for Jim to put him in his crib, got a few kisses good night, and that was that. Jim said it was the cutest thing he's seen in a long time.

Alright, cyber nerds....I'll post some pics soon! We've been slacking on our camera-ing duties.

AN update...

Another update, withe diagnoses:

Poor little fella has fluid in both ears (ear infection) and pink eye! wtf? I'm just semi-angry b/c it seems out of the 6 or so parents that send their babies/toddlers to Riley's school, we're the only ones considerate enough to "alter" our daily schedule and keep him home when he's got something that is contagious. I'm pretty sure I can pinpoint the two kids that gave him each illness. Ugh.

As a funny aside...the one kid Jim and I all call "Dirty James" is Patient Zero for this cold/cough combo...here's what a conversation will often be like between Jim and I over dinner-

Jim: So, how was the pickup from school too.
Me: Good, but ugh, Riley was totally playing with Dirty James when I got there. I know it's mean, but that little boy, although cute, gives me the skeevs..
Jim: yeah, I wish we could outlaw Riley's involvement with Dirty James. Would that be wrong?
Me: yes, it would be wrong but I wish it could happen-he's always wet, dirty, and booger-y just he's like Pigpen from Charlie Brown
Jim: Ewww, I'm trying to eat.
Me: Okay, I'll stop picking on 1 year olds..Hmmm, maybe they'll move.

Anyway, I know it's wrong to "make fun" of a baby, but sheesh, he's just one gross little dude.

Well, Riley is actually feeling pretty good (running around and being the little crazy guy that he normally is)...only slept with us last night for a few hours (he couldn't stop coughing and needed to be propped up in our bed) and then he took some good naps for Jim today, which was good, b/c I had to go to work and Jim was on Mr. Mom sick duty while working from home. Hopefully tonight will go better now that he's back on his meds (poor fella is on 3 separate meds!)

Seriously?

SO, we're sick again! As usual, Riley has it the worst, I come in a distant second with a sore throat and runny nose, and Jim is feeling some sore throat symptoms too. Luckily, this time it just seems to be a head cold. Unfortunately in Riley's case, he doesn't quite understand this cold virus business and was up all night wailing b/c he had a high fever & couldn't sleep on his stomach. He ended up in bed with us propped up on his back, but even that wasn't completely successful since he woke up about every hour since he would try to return to sleep on his belly only to realize seconds after doing so that the snotsers in his nose weren't having it. The one good thing (hopefully) about this is that next week we're going to Boston and my p's are watching Riley so hopefully, he can have one non-sick weekend so all will go as planned.

Crazy start to 2008...

When I posted last (January 1st), I had no idea what was in store for all of us in the next 72 hours.
Let's just say, we all got a pretty bad stomach virus and it was not pretty. It was straight up biohazard up on Nottingham Street. Riley ended up in the hospital for about 4 hours, and after 8 trials, they doctor on call in the ER FINALLY got an IV into him- it was in such a weird spot, that we had to hold his foot (yeah, in his little chub of a foot since they exhausted the veins in his arms & hands) in a specific position or else the fluids would not enter Sir-Pukes-all-Night properly. If anyone took a picture, it would have been quite the sight. Me, with my hair all sorts of crazy with some puked-on cock-a-mamie outfit on (*it was 3am) sitting up and resting my head on the side of the ER cot holding his foot bent and a disheveled Jim on the other side of the cot "sleeping" and looking like he hadn't done so in about 46 days. Riley, who had finally fell asleep after being up from 11-5am being sick and poked and prodded by all the nurses and docs was sprawled out on his back with his hands behind his head as if we was relaxing on the beach in Tahiti. So, Riley recovered relatively quickly, and then the virus struck Jim and I within a 1/2 hour of each other- luckily, it was 7:30pm, so Riley was fast asleep and none the wiser that his parents were busy hugging their respective toilets (having 2 bathrooms RULES!). The next 2 days were a blur as both of us just did what we could with Riley when we could...luckily, Jim was feeling better about a day before me, so he was able to pick up my parenting slack.

Fast Forward 1 week...

We're all feeling better and as of the last couple of days, Riley has become the voracious eater he once was again. We've returned to having some sleeping issues, but instead of Riley getting up in the middle of the night, he's decided that 4:30 is sooo the new 5:30-6am. He's also discovered tantrums..he'll freak out over nothing and in seconds, all will be right in his little world and he'll seem to think nothing of the previous 3-5 minutes where he screamed at the top of his lungs and cried buckets of tears. It sucks, but everyone says, it's a phase, and will pass. Well, I'm just hoping it passes sooner than later.

I'm trying to think if there's anything "new" that the little guy is doing..Hmmm, he's getting pretty good at repeating words that we say, like "nana" for banana. A few days ago, Jim was listening to Howard Stern while driving Riley to daycare and he started to sing along with one of the "Bab ba ba booey" songs. haw!

I'll leave you with a few pics of Riley and his new bike helmet- we can't wait to hit the boards this Spring/Summer on his Kettrike! As you can see, Jim and I are much more excited about this happening, than Riley is...

As you wish...

Pics from NYE and NYD Part-tee at the Pierces!

NYE...Riley's new favorite toy: the laundry basket!



Mmmmmm, delicous pics of our NYE dinner (which we toasted with some Asti and then watched, 28 Days Later, a zombie movie!)...dessert was a disaster, we didn't even eat it. I tried to make some gussied up chocolate pudding (French inspired "Petit Pots") but something went wrong and it just didn't taste worth the calories. It was disappointing, to say the least. Oh, the salad is mixed baby greens with sour cherries, toasted walnuts, radishes, goat cheese in a maple-mustard vinaigrette and Jim made his butternut and ricotta ravioli with shallot-y cider broth....both were delicious!



New Year's Day Brunch Party...There's a party in my tummy!

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....