Welcome Baby Benjamin

One of my best friends is Bobby. He and my mommy are friends from college. Bobby is now a big brother. That job comes with a lot of responsibility. Good luck with being a big brother Bobby and welcome to the world Benjamin. I can't wait to hang out with you both.

In better late than never news...Welcome Baby Dylan

Congratulations to Bryan and Shannon on the birth of my new cousin Dylan January 23rd. I love Dylan's big brother Jess, so I can only imagine how fun it is going to be to play with Dylan.

Another day, another injury

After school today, my parents took me to the park. It was a little chilly, but I couldn't wait to run up to the playset to slide. I ran up the steps and slid down just like a good little boy. Then I ran back up and did it again. I was too fast for Mommy the second time and slide on my cheek, so now one side of my face is nice and rosy. The rosy cheek will go nicely with my new scratches from school. Apparently, I like to play with toys and don't like them when people take them away from me. I need to work on my patience and my friends need to work on sharing. This growing up thing is hard. My big achievement today was the stacking of shapes. I matched up the purple circles and snapped them into place. What awesome fine and gross motor skills. Gotta go to sleep so I will be ready to learn more tomorrow at school.

FIRE DRILL

There was a fire drill at my daycare today. I was a little scared by all the noises. I don't like fire drills.

What's Riley up to now???

Let me get you caught up....since the last update I got to spend time with my Grandma B. She came all the way from Phoenix, just to see me. Ok and maybe the rest of my family too, but seriously, it was probably just for me. I showed off my walking skills and showed her how to use all my toys. I shared my cars and books with Grandma.


She is really good at getting my shake n go cars to go real far. We went to the Arboretum, the Great Wolf Lodge, Going Bonkers and other local hang outs.



After Grandma left my Aunt Wendy came to visit me. She picked me up from school and took me to play kickball at the high school. Aunt Wendy and I saw a softball game and I said my first compound word, "baseball".

Later I went to visit Ms. Lissa and i got to play with Caroline. We played with all her toys and tried to break the baby gates.

To get you up to date

On Monday my family and I went to Going Bonkers. It was awesome. I got to run all around the 0-3 year old room. It had a trampoline area, tunnels to climb through and an awesome slide. I like to go down the slide backwards. I worked out so hard in the play area, that I had to refuel with two pieces of pizza. Then I went home and slept all night without a peep.

Tuesday at school I was exhausted. I hung out with my friends and played with all the toys. When I got home I was so tired I couldn't even eat dinner. Man, Going Bonkers drains all my energy. I went straight to bed and didn't wake up until Wednesday.

So today, my mom bought some instruments at the store and brought them to school. We got a jingle bell stick, little finger cymbals, tambourine and a wooden click stick. We had so much fun playing with them. Later in the day I was running up the stairs and running down the ramp in the toddler room and I tried some new stunts. They didn't quite work out like intended, so now I have a big bump on my forehead. My parents hope it goes away before my Grandma visits this weekend. If not, they think she will take me back to Phoenix. My parents felt so bad about my bump that I got to go to McDonald's for my first happy meal. I drank all my milk and ate almost all of my chicken, I'm trying to eat healthy so I didn't have many fries. Then I got to play on the slide. I can't wait until I get a slide of my own.

Playing with Aunt Wendy

This morning I woke up early and went to the gym with Mom, Dad and Aunt Wendy. After we worked out, we went and got smoothies. I got a Hercules sized Nana Banana, my Dad says it will make me super strong. I went home and took a nap and then I was off shopping at Pottery Barn Kids. I played with Dinos and then proceeded to go up to all the customers in the store and roar. Then I went to Froggies on Knox-Henderson and played with the train table and picked out a new book and Dino stickers. Then I went to the Sushi restaurant. I tried edamame for the first time and liked it. Mom and Dad say it's a vegetable, but I think it is really dessert. I need to go get some sleep, so I will be ready to watch football tomorrow. If I'm real good I get to go to Going Bonkers and play on the slides and ball pit.

Conquering the Slide

TGIF. It was such a rough week of school. I've been so busy learning songs (complete with hand motions), increasing my sign language skills and learning to climb higher and higher (now I just need to learn how to get back down). My Aunt Wendy came to visit for the extended weekend and she couldn't resist coming to pick me up early from school. She took me to the indoor play area at McDonald's. I have never been there before, but I hope to go back. I went up and down the slide and even went up it backwards. After I played for 45 minutes, I was exhausted. Don't tell my parents, but I got some cookies. Yummy. When Aunt Wendy and I got home she put in a video for me and I watched a whole video of the Little People. It was awesome. Mom and Dad don't let me watch TV, so I'm hoping I get to hang out with Aunt Wendy alot more this weekend.

15 month check-up

I had to go to the Doctor yesterday for my 15 month check-up. I was very happy to hang out with my mom and dad instead of go to school. We got to see the fish swimming in the tank at my Doctor's office, they were neat. My Dad kept calling them a funny name, it sounded like sue-she. I went and had to weigh in, how embarrassing. 25 pounds 6 ounces, I might have to start working out with my Dad. I've been playing a joke on my parents saying that I only have 4 teeth. Boy were they surprised when they found out that I had two molars and some other teeth and all my gums were super swollen. You should have seen their faces, it was so funny. Now they know why I have been so fussy. Three shots later and lots of tears, I was headed to get a sticker and go to school.

So Many Questions

Throughout my extensive travels and adventures during the last 15 months, I've accumulated a list of questions and observations about the world around me. I've asked all the kids at school, but nobody seems to know any of the answers. Can you help me?

Why is it called a "hamburger" when there is no ham in it?

Why does daddy snore so much when he sleeps?

Do cats like to eat jello?

Is play-dough a food group?

Why does Heinz ketchup say "57 varieties"? I only see one variety?

Why does the horn on the bus go “beep, beep, beep”?

What the heck is a ‘Backyardigan’ anyway?

How do lava lamps work?

Why does daddy spend a lot of time yelling at the TV on Sundays?

How did the grapefruit get its name? It doesn’t look like a grape.

Why do fingers and toes wrinkle in the bathtub?

My daddy says the sky is blue because “if it was green, we wouldn’t know when to stop mowing our lawns”. Is this true?

Do dinosaurs make good pets?

How does my mommy always make me feel so much better when I’m sad?

Why is it called “bluetooth”?

Does anybody else’s parents allow them to eat crayons? My parents don’t let me, and I’m thinking about signing a petition to end this cruelty against me.

What is it about banging on pots with wooden spoons that makes me so happy?

Well, thats it for now. I'm sure I'll think of more questions later on.
Love, Riley.

Happy Birthday Baby Jack Taylor

I'm super excited to announce that I have a new playmate. Baby Jack was born yesterday, but I didn't find out about him until today. Congratulations Mr. John and Ms. Melissa. I can't wait to meet Baby Jack and start our band practices. I have a drum and a guitar, so if anyone is look for a gift for Baby Jack, may I suggest a microphone, guitar amp and/or pedalboard. I had my mom ask Uncle Nate to take some pictures when he meets Jack tonight. His track record at this is pretty poor, but hopefully he won't let me down.

Watching football with my Dad

Dad and I are both pretty disappointed that our Broncos didn't make the play-offs, but that doesn't stop us from watching our favorite sport (even if it means we have to watch the stupid stinky SD Chargers).

We started off the weekend with the Green Bay and Seattle game. I was on a play date with my friend Sebastian during the game. His Mom is a GM for TGI Fridays in Arlington, so we went to see her at the restaurant. Dad made sure we got to see part of the game as he took me for a walk around the restaurant several times. I'm not supposed to tell Mom, but we kept walking by the TV in the B-A-R, not sure what that spells. Not sure how the game ended, Dad said something about the Cheeseheads winning.

The next game featured my Aunt Wendy's Patriots. My Mom put my Patriots jersey on (my Dad says it's ok since the Broncos aren't in the Post-season, otherwise I'm not allowed to wear it). The Patriots won, so I'm thinking there might be some new Patriots gear in my closet pretty soon.

On Sunday I kept napping on and off, so I know I must have just dreamt that the Colts and the Cowboys lost, because that would just be crazy.

The start of a blog

A New Year and a new way of keeping in touch. Since my Mom and Dad aren't the best at keeping everyone updated on my daily adventures, I thought I would create my own blog. I'm new to the blog world and to the world in general, so I figure I will learn as I go along. Keep coming back if you want to keep up with the life of Riley.

Love,
Riley