Warm weather strikes!

So, Riley and I took dad to Oakland airport on Monday for a work trip, so we decided to stop at Ikea on the way home (we had a store credit burning a hole in our pocket). Who can pass up a trip to Ikea?! Riley made out. Of course. Nobody else did. Of course. Here are a couple of her treasures:






We love to hang out in the yard. We do it every day that is nice enough... sometimes it gets too chilly or windy to go out, but for the last week or so, it's been amazing! We have an open invitation to all of our friends to come any day, but so far, only Kathy and Anthony have joined us. C'mon, moms! Git over here! We have too many toys for one baby.





Today, Riley got mail! She got a card from Papa (my dad), with some stickers inside. My mom and dad always put their photos inside the cards they send, just to remind Riley of who they are. Riley loves stickers. But honestly, she couldn't care less about these stickers. Yeah, she liked them, but she carried that card around and caressed the photo, saying 'papa, papa' for about an hour. Thanks papa, I got to cook dinner without someone pulling at my pants!




And here she is, watching Ms. Spider, her favorite bedtime show. Sometimes, like tonite, this show replaces the bedtime books. Good for days when mom and dad are worn-out. Like today.



Here's the potty update. No more pee in the potty yet. Poop... another story. Getting close. So, I guess I made the mistake (or not) of showing Riley where her poop should go. When she insists on wearing her 'big girl' panties, I keep reminding her to tell me if she has to pee or poop. I don't think she's ready for that yet. She has peed and pooped in every pair of 'big girl' panties she's had on. If she poops in them, I empty it into the potty, to show her where it should go, and how it looks in there. Then we go flush it and wash our hands. Well, Yesterday, she brought me a diaper (she normally takes them off by herself these days... yeesh...), and I noticed traces of poop. My first thought... Oh Gawd, where's the poop?!?! I said 'thank you, where's the poop?', took the diaper, and went on a hunt with her leading me. The hunt started in her room. Bingo. Poop on the floor. Two huge turds (fortunately, not smooshed). Seriously, can babies poop that big, normally? Maybe TMI, but, I have to ask. Apparently, she was beside the potty when she went, and decided to try to put it where it goes, and missed. That's my guess-timation of the situation. What do you think?



Oh, and here is my progress on her wall. Russell couldn't believe how beautiful it looked... guess he didn't think I could do it (at least, so precisely)! Maybe this is my new business... fancy baby rooms. You like? It's only 1/3 done... still need the pink and orange.

A new addition

Russell bought Riley and me a new car yesterday! We spent 5 grueling hours at the Honda dealership, and thanks to Russell's amazing negotiation skills and background as the ultimate salesman ('can't fool me, I work in advertising!'), we ended up with a great deal on a super-sweet kiwi green Honda Element. I have to say that he was a total trooper, being so patient for so long. And so was Riley... she played with her toys, colored, had lunch... not one negative word (or gesture, or tantrum, or anything) the entire day.

We all love the new car. Tangerine was our first choice, but there were none to be had in all of Northern California. Guess they're popular or something? My favorite thing about it? I've never seen a car seat sit so tight and secure in any other car. I feel like Riley is so safe, and sitting up high, that everything else about the car is secondary. Here we are with the new family member:





Some of my favorite things Riley says and does these days:

• 'down! down! down!' while we are going down a hill
• 'here you go, mommy' when she hands me something (heego, mommy)
• 'thank you, mommy' when I hand her something (sankoo, mommy)
• separating 'little' from 'big' things in life, and identifying them in her books
• she's started singing two notes, 'sea shells', from one of the songs from her music class
• she saw the front piece to her crib in the basement, and said, 'no more baby'
• she knows all of her colors, including gray, which she learned today
• she counts to 7 while walking down the stairs
• started singing two notes, 'clean up', from her zoo class, when we start cleaning things up (but she says 'cweem up')

This morning, while I was at Jenny Craig getting my good news (read next segment), Russell took Riley into the yard to hang out and have a dance party. She was very busy chomping on strawberries ('chawbees'):





And they found a new friend! Riley loves 'nails':



A note about me... still doing the Jenny thing, and lost 2-1/2 pounds this week to break my halfway point! Woo-hoo! Super exciting, and now I get to make my own meals for 2 days this week, instead of eating their food. I'm a bit nervous about that (I tend to cook extra flavorful and therefore fatty), but I bought their cookbook, so I should be OK... Congrats to Menz, by the way, who's also showing huge losses already on Jenny. Definitely worth the effort!

And these just in, some awesome shots of cousins Charlie and Quinn, who Riley calls quite often on her (play) cell phone. She runs around the house yelling their names over and over. Wish those kids could see each other more often! Too hard living across the country (in this case, even, in Toronto!):

OMG---BIG news!!

Riley peed on the potty!!!!!!!!!! Yes, daddy came home from work and we were doing our usual evening routine, and she ran into her bedroom, playing as usual. She got quiet, so I peeked in, and found her sitting on her potty, without her diaper, reading a potty book. I summoned Russell to come immediately, and we both knew something was happening... Then she saw us, stood up, looked into the potty, and smiled really big. We ran over, and found pee in there! We did a huge parade, marching all around the house, with singing and high-fives and all. Treats ensued, and Riley was a super-happy little lady. Wow. I can't believe it. Here we go!



Tomorrow, we've decided to go back to the guard rail on the bed. I talked to a mom at the playground today and Auntie Lindsay, and decided that we have to give it a few days. We will be putting a gate on her bedroom door, and expecting her to sleep on the floor beside it for a few nights, but... moving on. I'm very nervous, but super excited. She's getting to be such a big girl. The car's at the garage for some fixes, so we're stuck here and able spend the whole day getting used to the big girl bed. And potty!

Since the tutu was such a hit yesterday, here are a couple more shots of it.




And here she is in the yard, helping me to water the plants. I planted her a strawberry, a pumpkin, and two cherry tomatoes. I taught her how to fill up her new elephant watering can with water from the hose (I turn it on very light for her), and then to give the plants water. She loves to help take care of them.





This past weekend, we went to Six Flags with Lisa, Juliet, and Mike. We had so much fun! I can't believe Lisa made it all the way around that park, and parking lot, in her 'condition'... she is about 10 months pregnant, and the size of a house. Not really, but, she is just about ready to pop. She was amazing, and didn't complain once. I complained a lot more, on her behalf.



Here are some great photos of the day. Riley and Juliet really love each other. You know, I realized this week, that Juliet was Riley's first friend. And Lisa was my first mommy friend!



Riley rode the Thomas train with daddy. That was super-exciting.



She rode the chopper with mommy.



We met some characters. She loved Bugs, but not so much Sir Toppen Hat (from Thomas). He actually kinda scared her a little.




But daddy, as usual, piled us up with prizes from the game area. He always wins the best stuff. He won so much on Saturday, that we were able to give Juliet a few things. Her daddy wasn't quite as up for the games... hehehehehe! By the way, check out how skinny he's getting! Giminy, my being on Jenny Craig seems to be benefitting him, more than me!!



Here are some super hugs for Juliet at the end of the day. We could barely separate these gals, they kept hugging over, and over, and over... really hard hugs, and really long-lasting! Tooo cute.




And a good summary of the day:

Big days, these days.

Big GIRL days, that is. Loads of stuff happening... where to start? Well... the latest. Today, after the usual music class and lunch, I put her in her crib for a nap. Even though she specifically asked for a nap, she really didn't want to be in there, so she decided to climb out. She tried this once, months ago, and that was it. But today's climb was much more scary to me. Here's how I found her:




Yes, we decided to put the guard rail on her bed after this incident. She LOVED it. Too much, I think.





The guard rail led to a nap 1 hour later due to playing with the bed and running around, and finally falling asleep on mommy. That turned into a short 1 hour nap (normally 2 hours). Fine. Cranky baby rest of day. Transitions. Understood.

Tonite, read to her in her chair, and put her in bed, got a lot of crying and climbing out. Mommy had to lay down with her to calm her down and help her to sleep. Didn't work. Went in to find her 15 minutes later, screaming, crying and snotty, standing in the middle of her room, carrying her blanket. She came out to sit with daddy (dragging her blanket), as I put the crib back together. Daddy and I decided that too much freedom can be a super-scary thing. Completely understandable. So we move on... we'll have a talk with her tomorrow about climbing out of the crib, versus the big-girl bed. Hmmph.

Another thing that accompanies this dilemma is the potty training one. We've been toying with it, and she's been playing with the potty (and actually sitting on it, without a deposit) for a while. Once I put the guard rail on the bed, she insisted I bring the potty into her room and put her 'big girl' panties on her. She is so ready to move on, it's just a bit scary... Here she is with her potty yesterday:




On another note, we've started to think about redecorating her room. We took the baby quilt off the wall and hung the surfboard (uncle) Justin bought her for her birth. She loves to look at it, and when she does, she yells "Ocean!" Guess she's seen her share of surfers out here in NorCal!



We're also planning on painting the wall behind her crib. Russell and I selected colors and I bought paint this week. Now I have to think about when to do the painting... probably when Russell can take her out for 5 hours on a weekend day... we'll plan that one in the near future! Here's the pattern I'm doing on her wall. This shows the entire wall, so the circles are pretty big.



She saw the design and just oooh-ed and aaahh-ed. Really loved it. Can't wait to start painting! Now, I just need to figure out how to make a circle stencil that big. Any ideas? Dad?

More later about our big weekend at Six Flags and Riley taking care of her plants in the yard. She's so good with this... you'll see!