A Year and A Half!

Okay...it seems like just yesterday when we brought Riley home from the hospital. We can hardly believe that she is already a year and a half. She has not only changed our lives, for the better, but oh, how she has changed in such a short period of time...

Riley at 18 months:

• Loves to play, play, play...especially outside. She likes climbing and sliding and swinging is starting to grow on her. She is all about running at full speed. At bath time she thinks it is funny to run away while we are preparing the bath water. She has figured out that she has two doors to escape through from her bathroom and will run out one to the hallway, then wait and see if we will come through the other way to catch her. If not, she usually will run into the kitchen or living room and wait for us to come and fetch her.


• Opens doors throughout the house, which makes me a nervous wreck. Not only am I afraid she will eventually destroy the neat linen closet, but I am always nervous about her opening the garage door and tumbling down the two steps. We have to keep reminding ourselves to lock the door.


• Finds too much excitement in making messes...Every day she will find every toy bin that she can dump out...and just go for it. I think she likes the sound that this makes, especially when on the hardwood.


• Has a new favorite activity - coloring. Her teachers at school are very impressed with how well she does. They brag that she will not even try to eat the crayons...this is so not the case at home...why is that???? Her art work can be found all over the house.


• Is developing quite the vocabulary. She is very good at repeating words that we say and starting to put small phrases together..."I want mama" and "Dada shoes" were the firsts.


• Does not have a lot of patience...perhaps rather "high maintenance". So, maybe she gets this honestly. This is okay, for it will pay dividends in the future!


• Still loves books. Her favorites right now are her "Who Loves Baby" books, which have pictures of all of her extended family. She loves to point to the pictures and for us to tell her who the picture is. Hopefully by our next trips home she will call you all by name!


• Takes only one nap a day for 2-3 hours. She sleeps 9-10 hours at night, but has had more trouble with sleeping through the night over the past month, as she has been sick off and on.


• Is a picky eater...aren't we all though. She definitely has her favorites...lasagna, Grammy's secret BBQ recipe, oatmeal, peanut butter, crackers, fruit, and a new favorite...ju, ju. We have caved on giving Riley juice, but mostly V8 Fusion. She is doing well with feeding herself with a spoon and fork, but will often use her fingers still. She is can be a bit messy when eating and will throw whatever she throw what she doesn't want on the floor.


• Riley is full of love. She is crazy about her Daddy, but loves her Mama and new baby brother too.