Knockin' on the Door TWO Years Old!

Only one month to the big TWO...and my, oh, my how our little Sweet Pea has changed. I have been organizing family pics while home with Zachary, and it amazes me how much Riley has grown and changed in just 23 months.

At 23 months...
Riley is very caring, especially when it comes to her little brother. When Zach is crying, she will take his pasi to him, or bring a blanket to cover him up, and always offer kisses. I think this is why she loves playing with her baby dolls, as she often copies what I might be doing with Zach. My favorite is when she puts her dolls in the front of her shopping cart and stroll around the house, making pit stops to put them in the bouncy seat or the car seat. She will even tuck them in with Zach's blankets, or feed them their bottles or pretend food.

Although Riley can be sweeter than sugar, she also knows how to push buttons and throw tantrums. Over the past week especially, she seems to be testing the waters more and more (jumping on the sofa, pounding on the computer keyboard, putting Zach's pasi in her mouth, or my favorite...when I am changing her diaper on the floor, she will sometimes break free in the middle and run around with a bare bottom). If we tell her "no", she will usually try one or two more times and sometimes even look right at us and give a smirk! Little stinker...so, off to time out, which she does not like. After she settles down, we have her apologize before coming back to play...which is a riot too, as she now whispers..."sorry" so quietly that if you aren't watching her lips, you wouldn't know that she actually apologized.

Riley's expressions right now are priceless. It is all about the "surprised" look and the cutest giggle of excitement. Just about anything can bring out the best in her...especially Skype. She loves to hear the computer ringing the other party and will usually squeal with sheer joy when the other party answers.

Things we love about out Sweet Pea...
The way she eats her favorite cereal. Notice the humongous spoonful!

Not all the Krispies make the cut!


That's what fingers are for!


We love watching her concentrate while doing her puzzles, and the way she just about flips for the chewy fruit snacks, and her sweet giggle when we tickle her armpits. We also cannot get enough of her dance moves...they always bring a smile to our face! The silly things that make us laugh at times and roll our eyes at other times...Riley will be in one room and we might be in another, and she will stand still and shout at the top of her lungs "mama or dada", but not move and inch to come find us. Then there is the "hmmmm/huh?" stage. About 90% of the time right now when we ask Riley a question the response is huh? or hmmmm?, even if she did hear what we said.

Riley is still a Daddy's girl and adores being with JD the most. She likes tooling around the garage with him, helping with any project...especially when it involves tools. She is quite inquisitive and likes to see how things go together or how they come apart. I love watching the two of them together, as there are always smiles and fun. Yet, when the day is done, and Riley is really tired...Mommy is always part of Ry's vocabulary (and it is Mommy now, not MaMa as much)!

Other loves...Books of all sorts and the way she will ask for a specific book (especially Clifford right now), swimming or water in general, stickers, Sesame Street magnets, dumping things out and picking them back up only to dump out again. Favorite foods...Vitatops, Cascadian Farm granola bars, turkey sausage, Kashi oatmeal, fruit, fruit, fruit, anything sweet!

We love our Ry, Ry and cannot wait to celebrate her big number 2 birthday next month!