potty time

riley is in no way ready for potty training, but matt thought he'd try anyway. here she is, just before bathtime, trying out the new potty. you can see how excited she is . . .

Dollie Goes for a Ride

riley has been giving dollie rides in her train. it may be time to buy riley a toy carriage!

you'll notice the easter egg behind riley. she's still practicing for the great easter egg hunt on the big day. she's an expert now.

you also may notice that riley's hair is out of control. i have no idea what to do with it. any suggestions?

watching elmo on t.v.

along with the elmo theme of our lives . . .
here are riley and matt watching the box office hit, _elmo in grouchland_. you can see that riley is entranced. matt is singing along with the songs in his head.

riley is ridiculously content here: elmo, a dollie, a sippy cup, and daddy. her world is complete.

"All Gone!"

this is riley's sign for "all gone." it can also mean, "i don't know."

you'll notice that riley is holding two sesame street character plastic little people--big bird and snuffie. they have been stored for 30 years by popo ellie in new hampshire. that's why they're smaller than the current little people series. riley loves them, but she is sad that she can't find elmo: he didn't exist 30 years ago on sesame street! well, that's not exactly true. in the beginning of sesame street, he had a bit part as a baby monster. it wasn't until 1985 that he took a lead .

other elmo facts?
he's 3.5 years old
kevin clash is his puppeteer
he has appeared on the rosie o'donnell show, the martha stewart show, the view, and west wing
in 2002 he testified in front of congress asking for increased support for music education

yup, elmo is a big part of our lives here!

nothing much to say

even though nothing exciting is going on here, i thought i'd post a pic of riley. she's modeling her new sweater. she doesn't seem happy about it here, but really she likes it. she might be angry at me in this picture bc we're about to go to target again.

riley is almost 14 months old. she spends most of her day walking around, rearranging the house. today she spent a half hour taking her dollies out of her crib, putting them in her high chair, and then putting them back into the crib. she has also shown me that she can follow commands--and likely when she doesn't, it is because she is ignoring me and not because she does not understand.

her favorite games include "hide and seek," any sort of chasing game, and "find the hidden elmo." she loves dancing and music, and her favorite books are interactive--flap books, etc. riley's personality develops more daily. she is happy, giggly, and good natured--until you cross her. then she is a screaming banshee.

STILL waiting

we're still waiting for nana and grandpa to get back from florida!

it snowed here--lots. today we had a picnic indoors. it started as a fort, but riley kept pulling down the blanket, so it turned into a picnic.

tomorrow popo ellie will be visiting and spoiling riley . . .

Hello, Nana and Grandpa!

Nana and Grandpa are in Florida, and we promised that we would post lots of pictures of Riley. Here she is today, eating cookies on Matt's expensive massage chair.

She had a great day. We went to story time at the library, and Riley tried to take the book away the librarian as she was reading. During the free play portion, Riley crawled through tunnels and carried around a tamborine and rattle.

For dinner she ate homemade chicken nuggets and potato pancakes, and we all had hot chocolate (well, hot Ovaltine) for a treat. It was 17 degrees up here.

We hope you're having fun!

There's an Elmo on EVERY diaper!

Brady's Big Birthday

we got all dressed up for brady's 2nd bday party this weekend! riley was very excited. brady's dad and riley's dad went to medical school together.

riley wore the party hat for about 20 seconds.

brady is so nice! he shared his toys with riley. brady is very good at sharing; he will soon be the middle child. he has an older sister and a new baby brother on the way . . .

riley had a great time!

first crayons

we're running out of "firsts"! riley has started scribbling. she holds the crayons in a fist, but she's getting the hang of it. our little picasso . . .

riley's latest trick is getting up at 4am. we do not have any pictures of this; i'm definitely not in the mood to take a snapshot at that early hour. anyone have any suggestions on how to convince her to sleep until, say, 5am?!?

love this picture

riley looks like such a big girl in this picture. i couldn't resist posting it. a year ago, riley couldn't ride in the carriage without her car seat because she was too small and couldn't hold up her head; now she gets her coat for me, helps me put it on (sometimes), and knows how to unbuckle the seatbelt in the carriage.

grandpa's retirement party

Riley had a big day. Instead of getting ready for bed at 5:30pm, we dressed her in her new party dress and big girl party shoes (also Stride Rites). Then we bundled up and drove to Grandpa's surprise retirement party.

Riley was a good sport, even though she was exhausted. She lasted for almost an hour.

Then we drove home in the snow . . .

Riley fell asleep within 60 seconds of being the warm car.

where's the kitty?

can you find the kitty in the picture below?

RILEY CAN!

do you want to try again?

riley got it again!

(she is an expert at locating cats. grover and billie can't escape her, no matter where they hide in the house . . .)

the day the patriots ruined their perfect record

the day started out fine. matt worked in the morning, and then we took riley to the park. she tried out all the slides.

then she rode the swing. she wouldn't wear her gloves, i think because she wanted to hold on so tightly!

but as you all know, the evening did not end as well for those faithful new englanders. well, at least i can FINALLY put away riley's patriots' outfit! it's getting worn out anyway.