Florida fun!

Here are some pics. from this last week in Florida. Riley is almost 15 months and full of energy! His most recent accomplishment was mastering going up the stairs all by himself. He talks himself through every step, and at the top he claps for himself!

Rain Rain Go Away!

We are now in Florida and it has been thunderstorming since our arrival last week. Today I ran out of indoor activities and let Riley explore puddles and rain! He hasn't had much experience in the rain, in L.A. rain is hard to come by! I started the morning by trying to promote "independent play". Riley was in his new, very own bedroom, playing with all of his long lost Florida toys. I peeked in on him, and found him laying underneath all of his books. He had managed to pull all his books out of his shelf and was trying to read multiple books at once. We then ventured outside and Riley had a ball running in the puddles. It took him about 20 seconds before he was rolling in them. He came in for supper drenched with a big grin!

Hmmmmm.........

This morning I woke up and immediately started wondering why I couldn't hear a one-year old bouncing in his crib. I looked at the clock and it was 6 AM. Usually Riley is up and in the middle of Barney by this time. I started wandering our huge California mansion ( okay not exactly) and decided to make the boys some strawberry pancakes. I cut up fresh strawberries and get the homemade batter (maybe it was bisquick) ready. I make two huge plates of fresh pancakes and still no sound from Riley's crib. I found myself checking on him constantly, until he finally woke at 8:30AM! I served him his strawberry pancakes and after every bite his little eyes would light up and he would say, "hmmmmmmmm". I couldn't figure out if he was shocked that I had cooked or the fact that I was so eager to serve him. I find myself always thinking about how I could be getting so much more done, if Riley would sleep in. The thing is, I spent all that time wanting him to be awake because I missed him!

Fun in the Sun!

It has been really hot here so we have spent a lot of time in the pool, trying to stay cool. Riley decided last week that he could jump into the pool like all the big kids. At this point we had not got him a lifejacket, because he was still using his baby rafts. Well, he showed us by jumping into the deep end without any lifejacket. He was unphased by his rescue and continued to attempt more jumps. Needless to say, I rushed to Target and got him a life jacket. He didn't like it at first, but now he is jumping with all the big boys and loving it! He is also making good progress on his swimming. He now can use his arms very well, but struggles to kick and use his arms at the same time. We are so proud of him for being so brave and going full force into the water!