Riley and Avery

We did go with Kelly, Caitlynn, and Courtney (our neighbor and her girls) to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo today. We had a whole lot of fun. For once, we actually went to the Will Rogers Shrine to the Sun, which is included with zoo admission. The views were absolutely breath-taking. We live in a very beautiful city and we're lucky for that. We actually saw the tiger this time, and about three feet away through a chain-link fence. That was awesome.

Riley and Avery attended their first birthday party for Elijah at Pump It Up. They ran around like crazy people for 90 minutes and then chowed down on pizza (minus cheese for Avery) and strawberry cake. The 90 minutes of playtime was just enough. The kids got all of their energy out and didn't complain about leaving to go eat pizza and cake.

Riley and Avery both got new pairs of shoes recently. I felt so bad that when we measured Riley's feet, she's a 9 1/2 and the shoes she was wearing were an 8. The downside is that she's not in toddler shoes anymore, so gone are the days of super-gaudy girly shoes. Avery got her first pair of shoes at nearly two years old. She got your typically mid-height Stride Rite shoes, white with embroidered flowers around the top. Avery absolutely adores her shoes and must wear them everywhere. I'm relieved because I was scared that she wouldn't like them and refuse to wear them like the other Stride Rite shoes we bought her. She won't go outside anymore without her shoes on and she wants to use them too, walking instead of being carried or pushed in the cart or stroller.

Since we taught Riley to do things by "magic", like close the car doors and start the car, Avery has learned to say "hocus, hocus, pocus, POCUS!!" It's really very cute how she says it, pointing her finger. She is also saying "please" and "thank you" and "sorry." Her sentences are getting better, too. When she bumps her head she says "hurt head look kiss." So we're making progress there. She also is showing great interest in learning her colors.

I wanted to upload more pictures but need to recharge the batteries, so I'll have to post more later today...I realize that none of the ones uploaded so far have Riley in them.

So Riley has a knock-knock joke that goes as follows:
R: Knock-knock.
Me: Who's there?
R: Letter
Me: Letter who?
R: Letter in, she's naked! (It's supposed to be "letter in she's been knocking" but Riley got it wrong)
Anyway, the other night Avery sits up after nursing and says "Knock-Knock" so I say "Who's there," although not expecting an answer. Avery says "Letter!" and I say "Letter who?" and she says "Naked!!" It was so freakin cute. Today she is making up her own knock-knock jokes. At the age of 21 months...

I keep forgetting to post that I am going to enroll Riley in Capoeira classes. Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian dance/martial art "played" to live music. Here's a video. Each student receives an instrument and learns to play it. Rudi wanted Riley to take a martial art, I wanted her to get involved with music, and Riley wanted to take ballet. I didn't want to expose her to the body image issues of ballet, so capoeira seems like a good mix of all. They offer two trial classes for $10, so we'll go for that and see how Riley likes it. Hopefully she'll enjoy it.

I am proud to say that I have a 100% in accounting so far, through four assignments. And the last one was a toughie. I have a test that I have to take this week, so I'll see if Rudi can take the girls somewhere while I complete it.

Well, Riley has definitely been more social at school. Today I pick her up and she's on the tire swing with a boy named Evan and they're have a grand ol' time giggling and talking, so I let her play. Then they move over to the seesaw and I'm pretty sure that she saw me while she was running over there, but she didn't react, so I wasn't sure. I'm used to the "MOMMY!!!!" when I pick her up from school. Then I KNOW she saw me while she was on the seesaw, and she completely IGNORED me and moved on to something else with Evan! The teachers were happy that she was befriending Evan, since he has some anger/behavioral issues and Riley is a good influence, but also won't stand for mistreatment. Riley a good influence, you say? We must remember that Riley is a perfect little angel in school. "Smiley Riley" they call her.


So I logon to The Babywearer today and see that I have a personal message, which I never have. Turns out it's from Lillian who is the creator, in Norway, of the Taitasi Mei Tai. These things go for around $250, by the way. Although I have never seen a Taitasi, I posted pictures and sewing notes on how I made the one I made (which was based on the Taitasi, to be fair). Apparently I came too close to how she actually makes it and she objected to my posting the sewing notes and asked me to remove them. I complied, but must admit that I am flattered...

I just found the camera-connector-thingy that lets me upload pictures, hence the delay in blogging. I studiously put it away before going to Maryland and then forgot where I put it. So, I'll upload pictures and move on...

So, long time no blog. We're falling back into the rhythm of school mornings. The first morning was rough, but it's all getting better. Kelly, our neighbor, has been coming with us in the mornings (more about that later) and that helps so that Avery doesn't have to get out of the car. She LOVES Riley's school and screams if she has to leave. And then Avery cries "Riley! Riley! Riiiiiileeeeeeeeeey!" It's pretty sad that she misses Riley. One of the teachers left to head her own school here in town (one that we looked at before going to Golden Mountain), and the teaching assistant moved up to teacher, and the new teaching assistant happens to be a friend of a friend, so all is good there.

The phone may be busy a lot now. I am taking an online course (accounting, yay!). I didn't end up buying the textbook, and I'm glad that I didn't because it cost $125 and I found that it is available free online. So I have to do all my assignments AND read online. So, I apologize, but I need an "A" in this class...