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...

So I suck. Haven't updated in a while. So sorry...and I haven't taken pictures in a while, so only pictures from Maryland right now. Like I said, I pretty much suck.


So I started school last week. Three in-class courses (all paralegal courses) and an accounting course online. Finding the time to do homework and complete the required reading is really not cool. Try taking reading notes with two little ones who always want to be in your lap and steal your pens. So I'm really really tired. And because my classes are over dinnertime, I don't think that I've been eating well enough. So that doesn't help. All of my professors are great, so at least that's good. One of my professors, who's also the head of the paralegal program, is very very animated. Almost crazy. At least it's entertaining. And scary sometimes. I wouldn't dare come to that class unprepared. No sir.

The girls have beee excellent for Rudi when I'm in school. Avery still cries a good deal when I leave, but calms down right away. Riley whimpers a little still, but is all-in-all the brave one. And the four hours that I'm gone go really smoothly. Really makes me feel wanted. At least I have the excited hugs and kisses to look forward to when I come home. And I also look forward to seeing what imaginitive (and incorrect) way Rudi has come up with to cloth diaper. I've given him so many tutorials and none of them have stuck. Once I came home and the diaper cover was on inside out and backwards, and the prefold was hanging over the top by about eight inches. Hmmm...

Riley starts school on Tuesday. She's been asking about it, and not in her normal crazy way, but like she's looking forward to it. They are having an open house on Labor Day, so I'll go with Riley. Good thing is that Rudi is off on Tuesday and my classes are out that day, so we can do something special as a family to celebrate Riley's first day of school. Don't know exactly what that would entail, but at least the idea's out there.

Avery is currently sick-ish. Her normal fever. Horray. So sleepless nights will be the norm for me for a while. Riley had the fever bug last week, so what's a few more nights without sleep? Who needs sleep? Avery gets feverish so much, with no other symptoms, that I don't even need a thermometer anymore. I'd say 102-103 degrees right now. Not too bad. The virus jumped right over me. What I wouldn't do for a sick day.

Avery is talking so much more lately. I was sitting down and she just came up to me and goes "hands, feet, eye, nose, face, ear, knees (her favorite), tummy (her other favorite), arms, mouth, back, butt, pants, shirt" pointing out all of my body parts and saying them. I didn't know she could say nearly half of them. Then I asked her if she wanted to nurse and she said "sleep, bed, nurse." Not really a sentence, but step-by-step instructions. Bossy thing. She patted Riley's bike seat today and said "sit butt". She really likes dressing herself, sans diaper. Perhaps I should get her a pair of undies or two. She seems to do okay without diapers or undies under her pants, so maybe that's the next logical step. Although she doesn't ask to go potty any more (and to be fair, I haven't put her there or suggested it) but always asks for a diaper when she has to pee. I don't want to be pushy, but it's going to get cold soon. Potty train now or never. Probably never, since I'm not all that motivated. Who am I kidding?

Waiting for pictures to upload...waiting...waiting...

Rudi has a doctors appointment tomorrow to see what is to be done with his gallstones. Hopefully not surgery. The doctors at the VA are like old sawbones. So behind on technology. Not that it's their fault, just lack o' funding.

So I'm finally making some progress in cleaning up the mess that greeted me when I came home from Maryland. Rudi insists that the place was clean when I came home, but I guess we have different standards. Just cleaning out a walkway does not constitute "clean" in my book. It's starting to look like a house again.

We walked up to 7-Eleven today and I let the girls each pick out a treat. Riley picked out M&Ms and Avery picked out a package of Oreos (slim pickins when you're allergic to everthing), and then we headed over to the Slurpee machines. While there, Avery saw the cold case where they had all the milk and sandwiches and such and saw a packege of Oscar Meyer bologna hanging there and she starts freaking out asking for bologna. So I tell her that if she gets bologna, she'll have to put her Oreos back. So she does. Everyone in the store was cracking up, Riley with her M&Ms (normal) and Avery with her bologna (abnormal).

So I finally finished the Harry Potter series several days ago. I read all seven books in a little over two weeks and now I'm suffering severe Harry Potter withdrawl. Rudi has graciously agreed to let me go to the movies Monday night to see the Order of the Phoenix. That'll be fun.

I start school on Tuesday and am really nervous about how Rudi will fare while I'm in class. Hopefully class will end early since it's the first one, and Rudi and the girls can ease into the routine more slowly. Rudi doesn't understand a single word that either of the girls say. Mostly, I think, from a lack of trying. I'm trying to impress upon him the importance of actually interacting with them, and distracting them from my absence, rather than sitting there watching TV for three hours. I just have a really bad feeling about it. He talks about establishing routines with the girls, and then blows them out of the water. He doesn't understand that if I go grocery shopping at 4pm and he lets the girls fall asleep, they're not going to go to bed at 8pm. He thinks that they should just go to bed anyway, or lay up there awake, just because it's eight. Argh!! No sense worrying about it now.

So we were outside playing with our balls (no chuckles, but we have a lot of balls) and a neighbor-lady wandered by with her two children and dog. Since the girls wanted to pet the dog, the mother and I spoke briefly. Her 4-year-old popped one of the big balls by hitting it with a stick. She also had a boy that just turned one. We didn't talk long before it started to rain, so we all went in. Then we had dinner and went back out after it had dried to play with our balls again and saw and ambulance and firetruck almost in front of our house. Apparently something was wrong with this lady's youngest boy. And all the neighborhood kids were standing around watching, as were some of the adults, and it was kind of embarassing to see people shamelessly rubber-necking this family. So I asked this woman if she needed someone to watch her 4 year old while she went to the hospital. So we had an extra kid for about three hours. I don't know how mothers of boys do it. Andrew was very polite, he preceeded everything he said with "Um, excuse me?" even to Riley. They played really well together. But anyway, I was so annoyed by the boy energy! Now, Riley is very on-the-go but it can be bridled and directed, but not the boy. Andrew said that his brother was in the bathroom and got a bug stuck in his throat. I'm not sure of the accuracy of this, but that's the story. He was crying and wheezing when they put him in the ambulance. Maybe we'll get the full story, or maybe not. I'm not the town gossip.

Don't know why I bother blogging when in Maryland, since most of the people that I update for are here...but just for the sake of continuity...

So we got to Maryland totally okay. We did sit next to a man on the flight from Atlanta to Baltimore who was a father of six children and coached multiple sports, so needless to say, he really liked children. He talked to Riley for the absolute entire flight, which I though was really nice at first, but then I realize that he's drunk. And he started giving me a headache.

Avery is in disposables for this trip, as we just couldn't fit the cloth diapers in our luggage (another failed attempt at packing light). She wouldn't pee in them for three days. Now it seems that she's back to normal, pee-wise, but now we're working on pooping...

James and Riley are getting along famously. And Riley and Avery both absolutely adore baby William. And what's not to love? I've never seen a baby so happy all the time! Just to sit and laugh at whatever he lays his eyes on! He's such a soft little chunk-a-lunk!
Everyone here is getting a little peek at Riley's transition problems. It seems that it is a bona fide problem, as opposed to something that is simply annoying to the parent.

I haven't been feeling all that great since we got here, but mostly yesterday and today. I don't know what it is. Probably just climate-change and the humidity. I feel like the excessive Maryland gravity is pulling me into the ground. I may simply be dehydrated or something. I can try to choke down some more water. Yuck!

I know that I haven't blogged in a long time. Giving myself a slap on the hand. It's been so busy around here that I've been trying to go to bed early. But decided I'll blog tonight.

We went to Prospect Lake at Memorial Park today with Amy and Abby. The girls really had a lot of fun romping around in the lake totally buck naked. In fact, a woman asked us if we were German, or just liberal Americans. She said that she is from Germany and they are a lot more "free" there. So at least it wasn't a negative comment. It was really cute seeing three butts splashing in the lake with the mountains in the background. Riley is really strange like that, she'll swim in the ocean and lakes and play in rivers, but fountains and spray grounds? No thanks. Oh, and Avery is definitely an absolute slide junky.



I think that Riley and Abby are learning how to be in such close quarters together. I think...when they do clash, it can be pretty bad, but they are starting to set boundaries ("I need my privacy" has been heard a lot around here today) and avoid conflicts. Avery is so jealous of Abby being near me or getting my attention. Not to mention if Abby is actually touching me. When I'm in Maryland I'll have to run off and hide if I want to hold little William.

Tomorrow we are planning on going to the zoo, so we'll see if that pans out. It's been really scorching hot here and the sun is so strong at this altitude. And the zoo is a mountain zoo so it's uphill a lot of the way. We'll see what the weather is like. The zoo is definitely better when it's overcast or a little rainy.

We went to the Garden of the Gods yesterday. Amy's friend Allyson was here from Boulder (originally from MD, she worked at Borders with us) so we went with her and the girls liked running around and climbing the rocks and playing in the dirt. Of course, it was really hot and shade was scarce and far between, but we managed with a lot of water.

I think I've spoken to everyone lately, so nothing I write is new, so I'll just make this one all about the pictures...

And a gratuitous cute picture of Avery with a Q-tip in her nose. This is she smile I get when I ask her for one. She stuck a Q-tip in her nose and just resumed playing like it was totally normal:

I've been just a little busy lately designing and sewing this carrier. Hence the busy signal on our phone line a lot lately. When you rip off someone elses design, it takes a lot of research! I always like the Tettitet and Taitasi carriers that I saw on TBW, but I certainly don't have $180 - $240 dollars to have one shipped from Norway, so I totally ripped it off. Hey, a BWer has to do what a BWer has to do...Avery is quite crooked in these pictures, but hey, she was naked and I sure didn't want her to break in the MT by peeing on it! I am such an addict!


It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the brown fabric is pinwale corduroy and is really soft. Although now I notice that it could use some ironing...