Preschool Day 3 - Finally No Crying!

So it took Riley and I to day 3 of his new preschool class drop off to not shed any tears! Yea for us! 

Monday- Day 1-  he cried...so of course I held it together, but burst into tears by the time I got into my car! 

Tuesday - Day 2, he didn't full on cry, but as we stood outside the door to give him a second to get ready to go in..I was trying to encourage him. Saying you get to see Jacob and Kayla and all your new friends - and he looked right in my eyes and said "I don't want new friends Mommy. I want Matthew and Blake!" OMG! It BROKE my HEART in two! So I cried all the way to work that day too! 


So I blogged about them moving him to the older 2 year old class last year b/c they were scared he was going to hurt someone. Well the residual effect of that is that now they moved him back into the younger 3 year old class, so there is not ONE person from his 2 year old class in his current class! :( He lost ALL his friends in one fell swoop! Ugh!! I know he'll make new friends and stuff, but it made me sad!! He REALLY loves Matthew! And Matthew's Mom said Matthew would only talk about Riley at home and would ask if they could take him home every day! 

He was in SUCH a good mood when I picked him up. I asked if he like being in Ms. Amy's class and he said "YES!!". Then I asked how his day was he said "GOOD!" Then I asked if he liked all his new friends, and he said "YES!!" 

Wednesday - Day 3 -  I asked him the same questions I asked him on the way home on the way to school today, and got all the same answers! So I was thinking...good! Maybe the tide is changing! I dropped him off a little earlier than usual b/c I had a meeting, and they were watching tv during bathroom time! WAHOO! Bingo! He gave me a kiss and said bye as he sat down to watch Diego! He dropped me faster than yesterday's news! Getting up a few minutes earlier may be WELL worth the payoff!!! Plus, it helped me get to work at a much better time! Now if we could only get to bed earlier....yeah right!


Day 3 was also the first boo-boo free day too! Monday - he fell and busted the top side of the lip where he busted the bottom side 2 weeks ago! They thought it only bled b/c it was where he fell before, but it ripped some skin off  pretty good! Then Tuesday he fell and scraped his knee! 


He also had a runny nose Monday, so he was MISERABLE!! His nose would run on his skinned lip and he would just cry! Bless him! So we had some medicine and watched Toy Story 3 to help make that all better! 


Now we'll see how the rest of the week goes....stay tuned!

Sign of What's to Come?

Last Friday night, we took the kids - Riley, Ethan and Emily along with Josh to the local splash park to play. They had a blast of course! Then we took them to have snow cones afterwards. 

At one point while we were having snow cones, Emily came over to see me and I picked her up and said "Come here you little sweetie pie!" All of the sudden, Riley turned around from his snow cone and said "No Mommy! I'm your sweetie pie! Not Emmy!" 

Oh goodness! It was so sweet and sad at the same time! So sweet that he even notices I call him sweetie pie..b/c I would never know it! But so sad at how much his life is about to be turned upside down! :( 

I mean let's face it - he's the CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE - for both Kelly and I now! He has 2 parents, playmates, servants at his disposal! 


I've already started to be cognizant of the things I say like "You're the sweetest boy in the world!" and "Mommy's Little Man"...so I'm thinking - how do I tweak that so it doesn't all of the sudden seem like Riley's being cast aside b/c we have a new little man.I know...I'm a freak! But I would never want either one of my kid's to feel hurt by me saying something seemingly innocent, but it coming across as playing favorites or whatever!


At least I have a whole new area of focus with this new baby...LOL! I don't even know if these are thoughts other parents have, but they do cross my mind!

I'm BOSSY!

Wow! Kelly and I have never been bossed around so much! Well....Kelly would probably say he's been bossed around by me this much, but I'd argue differently! :)

It's like overnight Riley REALLY is a crazy, bossy, bi-polar pre-schooler! Man oh man! We're hitting the point where I'm gonna have to go back to my books for some new tips bc the old tricks just aren't working anymore!

I'm still trying to do love & logic of offering choices, but Riley's over choices and latched onto just plain "NO! I don't want !" while throwing yourself on the floor! I'm learning if you don't get into the power struggle of no's, he comes around. He just has to feel like it's his idea or he's in control of the situation. Which is exactly what Dr Jim emphasized on the potty training front too-that whatever we try-let Riley be in the driver's seat.

He's also still so loving and sweet! Hearing "Mommy/Daddy, I WUV you" melts all the no's and tantrums away! And I see it like everything else with kids-this too shall pass! It's a phase of development like all the others!

Riley's 3 Year Old Stats

We finally has Riley's 3 yr old checkup this past Friday. It ended up being good timing for a follow up for last Friday's boo boo too! Efficient! You know I love that!! Once again- we are blessed with a happy, healthy boy!

Height-41" which is > 97%
Weight-37 3/4 lbs which is 90%
They calculate his BMI now, and that was 15.7 which was 25-50%.

The only topic I had for discussion was potty training bc Riley is just REALLY not showing any interest! Fact, if I even mention it-he sort of has a melt down. Dr Jim said for a boy to not be potty trained at 3 is totally normal, and I'm doing the right thing by not turning it into a negative or a power struggle. That I should just keep mentioning it, and it will click one day. Stay tuned...

Star Wars Kiss! Seriously?!

So I'm lying down with Riley for a few minutes after we read night-night books like I do every night since his big boy bed...and he gives me a kiss...which is normal! Sometimes he gives me a BUNCH of kisses! But tonight was different...he kissed me an extra long "MMMUUUUAAAAHHHH" then says - "Mommy, we're kissing like Star Wars." In the dark back part of my mind...I'm thinking..well yeah...we are Luke and Princess Leia ARE brother and sister! LOL! :) But obviously I didn't say that out loud! I just said -we are? Like who? And he said like Luke and Princess Leia. Seriously?! I thought I had a few years before he even noticed that part of the movie! I also thought we were safe playing a PG movie from the 70's b/c that would be the equivalent of a G movie in the 2000's, but I guess nothing gets by him! 

I'll take whatever kind of kisses he wants to give me these days b/c I know FAR too soon, he'll be WAY too cool and grown up to be dishing them out to me anymore! Makes me sad to think about it...but I'm not crying! Yet...

An Oldy, but Goodie!

OMG! This was one of my FAVORITE pictures of Riley from my phone for the longest time...running across it today almost made me cry! Not that I'm not a complete hormonal wreck this late in pregnancy! I cried lying down with him for a few minutes when he was taking a nap too! Now that I know how much it's possible to LOVE your child! I'm a little overwhelmed with the thought of loving TWO children that much! My heart may explode!! 

OMG! Those cheeks! Those eyes! That chin! That button nose!! :)

I *think* he was a little over 1 year old in this pic! See..I'm still not good at judging ages and I have a kid! Of course, my child was always 2 years ahead of the average for his size so that doesn't help either!

Just to put a "non-crying" haircut into perspective.....

I saw this picture on Kelly's phone today...a picture is worth 1000 words...this has been Riley during EVERY haircut since approximately 18 months old...and he's been getting them since he was 8 months old! 

So the no crying haircut we recently had is a MONUMENTAL achievement!

Trying to reason with him - I eventually learned to just sit over by Kelly and stay out of the action!

Getting more tissue to wipe the slobber and tears away!

Maybe this is a sign Riley will be metrosexual....he's already a slave to fashion when it comes to having his hair style! Yes....I considered just shaving his head many times, but the issue is - the clippers are actually the part of the haircut that scares him the most!

Riley's Boo Boo!

We experienced big boo boo #2 Friday morning. Kelly and I left at the same time - him to drop Riley off, me to run to buy a card and present for someone on my team moving to California. While I perusing for just the right card - I get a call from The Sloan School. They have a very strict policy about telling you anytime your toddler bumps their head due to the nature of concussions in toddlers. Sometimes the symptoms of a bump on the head in the morning won't manifest until that evening, and it's dangerous b/c they can come across as tired and wanting to go to bed then just not wake up! Scary! 

Anyway...to say I'm used to getting the "Riley's okay! He just got a bump on the noggin' doing X, Y or Z" call at least every other week would be an understatement! But this time was different! Michele said he had fell running and busted his lip pretty bad, bad enough that they felt I needed to come take him to the dr. So I grabbed the card I had in my hand and made my way to Sloan to get my little man! 

On the way there, I called Kelly to tell him. And it made me recall the first time Riley busted his lip. It was last year maybe...and he somehow did it on a can in our pantry, and of course Kelly wasn't home! I told Kelly I was going to get there to pick Riley up at school today, and the cut wasn't going to be as bad as that one! And I DIDN'T take him to the dr that time! :( Bad Mommy! 

The First Boo Boo from a year or so ago.

He still has a little "character" scar from this one, but you can only see it in perfect sunlight. Bless him! We were both a mess and covered in LOTS of blood that day! 

Anyway - I get to school...and it was what I thought! It didn't "appear" to be as bad as this one..there definitely wasn't as much blood shed, but it was already swollen and puffy so it was hard to tell. He was such a big, strong boy too! When he saw me he almost started crying just because he saw me...then he just went right into telling me the story of how it all went down.

Mommy, I was running and I fell in the Home Center area and cut my lip on the sharp clothes rack. Just nonchalant as could be! Michele from the school said he was totally calm about it - held ice on it and told her how it happened..then agreed he should go have the dr take a look at it! That was until I said specifically Dr. Jim! Then he had a quick change of heart!

Anyway, Riley wanted Daddy so we called Kelly to meet us at Dr. Jim's so we could get it checked out. Dr. Jim said it was our call, but our options were a bit of a scar which will probably ultimately heal, or take him to a plastic surgeon for somewhere between 5-10 itty bitty plastic surgery stitches. Of course, Kelly quickly said I could go by myself! He's a BIG guy that's scared to death of needles so anything requiring that-I'm on my own! Dr. Jim said they wouldn't put him out, but they'd strap him down in this papoose thing that would hold his head, shoulders, and arms down so they could stitch him up. He said since the cut goes across the outline of the lip, and it was already swollen - like the one above pretty much - it would require plastic surgery closure to ensure there wouldn't be a dimple or a bad alignment that could ultimately make his lip line crooked. 

Kelly said - he's a boy! Scars are cool! So we opted for the "boy scar"! I figured what do I know..I'm the Mom! And the thought of him being strapped down didn't appeal much to me either! 

Kelly stayed with Riley at home so I could go to the going away lunch and take the gifts, then I came and worked from home for the afternoon. Riley pretty much slept most of the afternoon though and didn't eat much the rest of the day. Bless his little heart! And when the Motrin wore off - he was a little terror so you could tell he didn't feel good! He was still in a little pain Saturday am, but then GiGi got here to play with him so Kelly could take me out for my upcoming birthday and he was fully healed and ready for some GiGi play time!

He seems to be mostly better today (Sunday), but now we're just trying to keep it moist so it won't dry out and start to crack and hurt him again. 


One of our friend's little girls that is almost a year younger than Riley already had to get stitches a few weeks ago, so on one hand I feel lucky we've already made it this far! On the other - I'd be fine with him being like me and Kelly and not having stitches until he's old like us! :) Kelly's had 1 stitch in his life and I've had none! Knock on wood!

In the car on the way to see Dr. Jim :(

Waiting to see Dr. Jim

This is blurry, but you can see how it was already pretty puffed up which makes the alignment difficult.

Saturday AM

As you can tell - he's not a happy camper that Mommy's trying to take pictures of it! One day he'll be able to brag how TOUGH he was though!

Riley the rule follower like Mommy!

We made it through 1 week in the big boy bed with only 1 middle of the night waking! Yippee! But the funny thing is Riley just stands up in his big boy bed and calls for me when he wakes up. It hasn't even dawned on him that he has the FREEDOM to get out of the bed much less leave his room too! I'm like that too! I don't even think about breaking the 'rules'. In fact, somethingblike this just happened to me at work in the last couple of weeks. We had a mockingbird nest on the skywalk coming in from the parking garage. And on the first Monday morning, the bird attacked this lady causing her to fall and break her nose! Ouch! Anyway, because state law forbids touching a mockingbird nest-they chose to close the skywalk and make us all go down to the ground floor to enter the building. Like the good rile follower I am-I just did it without even considering the alternative. Then someone tells me how they've been walking across the skywalk since day 2 because it's just ridiculous! So I rebelled and started "breaking the rule" too! No...I wouldn't jump off a cliff if someone else did, but being pregnant in 100+ heat, I was all about the shortcut this go 'round!

Anyway, Riley did get out of his bed this afternoon at nap time, and I found him sleeping on his bean bag when I went in to get him so that may be the beginning of the end....we'll have to wait and see!

Me-2

Me-2 is R2-D2! I don't know how Riley arrived there, but he knows Kelly & I say R2-D2, but he calls him Me-2! It's so sweet! And Friday night, Riley actually went to sleep holding his itty bitty Me-2 figure (one of the few he can play with) in his hands on his heart! Awe!!!! My sweet little man!

So Kelly & I ordered him what must be one of the ONLY Star Wars toys he doesn't already have-a plush Me-2 that he can sleep with. The only issue may be that it talks so it may wake him up if he rolls over on it! Ha! I can only hope it will somehow replace 'B'! The one time released white bear from Hallmark for Valentine's day that we will never be able to replace if something happens to him!!! And it's all I can do to not make something happen to him! He's so dingy now no matter what I do to try to return him to pristine white!!

OMG! A cry free haircut!

I can't believe I almost forgot this one! We had our 1st tear free haircut the day of Riley's birthday party too! It's been at LEAST 1.5 years since we've experienced that! Hopefully, we've turned the corner!! But I'll wait until we have a couple more in a row before I claim victory on this front!

Daddy has to leave the place because he can't take it! But it was like Riley just made his mind up that it wasn't that bad anymore. He still HATES the neck hair trimming part though, but not as much as Mommy hates to get home and find a hairy neck!! OMG! I can't take it!  

I didn't tell him where we were going before we got there..although he knew as soon as we drove up, but maybe not knowing helped him not get worked up into a frenzy before we even got there. Before, I felt like I had to tell him b/c I didn't want to spring it on him and feel like I was setting him up! 

The Star Wars Room!

Luke Skywalker life size Fathead & Darth Vader Night Light! As well as some ship hanging from the ceiling that I don't know the name of!  And a Darth Vader cloth bin in the lower right hand corner - not sure what we'll put in that - probably the Star Wars books we also bought!

The Death Star, another ship that all Riley and I know is that R2-ME 2 (R2-D2) is driving it! :) Star Wars emblem and all his big boy bed bedding! This is a daybed Talana got Kelly and I to use as a sofa/guest bed when we got married, so initially it was for "test purposes". Still deciding if we'll keep this one or get him a new twin bed so the duvet fits on it better. We've since added a rail to the open side so he won't roll off during his nighttime circus act!

The figure collection Daddy started...and somehow it magically just keeps growing...and growing...

The duvet cover is the exact pattern of sheets Kelly had growing up b/c they are the Empire Strikes Back 30th Anniversary "re-release" - no Kelly and I aren't old at all! Ha!

No....no one in our house is OCD at all! Definitely not me...and for sure not Kelly! Bless Riley's heart...if he gets it....he gets it honest! 

Riley also has the matching backpack, another towel, a water container with Darth Vader on it, another set of Star Wars sheets, the 1st reader series books, and a matching dishes set that has the same pattern on it. I think we literally bought everything Pottery Barn Kids had in stock the day we went...they even brought things from the back for us! Can you say...SUCKERS?! :) Hopefully boy  #2 likes Star Wars too so we can get some sort of return on investment! LOL!

Riley's Darth Vader Birthday Cake!

I have to at least post some pictures of Riley's CRAZY Birthday cake! I'll circle back later to cover the details of the party! 

Yes! That is his cake! And yes! It exceeded any and all expectations Kelly and I had! And YES it actually tasted as YUMMY as it looked!!! Which even further exceeded our expectations! 

Now our only problem is....how do we EVER top this one?! During Riley's party he came up to me and said - Mommy, I'm ready to go eat Darth Vader's eyes! LOL! 

Later I asked what was your favorite thing about your birthday and he said "Darth Vader!!!" Which was great b/c he started telling me he wanted a Star Wars Light Saber birthday about 2 days before...so glad Darth Vader was able to save the day!

Riley's Actual 3rd Birthday in Pictures!

Riley's Darth Vader Jumbo Cupcake!

Darth Vader with the Light Sabers for his friends!

Light Sabers!

Waiting patiently for grace, birthday song and to blow out the candle!

Still waiting...patiently...

I thought he wouldn't want to eat it, but he dove right in and ate BOTH his eyes first!

Then he wanted a small chocolate cupcake to go with his jumbo Vader.

Yummy!

Yummy! To Riley's Tummy!

His friends Ava & Blake!

Lexi - she's obviously shy! :)

Vanshi!

Opening his birthday gifts at home after his school party! Yes! It's Star Wars wrapping paper, but NOT Star Wars gifts!

He's got this unwrapping thing down now!

Thomas - The Misty Island Rescue Shaky Bridge Train Set!

Tear it up!

Bigger pieces than that!

GeoTrax Toy Story 3 Train Set with Exploding Bridge! Yea!

Okay..so maybe there were a couple of Star Wars presents...we didn't have to remind him about these!

He was telling us every character on the bags first!

Star Wars figures that I can actually PLAY with! Yippee!

And a BLUE light saber! The ONLY one he didn't have! :) Notice who's standing behind Daddy!

More light saber action!

More! With sound effects!

Intimidating Vader! Riley kept standing in front of him saying "I am YOUR FATHER!"

And now we're off to the light saber duel that has to cover the entire house!

Night 4 in the Big Boy Bed!

So we are on night 4 in the big boy bed! Night 3 the newness had worn off, and it took FOREVER to get him to go to sleep! And I'm TRYING not to start a really bad habit of him thinking I have to lie in there with him every night...but it's so sweet and I'm tired so I want to too! :) 

He did really well tonight though! So far he's slept through the night every night too..I'm still a little freaked out about him walking to our room in the dark, etc. So we'll see how it goes when that happens!

And he's given up the paci too b/c you can only have the paci in the little bed (the crib is still in his room as a backup). So 2 big boy milestones down....now if we could ONLY turn a corner on the potty training! 

He got big boy Star Wars underwear for his birthday and cried when we "tried them on"! They are scratchy and hard Mommy! Take them OFF! He may have to follow Dad's lead and go commando...desperate times call for desperate measures! :)

Riley Slept in his BIG BOY Bed!!

YEA! For the first time last night ALL by himself!! AND he slept ALL night! My little man is growing up WAY too fast! Now if we can just turn the corner on potty training! He LOVES his new Star Wars room though! Pictures coming soon! I have lots of birthday activities and posts to catch up on this week! As usual - uploading the pictures is what's holding up the process!