In which we talk about two years ago and moving

Dear Riley,

Two years ago your mama and daddy officially became your mama and daddy as a conjoined unit. As crazy as that little detail seemed at the time, if there is one thing I have learned in the last two years it is that the bond between us transcends beyond measures I could not have imagined. There have been many days over the last two years that I have realized we were just meant to be- soul mates, and while it took us awhile to get there, now that we have finally come together, I cannot imagine anything in our lives being any better than what we have now in each other and in you and in our family unit together as a whole. Daddy has supported you and I through everything- strep throat, and ear infections, and a mild bout of colic, and unemployment, and accepting unemployment, and ppd, and beyond pp depression, and learning how to walk and three hours of screaming and a stubborn streak that is only matched but not exceeded by mine. The number of times the phrase "all that matters is that you and Riley are happy" has come out of his mouth is indicative of how much you and I mean to him- but little girl, it is you that makes us complete. You are without a doubt, the coolest part of us being together, and you remind us on a daily basis that you are also at least a step ahead of us.
Next week you and I are getting on a plane and heading to Washington- and not coming back. Well, for awhile. We are officially beginning the start of a move to the Pacific Northwest, one that has been in discussion in our family for quite awhile and is finally coming to fruition. There are many more opportunities available for us there- both personally and professionally, and in the long run, this is a really good move for you, Riley D. You'll be around places where you and I can go play during the day and meet new friends and be close to children's museums and Gymboree classes and gymnastics options and for God's sake McDonald's that actually have play places! It will be an adjustment, but Daddy and I are both ready to make the journey and guess what, you don't get a choice in the matter right now! So Saturday night we are hosting a going away party with all of our peoples here and then Wednesday you and I are leaving on a jet plane. Daddy will join us in the end of October and we will be happy to see him.
I love you little girl, as much as you have loved your pink elephant in the last few days,
Momma

Stream of Consciousness

Dear Riley,
I know, I know. I am a slacker in the worst sense of the word, however, you try and make three meals a day for yourself and a hungry and demanding 16 month old, change 432 diapers, get 343 cups of milk and water, go to the bathroom by yourself or at least attempt to, play peekaboo 4342 times a day, take a nap, and then make dinner for the whole family in a day and tell me how many hours you have left in your day. I can assure you it is not a lot. Now that you have discovered the power of the spoken language, you have a hard time being quiet. And you aren't quite speaking English completely yet, it is mostly Rileyish with an occasional Momma, Daddy, Hi, Duck, and whatever other random words you choose to throw in. Yesterday we went to the park and you went down this super long slide seven or eight times without stopping. Daddy and I were cracking up because you loved it. Although you are only 16 months old, you have already discovered the power of a fit. If you are told no, you tend to collapse into a heap on the floor after screaming your little heart out. It is hilarious and pathetic all at the same time. We finally found a toothbrush that you love, so much so that you actually say please to use it at bedtime. On Sunday night I made a blueberry loaf and you ate so much of it yesterday that I thought you were going to turn into a blueberry. We finally bit the bullet and bought a video monitor and it continues to crack us up daily with how much you do in your bed at night, especially after we put you down. Daddy gave you a bath the other night for the first time in a long time and he cracked up at how you didn't care if he was there or not, you just played by yourself for 15 minutes. Your last two bottom teeth besides your incisors are finally about to come in which has meant an extra dose of crank in your pants lately. Right now you are sitting on the floor watching Elmo's World, and when Elmo came on the screen you got so excited and started smiling and clapping and waving at him. Everyday with you is an adventure little girl, and there are many more to come in the next few weeks.
Love you, even more than the Buckeyes,
Momma

In Honor Of Your Daddy

Dear Riley,
First of all, I must apologize for the hiatus on your blog. Apparently there were some technical issues in which I thought things were being posted and they weren't in fact. In the past six weeks you have made it your life's mission more so than ever before to climb on everything possible, eat everything possible, sleep as little as possible, and make life as hectic and interesting and surprising as possible, including pulling a fire alarm and causing a full evacuation at the Denver Children's Museum on the hottest day in Denver so far this summer, but more on that adventure later, so technical issues being addressed were at the bottom of my list.
Today is Father's Day, and little girl, I know this has been addressed here before, but lately more than ever, you are in love with your Daddy. As soon as you truly wake up in the morning, the first thing you do is run into our bedroom and demand Daddy's full attention. When he leaves for the day, you would think that the world is ending for at least five minutes by the way you throw your fit and scream. When he comes home from work, you demand he pick you up, no matter what urgent needs he has to address as soon as he comes home. You have even (shockingly!) begun to prefer him over the Momma at times, which as much as I love you, is a welcome occurrence! The best thing about your Daddy is the way he loves us...I know that you can't fully comprehend this yet, but when the time comes that you can, I hope that you can fully appreciate the depths to which his love flows for us. You and I are the most important things in his world, in his life, and everything that he does is an attempt to make life better for us and to make us happy. He is tender, firm, loving, confident, hard working, the best provider, and the piece of our puzzle that makes us whole. There is no doubt in my mind that there could not be a better Daddy for my little girl, and he continues to remind me of that everyday. You are lucky kiddo...very lucky.
I love you...almost as much as your Daddy does.

Momma

Happy Birthday Riley

Dear  Riley,
At 3:20 PM today I cried. I hugged your Daddy and I didn't even attempt to contain the emotion I was feeling at the fact that we had survived and thrived during what was a tumultuous but rewarding last year with you in our lives. And I hugged you and thought about everything that you have learned in the last year and everything you have taught us in the last year- about true, unconditional, unwavering love, and how to make someone feel as though they won the lottery just by looking at them. You are the most stubborn force that I have encountered, and perhaps there are times that you aggravate me because there is so much of you in me. You might look like your Daddy, but you act like your Momma.
I am in awe of you, my dear. Of your determination, and your stubbornness, and your explorations that never cease, and your inventiveness, and your huge smile and the way that you reach for me that could launch a thousand ships. Your little half laugh, your obsessive personality when it comes to pacifiers, your ability to turn a day 180 degrees in one direction or the other. I love you for all those things and three hundred million more reasons that I haven't yet discovered. I can't wait to explore the next year of the world with you.
I love you, even more now than I did a year ago,
Momma

363 Days Old

Dear Riley,

As of today you are officially 363 days old, and you have managed to pack more into the last 363 days than most people do in an entire lifetime, I think. Your climbing skills have become somewhat of a nuisance lately, as there is nothing you are convinced you would be unable to climb up, so you have done it. The couch, the metal shelf, the plastic gate keeping you away from the tv, the toy chest, the bath tub, the fridge- been there done that, and have the shirt to prove it! Your curiosity expands daily, along with your need to know/see/taste/touch everything around you. We could do without the taste thing, as Daddy keeps reminding you that some things just aren't delicious (read: outlets, blackberrys, cell phones, dirty diapers, clean diapers, balloons, the list could be endless). I wish that we had someway of convincing you to keep a hat on, alas any and all attempts to this point have been met with your stubbornness that pulls it off your head in .001 seconds after we have put it on your head. Such is life with a 363 day old, huh?
Love you, as much as you love Nilla Wafers,
Momma

Climbing In The Fridge

Dear Riley,
This would be your newest trick- after weeks and weeks of playing in the fridge, you have finally figured out that it was within your grasp to simply SCALE the fridge. I let you play in it while I was loading the dishwasher, looked away, looked back and there you were. Looking at me like I was the stupid one for not climbing right up there with you. Daddy put it best when he said this was not something they warned us about in our expectant parenting class.
We have created a monster. You are no longer content to be contained while shopping in stores- you want to be down and walk around and explore and pull things off of shelves and show every employee in the store the reign of terror you have can bring down, even though you don't weigh more than 21 lbs. Today we let you play with one of your birthday presents in the store to see if you liked it (you did!) and then you refused to be restrained for any longer. I love how funny you are in new places-shrieking for the whole world to hear. It's HILARIOUS.
A year ago tomorrow was supposed to be your 2nd attempted birthday. Dada and I had a good laugh tonight about the 2 weeks between the first time you were supposed to be born and the day you finally actually decided to make your grand entrance. Should have known then what we were getting into.
Love you...as big as the smiled on your face when you climbed in the fridge,
Momma

Sunsation-al Weekend/Not Me Monday

Dear Riley,
you are a pistol. A little pistol. It was definitely NOT you this weekend who spent 40 minutes wandering all over the ops office at Copper, finding an ethernet cord and discovering the hole was big enough to fit over your not so little head. It has to have been some other small child who discovered puddles for the first time at Sunsation- soaking your baby blue fleece plants with water and mud. We definitely didn't let you take ice out of our empty cocktail glasses and eat it. You also definitely did NOT fall asleep in your highchair for the THIRD time in the last three weeks. And I also did not leave you there because you were a mess and removing from said highchair would have caused you to wake up, so there you stayed. You also have not developed a fascination/obsession with the trash can, so much so that Daddy and I are seriously considering buying a stainless steel locking can just to keep your little hands off the wine bottle that you keep mistaking for a teething toy.
Love you, as big as the big white bucket that you kept putting things in today and couldn't get them back out of,
Momma
(oh and you are know saying mama consistently...thank you;-D))