Happy Halloween!!

We had a GREAT Halloween! This was Riley first time going trick-or-treating so we all were very excited. We started out by going to the shops at Brookside for their big trick-or-treat event. It was PACKED. Riley got lots of candy, and Connor got lots of "oohs" and "ahhs". Riley was very overwhelmed by all the people and pretty much shut down after a little while. We will skip that event next year. We took a break to re-energize at a Mexican restaurant in Brookside, where Riley got to eat one of her favorite foods...SALSA! She basically just used her chip as a spoon for the salsa. After that we headed home, took a potty break, fed Connor, and then headed out into the neighborhood. Riley definitely preferred this method of trick-or-treating! She was demanding, while polite at the same time, saying "treat" followed by a "thank you". What was funny was that she kept trying to go into people's houses! When they opened up the door she would try to casually step in. I didn't predict that would be an issue with our outing! We made our way to the neighborhood "treat stop" that some of her neighborhood friends were hosting completed with apple cider, hot chocolate, cookies, a fire in the fire pit, and beer for Steve. Riley enjoyed sitting by the fire and Connor got lots of attention.

This Halloween was GREAT fun and I am excited for next year when both kids are old enough to enjoy it. I think we will try tackling carving pumpkins next year too!

Growing Up

I can't believe that it is time for Connor to start solid foods already! I was going to wait a couple more weeks to start him on them, but decided to give it a try today and see if he liked it and was ready. He was very unsure of this new substance in his mouth, but by the end of the feeding he was doing great and was swallowing the cereal with no problems. Although you can't tell from the pictures I did get several smiles during the event. I'm sure the blandness of rice cereal didn't help the experience too much, so I plan to get a few sweet potatoes tomorrow, so I can make those for him to try. I would think that would taste MUCH better.

Louisburg, KS Cider Mills

We took Riley (and Connor) to the pumpkin patch last weekend. It was very windy and busy, but we still had fun! Riley's favorite part was the goats. She thought is was pretty cool that she could pet them and she tried to feed them some dried corn she found on the ground. She was kind of disappointed when they wouldn't eat it from her hand. They also had a very large corn maze that we were concerned we wouldn't make it out of. And boy did it STINK!! Nothing like the smell of rotting corn to welcome in the Fall season. Riley also got a chance to pick out a pumpkin that she wanted and we had apple cider and cider donuts for snack. Riley isn't a big juice drinker, so she wasn't interested in the cider. She thought the donut was pretty goo though!

A Good Start to Fall

Connor's is now 4 months old and he had his 4 month check today. He is doing great and he was smiling and laughing at the doctor the entire time during the exam! It was so cute! He only cried for about 10 seconds with his shots too. Such a trooper!! He is a little small, but that was to be expected since he was only 5 lbs. 11 oz at birth. He weighs 12 lbs. 2 oz (5th percentile) and is a more "normal" 24.25 inches (25th percentile). Doc is very pleased with his growth (2.75 lbs. and 3 inches in two months) he is just going to be small for awhile.

He is a VERY smiley baby and I love it! He is also laughing more often and talks/coos almost constantly when he is awake. He is also a thumb-sucker, which I am actually OK with since he is able to self-soothe. He enjoys sitting up with help and holds his head up really well. He normally sleeps 10 hours straight at night, which is nice since Riley has sleeping issues. Riley and Connor have been sharing a room for a couple weeks now and it is going pretty well.

Riley is now almost 23 months old! It's hard to believe that she is going to be 2 soon. She is doing fantastic with potty training and is accident-free most days. She also wakes up dry most mornings. She is talking in two word phrases consistently and says some three and even four word phrases sometimes. She is big into "pretend play" and will use "trash" and pretend that it is something of value. Her latest find was a cardboard piece that was rolled kind of like binoculars. Riley decided that it was a camera and ran around telling people to "cheese" and would then take their picture. I am trying to work with her on her colors and numbers, but it is going slow...I know it will come soon enough though! We are also working on jumping. Riley's biggest struggling is sleeping, and just when we think we have solved the problem, we have another breakdown in her sleeping.

Here are some recent pictures.

3 Months Old

It's hard to believe that 3 months have already passed since Connor was born. In the last month he has developed a definitely personality! He is a VERY smiley boy, and smiles at me almost constantly. He also enjoys his playmat, specifically watching the light-up star and batting/kicking the dangling toys. In the last two weeks he also also become a thumb sucker! I am actually VERY excited about this because Riley never learned to self-soothe for some reason and it has always caused us problems with her sleeping. I realize that I may definitely be "in for it" when he gets older, but I can hope that he will be a perfect thumb-sucker and stop and the appropriate time : ) And the best part....HE SLEEPS ALL NIGHT!!! It is so nice to put him down when I go to bed and then not have to get up with him at all. Some nights he even goes to bed before I do. He even sleeps later in the morning than his sister (although that's not really tough to do since she wakes at 5:30 AM).

At 3 months he weighs about 11 lbs. 2 oz and is about 23.25 inches long. His growth has slowed down some this month, but he certainly eats plenty!

I started back to work two days per week almost three weeks ago and it is going fine. Grandma O'Neill comes down to stay with the kids those two days, and she is greatly appreciated for this. This plan will not work forever so something else will need to be worked out.

Victory!!!

I am very proud to announce that Riley is potty trained!!!! In the daytime at least : ) I started with her only two weeks ago, and a week and a half later she wasn't having any accidents! She got some new big girl "panties" (cloth trainers, of course) yesterday so we are having fun with those. She isn't able to pull them up and down by herself yet, but she consistently tells us that she needs to potty and then we help her get them down and she goes....both pee and poop! I will admit we had a few messes in the beginning, but she picked it up very fast and at only 21 months of age! I am very proud of her!!

"Look Mommy I'm Peeing!"


"YEY!!"


Some of her new trainers around her ankles

Summer Fun

Riley has been having a blast this summer, doing all sorts of fun things including visits both sets of grandparents, going to the park, going to the Lincoln Children's Museum and Kansas City Children's Museum, going to the Kansas City Zoo (twice), going swimming (three times), doing a Gym class (twice so far), and of course playing at home. Here are some pictures from all of her fun!

Visiting her favorite animal at the zoo. She even touched it!



Playing the piano at the Lincoln Children's Museum



Catching bubbles at gym class


Sitting on the potty, eating snack, and watching Elmo...all at the same time


Feeding her baby her leftover cheese from lunch


Bubble fun with Grandma O'Neill