The things he says and does

I wouldn’t trade for the world! My little man is such a hoot. He really keeps us on our toes & seriously entertained.

This boy has a serious southern accent & I just love it! He says “otaaaayy” just like Buckwheat from the Little Rascals. We hear “Otaaayy” mainly when he is asking to do something. Like if he wants to go outside he’ll say “Side? Otaaayy.” Basically answering himself & then heading towards the door.

He uses Averly like a doll to point to all of her body parts-eyes, nose, ears, toes, etc & when he gets to her legs he says “nun nuhs” without skipping a beat & just keeps on naming parts off. Can you guess what “nun nuhs” translates to? Thunders (i.e. Thunder thighs, i.e. Averly’s thighs). Yes, he heard us tell Averly that she had some thunder thighs & now he repeats it. But to be fair, he does point to his scrawny little chicken legs that are smaller than his 4.5 month old sister’s & “nun nuhs” to them too. Bless him.

The little stinker knows exactly how to sweet talk & get what he wants. If we say no to something he gets a big grin on his face, gives us a huge bear hug around the neck & says “peeeeeesshh?!?” How can I not give in to that?

He really has been so good about not being jealous at all but the in the last few days sometimes when I’m feeding Averly, he will climb up in the chair beside us & bury his head in the other side of my chest. He can’t quite figure out what she’s doing down there but he tries to partake. He’s also copying everything that Averly does. If she squeals, he squeals. If she’s laying down kicking & waving her arms. He lays down by her & kicks. And even sometimes when I’m changing her diaper he starts saying “diber” wanting me to change his too. I’m not worried about it right now because I know he’s just playing but I really hope he doesn’t start reverting back to acting like a baby. Like just crying or whining instead of telling me what he wants. Or not wanting to use the potty now because he wants to wear diapers like Averly. Am I crazy for even thinking that?

My mom sent me a text Monday morning saying that Riley wouldn’t eat anything but Texas Toast & an ice cream cone for breakfast that day. That’s the breakfast of champions right there! Geez!

As you may or may not know, he is still not a very good sleeper. He still wakes up every now & then calling me to come in his room. I usually lay down in his bed by him for 5-10 minutes until he’s out again & we’re good. A few nights ago he woke up calling me so I went in his room. He was sitting up in his bed patting the pillow for me to lay down. Even if it was 2 in the morning it put a big smile on my face.

Yesterday when I was at work & my mom was keeping the kids my sister called her phone but she didn’t hear it. So Riley took it upon himself to answer it. How he knew how to actually answer it, I do not know. But he brought it to mom all the while chatting away to my sister. Saying “Heyyo Mamie!” Apparently he has become quite the little “Chatty Cathy” when it comes to talking on the phone because this morning while I was at work I called my mom to check on the kids (like I do every day that I’m at work) & Riley was having a fit to talk to me. I could hear him saying “Mama, talk. Talk. TAAAALLLK!” So my mom put him on the phone. Normally when he does this he just sits there. Listening. Wanting you to talk to him but not answering you back. Well today was different. Today was the first day he has ever actually talked to me. And I do mean talked. He was carrying on his own little conversation. Telling me that he had been playing with his basketball & what he ate for breakfast & that he was being a good boy. Even what Averly was doing at the moment. It was the sweetest thing. Even though it’s nothing big, I was so overjoyed that I wanted to just go right through the phone & squeeze him so tight!

He counts anything that he sees in multiples. Like if there is 3 chairs, he will count “Mon, chu, chree chairs!” Or 5 spoons. “Mon, chu, chree, fo, five spoons!” Then he gets so proud of himself & will say “Goot job Ra-vey!!” Precious.

Riley’s new favorite show is Caillou. I had never heard of it until we started watching the Sprout channel OnDemand. And thank goodness for that OnDemand feature because he begs to watch it right after he wakes up from his nap in the afternoons. Otherwise a t-total meltdown may occur. Anyway, this little Caillou fellow is pretty cute. And Riley has watched all 4-5 episodes OnDemand so much that he basically has the whole thing memorized. He can quote Caillou pretty well now.

Now that we have started feeding Averly rice cereal, Riley wants to help out too. I’ve caught him trying to feed her his yogurt a number of times. He didn’t quite hit her mouth though. More like just got it all over her face & neck. Poor little girl. When I tell him that Averly can’t have yogurt just yet, he starts saying “Hep (help). Me.” I can’t get onto him for just wanting to help but baby girl may not make it to her 1st Birthday if I don’t!

When he’s looking for a toy or something he’ll search the house saying “___________ (fill in the blank with whatever he’s looking for--tractor, ball, Mama’s phone, bep beps, Averly, etc.), y’are yooouuu?” Then when he finds it, he’ll say “D’ere it is!”

A couple weeks ago we went swimming at my friend’s house & he scraped his toe on the patio. That boo boo hung around for a while & he was sure to remind us hourly that it hurt. All we heard for a few days was “Boo boo hurts me.” In the sweetest little pouty *almost* 2year old voice.

If he’s ready to go somewhere, even just to another room. He politely asks me “Mama, go n’ere?” The “n’ere” is read ‘in there’. It’s just another part of this little country-fied boy’s southern drawl. I guess he gets that honest though.

Like I said, we have plenty of daily (and nightly) entertainment that you just can’t put a price on. I love every single minute with this kid!