I Read, Me

So, in that 1 to 2 year span between learning to walk and learning not to crap your pants, the only really noticeable area of development is language.

Riley's vocab is expanding at an amazing pace (to us. don't know how it compares to smart kids)


He has taken a little step backward though, and I can only attribute it to something in the air or water. (or both since our air is mostly water)

His verbal handicap is one quite common to our area, but not one used by anyone he is regularly exposed to.

This abomination is the use of "me."

I don't know enough about diagramming sentences to explain what part of speech the word plays. (maybe if Loula reads this she can clue us in)

What was once, "I reach it," has now become, "I reach it, me."
I like it, me.
I eat it, me.
I silly, me.


Hopefully it'll be something he grows out of, but for now it is pretty hilarious just because it is so common around here. He's now well on his way to being a Waterboy character.

If anyone actually reads this and lives anywhere but South Louisiana, I would love to hear feedback on whether such appending of "me" is common in other regions or cultural enclaves.


I'll move on now, me.


Last Sunday, Riley got all mechanical and helped Daddy and Poppy change the water pump on Nonnie's Jeep.

Just like Daddy and Poppy, his shirt was feeling a good bit of tension in the gut region.





Saying that he helped may be a little stretch, but he did stand right by us and bang a screwdriver on his 4 wheeler.





Then he moved on to putting sockets and other tools in the frame rails and bumper of my Jeep, which is a major man faux pas and got him kicked out of the garage.



Danzition

When bedtime approaches, we pretty much split the reading duties.
Usually, Riley is ready for bed and goes down easy, but not on Wednesday.
No big deal though. He fussed for a little while, then fell asleep.


The next morning, I looked at the monitor and saw an open book in the bed.
I asked Joan if she put it there and she denied.
He's grabbed books from his bookshelf before, so I didn't really think anything of it.


Things proved to be a little different when he finally woke up and I went to retrieve him.
On the monitor I had seen one book.


When I got in there, I noticed that it was actually 20 books.
He had just about cleaned off the bookshelf and had very little room left to sleep.




I really wish I could see what he did with them during the night, especially since the open book was his "Go Cajuns" book and it was opened to the fight song page that he tries to sing along to.

But no complaints here. Whatever it takes to foster a love of reading (before formal schooling kills that spirit.)



Friday's weather was perfect, so I took Riley and Anna to Bach Lunch to see the Lost Bayou Ramblers.
Anna enjoyed the music, but Riley is on a "fear of loud noises" kick.






One thing they both agreed on was the fun of riding in the Jeep, and the wonders it does for your hair.





After catching the band, we headed over to Johnson's, where Riley had his first encounter with (semi) random public recognition and he and Anna got to meet some of the nice ladies who read the blog: Ms Christi, Ms Becky, Ms Nicole, and Ms Frances.
At the same time, Anna got to meet her semi-doppelganger, another 2.5 year old red-headed-girl named Anna.

Riley's not big on his celebrity status though, so he refused to tell them hi.

Then while Anna killed a brisket stuffed grilled cheese (a hearty meal), Riley discovered the non-gastronomical joys of salt and pepper shakers.




Now do you see why we try to only bring him to outdoor restaurants?


Saturday, Mommy and Daddy were scheduled to go to an engagement party in New Orleans.

Coincidentally, Anna's family was spending the weekend at Lesley's for a Saints game.
It worked out because we were able to turn it into a zoo day, and we had built in babysitters during the party.
Added bonus- we've already gotten our money's worth out of our Audubon membership, less than a month after buying it.





Riley is usually hesitant about approaching most non-goat animals, but really enjoyed chasing a giant tortoise.

Then both kids manned up and petted a baby alligator.




(is "petted" really a word?)


One of the highlights of their day, of course, was the very non-zoo-specific act of running laps through an archway in the Mayan ruins.






Riley made a few unassisted trips up Monkey Hill, and only had one close call were he almost tumbled backward to certain doom.






All of that hill climbing made them tired.
Zombie mode set in and was quickly overtaken by log mode.







After a short nap, Riley enjoyed the sea lions (a name that melted a few of his brain cells)






and then, for the second day in a row, a set by the Lost Bayou Ramblers.





Riley and Mommy enjoyed some exploring and finding the oddest zoo creature of the day.








Riley and Anna both enjoyed their new white-alligator-chomping-head-on-a-stick-thingies.





One of the many positives about the Audubon zoo is that their merch prices, in addition to the memberships, are really reasonable. (and you get 10% off merch as a member.)

2 alligator chompers and an alligator fridge magnet came to 8 bucks with tax.

Taking advantage of cheap prices and membership discounts, we headed over to the carousel.

It's only a dollar for members to ride, and adults don't have to pay if accompanying a small child. That makes it less than half of what our local zoo charges for their rickety, quarter mile train loop/exhaust huffing experience.

After much debate, Riley chose a lion for his first carousel whirl.






He started out with a two handed death grip on the pole.





then, as we got up to full speed, he went kinda bullrider with one hand.





and finally got cocky enough to pull a "Look ma, no hands!"





On the way out, Lesley was brave enough to attempt a photo with both tots.
Here's as close as we got to success.





On the way home, we stopped at Creole Creamery on Prytania, for ice cream.
They've got some pretty unique, homemade flavors.

Best of all, they do something every ice cream place should do.
Instead of locking you down to ordering a single scoop of a single flavor, they offer the option of ordering a 4 mini scoops sampler, which Joan and I both did as we are royalty in the Land of Indecisiveness.






Some flavors were hits, and some were misses.
Don't order the Creole Cream Cheese unless you really, really, really like cream cheese.
Even if you just really, really like cream cheese, stick with something safer like Brownie Batter or Bananas Foster. (both excellent.)


Regardless of ice cream quality or local ambiance, Riley and Anna always have fun together.







We ended family day back at Lesley's so Mommy and Daddy could get dressed up for the party.








Finally, since he's been busy with lots of letters and numbers (H1N1, PhD, etc) I'll hijack a little bit of Paul's blog theme and write about food and recipes.

When mealtime comes around, Riley's back on a guacamole kick.





And he tried his hand at cooking this week, but was a little too arrogant and presumptive when he decided to take a shot at making rice pudding.


Ha, Ha. See what I did there?
Rice.
Pudding.
Rice Pudding.


Bet you're saying, "I wish I hadn't read that, me."

Life is a Highway

I could bore you with the usual, "Riley is talking more and more." but from now on lets just assume that would be said in every post.


Let's just pick up where we left off last week.

Early Sunday afternoon, we headed down to Joan's family's compound in Erath to tell her great grandmother happy 100th birthday.

Riley got to be around a baby, Hope, the daughter of Joan's cousin Ben, and his wife, Jen.
She held his attention for about a second and a half before he went back to playing with the big boys, Hope's older cousins David and Evan.





It was the first time he's gotten to really play with bigger boys and he held his own pretty well considering his communication skills relative to theirs.

He also got a chance to play with a real piano, and quite pleasantly he did more than just mash handfuls of keys.
He very deliberately pressed one or two keys at a time and even explored the full dynamic ranges of the instrument.





From there , Mommy and Daddy headed down to New Orleans to meet up with Nanny for the Our Lady Peace show.

On the way down, we listened to the atrocious first half of the Saints game.
We almost didn't watch the second half, but we decided to grab a seat in the bar at Copeland's cheesecake Bistro, just in case.
We were not disappointed.
In addition to their awesome crawfish ravioli (imagine ravioli fried in Popeye's batter, then covered in cream sauce) we got to see one of the greatest halves of a football game I've ever witnessed.


It was also a totally different experience because everyone else in the bar was New Orleanian African American Church ladies whose cheering style is quite different from that of our Lafayettian yuppie friends. Fun times.

With a great win in the books we headed downtown to the HOB.





We got there pretty early and had a great spot.
Even better, for the first time in the dozens of shows I've been to, there was an opening band I'd never heard of that was actually good.

Check out Company of Thieves. not the greatest band ever, but pretty entertaining.

By 9:30 OLP came on and played a very strong set.
All of their big hits virtually non-stop.
They could definitely teach Blues Traveler a thing or two regarding show pacing.







The only downside was the blinding backdrop lights.



Best part was the show was done by 11 and we were back on the road to Lafayette.


Life was life during the week, not worth typing about.

Friday evening we went to Ciao Bella Pizza with Anna's family. My parents also came with my g-ma.

There are not many things Riley likes more than spending all day and all evening with Anna and my mom.




The pizza was pretty good, but there are a few pizza places in Lafayette I'd pick over it.

Riley's main course was a sucker.





He couldn't be distracted from the toy choo-choo by either tiramisu or brownies and ice cream.





Saturday morning we hit Great Harvest for breakfast.
He didn't want anything to do with their excellent baked goods, but they have books, so he survived.





Next we were off to Granny & Grandad's to visit Caroline and the Baton Rouge crew, now freshly de-swine-flu'd





There Uncle Paul taught Riley the humbling game of Chase the Laser Pointer.





and Paul learned his own lesson regarding the cardio effects of the indoor stroller roller coaster game.




The kids loved it, and were not afraid to say so.


Then everyone took advantage of being on the last block of a dead end to have a nice family stroll.







Aunt Liz heard everyone was walking down the street so she wore her street walker shoes.






With near perfect weather we headed down to Johnson'ss Boucaniere for lunch.
Hard to beat superbly seasoned boneless ribs in a plate with boudin, beans and mac.





Unless you're Riley, then its hard to beat 2 bottlecaps.






When he finally went down for a nap, mommy whipped together his first halloween costume.
He got to dress up as a highway.






As the legally appointed hour drew near, Cousin Caroline arrived dressed as a pirate with her crew in tow, and we all headed down to Cinderella's castle (Anna's House)

Three kids in strange outfits don't make the best studies in photographic cooperation.

Riley first decided it would be fun to hit Anna with her princess wand,





but quickly retreated when she got fed up.





Then he tried to make up for it with a goofy hug.





The great thing about his costume is he always had a toy to play with and a prop to ham things up with.




Eventually Caroline got tired of Riley and Anna's dillying and dallying and ringing around the rosey and signaled that the trick or treating should begin.





Riley and Anna raced ahead like kids itching to run in the streets.





Caroline decided to be the responsible one and help push the empty stroller.





Things peaked kinda early when Riley got a sucker at the second stop.
That was all he needed for his night to be complete.





He and the other short-legger spent the rest of the night chauffeured in the stroller with his face/neck/chest becoming progressively browner and stickier as he made headway into the sucker.




There's social commentary to be made about trick or treat trespassers who just pull up in cars and start walking the neighborhood, but I don't have the energy.
Plus Joan and I are about to leave to go see This Is It, the closest we'll ever get to a Michael Jackson concert (until he comes out of hiding for that triple bill with Elvis and Tupac.)



I do want to leave you with a question, and since I know you read this every week, you might be able to help:

When did our little baby become a little boy?

Beat Up

We have family all over the country and world.
Lots of times we wish we could see those non-Lafayette-ians more often.

Not this week.

Cousin Hailee in Connecticut, along with Paul, Liz and Caroline in Baton Rouge all have the pig flu.
so let's just go with "absence makes the heart grow fonder" or some other platitude, because we want nothing to do with any of those folks right now. Call us when you feel better :)

Despite not having swine flu, Riley had a pretty rough week. Literally.

He got beaten up, and has his first black eye.
Worse yet, his enemy, the aggressor, is one that is ever present-- the floor.

Here's the skinny. (i figured it was appropriate wordage.)

Thursday, I found Riley in his room, sitting on his bedside step stool which he had inverted.
That led to the creation of a new game, carpet sledding, wherein he is slung around the room on the stool until he either falls off or Daddy's knees/back/shoulders fail.

I have included this recreation to keep your mind in check. The meatball filled mouth is optional to the game.






Unfortunately, $10 wooden stools are not made to be used as sleds by 22 pound 11 ounce babies (that's what he weighed at our anti- starvation check-up this week).
Structural failure ensued.

Being in possession of wood glue, I stuck it all back together and left it on the counter to dry.

Now, the counter happens to be where Riley is most likely to eat.
Because of the constant pressure to make him gain weight, we have allowed some less than ideal habits to form in order to get food into his mouth.
Counter eating is one.

It allows him to do fun things like see out of the window and put batteries in kazoos.



He's usually really good at sitting up there and I have no fear of him falling.

Not so much, though, when he is playing with the wooden stool, which weighs more than a battery filled kazoo.

He was holding onto the stool, which fell off of the counter.
He wasn't smart enough to let go , so he went down with it, face first onto the ceramic tile.
He cried for a few minutes, but seemed ok.

Within a few hours though, he had some swelling.





By the next morning, the purple set in.





By Saturday, it just looked like he had odd taste in make-up.





He showed no signs of concussion or impaired vision, so no doctor's visit.

That and the fact that his bruise would probably have to be reported to Big Brother, and I'm not a big enough fan of government to subject myself to proving that I don't abuse my kid.

Now it's Sunday, and he has already fallen once on that side of his face (while crawling on tile in jeans) and also run into the corner of our footboard, hitting his cheekbone, just below that eye(for the first time in 9 months walking).
Poor kid.





I guess he was embarrassed by the shiner, so he kept his sunglasses on all day Saturday at tailgating. Either that or he has already learned it's easier to stare at people when they can't see your eyes.

Maybe he just didn't want people asking his mommy if she beats him on her 30th birthday.





He had fun playing with Ms Bennett (sp?), but was also subjected to the brain scarring experience of "dancing" with Mr Pec. (he was safe though, Ms Daisy was there as back-up)






Even after that, all of the kids, and many of the adults had fun with Joan's cookie cake.




That evening, Riley hung out with Nonnie and Poppy while his parents got all dressed up went to Ms. Katie's wedding. We have a picture of us all dressed up, but I don't like it, so i ain't posting it.

Now Joan and I are packing up for the last of her birthday presents (after the funnel cake making kit, measuring cup, and 30 satsumas.)

We're heading to the House of Blues to see Our Lady Peace.


But before that I will dazzle you with my psychic abilities.
I can predict, based on demographics, your response to our evening plans.

If you are under 25, over 40 or have no taste in music, you said, "Who is Our Lady Peace?"
(Joan's boss is an exception, because he recently started listening ot them)

If you are between 25 and 40, and had good musical tastes in the late-90s/early- 00s, you said, "They're still around?"

Either way, you're missing out.

Who dat aksed for you?

This won't be a blog for the whole week.
It'll only be for the last 2 days.
But there's enough in the last two days to fill a good bit of space.


Sunday through Friday are lost in space, as I spent a week at the National Institute of Trial Advocacy near Boulder, Colorado. For that same reason, my brain is spent and this may be a humor-free zone.

As for NITA, it was lots of work and lots of learning, but there was snow on the ground and the views made you not want to leave.






Plus, I got to try an Orange Julius, which Professor Smith (our fave law school prof) always talked about. It was pretty good.





Because no airline could get me into Lafayette on Friday night, and we were heading to New Orleans on Sunday for a Saints game anyway, I flew into NO and we made a weekend of it.

Riley was nice enough to stay up late and meet me at the airport.
He said "Hi", then whined about being in the car seat.
Instant home feeling.
But instead of saying he didn't care to see me, we'll just say he was ready for bed because he knew Saturday would be big. Sounds plausible.


Once he woke the next morning, we went on down to the Audubon Zoo...... (please contact me if your brain doesn't automatically complete that sentence.)


It was pretty cool and windy so he bundled up/thugged out.





I won't bore you with a catalog of every animal we saw, but he was pretty nonchalantly interested in the elephants.








We had fun in the petting zoo.







Shortly in though, it was nap time.
We found a semi-quiet and shady spot by the anteaters and he slept on my shoulder for an hour while I paced the same 50 yard stretch of sidewalk.


(my back is still reminding me of it)


That was all he needed to be in full cheesy mode.

The highlight of his day was when we stopped to eat lunch.
There was an empty stage in the dancehall themed room that tended to attract small kids.
He spent at least half an hour running dancing and playing up there, and held his own among some much bigger kids.






He then had fun poking at the face of a bronze gorilla, but was wise enough not to do the same with the real thing.







He even semi-cooperated for a pic with Nanny.





Since we bought a membership to the zoo and aquarium, and we want to feel like we're getting as much out of it as possible, we bypassed part of the zoo and headed over to the aquarium later in the afternoon.

The penguins and otters were tired and resting, but fish always swim, so Riley had a blast.
As soon as he realized where we were, he ran to the first display.
We could have stayed there for hours and he would have been fine.





He cooperated for a shark jaw pic with Nanny, but tried his best to be sure that none with his parents came out any good.





The really cool thing about being there later in the afternoon was that he had the kids' area almost to himself. Usually there are dozens of big kids keeping skrimps like him off of things, but not this week.





His favorite part was the fish tank you can stand in the center of.






He's still a little short to do it on his own, but Daddy's always willing to sit down for a little while.





On the way back to the car he got his first (non ring pop) sucker, and made the appropriate mess.





He was spent at the end of the day and didn't care how goofy he looked in his sleep clothes.





Sunday we headed back downtown for the most anticipated game of the NFL season thus far.

Saints v Giants, both undefeated.




Unfortunately, his nap time started about 5 minutes before kick off.
That's fine though, because he got to miss this incredibly ignorant digital display while the Pride of Acadiana was playing the pregame show.


go ahead, read it again, it took me a second to catch.


Speaking of the band, they also played a Halloween themed show with the Saintsations and a bunch of high school dancers.
About halfway through I said to Joan, "At least they aren't even attempting Thriller, since the Southern band has already played here."

I know, I know, that was an obvious jinx because were were promptly ?treated? to the whitest, feeble-ist version of Thriller ever seen. It almost embarrassed Riley right out of his UL hat.





Once he was awake, he had a great time, as long as he wasn't in a seat watching a football game.
He is now a big fan of riding escalator rails.

We switched out entertainment duties and were each able to catch good parts of what ended up being a completely unexpected blow-out.

It's work bringing him to things like that, but still worth it to me.
Even though he didn't watch the game, Riley had a great weekend being among some of the most important people in his life.




and we had fun too.