If you ask Riley a question, his response is usually 'because'. For example: I say, "Riley, why are your pants in the kitchen?" and he answers, "Because." So then I'll try, "Because why?" and he'll reply, "Because my pants are in the kitchen." Well, that certainly clears things up.
He is certainly a little litigator, who always has a response for everything. If we tell him 'no', not to do something, he constantly replies, "I just...." As if 'I just' is a justifiable reason to do what we've asked him NOT to do! Example: We say, "Riley, don't cross the street!" and he says, "But I JUST want to cross the street to see Tristan!"..."Riley, we do not get in the pantry!", "But I just want to get a peice of candy!" Yes, honey, we KNOW what you JUST want to do, and we don't want you to do it! Ha ha ha, it's cute though.
Some things Riley LIKES: biting his nails (bad habit and we are TRYING to break him of, it's actually MUCH better the past month or so); picking at his lips (he was bad about this over the winter when they would get dry, but once again, it's MUCH better lately); singing (he STILL loves to sing, he does it all day long, he learns songs so quickly and even makes up some of his own...he just had his first Kindermusik class last week and the teacher was surprised and proud of him for catching on to a song when no one else did! The next Americal Idol? We'll see, but keep a look out!).
Some things Riley DISLIKES: taking naps (yep, we dropped those right after he turned 3...but it certainly wasn't for lack of trying! He has 'downtime' in the afternoon where he watches some tv and just has to 'chill' and stop moving for awhile, which keeps him from being grouchy the rest of the day and still allows me to get some things done, so it actually hasn't been anwhere near as bad as I had expected, thank goodness!); pickles (and if you ask him he'll actually tell you he HATES PICKLES! It's a very passionate dislike apparently!); olives (black or green, doesn't matter, doesn't like 'em).
Riley would ask where Mommy went often when I would leave the room for various reasons, so Chris started to tell him I joined the circus, and it's now become a game. They will talk about what I might be doing in the circus (lion tamer, acrobat, tight rope, etc.) and how long I'll be gone, etc. Then I come back into the room and Riley says, "YAY! Mommy is back from the circus!" Not too long ago we were at Bennigan's and Chris went to the bathroom, I guess Riley didn't notice him leave because when he noticed Daddy was missing he said, "Uh Oh! Daddy's gone to join the circus again!" Too cute!
We have a very 'rigid' bedtime routine and let me tell you, that is the way Riley likes it! Before he moved to his toddler bed it began by choosing his bedtime movie, brushing his teeth, turning off his main light, turning on the night light, reading a bedtime book, saying our prayers, then we would 'blow us down' (something he learned from The Wiggles' Captain Feathersword, "Well blow me down!", so two of us would blow and the other falls down, in a circle until everyone has a turn), then we say our goodnights and I love you's, followed by putting Riley in his crib and blowing LOTS of kisses as we leave his room. Same way every single night and Riley knew what came next and would tell us, "Time to blow us down." or "Time for story", etc. Now that he's in a big boy bed things are mainly the same except we skip the 'blow us downs' because he gets in bed to hear his bedtime story, say his prayers, etc. He still knows the routine though.
Riley has learned to spell his name and he just LOVES IT! I made up this song to teach him how to spell his name and he has it down now! Watch the video to see/hear him sing it!
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