No, this is not an announcement.

Ever since Riley's friend Vivan got a new baby brother a few weeks back, Riley has become absolutely baby crazed.

She:

• crawls and baby talks whenever the mood strikes
• shoves dolls up her shirt and declares, "I have a baby in my tummy!"
• swaddles Grover, her own "baby brother"
• had the nerve to ask, "Mommy, your tummy is big...you have a baby in there?"

Geez, talk about pressure. (To provide a baby brother and/or lose my gut.)

Two Can Play at That Game

Riley has an annoying habit of yelling out random requests long after we've put her to bed. Occasionally, when it goes overboard, we temporarily confiscate Zelf.

So here's a conversation Matt had with Riley the other night when she called out requesting more ice for her sippy cup of ice water–nearly two hours past bedtime:

Matt (holding Zelf near his ear): What's that Zelf? It's too noisy? Yeah, it is pretty noisy. Riley, Zelf says he can't sleep when you yell like that. He says if you keep making noise, he wants to sleep somewhere else. You need to be quiet so I don't have to take him.

Riley (grabbing Zelf back): What Zelf? Daddy, Zelf says I need more ice.

Score: Riley 1, Daddy 0

Genealogy

Having two sets of involved grandparents is confusing, isn't it?

So instead of asking "Which Grandma?" Riley has just created new names for them: Mommy's Mom and Daddy's Mom.

And the Grandpas? They're Daddy's Dad and Mommy's Dad.

Zero points for creativity. 101 points for accuracy.

We were lucky enough to have Daddy's Mom visit over the weekend!

First Day of School

Here's Riley on her first day of preschool. She was so excited that it didn't even bother her when I broke to her the news that Zelf wasn't invited.

The Executive Branch of Parenthood

The first day of preschool was a raging success. Except the teacher requested that Riley wear shoes that don't fall off on the playground. (Unlike these.)

So after school, we went shoe shopping, where Riley learned a lesson in government: Request ridiculous shoes like this, and mommy exercises absolute veto power.

Meet the Teacher (but try not to scare her)

Preschool starts next week, which we're all really thrilled about. And Riley and I got a little sneak peek today with a pre-preschool picnic.

While I attempted to meet her teachers and other parents, Riley spent the entire picnic racing around the lawn, somersaulting down a nearby hill, attacking the tortilla chip dish, and dancing her heart out (wearing her bright pink puffy tutu, of course).

Her teacher watched with amusement (or was it terror?) and said, "She certainly looks comfortable here. I can tell she's really...creative."


(Please tell me "creative" isn't some kind of euphemism.)