Riley - Aussie Boy

 

Riley has settled in well.  Sadly, he will never even remember Switzerland.

In our new flat, he has his own room now but no bath.  So we have had to conquer his fear of the shower. A week of sitting outside the shower, or playing with his toys in the shower with no water, but now he wont get out.  Funny as he still LOVES the pool and the ocean.

He also now sits at the table (we have no highchair), and sleeps in a big boy bed (we have no crib)...although I do get a tap on my shoulder around 4am and he ends up in our bed by morning. Welcome to toddlerhood Riley!

 

He absolutely loves having the worlds biggest sandbox on his doorstep and his new favourite word is shark.  Not to mention watching the boats and cockatoos on our balcony.

His day usually involves coffee with dad at the pool or beach while Riley plays in the sand all morning, afternoon nap and then the aquarium or playground depending on the weather.  But still, nothing compares to his obsession with cars and trucks (its pretty much all he plays with). 

 

Riley has finally started daycare three days a week. Although his sleeping in has made me late to work on more than one occasion. He gets to finger paint and sing songs, which he never got from me. And he rides the ferry to the city!  Daycare comments so far:

"Riley is one of the best eaters we have ever had".

"Riley is really competitive".

Go figure.

He still loves anything physical...running, tag, bike races at daycare, diving down the slide face first, jumping on the bed, spinning himself in circles until he falls over, etc. 

Riley has always been very good at communicating without all his words...by grabbing your hand, pulling your leg, pointing, etc. Now he is talking gibberish like crazy (especially on the phone) as if he is really having a conversation with you.  But no is still his favourite word. The answer to every question in this house is "No" (with a firm whole body shake). He also loves to throw things and say "oh no" and more annoyingly, loves to bang his head off things and say "ow".  But he picks up new words daily - turtle, zebra, chair, apple, cheese, cracker, hot, etc. 

He has learned to say hi, bye, sorry, please, ta (Aussie for thanks), has started addressing people by their names and is working on his body parts and colors.  Best of all though, he can now pick up after himself, put his clothes in the laundry, throw things away, and is learning to put his dishes in the dishwasher.

Rileys Stats:

• 12kgs - 75% in weight
• 77cm - 25 % in height
• Teeth - 4.........STILL???
• Falls out of bed - 2
• Number of times he says "car" a day - 100+
• How big his mouth is - 6 cubes of cheese or 2 whole crackers or 1 handful of blueberries

What I love about Riley:

• His facial expressions and tone range when talking. It may be gibberish but it sounds like a full on conversation.
• Jumping...but it looks more like squats as his feet never actually leave the floor!
• When he says koala. Adorable.
• His animal noises, complete with hand movements (the elephant and monkey is the cutest).
• When he grabs a book and climbs up on your lap (he will do it to anyone).