Riley: One Year, Four Months

Riley sees, Riley does. His capacity to learn everything from words to mundane tasks, like brushing his teeth and putting his shirt in the hamper, seems infinite. What's amazing is how much of this stuff he picks up on simply by watching and listening to others, then repeating their actions or sounds.

Not only does he brush his teeth, but he pretends to spit in the sink, too, with a little lean in and a "tooey" noise. Unfortunately, we're entering the "do it myself" phase. We know he can do it, it's just not very good when he does. This is the source of many knock-down, drag-out bathroom floor battles as we try to pry the toothbrush from his little grip and get it in his mouth, as he flails about, cries and pushes it out with his tongue. There's nothing better than that before you've showered or had any caffeine.

As we watch Riley grow and learn, we're once again amazed at how the human develops. Riley's got some words, where as just a few short weeks ago, he had no ability to communicate except crying, pointing and grunting (and smiling, too!). But now, his mouth and throat are working together to crudely expunge sounds that we know are words because we recognize them and the context, but to everyone else, we're sure they all sound something like: "BBLLAAAYYAAAHHH!"
Here, for your reading pleasure, we present Dictionary of Riley, Vol. I

"ffffff" = woof

"uh-oh" = self explanatory (and said often)

"BU!" = BUS! (and yes, it's THAT! exciting)

"YEAH!" = anything he's keyed-up about, especially airplanes, trucks, et.

"Ra Ra!" = 1. Trash truck 2. Riley's newest nickname

"Allo? Allo?" = Hello, usually to something he's pretending is a telephone. He's apparently British.

"Baaaayyyyy" = Bye bye (with a little wave from his fingers)

"Ni Ni" = Night Night

"Wuah Wuah" = Quack Quack (We only know this because he's always holding a stuffed duck or pointing to the duck tub spout cover when he says it)

"Lello" = Yellow

"Iye" = Eye, usually as he jabs his finger into your eyeball

"Niiiii" = Nice, which is what he says whenever he's petting the cat (who, consequently, says "fffff.")

"Huuuuh" = Not sure what it means, but it's the noise he makes as he points to things he wants you to see, like the koala bear in his crib or the cars outside.

"Mmmmmm" = That's yummy!

"Ahhhh" = I was thirsty, that hit the spot!

"Mo Mo" = More (and he uses sign language for this one, too)


Then there are the things he doesn't learn, as much as he seems to inherently know. We don't push the kids to "boy" activities or toys. We have no problem with them playing with baby dolls, asking for nail polish or trying on jewelry. Yet, somehow, that Y chromosome has some magical power that makes those who have it really, really, really enthralled by anything involving engines or pain.

Besides his passions for transportation machines, Riley seems to derive the most pleasure from mixing it up with us and his friends in wrestling matches. And he's STRONG. Not just, "Whoa, he's strong," but I'm pretty sure he'd beat me at arm wrestling if he had the strategy. Those toothbrushing battles? Did I mention he often wins? There's nothing mean in Riley's take-down attempts. He just purely loves to crawl over people, body slam them and give 'em the ol' head butt to the chin. Where did he learn this? Is he sneaking out of his crib late at night to catch reruns of WWE on TBS?
Of course, this all points to a much deeper nature vs. nurture discussion - which I'll delve into some other time when I'm not nursing Riley-inflicted wounds or racing to pry him off his older brother's back, as his older brother cries out for help. Luckily, there's one more thing he does, and does well. Whether he's blowing one at you or laying a slippery, open-mouthed one on your face, his kisses are the type you can't learn to give. They are from within, an inherent part of his little loving heart.