Birthdays = ICE CREAM!!!

Andrew had his 18th birthday last week, and Riley quickly learned that birthdays mean the once-in-a-rare while opportunity when we actually let him have some ice cream. He loved it. I think he enjoyed making a huge mess and finger-painting himself in chocolate almsot as much as actually eating the ice cream.

A Second Fall

One of the great things about Allen is the city has tons of really pretty, wooded hiking trails. Some are paved and some aren't. We've been trying to take advantage of them as much as possible while the weather is still so nice.
Here, the leaves don't change colors and fall until much later in the year than they do in Utah. So really, we've had two falls this year, which is fine with me because I absolutely love the season. It's so pretty! We were in Utah until mid-October; plenty late enough in the year to see all the colors change. Down here, the trees are just barely starting to lose their leaves.


Riley is starting to get less stingy with his hugs and kisses for us now. It's been pretty nice! Every now and then you really like to have your favorite little boy love on you.
Riley's favorite activity...pushing his own stroller around. The only problem is that he's not very good at steering yet but gets offended big-time when anyone tries to help.

Who Says White Babies Can't Jump?

For some reason, the other day, sam and I decided it'd be funny to teach Riley how to jump. Riley thought it was hilarious, and now he practices all the time. As you can see, he's totally got it down (except for the teensy tiny detail that his feet never actually leave the ground).

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Dragon tales

Once he figured out that dressing up in a silly little costume meant lots and lots of free candy, Riley decided Halloween was his new favorite holiday. Of course, since he pretty much slept through both Christmas and Halloween last year, I guess this Halloween was the first real holiday he has been old enough to enjoy.
Riley was a little dragon this Halloween. Sam was pretty unexcited that I was making his very masculine son dress up in a purple costume that slightly resembled Barney the Dinosaur. The costume was so cute though that I couldn't resist getting it (and besides that it was on sale).
I was pretty worried that Riley would end up refusing to wear the dragon suit, since he hates hoods or hats of any kind. So I decided to have a few "dress rehearsals" for the big occasion. I put Riley's costume on him a few times before trick-or-treating so he could get used to it. I know, it sounds kind of dumb, but I figured if we had bought a costume, he darn well better wear it.
At first, he hated it. But then I put the hood on my head and growled at him and chased him around for a little bit. He thought that was pretty funny. Then, whenever he saw his costume, he'd point at it and say "Vaca." That's Spanish for cow. Sam taught it to Riley, and it quickly became his favorite word. But since he can't say any other animal name except dog, "Vaca" quickly became a generic word for animals of any kind.
Anyway, once he figured out that costume made him look like a little animal, he decided wearing it wasn't so bad after all. Halloween turned out to be a lot of fun--Plus, since Sam and I are the responsible parents that we obviously are---we couldn't possibly let Riley eat all of that Halloween booty by Himself. I