all dressed up

A random assortment of pics below, some from today and others I've been meaning to post.

We'll start with some older pics

Riles' favorite thing?  The cat.  Second favorite?  Dad's juggling.  Here R is trying hard to hold three balls.  He bites into one and throws the other two with enthusiasm... almost there boo.

 Fall day at the ranch.  Happy day.

 Having a cuddle with nan before bed.

 Playing with Mads

And now from this week...
A visit with Timon and Teis ... who I could just eat he's so cute.  Gorgeous 10 weeks old.

Riles' preschool's (should there be two apostrophes?)  haloween party.  He was thrilled.  He totally doesn't get the treats part (good!) but adores pumpkins.  Our walks are punctuated with excited "PUMPKIN!" points.

They decorated cookies, and Riles then proceeded to lick off all the toppings.

My boys

This poster was up in the room.  We've always been impressed with how super the ladies at daycare are, and how they seem to work so well together, with so much patience.  I like it.

Riles has something to say

Hopefully this is less obscure than last time...

The chaos continues end of Feb 2012.

Wow.  I have so much to post about.  Like how Riles just doesn't stop chatting, but now we actually understand him. And how this introduces its own problems when he decides he wants something, tells us, and we would prefer to pretend we didn't understand.

But that's not the big thing.  Today, all of a sudden, he learnt NO.  Not just once, all the time. Like he's discovered the freedom of an opinion.  And once its verbalized, it's solidified.  Once he's said no, there's no budging.

Oh, and it's quick.  No hesitation.  Firm.  Faster than you or I would say it.  Nonchalant.
Riles, do you want to finish your trees (brocolli) -no.
What about some more pasta - no.
And yogurt - yep (a test in case he was just saying no to everything).

Times they are a changing!

A photo from earlier today when Riles + Maddie went to the strongstart (little kids program) together.

Chatterbox

Cutie Riles is back (phew!) and all of a sudden he just loves to talk.  Chattering with full expressions, now if only we could understand anything he said!  He continues to be full of smiles and brings so much happiness to our house.

Some photos from the past few weekends:
Weekend before last we joined Nan in Kits for a Vancouver day.  It was perfect - Riles enjoys his time wi nan and she spoils him rotten.

 Picnic dinner on the beach on Friday night ... making the best of the nicer weather.  Nan with Riles below.

 Tengs chasing the ducks.

Nanny came to stay wi us on Sat night.  Riles was a huge help unpacking for her.  I'm not sure if he was just determined that she should stay, or if he was trying to make space so she could take him away with her in his suitcase!  Nan is just so much more fun than mom and dad!

Our little goat loves climbing, and his default position is now pushing trucks while on top of the kitchen table.

 Gogo's birthday dinner last week, just before they left for Phoenix.

 Riles really enjoyed his evening with the GogoPops.  He'll miss them when they go back to SAfrica!

 Sunday morning we had a quick playdate with Peyton and Shawndra. Despite appearances in this picture, P+R were just too thrilled to see each other!

Then Riles and River hung out at Holly's third birthday.  Simon + James (Riles/River's dads) were best buds through high school, cute to see their kids together now.

 Loving Holly's birthday cake!

All in all, some lovely weekends!
We've had four weekends in a row near home now and it's been much calmer than the summer, we've really been able to enjoy our time as a family.  We've done some intensive gardening (I love dirt, Riles agrees) and are trying to finish off the bathroom renos (why is it that the last 5% of any reno takes weeks longer than the initial 95%?). 

Happy times in the Greatwey family.