A Vacation and Half Birthday

Oh, how I love the sun.  Life has been exponentially more enjoyable now that the thermostat is turned off and parkas are put away for good.  There is so much more to do with this wonderful weather, and of course a busy toddler is a tired toddler, so sleep has been much easier to come. Riley is by no means a poster child for sleep, but we are all feeling much more rested at least!

Riley hit another half birthday, so we are officially turning that corner towards the much anticipated age of 2.  It is definitely true that the older these babies get, the trickier they are behaviorally... but they are also so entertaining! Riley is playful and stubborn and very communicative.  Her vocabulary continues to grow, but she is very selective of when and where she chooses to use her words.  It seems as if she puts her words on the back burner once they are mastered. While looking back at the words she was using during my last post, I realize I haven't heard almost all of them in a while - just her new ones!  My favorite words of hers right now are uh-oh (uh ho), no (nuh uh), outside (ow-sigh-sigh) and cat (cat-tat). 

I am doing well, but starting to get a little anxious about our new arrival!  However, I am anxious for all different reasons than I was with Riley.  My number one source of concern is actually Riley - she and I are pretty much inseparable, and I don't know how either of us will handle the massive change and inevitable distance between us.  My heart is already a little bit broken when thinking of saying goodbye to her when we head to the hospital. I am fully confident that within a month or two of her little sister's arrival, we will have a hard time imagining life without her... but for now I just feel like I am betraying Riley.

I am also struggling to wrap my head around logistics.  How will I put two babies down for naps, or manage Riley while feeding a baby, or go grocery shopping with two?  There are so many unknowns.  I'll figure it out, but I can't imagine it yet.

I can't believe I am already 9 weeks from my due date - I truly don't know where the time went (which is a blessing). I feel well, just large and tired.  It is funny, when I look back at my first pregnancy it was so well documented, and I haven't taken a single belly picture with this one.

On another note, we went on our first family vacation earlier this month. We ended up going to Captiva Island off the coast of Florida. It was beautiful and we finally got a chance for some quality family time and vitamin D, but we quickly realized that it was more of a "trip" than a "vacation."  Traveling with a toddler is quite a bit of work.  

And just getting to Captiva was a bit of an ordeal.  Riley came down with a double ear infection and eye infection a day before we were supposed to travel to the Dominican Republic, and after a very chaotic 36 hours filled with canceling and rebooking, we ultimately ended up staying domestic. And once we were there, we did have a few hiccups (all involving Riley of course).  For example, Riley, who just loves to shut doors (er, slam them in our faces), got herself locked in one of our bedrooms.  The door had a button lock, which she pushed, and we could not get in.  I frantically called the front desk over and over (ultimately threatening to break their door down if they didn't get there fast enough) while Charley tried to break in.  It was the longest 15 minute period of my life - I was imagining her playing with razors, shoving things in electrical sockets, climbing up and falling off the bed, etc.  When the locksmith finally got the door open, she was just standing on the other side, grinning ear to ear.  That little dickens.  

And then the next day, Riley took quite a fall and landed face/forehead first onto concrete (my stomach still turns thinking about the image and sound).  She only cried for a minute or two, but the bruise on her head was so sad.  We were on concussion watch for a bit that night.

Traveling with a toddler was quite a bit of work!  She is so much fun though and was quite the trooper.  She has gotten so much better at eating out at restaurants (or maybe we've gotten better handling her at them?), and has become very adaptable when it comes to sleeping in strange places or being stuck on airplanes.  

And we did learn that she can't stand the feeling of sand on her feet.  

Here are a few pictures of the vacation - I think they capture a few things: Riley's hilarious facial expressions, her refusal to look at the camera, the fact that neither Charley or I are lounging in a beach chair, the fact that Riley got to lounge in a beach chair, how insanely cute pot-bellied toddlers in bathing suits are!

Sorry the blog is more of a photo-drop than an actual update.  I'm curious to see how I manage it with two babies!

We signed Riley up for an art class offered at the resort - she just wanted to wear the smock and pretend to play video games

Hopefully others will find this as disturbingly comical as I do

Gotta love that pout

Ouch...

This happy restaurant moment lasted about two seconds - that cup of milk ended up spilling on that slice of pizza, which all ended up on the floor following a big, unforeseen tantrum for who-knows-what-reason

Apparently licking salt off of shells is delicious

And we discovered the elevator button - one of life's simple pleasures