We're Doomed...part 2

Yesterday, Riley took his first few tentative steps between a table and the baby gate, without any suggestion from us. Today, he's walking a good 10ft with confidence. How does that happen so fast? It's actually a little strange to see him moving this way, I'm so used to seeing him crawling and cruising.

So, the new semester began this week. Andrew and I are teaching on the same days at the same time again, because for some reason it's impossible to get the point across that we need to NOT overlap, in case Riley gets sick or daycare is closed. We've both taken a surprisingly cavalier approach to our classes this semester. Case in point, it's the night before my morning lecture, and I've no idea what I'm lecturing on tomorrow. I HAVE a lecture put together, I just don't remember what's in it. Either we're more skilled, or we've stopped caring.

We had a great weekend here, and were able to get out and enjoy the many inches of snow sitting around by going snowshoeing [pix to come later]. Today, it warmed up a bit and a lot of it melted, but I'm sure we'll get more :)

And now I leave you with this parting shot, of mischief in action.

Sleep is for the healthy

Too tired to write much -Riley's sick so we're all missing sleep. Here's some pix from over the holidays. Happy 2010 everyone!

Riley's first time playing in the snow. He seemed a little uncertain- probably wondering what the heck happened to the grass!

Rew put him to work right away.

We went for a nice walk at the Arboretum in the new snow.

Christmas morning. All those presents, and all he wants to play with is a Christmas ornament.

Ready for a ride in his new sled. The bunting can also go in his wagon!

Quick post-AGU, pre-Xmas update...

Right! So we've gone to CA and returned triumphantly! We were able to spend some quality time with the Lawrence clan while there. They put Riley to work with the housekeeping [see below], or rather, he set about making as many messes in their house as possible I think! We had a reasonably successful meeting that week, or as best as can be expected with Riley along for the fun. We're very happy to be home now, and are gearing up for the holiday travel spree. We also got a few inches of snow, although that's apparently nothing to what other parts of the country have gotten recently! 23" in DC?!!!! Crazy talk.

Oh, and we have also successfully passed yet another semester. Grades were due while we were in SF. We are now madly preparing for next semester [sigh]. One night in our room after Riley went to bed, I was trying to complete some lame-o evaluation form that the Univ makes us fill out for our general ed classes [of which mine was]. Stuff about fulfilling goals and garbage like that. I was pretty beat, and apparently began to fall asleep while typing up my answers to these stupid questions. I've supplied both question and answers below, for your amusement.

1. Based on the results of the assessment, discuss what is working to promote student's achievement of the General Education Learning Outcome.

My answer: Giving extra credit opportunities for bringing in articles that the whole class can read, then putting decorations in the closet.
[By the way, I DIDN'T give this extra credit opportunity]

2. What improvements did you make over the course of the semester?

My answer: Give them multiple opportunities to get the to get the toys out and play with them together.

Riley was very helpful in rearranging K's kitchen cabinets. I like this picture, because it looks like he's about to demolish her stemware. In reality, this stuff was all plastic.

Festive hats in the Pottery Barn during a shopping excursion. He looks bemused.

Peekaboo, with little Zailey monster! It took a while, but he eventually took notice of the two babies in the house! He was more interested in the animals.

The Sugar Castle and one of the nice trees in the Westin St. Francis [where we stayed] on Union Square. Riley liked the train that went around the castle.

He's more interested in pushing his stroller these days, than in riding in it. He gets so mad when it gets stuck on something. He also doesn't like to have help.

Cookie making time!

More action...

Again, another quick update with this week's exploits...

Daredevil sliding down our playset...

Christmas craft making with Daddy...

Playing in a bucket of cornmeal in the kitchen...

And today's big accomplishment...figuring out how to get that whistle thing to work!!!

Busy, busy, busy!

Lots going on here in Chi-town. Nearing the end of the semester [and yes, we are counting down the lectures!]. Riley is keeping us on our toes and busier every day. This post's purpose is only to show some of his recent exploits and misadventures. More to follow over the weekend...

Goose-viewing from the safety of our nifty wagon...

Our daredevil prefers to go down the slide head-first, with no hesitation!

Baking lessons! We're making mini muffins, which are handy to have on hand for snacks! He's helping to stir the batter.

The fruit of our labors... tasty!

Our first trip to the library here in DG. It has a pretty nice kids area!

Making Halloween cards for his Grandmas. Note paint around mouth...

"Helping" unpack the shopping.

Happy Halloween!!!

Not Riley's first Halloween, but clearly last year he wasn't really into it ;)
We had a fun day today. We went to what can only be described as a Halloween amusement park. Our goal was to find a pumpkin patch or apple picking place. To give you a flavor of the place we went to...it had pig races, kangaroos, and dancing/singing animatronic chickens. Not quite Eckerts [for all you STL people], but still a good time. We went to about 4 houses on our Trick or Treat run. Unbeknownst to us, Trick-or-treating goes from 12-dusk here. So we missed most of it and now have a HUGE bowl of candy left over. Pix below.
At the pumpkin place. Riley liked to beat on the pumpkin. He also liked petting the goats and was very interested in the kangaroos [there were other animals too]. BTW, I'm jealous of CC's very warm-looking festivities. It was VERY cold here today!!! Luckily, our pumpkins were about 5$ each, unlike the one my brother Dane found in Taiwan [follow link to his post at the side].

Here's Riley's costume Friday morning before going to school. He was a turtle!

A shot of his very first Halloween loot! MMMMm peanut butter cups for Daddy!

This is actually from Thurs, but since our leaves were all blown off that night in a storm, this was our last playing-in-the-leaves fun for this fall!

Hawai'i !!!

Hi all- quick update here. We spent last week on Hawai'i. I was at a workshop slaving away and the boys went swimming and napped. Sounds nice. We actually went out a few days early and had a great time relaxing together. Pix...

Exploring the visitor's station at the Mauna Kea Observatory...

This little guy hitched a ride on our car [maybe it was the Geico Gecko?]. It was hilarious that when you touched him he went running off.

This trip was the final voyage for Riley's infant car seat. We'll miss it! Now we have to wake him up to take him out of the car!

Stretching our legs at the Hawai'i Volcanoes NP visitor's center. Boy howdy was he hyper after spending most the day in the car!

My boys in a lava tube [how often do you say that??].

Walking through the rainforest after a nice morning nap.

ditto.

This is the only family shot we have of the trip. A friend of ours took it at the resort where my workshop was, on our anniversary! Pretty nice place, with fun stuff to do nearby.

Che mascalzone!