It's hard to believe we have a one and a half year old. It seems like Riley's birthday was mere weeks ago, not months. It has been so much fun to watch him learn and grow the last six months.
Here's a look back on the last 6 months of LITERALLY the happiest kiddo I know...
In September, Riley helped me celebrate my birthday. He makes every day happier.
In October, we had a yard sale with Mimi and Papa. We had to make sure everyone knew Riley wasn't for sale...but believe me, we still got quite a few offers.
The first "real" Halloween we got to share with Riley was a BLAST. His first, we spent in quarantine since we had only been out of the NICU for 3 weeks. 2014 we got to dress up and go Trunk or Treating at CMA. Riley LOVED being around all the other kids.
Riley has been working with a feeding therapist for the last 4 months. It is very common for preemies to have oral aversion since they had so many tubes shoved down their throats for the first several weeks of life. Riley, despite being a year and a half is still on a strained food diet because solids cause him to gag and throw up. However, you eat a cookie within arms reach of him the next thing you know, you're not longer eating a cookie, but he is!
November brought about some less than fun times in the Knopf house. Both Dan and Riley were sick. You'd never know it from this picture, but they were both feeling really under the weather. Riley was better after a few days, but Dan was sick clear through 'til Christmas.
These two pictures are by far two of my most favorite!
In December we spent some time with my mom's family. We learned just how much Riley loves eggnog. An eggnog mustache eventually turned into an eggnog goatee.
Can you imagine how fun New Year's Day was spent snuggled up with this happy kiddo?
Orange Cheetos puffs may be tasty, but we now know why his feeding therapist uses the white cheddar ones.
It may be my most favorite time of day. Riley LOVES to be wrapped up in his towel after bath time. He can get rather feisty when it's time to dry off and get dressed, but he's crazy cute when he snuggles himself up.
Riley is the most observant child I've ever met. The fact that he actually fell asleep in the car, during the day, was a notable one for sure. But we learned after 15 minutes in the car he is under the impression that his nap quota has been met for the day and the rest of it he insists on staying up to play.
A few weeks ago we took a 4 generations trip to the park. He HATED swinging by himself, but tolerated it when he got to swing with Mimi. He wasn't really a big fan of the slide either, but he did enjoy playing with the wood chip ground cover. Such a funny boy.
Riley, you are an energetic, fun, S U P E R happy little boy who loves to snuggle with anything soft, will snatch cookies from just about anyone, has yet to figure out what an "indoor voice" is, will insist we put on your shoes or slippers if you see them, and is happy to give kisses to just about anyone who asks. We love you so much and have enjoyed just about every minute watching you grow...we could do with a little less projectile vomiting, but you'll get there.
