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I almost have too little to even make post this week, but when has that ever stopped me before?

So now your random thoughts.

Riley is finding interesting places to lay when he's tired but doesn't want to go to bed.

Witness the end table and Jimmy's chair.







Mid week, I filled in as baby sitter for a few hours.





It's pretty funny the games they think up on their own.

Anna thought it would be fun to walk around with rings on her feet.
Riley, of course followed along.
But his wide feet were too fat to fit in the leftover rings so he had to settle for just being half shod like a preschool stripper.






Since Riley likes Mexican sodas, I also let him try some Mexican candy.
Chocolate covered marshmallow on a stick was a hit, even though Joan said it tasted like pretty cheap chocolate.

That's fine though. Keep his tastes in the Wal-Mart spectrum and save us some money.





and for those of you noticing how sloppy he looks in those shots, don't worry, he's gotten a haircut since.


Riley spent Friday evening with Nonnie and Poppy while Mommy and Daddy froze to the core while riding a trolley around town for a party involving people in my office, but not an office party. (it's an important distinction for alcohol consumption purposes.)

He got to hang out and play with Gavin, who he has warmed up to a little.







Riley has continued to help decorate the tree and helped Mommy put Pluto on, then take Pluto off, then put Pluto on, then take Pluto off, then put Pluto on, then take Pluto off, then put Pluto on, then take Pluto off, ad infinitum.






We also continue to find unique decorations buried in the tree.





in addition to playing in the tree, he's also had a couple of instances of playing in the toilet.

Correspondingly, he's getting pretty good at accepting discipline and sits very well in "time out."



After we took him out the last time he kept saying, "I go timeout, I splash da toilet."


Sunday our house exploded while we watched the Saints game.
Ok, not really, but it looked like it while Joan was wrapping presents.



After the Saints made it to 13-0 we headed out to the Broussard Christmas parade for a cultural experience quite similar to a Wal-Mart visit.

We saw things you can only see in South Louisiana.





and things that we'll hopefully never see again.





If you can't see what is wrong with that shot, let me zoom in a little for you.



Yup, that's actually a 1 or two year old in the open trunk of a moving vehicle.
At least she had another kid to play with (see pink bow on the left)


Though the cultural studies were fun, the real reason we went was because Anna's dance class was riding in the parade.

She was excited to see Riley, but her presence didn't register to him until she had already passed.





Now, since you value my opinions over those of anyone else, and I'm sure you have lots of shopping to do, here are a few easy to procure gift ideas. Again, I don't know why hyperlnks don't appear here, but just copy and paste the addresses.

For reasonable parents, I highly recommend the book Free Range Kids by Lenore Skenazy.
It's all about keeping the dangers of the world in perspective and allowing kids to grow up to adults, and not just oversized kids. Fun blog to follow too.
www.freerangekids.com.


For the parent with musical taste who really may drive off of a bridge if they hear Hokey Pokey again, here are a few discs we've found to be not only tolerable but good.

Los Lobos- Los Lobos Does Disney
These Legends of Latin Infused rock put their own spin on lots of Disney hits (available for download at Amazon for a good price)



Various Artists- Funky Kidz
Lots of excellent New Orleans jazz and funk musicians give their takes on children's classics. Very cool way to introduce a kid to local flavor. voted Album of the Year by Creative Child magazine (whatever that is)


(available for download at Amazon for a good price)
http://funkykidzmusic.com/



For the lady or cross dresser in your life, check out the Miche Bag.
It's one purse body that you cover with an endless selection of different outer shells to change your look without transferring all of your crap from one bag to another. really neat idea.
http://www.michebag.com/



and finally, for the person in your life with good taste in food, you can never go wrong with a gift card to Johnson's Boucaniere.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/johnsons.boucaniere?v=info&ref=ts


You can all thank me later for the ideas (maybe in Johnson's gift cards)

Wudup Cuz

The first few days of the week were pretty uneventful.

Things cranked up on Thursday when Riley got a new cousin.

Jake and Sara welcomed Gavin Joseph to the world at 6 lbs 10 ounces and 20 inches.





Riley can say "Baby Gavin", but was less than thrilled to walk into a room and see his Nonnie holding another baby.





He wasn't much more excited to see his Mommy holding Gavin, but was eventually nice enough to pet him softly.






I don't think he really understood that Gavin was anything more than a head sticking out of a blanket until he saw him unwrapped.





Friday, we headed down to New Orleans with Granny Lynn, Paul, Liz and Caroline for a day of zoo-ing and aquarium-ing.

Of course, when we planned the trip a month ago, we weren't expecting it to be a day with near freezing temps and forecasted snow. But you make do.


I'd love to tell funny stories about what went on at the zoo, but I can't.
I was stuck at a nearby CC's, working, because some lawyers (who have a professional reputation roughly equivalent to that of Tiger's marital fidelity) think they don't have to play by the rules and follow deadlines. That leaves lawyers who do care about the rules in a jam. But oh well.

I don't sound bitter do I?

From what I can tell from the photos, everyone made the best of a pretty chilly day.

Like visits to our local zoo, while the animals were popular, a good bit of time was devoted to playground exploration.





After perfecting his technique on our patio, Riley made the public debut of his head first sliding method.





And even though Riley enjoyed the carousel last time, they both staged a revolt this time around.






it actually got colder as the day went on and everyone eventually migrated to the Aquarium.






We hit the penguins at feeding time and they were way more active than last time we were there.







Riley pushed every button within his reach, which kept him from pushing our buttons.





Like the zoo, most of the time was spent in the kids' play area.





Riley did what he does best--solo Ring Around the Rosey.





Both kids mustered up the courage to try to pet the shark.
Don't know if either of their arms were long enough to reach, but, thanks to refraction, it looked like success.






It snowed in Lafayette that evening, but since we were coming up from the south, we never saw any.

Saturday we headed to BR for Lillian's birthday party. But first we stopped by Louisiana Hot Stuff on what seems like an impossible quest for a Saints polo shirt.
for those of you unfamiliar with this particular store, one side is Ragin Cajun merchandise, and the other is all purple and yellow LSU stuff.

Riley gave us the first example of a kid not having a filter when, in the middle of the store, he broke out into a loud, repeated chant of, "Boo Tiger."

It was beautiful.

We came up with the ex post facto explanation that its because Shere Khan is the bad guy in Jungle Book, but we know the truth.


When we traveled to the home of the "Boo Tigers," Riley got to hang out with Connor, son of Jennifer, a friend from law school, and Ryan, a former LSU football player.






He also renewed his friendship with Lillian's cousin Claire. She's great with him, but I guess you can expect her to be good with kids since she's one of 8.





Riley is trying to break away from his "cute" image and thinks that wearing sunglasses inside will help him look tougher. He got some funny looks but refused to take 'em off.





Then we met Paul and Caroline for some Nagoya buffet.

Caroline double fisted egg rolls......





.....while Riley played under a high chair.



guess which one is on the weight chart.


Caroline, liking to eat with two hands, but only having one spoon, then started using an ice cube to eat ice cream.
Cold Cold.





On the way home, Riley was fully occupied by a Monsters Inc DVD, even though he originally requested "Jungle Bear"




that face is the reason we don't let him watch TV. Pure zombie.


Sunday was supposed to be a recovery day.
Riley woke up saying, "I wanna see Go Saints."

Unfortunately, it was still a few hours till game time, so we had to redirect his attention.
Never one to be reasonable, he then insisted on playing outside.
He was bundled up enough that he actually lasted about 5 minutes.




Once game time rolled around, he watched a good bit of the first quarter and shared some popcorn with Mommy.
His commentary included such football insights as, "Oh no, they fall down," and "He hit/hurt the head."





For anyone who saw the 4th quarter, you know it was anything but a relaxing view.


That's about it. Pretty weak week ahead, so I don't know what will be in this space next week, but I've resolved to try to keep up weekly posts till he's 2, and I don't want to quit too early.