Animal Sounds

Last weekend we drove out to see the Tice's again. This time, to help put up some fencing.

Riley thoroughly enjoyed all of the animals on their little farm. She was once again mesmerized by the chickens. (I'm starting to see a brood of chicks in our future.) The cats, however, seem to be her favorite. She chased the kittens around all weekend trying to pet them. She was surprisingly gentle with them and would bend down to look in their face and just giggle. Too bad Ian's allergic and I don't like cats... Riley wasn't sure of the dogs; they're still too jumpy and fast for her to feel comfortable around. But mom's favorite part...? We finally got Riley on a horse and rode around the yard for a bit. She seemed to enjoy it and wasn't afraid - so long as mom was up there with her!

Our camera is broken, so we didn't get any pictures. Hopefully, we'll get the few we took with Rachel's camera soon to post. Until then...

Here's Riley practicing her animal sounds!

18 Months!

Riley had her 18 month check up yesterday. She is 25 lbs. 3.2 oz. (65th%), 33 inches tall (85th%) and has a 47.5cm (75th%) head circumference.The doctor was impressed with her development milestones (how much she's talking, running/walking/climbing, understands direction, etc). Except for the flu shot booster we have to get next month, we won't need to go back again until she hits the 2 year mark. I can't believe we're already creeping up on that one!

State Fair

Riley got to attend her very first state fair today. We went with our friend Tracy and her son Bryson to the North Carolina State Fair; we all had a blast.

It started at 9:30am and we didn't leave until well after 2pm. We visited every animal barn (cows, horses, pigs, sheep, goats, poultry, geese/ducks); the only one we missed was the rabbit house.

We visited the Village of Yesteryear, where Riley made her own rag doll bunny. It was sewn on an antique sewing machine from c.1880.

She LOVED the poultry barn where we got to hold/pet baby chicks and was mesmerized by the ginormous cows in the Kids' Barn. She didn't seem too interested in the sheep or pigs, but wanted to touch every chicken we saw.

We ate our share of fair food, indulging in polish sausage piled with onions, french fries and (of course) funnel cake. It was a good thing I packed lunch for Riley. At least one of us ate rather healthily.

By 1:30pm, she was completely worn out and fell asleep in the stroller.

Word of the Day

Our new word of the day is "Elmo." Now that she can articulate what it is she wants to watch, it is the ONLY thing she wants to see on t.v. We only have three different Elmo DVD's... someone save me!

Grandparents and corn mazes

Last weekend (Oct 3rd/4th) Papa and Grandma Cotton came to visit. We went to the Duke game and watched the Hokies play sub par football but still win. Riley didn't come to the game but had a blast playing at Hannah's house (thanks again for watching her Liz!).

Here are some videos of Riley playing around the dinner table and having fun with her grandparents.

This weekend (Oct 10th/11th) we took a trip to pick out some pumpkins. We went to place called Green Acres in Cary. While we there, we introduced Riley to small version of a "moon bounce" as well as a corn maze. Riley really enjoyed blast chasing the other kids in the maze.