Fridge Fun

Riley and Ryan have discovered the fridge. Each and every time we open the doors, they head in that direction and have become pros at wedging themselves between us and the first shelf before we can blink our eyes. Although we strongly encourage them to "move away from the fridge", I couldn't help but snap a few shots of them busy at working to take out each and every condiment we have on the shelves in the door. (I also realized that we have A LOT of condiments) They are officially into EVERYthing and are more active than ever. It's a lot of work, but it's so much fun to see them developing each and every day. They will be moving up to their 3rd class at Open Arms (Toddler 1) in 2 weeks. They will be in a room with all walkers, so hopefully Ryan will polish his skills and be a full fledged walker by the time they move up. We are really working on it and he's getting better, but he's still not walking on his own.

We went over to our neighbor's house, Marc & Christine, on Friday night to be with the typical crew. Lots of adults and lots of kids. It was one of the first times that Riley and Ryan have really interacted with the big kids. They ate at the table with them and then played outside (it was finally warm enough!) on the deck with all the fun new toys. They had a blast and were wiped out. They went down at 7:30pm and Ryan woke up at 7:30am, the typical 12 hours, but Riley slept until almost 9:00! I have to admit Kevin and I both went up at separate times to check on her and make sure she was still breathing. After sleeping in, Riley was ready for her first mother/daughter birthday party. We went to Ella's (my friend Sheli's daughter) 1st birthday party at their house in Alpharetta. Again, she had a blast playing with all the new toys and visiting with Hayden (my friend Diana's daughter). Ella, Hayden and Riley were all born within 3 1/2 months of one another. They are all very different sizes, but all very spunky and go-getters. I guess we are all raising what will one day be strong women, but for now we will just call them "determined" little girls! :)

Last night we celebrated Lori & Paul's birthdays (they are today and Wednesday) with a nice dinner at our house. Riley and Ryan played with Kat and Paul and Kat even held Riley in her lap to watch a movie. We were all very surprised that she sat still long enough to actually sit in her lap, but she did and I think it made Kat happy to "take care" of her. Tonight Riley pitched an official temper tantrum - I think it was her first real one. We were trying to brush her teeth and she wouldn't let us do it. So we started brushing Ryan's teeth and once we were done he got to hold the toothbrush (as we always let them do). Riley didn't get to hold her toothbrush since she wouldn't let us brush her teeth and I have to say she just about lost it. She was screaming at the top of her lungs and crying so hard. It was hard to watch, but we are trying to teach them that certain actions get certain rewards (and to them right now being able to hold onto their toothbrushes is definitely a reward). She never fully recovered until it was just time for bed. I was glad to see a smile before she put her head down! I decided tonight that I don't like tantrums, but I have a feeling this was just scratching the surface for what we have ahead of us! :)

Web Albums Added:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20090122Fridge#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20090124EllaS1stBirthdayParty#