Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

December has gone by so quickly! The week after Nana left, Gigi came over to hang with Riles while Mom and Dad went to a holiday party. She had a great time with Gigi - maybe too great of a time, because she wanted to stay up and party all night too!. A few days later, Mom had some Xmas shopping to finish up, so Riles opted to join Dad at an ODU basketball game. The next day at daycare was her Christmas get-together, and she exchanged small gifts with the other babies. Someone made deviled eggs for the occasion, and we discovered that those are definitely one of her favorites! Then on Saturday the 21st it was gorgeous out, so she walked to the park with Dad, Mom and Ski and played for a bit. That evening, they joined the Kletz' and Hobbs out for dinner to celebrate her Dad's 31st birthday. The next day was the Packers vs. Steelers game, and she again joined everyone out to watch it at Dirty Buffalo (unfortunately for Mom, wearing her Steelers gear.) That Monday was Dad's birthday, and he had the day off to spend with her. They went out to breakfast, went swimming at the Y, and even ran some errands together. After Mom got home, they went out to No Frill (Dad's favorite!) for dinner, and then picked up some ice cream sundae supplies. Later that night, Kari arrived from NY, although Riles didn't get to say hi until the next morning.

 

 

With Kari here, the Xmas festivities kicked into gear. Riley took to Kari right away, and they became the best of buds. On Xmas Eve, Mom had taken off work so Kari, Mom and Riles went out to get some breakfast. Later that night, they joined Dad, Michelle, Josh, Colton, Levi, and Gigi to go see the Xmas lights at the beach (although Riley wasn't too interested in them this year). Afterwards, Nene and Papa joined them all for some dinner at Burton's. Then, it was finally Christmas! Riles woke up early and immediately started opening some presents. She really liked to tear the paper, and even got this serious (and very funny!) look on her face while she was doing it. She enjoyed taking everything out of her stocking one by one, and had fun with Dad throwing her new balls back and forth. After stockings, she took a break from unwrapping and napped for a bit. When she woke up, it was time for Xmas Day brunch, and all of the Kletz' and Hobbs had come to her house to eat. After that, Colton and Levi helped her open a few more gifts. That night, Riley ate Chinese food with Mom, Dad and Kari.

 

The day after Xmas, Mom was off work again so she, Riles and Kari all went to lunch at Moe's. The following day Mom had to go in to work, and Riley got to stay home and play with Kari! Of course, Kari had Riley chugging Mountain Dew and raiding the liquor cabinet while we were gone - but ultimately she made it through the day in one piece. :-) Riles really loves going up and down the stairs, and unfortunately got her first black eye from it. One of the times she was turning around to go back down, she came down a little sideways on the stair and ended up rolling down a couple. Her eye was instantly puffy with a small scratch underneath, but she was such a trooper about it (plus, we got to tell fun stories about how she got the black eye). There was no time for sitting around though, because for New Years they had rented a house in Sandbridge with a bunch of friends and their kids. They spent the night there on the 30th and 31st, and Riles had a great time playing with the other kids and hanging out with some of her favorite people, plus meeting new ones! I'd say Riles has had a pretty spectacular 2013, and we are looking forward to watching her change and grow some more in the new year.