Happy Valentine's Day From Riley Cash.

Happy Valentine's Day from Riley Cash and all of us Joneses.

(The photo above is part of a 12-month calendar featuring Riley and various props specific to each month. A big thanks to Maria, the creator, and the other wonderful employees of ELF preschool that give Riley so much love and care.)

The Face I Love.

The other night after bath Riley and I harnessed the wild power of the wind from Jess' blowdryer and made silly faces as it blew our hair (or lack of hair.) Fun.

Mommy Son Yoga.

Last weekend Jessica and Riley had a session of Mommy Son yoga. Please notice that both of them are using yoga mats. Well, a yoga mat and a car mat. 

Us Two At Storytime.

Buddies.

Riley & Lucy.

Shades.

"Daddy Work."

What little kiddo doesn't want to go his mom or dad's office? 

One night this week Riley started yelling and crying on our walk home from the train because he wanted "Daddy work," which I correctly interpreted to mean "You want to go to Daddy's work, right?" He answered with a sad little "Yeeeahhhhh." When I broke it to him that it was too late, and that we were blocks away from home but miles away from my office, he melted, eventually laying down in our doorway sobbing. 

Thursday night he asked again for "Daddy work" and I told him it was again a little too late, but followed that quickly with "Mommy's still at her office. Do you want to go see her?" "Yeaahhhh!" he shouted. We walked to her office and he had a blast playing with toys, looking at the frogs at the front desk, talking on the phone at the front desk and doing an on-camera audition. 

Friday morning I promised him that if he let us dress him quickly that I would pick him up early from school and take him to Daddy's work. Man, never underestimate the power of a bribe. He was so easy to dress that I knew I had to come through on my promise. I left work early so I could bring him back in time to see everybody.

He talked on my phone, played with all of the Burger King toys I had, ate grapes and snacks, had a sword fight with Lauren,

Weekend Fun.

Who wouldn't want to turn a laundry basket upside down, put it on their head and then walk around like a robot? I did. And Riley did too. I made a face and stuck it on to make things a little more fun. We had a blast.

Stuffed Animal Basketball.

With a doorframe, stuffed animals, hanging shelf thingy and a little imagination you too can have fun at home playing Stuffed Animal Basketball. Riley and I played our first game on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It was a hit.

The Matching Game.

One of Riley's favorite games to play on the computer or iPhone is the matching game. He was quite excited then when he realized a coffee shop in our neighborhood has the actual game.

Michael On Guitar, Riley On Uke.

While visiting our friends Michael and Becca, Riley spotted a guitar and made sure to inform us that he wanted to play it. Instead, Michael got a ukelele out for Riley and let him jam on that. Then the two played music together. Riley loved it. Later Jess asked him want instrument he would like to learn how to play. The answer was clear, and no surprise to us: the guitar.

Catty Duke Photos.

And now, some recent photos of Catty Duke, or "Dootie Dat" as Riley calls her, bathing in the sun. She is doing great and loves when we are around to spend time with her. she sleeps in the bed with us and thoroughly enjoys being in Riley's room for storytime. Occassionally she meow at the door to be let in and Riley will respond, in a near yell, "Shhh, Dootie! Riwee sleeping!" I love those two.

A Visit To The Suburbs.

A number of weeks back, on New Year's Eve to be precise, the three of us Joneses headed out to Chicago's northwest suburbs to celebrate Christmas with the Johnson side of Jessica's family. We had a great ride on the Metra train, complete with suckers and silly faces.

Riley enjoyed playing with Lily the border collie. I think she felt the same way.

Most of the train ride out Riley kept saying "Ellie. Ellie. Ellie." excited to see his second cousin. For the first time his excitement to see her matched hers to see him. They played together a lot and Ellie was great with Riley.

At one point our budding musician decided to crawl onto the piano and play it with his knees. It was quite the performance and we shut it down fairly quickly.

Mister Jones also enjoyed playing on the Johnson's landline. It's strange to think that the idea of people relying on a stationary phone is one that he'll never really understand.

At one point the Sunday newspaper was shredded up and used to cover Uncle Bob who pretended to be asleep. He'd then wake up in a startle, roar and throw the paper all over. We all got a turn playing.

When train rides get a little monotonous, you can also kill time with an iPhone.

I Didn't Teach Him This, But I'm Proud.

Riley discovered the humor in pulling his shirt over his head. I laughed, he laughed, I was proud. (Then I did it too.)

Backwards Backpack.

Who says a backpack can't be a frontpack? Not Riley. Though to be honest, this makes it seem like Riley is the backpack, which is an amusing thought. 

A thank you once more to Hollie and Gary for all of the Christmas gifts they sent Riley. This backpack was just one of many great presents.

The Doctor Visits The Doctor.

A day or two after Christmas we took Riley to visit his regular physician and update the doc on all that had transpired since our last wellness visit a while ago. Naturally, Riley needed to pack up and take his doctor kit.

Take that, Doogie Howser, M.D. He's only two-and-a-half!

Christmas Part 2.

The fact that one of Riley's favorite gifts was a doctor kit speaks to how many times we've had to visit medical professionals. 

He treated Jessica, his grandma Yaya and me to numerous exams on Christmas Day. Every time he checked us out we had out shirts cut off, our reflexes tested and medicine prescribed. I'll be curious to get the bill and see how much those visits cost us.

Throughout the day Doc Riley had patient visits. Hey, somebody's gotta work on Christmas Day.

Riley's patients varied from owls, to monkeys, to dogs and pink hippos. At this point he's more of a veterinarian or zoologist.

As I may have stated before, Riley totally understands unwrapping presents this year. He really enjoyed it and we were happy to see him feeling better than the day before. We laid low all day, just unwrapping and playing with gifts, eating some food and enjoying having Riley's Yaya over. 

"THIS IS SO MUCH FUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!

Riley & his Yaya.

Singing songs and being silly. We were so happy to have him feeling good enough to play around.

Christmas Part 1

I'll paint this Christmas story in broadstrokes, not diving into too much detail as, honestly, I don't prefer to reflect or focus on it that much.

Christmas this year was rough, and I think that we three Joneses would all agree that we never want to live it again. 

On Christmas Eve, Riley had a harder time breathing than normal and developed a 103 degree fever. He was moody, unsettled and totally not himself. We called the on-call doctor and were advised to go to the ER. At 7 something in the evening our kind landlord drove us to the nearest ER a couple miles away. The staff checked us in and got us into a room right away. (Turns out that an ER isn't that busy of a place on Christmas Eve.)

They put us in a room, checked Riley's vitals and, because they feared fluid in his lungs and a case of pneumonia, asked for an x-ray to be done.

He was such a great boy during all of this, cooperative at every point. A special thanks to his Yaya for the portable DVD player. That helped out a ton and provided him an escape.

The doctor did a breathing treatment and gave Riley some meds that helped lower his fever and improve his mood. At one point he was feeling so good that he started handing out candy to the cops in the ER like he was a mini magi. What a weird night. Though I have to say, regardless of how our night went we were still having a better one than the guy who was handcuffed to his bed with two cops sitting outside his door.

In the end, Riley was diagnosed with what was essentially pneumonia. 

After dropping him and Jess off at home, the taxi driver and I went on a pharmacy tour of Chicago's Northside, searching for one that was open on Christmas Eve and that had the medicine Riley needed. I don't even know that driver's name, but I thank the Lord for him. He was kind and understanding, waited outside each pharmacy as I ran in and checked to see if it was open, and at one point just shut off his meter. I offered to buy him food, candy or a drink, but he refused. 

Once Jess located a pharmacy that was open, and gave us the address, my driver and I picked up the meds and headed home. At 11:30, Riley went to bed, bathed, dressed, medicated and exhausted. He fell asleep promptly.

As Jess and I headed for bed we both agreed "This year needs to end."

(Christmas Part 2, coming soon)

We Apologize For The Delay.

Your attention please. The blog will be updated and back to regular posting shortly. (I tried to do that in my best Chicago Transit Authority tone.)

My Friend Is An Airhead.

While in our neighborhood CVS, Riley took a particular liking to one of the balloons. He usually aims for the card section where the balloons are corralled and pulls at their strings and giggles. But this time he grabbed the string and proceeded to dart around the store, laughing as he pulled the heart-shaped balloon along. 

For $4 it hardly seemed right to break the two of them up. As such, the balloon came home with us. I believe both boy and and balloon are very happy to be friends.