New Things

Just a few new things in the Riggs' house:

Caitlyn: Her verbal flood gates have finally opened and we are being showered with words and even sentences.  She mimicks every word that we say now (including sapsucker). It used to be that we would write down and count how many words she knows... but she knows way too many to count now... YAY! My favorites are: Ashee (Ashton), waffoo (waffle), appoo (apple), bash (bath), shry (cry), beebee (baby), moona (moon), Bubbee (Babcia), and Pappee (Pappy) She still continues to sign a lot and with her sign and baby words... I can almost understand everything she communicates.  She'll finally sit still enough for me to loosely braid her curls.  I thought she was going to be a toddler that does not nap... but she naps for my mom and she's napping right now... so we'll have to wait and see where this is headed. She has learned to play her own CDs now, so she constantly wants to be DJ in her room while everyone dances.

Ashton: He is growing leaps and bounds! We started him on rice cereal which he LOVES and can't get enough of. We also have tried oatmeal and he thinks it's okay.  When he's not in our arms or his jumper... he rolls all over the ground... sometimes in circles and sometimes from one end of a room to the other. It's real fun to watch him watch Caitlyn. I think he just tries his hardest to roll to wherever she is... and she's everywhere.  He's gotten to be quite the dancer now that Caitlyn DJs for him. He loves bathttime, sucking on his hands, playing with his toes, and his Sister. He's lost most of his baby brown hair (except for a small patch in the back) and there is hair replacing it, but I can't quite tell what color it is... sometimes it looks blonde, sometimes it looks red, sometimes... it still looks brown.  He can sit up if he uses his arms as a tripod but isn't safe enough to do it all alone.

Ashley: He's taken up golfing and he LOVES it. Now when I say LOVES it... I mean it... when he comes home from golfing he's got this natural high on life thing going on and I LOVE it!  And of course he is still an amazing husband, dad, and partner in parenting!  Oh yeah... and he even got me HARDWOOD FLOORS! We started out with laminate thinking that they would be easier to maintain with the kiddos, but one dropped childrens bowl and a chip in the laminate later... he called and the company is upgrading our floors. I couldn't love him more right now... and always!

...and Me:  I've been going through a bit of a rough spell... I just couldn't keep up with maintaining a perfect house, teaching and spending time with both my children, being a loving wife, a working woman learning a new job, and a healthy exerciser still trying to shed some pregnancy pounds.  I was blaming it all on lack of sleep and the fact that I have two children, but when my sister got a tatoo and I absolutely lost control of all my emotions, I realized that this had to be more than lack of sleep. I met with my doctor, thinking that maybe I was experiencing postpartum depression... she didn't think so. She actually recommended weaning Ashton from the breastmilk.  She thinks my hormones that help produce milk may be making me miserable... I personally thought that she'd admit me to Western State Hospital, but she didn't.  So... we might be weaning soon... that's what's new with me :)

Happy birthday, Hana...
thanks for getting a tatoo and helping me realize that I haven't been myself lately.