"you don't say anything!"

riley says this when she's mad and mike and i repeat whatever it was she just said. this really frosts her cookie. another popular one is "you don't say that. i can only say that." we can't help but laugh. she's become quite a little sasser. about the silliest, smallest things too, like going to the bathroom or getting her pjs on. riley's also become a hitter, accompanied by a real snotty "no!" this is a one-way ticket to her room where she will SCREAM and cry and hyperventilate forever. i don't know if she has ever totally calmed down on her own--i usually go in there, tell her to take a deep breath and count to ten. sometimes it works, sometimes she just wants to be a grumper. when they're sweet, they're super sweet and my heart melts in my chest, but other times i want to give her a good flick to the mouth.

i have to give the girl some credit, she can really make me smile. she'll tell me out of the blue that she loves me and will give me a big hug. as soon as she wakes she wants to sit in her "nest," which is my legs when they're crossed indian-style, and read nursery rhymes. in the mornings she'll crawl in bed with me and i doze on and off and she'll lay next to me sucking her thumb and rubbing my arm. then she'll say "roll up" so that means i have to get juice and all that business.