Epiphany

I realized something a few days ago. It's actually so obvious, but I didn't really put things together till then. Last Friday, Mike had returned home from work, and we were both back in the bedroom area while Riley roamed the living room/kitchen area of the house. All of a sudden, I perked up and looked at Mike.
"Did you feed Kona?" I asked.
"No," he replied.
"Oh geez," I sighed as I jogged to the kitchen.
It was one of those moments, as a parent, when you have to fight every gut instinct to burst into uncontrollable laughter. As I turned the corner into the kitchen, I found Riley, standing in between Kona's food and water bowls, holding the measuring cup we use to feed the dog. On one side of her, the tupperware container we use to hold Kona's food was standing open. On the other side, Kona was anxiously horsing every morsel Riley dropped in her bowl; I'm pretty sure she sensed that this kind of behavior wasn't kosher.
I'm not sure I was all that convincing, but I looked at Riley, tears almost welling in my eyes from my suppressed giggles, and said, "Honey, you only do that when Mommy and Daddy say so. You don't feed Kona. That's naughty." I then went and took the cup, closed the food container and walked Riley out of the kitchen.

(Warning: epiphany approaching)

Our feet had just hit the living room floor when Riley stopped, looked up at me and burst into tears. Then it struck me: Riley is not just the sweetest girl in the world (ex: she bestowed kisses on both the couch and the oven on our way to the basement just now), but she is also very sensitive. This had happened before-- after she's disciplined (even gently!), she breaks into tears and can't recover until she knows that she and I are still okay. So I swooped her up, told her that I loved her and gave her a big squeeze. Only then did she begin to calm down. It makes my heart break with love for her, just thinking about it!

Now let's see... no blog is entirely complete without some pictures. Luckily, I can't stop snapping them, so what do we have today?...

Here's a good one of sweet Mother Riley, helping Noelle take her paci.

And here's Riley, showing Noelle how to use the playmat. :)