Walking (almost)

Riley has been taking some steps for a little while now, but only recently has she really been putting together anything you might call walking. We managed to catch her in the act this evening and get video proof.

Beach Time!!!

Riley Turns 1!

So, it has been awhile since we've posted, sorry about that! Riley turned one on March 7th, hard to believe really! We had a wonderful day of Elmo cake and a nice walk on Narragansett beach. Riley was not too fond of the cake, we weren't sure if it was because she thought she was eating Elmo or something else?! She opted to have hummus instead which was fine with us!

Riley is motoring around pretty good, she's not walking yet, but we assume she will be soon. A few of her favorite words are Kitty, fish, mama, dada, cheese, dog and she can sign more and milk. She has moved to her new carseat and she now tends to stay awake when we drive anywhere since there is now so much to look at besides the back seat! She is sleeping almost 12 hours a night and has 12 teeth!

I recently got a job at the University of Rhode Island working in their granting office as a Scientific Research Grant Assistant. I start work on Monday and Riley will be attending the daycare on the edge of campus. She has already done a few trial days and it was much harder for me than her :) I think she had a lot of fun playing with all the kids, but she was quite tired afterwards. I think it may just take us a bit to get into a routine. I can't believe my little monkey has turned 1!

If you need a laugh...

Riley misses her cousins!

Riley and Zebra - 10.5 Months

Godzilla, King of Monsters (Queen of House)!

So here we are again, back to the Godzilla jokes! Riley has her army crawl down pat and now she is pulling up on anything and everything, including bookcases and the stairs! She pretty much leaves a path of destruction behind her wherever she goes! I find myself following her like a bodyguard, letting her explore, but ensuring her safety as we move through each of the rooms. She loves to walk around the house holding our hands as well and she always seems to lead us straight to her "reading nook" where she proceeds to place one of her newly acquired Elmo books into our laps, Elmo seems to be her new favorite friend (I'm sure this will change next week). Her vocabulary is improving as well, she seems to say ma ma and da da and point to us instead of the lamps. We also got her a fish tank for her room and we have guppies in it, she absolutely loves it!

Like nails on a chalkboard

Every time we turn around these days, it seems that Riley is reaching another milestone.

Her first two teeth came through on the bottom and we were excited to finally see the cause of her crankiness. Not long after that, we saw a top tooth pushing to make it's debut, but on closer inspection we realized that 4 teeth were coming in on top. Riley now has 6 teeth that she can flash, which allow her to bite with surprising force. She also has a new hobby - gritting those teeth together to produce one of the more grating sounds in recent history. Riley prefers doing this at quiet times or when she is being held close to one's year, to maximize the effect. We can hardly wait until more teeth appear to add harmony to the grinding.

Mobility has also begun, ending the era of "we always know she'll be where we left her"... Not that we leave her unattended at the top of the staircase, but it was nice to be able to turn our backs for ten seconds. Riley hasn't quite mastered the crawl - more like the "injured commando" crawl - but she gets around. Like an 1982 pinto, it aint pretty but it gets her from point A to point B.

And the words come...

Slowly Riley is starting to make sounds that resemble real words. Much to Megan's chagrin she has picked up Dada is the easiest sound to make, but it is hardly a point of pride for me since "dada" can be used in any context, be it me coming home, the toy she is playing with or the lamp in the corner. She also seems to be mastering something that is somewhat close to "kitty", which actually seems to be used only when cats are close. New sounds and word-like noises are coming to Riley every day and she always has new surprises.

8.5 Months!

Wow, our little girl is getting big! Riley is now 8.5 months old and growing like a weed! She definitely has daddy's height since she is quite tall for her age already! She eats pretty much anything that you put in front of her now including homemade chicken dinner, pasta and we even gave her a teeny tiny taste of ice cream - her favorite!

We are getting excited about taking her to Bermuda for Thanksgiving with my family. Last time we flew with her she was 3 months old and she slept the entire time. I have a feeling she maybe up for the majority of the ride this time, we'll have to see. We will be in Bermuda for 4 days and it will be fun to take her for her first "swim" in the ocean and also to take her to some of Chris' favorite spots on the island. I'm starting to realize that a short trip with a 8.5 month old does not mean we can still pack lightly though. We'll be taking the car seat, stroller, diapers, extra baby food (incase she balks at the island food), formula, etc. !!! We'll see how rested we are once we get back. It will be wonderful though to spend the time wih my family including my two nieces Margaret and Sarah.

Bath Time!

Watch out!

Well, a number of things have happened in the past couple of weeks, but life has been keeping us busy enough to keep from updating the blog. First and foremost, Riley has two teeth. They showed up together on the bottom, and it looks like she is not done at the moment. She has still be drooling like crazy and chewing on anything that will stay still long enough for her to grab. So, we’re expecting some more teeth soon. On top of that, solid foods are beginning to dominate the meals. We blend up most things at the moment, but chunks of cheese and cheerios are becoming a favorite and we have been introducing new textures a little bit at a time, which has been the key for not finding ourselves covered in recycled food. Finally, we have introduced a walker into the toy rotation. Now, there is mobility. Riley has had fun running around the kitchen and seeing what she can get her hands on and the cats have quickly figured out the radius of the mechanism so that they can avoid the sticky grasp. Cabinets are being opened, cookbooks are being groped and onions are being tasted. Pretty much anything within reach is being sampled at this point. Only a preview of things to come when she is no longer surrounded by a plastic battering ram.

Riley's new Toy!

Riley just got this new toy which is kind of three toys in one. It is an exersaucer, playtable and walker - and she loves it! It came yesterday and took me about two hours to put together, but was well worth it when I put her in it and she started motoring around (mostly after Ali the cat).

Few new pictures of little Ri!

Riley loves the Classics!