Friday, February 12, 2010

View from the treadmill

When I get to schedule a morning run, Riley usually spends half the time in her Jumparoo, bouncing from the doorway, and the other half on the floor practicing her rolling. Yesterday morning, she managed to roll right over to Bauer and the two of them hung out cheek to cheek for the rest of the time. The view from the treadmill was so precious, I had to snap a few pics.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

When winter in Missouri is cold, cold, cold, the only thing to do is think sun and surf!! When the forecast calls for snow, go bathing suit shopping. Our mall outing Saturday resulted in two stylish swimsuits for Miss Riley P. First up, a butter yellow one-piece featuring a great little green gator, white trim and ruffle skirt.

Our second suit is one I'd seen on sale at Baby GAP a few weeks ago and have been kicking myself ever since for leaving on the rack. Luckily, it was still there when we went back this weekend! This one is just too much...one shoulder with open ring detail, great pattern, just killer. Was the matching sun hat on sale as well? Why yes, yes it was. But you'll have to wait for summer to see the entire outfit. So, swimsuits, check. Thoughts of warm weather, check. Checking out the indoor pool, check. Turns out the community center's open swim is the best family deal in town...$6 for all the splashing you can handle. No doubt this little girl is a water baby -- we had a blast.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Friday, January 22, 2010

You've heard of Pampered Chef?

Now, let me introduce you to the Pampers Chef...

Flying babies


Riley had her first airplane ride last weekend to visit the crew in SC. She was a perfect passenger. Not a peep out of her the entire time. In fact, she fell asleep in TJ's arms during takeoff. So, in terms of her aviation career, does that make her a natural...or mean that it's not the right profession? She had lots of admirers, as usual, and I wanted to stand in the breezeway and collect tips because she took it so easy on the other passengers' ears. I tried to get her a pair of stick on pilot's wings like they used to give out to kids, but alas, the stewards and stewardesses didn't have any or know what happened to the supply. Darn recession.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Ferberization

To Ferberize...that's like to Winterize, right?
Something designed to protect your baby from the harsh elements???
Hmmm. Not exactly. It's a catchy little phrase I'd heard once or twice before watching a hilarious recent episode of the sitcom Modern Family. It piqued my interest -- especially since TJ and I have been discussing for a while now how Riley is about to "Hulk" herself out of the velcro sleep swaddle and the nagging notion that the binky may cause orthodontic problems down the road. Those issues, coupled with the fact that the word "Ferberization" is just so fun to say, convinced us to do what any good parents would do...refuse to leave well enough alone.
To Ferberize actually means to "teach" your baby the finer points of crying herself to sleep. It involves...wait for it...letting her cry herself to sleep. Complicated, I know.
Okay, to be fair, there's actually a recommended methodology that introduces a number of crying intervals interrupted by the parents' brief, soothing presence. The problem with the interval training is the fact that our unrestricted sleeping baby is too friggin' hilarious. The first time we went to check on Riley after about 20 minutes of crying, she was borderline asleep, with arms and legs splayed out, blankets up over her head. We both started cracking up, which of course woke her up and pissed her off. Lesson learned. You must be very quiet when entertaining yourself at your Ferber-fledgling's expense.
So far, we've seen the following poses: both arms out to the sides, one arm straight up and the other in a bicep muscle pose, arms and blankets up over the head, soft giraffe stuffy over the eyes and both arms over the face. Must give her credit though...she's sleeping through the night just like before. Now we're just waiting to see how long it takes before we walk in and find her sleeping standing on her head. I managed to capture a photo of the Ferberization hibernation. She flinched, but didn't wake up. A+ for my stealth like photography skills.

Friday, January 8, 2010

6 Month Checkup

Riley had her 6 month checkup today. Where has the time gone? It would have been 6 months to the day, but yesterday's appointment was canceled due to the weather (about 6 inches of fresh snow). Stats: 25 3/4 inches long and 14lbs 13 oz. BMI in the 90th percentile. The doctor said she looks great and is meeting all of the normal 6 month milestones. She charmed everyone in the peds office, garnering at least a half dozen "she's so beautiful"s. She also captured everyone's attention as we walked around the clinic. At immunizations, the technician was very fast with the two needles...one in each thigh. She cried for about 30 seconds and that was that...tough girl. She was enthralled with all of the people in camouflage uniforms and sat on Dad's lap like a gem the entire time. Here are some recent photos of our beautiful girl.