Good Weather and New Stuff

So we did our part to stimulate the economy this weekend by donating cash to local merchants. We got a new fancy sound system for the living room, which means that the last element of my old system has been retired (sad). We ran around buying stuff for our trip this week, including a cool bottle-warmer thing that doesn't need any power -seriously! I got a haircut for the first time in over a year. Woohoo!

The weather this weekend was fabulous. It got up to almost 60 yesterday, and we went to the Arboretum with our neighbors for a nice walk. Riley got to experience the great outdoors for the first time since he was tiny. We took him out of his stroller after he woke up and he watched all the little kids running around the Children's Garden with great interest! It was super cute.

Speaking of Mr Riley, he'll be 4 months old this week! Yikes. He has his 4 month checkup tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll have new specs to share. He's started this funny habit of singing to himself when he gets really sleepy. He just starts this funny moaning noise as he breathes and then all the sudden it stops. That's how we know he's fallen asleep. It's very silly, but somewhat helpful. He's started to use his thumb and pointer to grab at things already, instead of just palming. Also, I hung pieces of this cool mobile that some friends gave us over his changing station in the dining room and he is just fascinated with it. It's this crazy spacey-insect like mobile that has bright colors and funny shapes. He stares at it open-mouthed (see below).

This little suit is 9month (Carters). It fits him perfectly - well except for the hood. What is up with baby clothes sizing???! Why don't they size them in length or something?

Here're the boys at the Arboretum. It was so nice to get outside! I'm sure it will freeze again this week, but all the snow on the ground melted.

Another shot. It was so cute to see Riley noticing all the commotion and watching it calmly. I can't wait for him to be the one running around on this playground.


So, I tried to get a shot of the mobile and Riley looking at it, but the angle is weird. You can kindof see the alien-bugs here, but they're pretty cool.

Here's Riley staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the mobile. It's our new trick to keep him from whining ;)

Weekly Update

Ok, so it's been more than a week. Tough noogies.
Grandma and Grandpa visited last weekend for my Dad's birthday. We had a good time and Riley enjoyed all the attention! He also rolled over - once - entirely by accident. Rew put him on his tummy and he pushed up so hard he flipped right on over. He seemed surprised, but mostly by our reaction to the event. Of course, it hasn't happened since. Also, he's definitely in the stage where everything gets brought up to his mouth for exploration - with the accompanying drool fest. We've had a busy week of trying to get work done before our trip next week. Here are a few pix of randomness for your entertainment.

Grandpa with Riley on his birthday. Mouse is tolerating their existance.

My GreatGrandma made me this cozy for my car seat. It has fun jungle animals on it. I think it's funny.

On a whim, I gave his old sling a try. He grew out of this thing months ago, but it has multiple "positions", including this side-carry thing. Riley seemed to enjoy being carried where he could see who was holding him.

Drooling

I just thought this was a funny face.

Will Dance for Giggles

If you were a fly on the walls of our house this week, well, you'd be very cold. But, you'd also have caught us acting like total goons on more than one occasion, in order to illicit giggles from Riley. Yes, it's true, Rew does dance. Beyond that, we have not done anything terribly exciting. We're both trying hard to get a little work done during the day. Easier said than done. We had a very relaxing weekend of sitting around the house. Things are quiet. And cold. Hope you're all surviving the storms this week!
Oh, and we all hope Ben had a good time in Houston this week. Probably would've been more useful on Monday, but we wish him luck!

Flying Baby!

A quiet moment with Dad (few and far between, actually)

Head shot.

Play time on the floor. He doesn't really wriggle side to side very much yet. Don't know how he's ever going to learn to roll over that way, but I supposed it'll come in due time.

Riley's new light-weight winter suit. Patagonia on WICKED sale!

3 Months

Ok, so Riley was actually 3 months old LAST Friday, but I've been lax in updating. That turns out to be ok, because we've had some major developmental milestones in just the past couple of days. Yesterday, Riley began purposefully reaching for toys, and running his fingers over them to feel them. Then tonight, he started bringing them to his mouth by himself. Yesterday, Rew thought he heard a real giggle. He's had pre/proto giggles for a long time (funny noises accompanying big smiles), but today we accidently sparked what seems to be an involuntary laughing response. It seems Riley is ticklish under his arms! How fun (for us)!

This photo's from this morning. Riley's demonstrating his tummytime talents. He's been steadily increasing his ability to lift his head over the last several weeks, and is getting pretty good!



We managed to catch Riley's second "real" giggle this morning while we were changing him. The first was this morning when we accidently tickled his armpits. I think it's really an involuntary response right now, but so cute!

Room to Roam

So our big accomplishment of late has been to rearrange the living room. It was clear that it needed to be changed from a room for a couple to a room for a family. So we moved the coffee table (with all its dangerously sharp edges) to the side of the room, and bought an area rug. Now Riley can wriggle and roll to his heart's content! We also bought a footstool with storage inside to use as our new coffee "table". Rew put casters on the feet so we can move it around the room (and it will also serve as a little extra seating for when we have company!). I have to credit Kristin for that brilliant concept. Here are a couple of pix- I need to take better ones and I'll post later...

I tried to get a view of the whole room here, but it's not very clear. The endtable in the middle of the room was our temporary coffee table while we made a tour of the IKEAs in town looking for our footstool. It'll eventually go next to the couch, when the tree is taken down. ANywho, here's the carpet and new arrangement.

See, Riley enjoys the new space!

In other news, classes began this week, and we've been trying to get into work more regularly. Unfortunately, we've also had wicked snow and cold temps. I think the high for today is in the negatives (brrrr!). I went to my class on Tuesday (I'm not teaching it yet), and we're trying to work Riley into the schedule. Should be interesting.

What's Going on in There?

Ok parental units- advice is needed.
1. My kid is still eating like a newborn, every 2-3h during the day. Is this normal for 3mths?
2. My kid is only napping for 30-60min during the day, unless we knock him out with a car ride. Is this normal for 3 mths?
3. My kid has started refusing bottles. QQF? When do you move up to the next size flow? Any other thoughts on why he's decided to do this when I'm trying to go back to work?
4. Despite the fact that he's still eating as much as a month ago, I could swear my milk production is down. He's learned to eat in 10-15min instead of 20-30min...does the decrease in sucking knock down production?

Danke

No Rest for the Wicked

As the title implies, we're all a little weary an worn here. Riley's either going through a growth spurt or fighting off a mild cold. His nighttime sleeping schedule is all wonky and we're doing extra feedings and much less sleeping. Hopefully it won't last too long! Other than that, we're gearing up here for the start of the semester and doing some minor home improvement (pix to follow). Hope your new year is off to a good start.

Here's Riley in one of his rare good moods over the last few days. He weighed in at 14lbs 10oz on Friday at the doctor's office, and has gained almost 1.25oz a day for the last 20days. Good grief.

Here's a photo of the aftermath of last week's flood in our neighborhood. Similar to last fall, we had a massive rain, but on the heels of a massive snowmelt. So the lake across the street flooded again. Here you can see the ice that had been on the lake, pushed up onto the banks. Pretty cool.

Riley's Christmas present- a big wooden castle that we put together a few days ago. It'll be a while until he ha play with it, but we'll have lots of fun when he's finally there!