So it's been a goodly while since I updated mostly because we've been busy but also because our sleeping schedule is once again on the fritz, and I seem to have less patience than normal [more later]. Where to begin....
Spring has sproinged here, finally. The trees are green and there is pollen everywhere [related to the above]. Before all this lovely weather hit us, we took a trip down to St. Louis to visit my family and stop by Wash. U. for some work-related items. This was Riley's first trip to STL since Christmas, and he's now big enough to notice the family dogs. They're awesome, aparently. He also discovered wind chimes. We were able to take an afternoon to visit the MO Botannical Garden [where we were married], to take advantage of the weather and see the garden in all its springy glory. Here are some related pix;
Here he is destroying these flowers. He liked the texture. Some ended up in his mouth.
Feet are fun! Oh, and he can finally sit in his stroller without the car seat.
With my Dad, exploring the wind chimes.
The weekend after [Mother's Day weekend] we flew to PA for a wedding on Rew's side of the family. Riley got to play with his cousin Brenna, who very nicely shared her toys and bedroom with him. He also got to visit with both of Rew's parents while we were there. On Mother's Day, we had brunch with Grandma, and then the three of us went to another garden [I like gardens] called Chanticleer that was fairly close. This was a great way to spend the day!
'sup?
With Grandma, at the wedding.
Mother's Day in the garden.
Family portrait [can you find me?]
So, since the weather has improved, we've been spending a lot of time outdoors. It turns out Riley loves it. He enters this sort of Zen state, which I take as a good thing. However, we suspect that he has some seasonal allergies [at least, we hope that he has seasonal allergies and that he's not allergic to the cat]. He has been getting increasingly snoggy, and has developed a very sad wet cough. The Dr. thinks it might be RSV, but after giving him benedryl his condition improved drastically overnight. Time will tell, but for now, none of us is getting much sleep, and Riley has stopped eating solid foods altogether. Oh yeah - so, after a month of trying, Riley had finally warmed up to the concept of bananas and we were able to sneak in other bites of things like cereal and prunes and applesauce [although he really doesn't like applesauce]. In the last week thoug, he's boycotted all solids. So back to square 1. At this rate, he'll be 8 months old and still not eating real meals. So frustrating.
He has figured out how to shake things in the last week. This is one of his favorite toys at the moment.
Looks like we're not the only ones losing sleep. This is our nest, over the garage.
You might remember back on a very early morning in early June [see 09June09 entry...can't figure out how to link], Rew cut a nice bed in our yard by the garage for use as a vegetable garden. I had started little pots of various squashes and beans [see above], and planted them there along with some tomato varieties and my poor strawberries [trabidies!] from last year. Then we went away to Yosemite, leaving them as little sproutlings in a big patch of dirt. When we returned, our garden looked like this.....!!!!!!!!
Those are my squash and cucumbers threatening to take over the fence. Clearly I needed more room for them- live and learn. Everything is even bigger now of course. This week, we had our first harvest. We enjoyed the fruits of out labor immensely!
