Green peas (no ham)

Yet another way that Riley is just like Chris

Do you like
green peas (no ham)

I do not like them,
Sam-I-am.
I do not like
green peas (no ham).

Would you like them
Here or there?

I would not like them
here or there.
I would not like them
anywhere.
I do not like
green peas (no ham).
I do not like them,
Sam-I-am

Do you see what I see?

It's official: Riley is cutting his first tooth!  Chris felt it this morning and all day long, I've just been checking in on it.  Yep, it's still there!

Riley's always been a drooly baby so we don't see much of a difference there, but he is about 15% fussier than normal.  And where a toy would have occupied him for 5 minutes before, it now lasts abut 3 minutes.  And then I just let him chew on my finger.

Apparently baby teeth come in pairs so stay tuned for more chompers soon! 

Boys will be boys

I always knew that babies had different relationships with their moms versus their dads, but I didn't think it would be as obvious this early.  I read books to Riley and sing him songs - Chris teaches him the art of reading the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.  I dance around with him - Chris holds him upside-down by his feet.  

It's a good thing Riley has both of us on his team, to even out the parenting!

Valentine's Day

It's hard to believe that I started this blog a year ago - when Riley was just a blueberry and we were starting to tell people our exciting news and show our sonogram pictures.  Now, we get to kiss, snuggle with, sing to and love our baby every day.

Every night as I go to sleep, I think of what a great day I had with Riley and look forward to what we are going to learn together the next day.  More than anything, I am so thankful that he is such an amazing, funny, happy, healthy baby!

Riley opened gifts all day and pulled in quite the haul for his very first Valentine's Day.  He got Bama bibs and a heart bib, a Valentine's Day t-shirt and socks and a book about a baby bunny who's mommy loves him. 

We had a low key celebration at home and had a great time together.  Chris and I made cheese fondue for dinner and Riley decided that he wanted to wake up to join us.  After he went back to sleep, we had chocolate fondue for dessert and it was delicious!  Hope everyone had a happy Valentine's Day!

Bibi and Zee come to visit!

This weekend, Bibi and Zee came to visit!  We have been looking forward to this weekend since the flights were booked.  It was a quick trip but we made the most of every minute together and had the best time!

It was perfect timing for the visit because Saturday was Riley's 5th month birthday.  Of course we had to celebrate, so we went swimming for the very first time!  Luckily, the water was nice and warm so the pool felt like a big bath time and Riley just had the best time!

We all passed him around in the pool and besides getting a little water up his nose, Riley was happy the whole time.  I would say we definitely have a swimmer on our hands.  

Bibi and Zee babysat for the night while Chris and I went out with the family to celebrate Rachel's birthday.  While we were gone, it sounds like Riley took his bath, got ready for bed, read some books, ate chips and salsa and stayed up passed his bedtime - typical grandparent babysitting! 

Since it was still cold and rainy outside on Sunday, we had to find more inside activities to do together.  A trip to Babies 'R' Us is always fun!  Not only did we pick out some new shirts and a great new activity center (thanks!), but Bibi and Zee had a great time walking Riley around the store and letting him play on the displays.  I think they had more fun with that activity!

We just got home from dropping them off at the airport and miss them already - but we only have to wait 6 more weeks till we go to Pittsburgh for Passover.  See you in 42 days!

Finding my feet

Riley's new trick of the week is eating his toes and kicking!  He just figured out that his feet can do all these fun motions so he keeps testing out to see what they can do.  So far, he is testing out his flexibility and karate kicks.

Guess who came to Gymboree?

Since Chris had to work a lot this weekend, he was able to extend the weekend into Monday - and seeing as how Monday is Gymboree day, Riley and I were able to convince him to join us! 

There were only 6 babies today and even though I promised Chris that there is usually another dad in class, this time he was the only one.  Apparently, there are a few too many songs for Chris' taste but Riley thought there were just enough!

During class, we play with scarves - letting the babies track them, grab them and play with them.  Riley's favorite scarf activity? Eating them!  

When class was over, we played on all the fun equipment and showed Chris some of our favorite activities.  We even tried some new things like the tunnel and slide - all of which were responded to with smiles!

As you can see, we had another super fun week at class and can't wait till next week.  

Also, thank you to everyone who voted on baby food #2!  The votes were tabulated and Riley was excited to try bananas.  He seemed to like them and the best part was, they were easier to clean up than the bright orange carrots!

Covered in carrots

I'm not going to say that Riley has mastered eating rice cereal but he has certainly had some practice by now and he's getting pretty good at eating.  So that means its time for the next step - pureed foods!  His first choice was carrots!

The verdict on carrots:  he likes them!  He has this habit of trying to help get the food to his mouth faster by shoveling it off the spoon with his finger that we are going to have to break.  No one is going to want to sit with the kid in high school who scoops his soup into his mouth with his finger...

We will continue to give Riley rice cereal and carrots for about a week to make sure that he doesn't have any reactions and if he's in the clear, we get to introduce another food into the mix.  We are taking votes on what the next food should be.  The options that we bought are as follows:  sweet potatoes, peas, bananas, pears, applesauce.  Let the voting begin!