Living the Life of Riley

It's been a while...

2009-08-14T08:21:00.000-07:00

But we are still here! I'm such a bad blogger...

Riley is learning and growing at a fantastic pace! It seems like every day she learns new words or does new things, and wow is that kid smart. She was 32.5 lbs. and 33 inches at her 12m appt. but now weighs 34 lbs...what was that about they slow down on weight once they start walking? Ha!

I was 34" at 18m to give you an idea of how tall she really is too - and I was a tall kid! Our ped has been giving us crap for how much she weighs, which I think is stupid because she's obviously off the charts tall as well, and she is still mainly breastfed. It's not like I'm feeding her Little Debbies and ice cream here (ok, she has had some tastes of ice cream :-D)

She is OBSESSED with balloons. Like crazy person obsessed. We go into Albertson's and of course, they have balloons on every checkout and she goes CRAZY flapping and pointing and saying balloons :-)

10 months! (almost)

2009-05-02T12:08:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Riley will be 10 months... where has the time gone? It seems like in the last month she has really changed from a baby into a toddler... yikes! She now

-says (and understands - not just making sounds- she says the right word for the right person/thing):

mama
dada
papa
booboo (nursing)
byebye
nana for night night (working on this)
hi

-does

We say "How big is Riley?" and she raises her hands over her head and we say "So big!"
claps
spits
motorboats her lips
waves
stands holding onto something
pulls herself up on EVERYTHING
crawls like a speedster

-signs

more
diaper change
shakes her head no
shakes her head yes

-understands

a ton!

Just in case I didn't put it in a post before, her height/weight stats from her 9 mo appointment were 27 lbs., 31" long.

Gorgeous day outside....

2009-04-19T23:29:00.000-07:00

It's days like these that make the winters here so worth it. Riley had a blast outside - she swang. played in the playpen and wandered around the deck. She's really thinning out now and looks like such a big girl!

Riley quacks!

2009-04-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSJnnp1FPk4

9 months old!

2009-04-05T15:56:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that our little girl is now 9 months old! The time really has flown. We took her in for her 9 month appt. last week and she weighed in at 27 lbs. and 31" tall. Frankly, I think that she probably weighs more - I was majorly PMSing the week before we went and usually my supply really dips right before I get a visit from good old Aunt Flo. Ph, and she has 8 teeth now, as of last week. I really enjoyed the break from teething!

Poor baby woke up with a fever in the middle of the night and we were up from 2-5 after going to bed at 12... I passed her off to Dada then (because we're nursing, anything she gets, I get - the germs get passed to me, then I make antibodies and pass those back to her through the milk - it's really quite a cool thing) so I could get some sleep since I wasn't feeling all that great. I guess she decided to throw up all over Joe - fun times. Then Joe brought her back in around 6 because she was really fussing and he said she was hungry... so I fed her. About 30 sec. after she latched off, I hear a cough....

.... and I woke up in record time to flip her over so she puked all over the bed which then rolled down where I was sitting to get all over me. It was marvelous.

Riley - 2, Mama and Dada - ZILCH!

I am so eternally grateful that she is pretty much still exclusively breastfed - it made the whole puking incidences so much more tolerable. Anyway, I'm sure you are done with hearing about bodily fluids! Riley has become quite the mover and shaker - she is the fastest crawler I have ever seen! If there was a sprinting associated with crawling like there is with walking, that is what she would be doing. She also pulls herself up on everything - EVERYTHING - and cruises and transfers between the couch and coffee table. Pretty much, she thinks she is the end all. And to us, she is, so I guess she isn't too far off base!

There has been a lot going on lately; I don't really know where to start. Nothing bad, I just don't know where all the time has gone! I can't believe at this time last year I only had a month of work left and my baby shower was fast approaching. It seems weird to think about planning for a birthday party when it feels like it can't be that time already!

I have started making Riley's diapers somewhat out of necessity; she is outgrowing the ones that are supposed to last until potty training! As Riley is such a clingon at times, this doesn't leave me much time to make them. Joe has been amazing about helping out and Riley ADORES him. I seriously think if I didn't have boobs (and therefore her food), she would be just fine with Dada. She thinks everything he does is IN-SANE-LY interesting. This is quite funny when he goes to the bathroom - she follows him and waits by the door until he comes out. If he hasn't latched the door, she will push it open and crawl in after him, which makes me laugh.

I also have started trying to garden. I say started because they did START growing - but I am having troubles keeping them growing! I think I started warm weather plants too early. The colder weather plants are doing great though! Joe built me a raised bed garden today that turned out beautifully. I'll take a pic of it tomorrow with all my plants in it!

I've been a bad blogger....

2009-02-14T10:08:00.000-08:00

So here's an update!

Riley now has 7 teeth, has started signing all done and diaper change in the last 3 weeks, started crawling at 6 months, 3 weeks (right when she got her 7th tooth AND when she started signing all done - it was a busy week!). She now can crawl like a fiend, and will go from sitting to crawling to sitting again easily. She was 24 lbs. and 29" at her 6 month appt. , but I measured her the other day and she is now 30.5" - not sure of weight because she was heavy for a while, but now that she is crawling so much, she is skinnier. The nice side effect of the crawling is that she is getting really easy to put to sleep, though she has been waking up between 4 and 6 am wanting to practice crawling *rolls eyes*. Needless to say, Joe and I have been taking shifts.

Snow Day!

2008-12-19T11:45:00.001-08:00

Snow clothes for a snow day!

Goodnight Mom

2008-12-18T19:32:00.000-08:00

As everyone is wrapping up presents and Christmas stuff and everything is harried and hectic - thought you all might enjoy this and could relate...

Goodnight Mom

In the messy green
family room
There was a telemarketer
ringing the telephone
And a crying toddler
because his brother
just popped his
red balloon
And a picture of -

The cow jumping over the moon
(which someone colored on
with permanent marker)
And there was a missing
teddy bear, and a girl with
gum in her hair

And one to be scolded
And laundry to be folded
And a very hungry spouse
And something stinky in the house
(that no one else seemed to smell)

And a comb and a brush and a colicky
baby who just won't shush
and a frazzled mommy screaming #*%#@

Goodnight messy room
Goodnight scribbled-on moon
Goodnight cow getting out while she can
Goodnight telemarketers and the
popped balloon

Goodnight long-gone teddy bear
Goodnight cereal bar smeared all
over the dining room chair

Goodnight spitup
And goodnight leaky sippy cup
Goodnight much-too-little house and
goodnight grumpy spouse
Goodnight comb and goodnight brush
And goodnight to a certain 4 year old
who just needs to hush right now I mean it

Goodnight Elmo
Goodnight toys we'll pich up tomorrow,
or the next day
Hello chardonnay and Tivo -
"me" time finally!!

Christmas Pics

2008-12-17T14:31:00.000-08:00

Christmas Tree Time!!

2008-12-08T00:12:00.000-08:00

Because it's closing in on 1am and Roo still isn't asleep and frankly, I'm too lazy to type a post right now - here are our Christmas tree pics. Roo LOVES the tree! The first are from when she was sick on Thursday with a 102 deg. temp most of the day. Turns out she is now getting her 5th tooth in! The fever was from a cold I had Tues-Thurs. though. Thanks a lot, Mama, right? She also had some milestones last week - she now transfers toys from on hand to another - though she may have done that before and I didn't notice. She also found her feet and now happily spends time nakie spread eagle, looking akin to what I looked like when I delivered her. It's quite amusing, especially since she is much more flexible than I am. My daughter, such a puritan. Anyhoo, on with the pics!

Mom I Am!

2008-12-05T11:32:00.000-08:00

Thought this was cute!

Would you nurse her in the park?
Would you nurse him in the dark?
Would you nurse him with a Boppy?
And when your boobs are feeling floppy?

I would nurse him in the park,
I would nurse her in the dark.
I’d nurse with or without a Boppy.
Floppy boobs will never stop me.

Can you nurse with your seat belt on?
Can you nurse from dusk till dawn?
Though she may pinch me, bite me, pull,
I will nurse her ..till she’s full!

Can you nurse and make some soup?
Can you nurse and feed the group?
It makes her healthy strong and smart,
Mommy’s milk is the best start!

Would you nurse him at the game?
Would you nurse her in the rain?
In front of those who dare complain?
I would nurse him at the game.
I would nurse her in the rain.

As for those who protest lactation,
I have the perfect explanation.
Mommy’s milk is tailor made
It’s the perfect food, you need no aid.

Some may scoff and some may wriggle,
Avert their eyes or even giggle.
To those who can be cruel and rude,
Remind them breast’s the perfect food!

I would never scoff or giggle,
Roll my eyes or even wiggle!
I would not be so crass or crude,
I KNOW that this milk’s the perfect food!

We make the amount we need
The perfect temp for every feed.
There’s no compare to milk from breast-
The perfect food, above the rest.

Those sweet nursing smiles are oh so sweet,
Mommy’s milk is such a treat.
Human milk just can’t be beat.

I will nurse, in any case,
On the street or in your face.

I will not let my baby cry,
I’ll meet her needs, I’ll always try.

It’s not about what’s good for you,
It’s best for babies, through and through.

I will nurse her in my home,
I will nurse her when I roam.

Leave me be lads and ma’am.
I will nurse her, Mom I am!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T10:58:00.000-08:00

Riley being Josephine

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've started calling Roo Josephine when she is acting especially like Joe - you can see one of her Josephine faces at the top. I can't believe it is already Thanksgiving! Roo decided to get up at 4 in the morning (I don't recommend trying it...) and then fell asleep at 5. Mama, on the other hand, was up until 7. It was fun times.

I trialed dairy and tomatoes this week - all seemed to be going fine and I was harboring a hope that I may end up with a piece of pumpkin pie after all, but this morning she had the worst poop in the world and dairy/tomatoes are out again. Oh well.

I've been so into sewing lately - Joe told me I could get a serger, so I found a Janome 9102D off of one of my crafty sites and that is my Christmas present! I so can't wait to try it out - it will make finishing seams for clothes so much easier/better looking. I've decided that I will be making some of Roo's clothes from now on. The poor kid has the longest torso and the shortest arms, so she is usually squished into a romper with the sleeves rolled back. I figured I can at least make her some clothes that fit better. Beyond that, she would be in 18m clothes torso-wise and she definitely does not have 18m length legs either. I made these diaper sets for Joe's cousin for her newbie due inn January and it would have been much much simpler with a serger. I still think they turned out well though, and the embroidery was fun to do. Actually it all was fun to do!

Riley has been sitting like a champ lately, and is really enjoying her teeth... unfortunately. She helped me make cornmeal rolls for dinner tonight - they are rising right now. We used Sadie's mixer with the dough hook and SO much easier than doing it by hand! Anyhoo, she is getting tired so I'm signing off :-)

Ho hum.

2008-11-19T13:47:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving - the weather here certainly can't decide either! Yesterday it was warm (for Oregon) and sunny; today it is cloudy and cool. It makes it hard to get into the holiday spirit when fall hasn't truly hit yet, although the leaves fell a few weeks ago, so maybe it is just me.

Roo slept until 11 (11!) today but she also went to bed at midnight, so eh. I reeeeeally don't want her to get into the habit of going to bed late - I am a night owl, so I don't mind staying up with her, but Joe and I don't get any quality time (heh, heh) this way because he has to go to bed earlier because he gets up so dang early. It probably doesn't help that it is pitch black dark by 6 pm now.

I've been getting back into sewing and really enjoying it - I made Riley a sleeper but had to change the pattern because the only one I could find was for a romper. Then apparently the pattern was made for babies with necks the size of Goliath's, so I had to rip out the neck and resize it.

I've also started gathering materials up to work on cloth diapers for Roo - we have been cloth diapering since 2 weeks after she was born, but she is now growing out of everything, so I figured I'll just make some more myself.

Sitting Ducks...

2008-11-15T18:19:00.000-08:00

Not quite sure what I'm doing here that has gotten you so excited, but ok...

Looking cute!

I figured I'd better update since it's been a while. Also, we hit another milestone this week - Roo started sitting! I wasn't sure if it really "qualified" as sitting at first, but she doesn't fall to the side even if she ends up doing the lean towards her toes the longer she sits. So she sits!

She also has been working on getting her front top teeth in; and today she cut the left side! Tooth number 3 - check! Tooth number 4 - in progress! She was thrashing around this morning, alternating in between nursing and gnawing furiously on the blanket she had clutched in her fist - nurse nurse nurse, gnaw gnaw gnaw and so forth. I finally got up to get the Orajel because I figured that that would help. I came back with a little on my finger and she was dead asleep. Well, there I sit with the Orajel still on my finger, and I wasn't about to eat it myself, so silly me decides to put it on her gums anyway, figuring that she would be doing the thrashing thing again in a second... dumb move. She wakes up and I find out that she has actually cut the tooth!

Her new thing is now grinding her teeth together making this awful sound that just is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Fun times! Her other top tooth is really close to being cut and she will probably cut it tonight or tomorrow.

Roo also does this raptor/pterodactyl sound that is just unearthly - it's pretty funny though!

Uh, Gaston? Can I get an order of your finest booboo milk?

Whachoo lookin' at, foo?

BalleRoona Girl!

2008-10-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

Bathtime!

2008-10-20T11:46:00.001-07:00

I got a mohawk!

Say what?

Helping out Mama

2008-10-16T20:44:00.000-07:00

Roo was helping me out this morning while I did the dishes and these pics are the result! Nursing at the keyboard - will post more tomorrow!

Riley's Interim Car Seat

2008-10-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

This picture was too cute not to share! Roo has been hating being in her bucket seat because she can't see. She is also 19 lbs. and her seat only goes up to 22 lbs.. Anyhoo, I had the True Fit car seat, but I found out that they will be updating it in January/February and coming out with more colors, so I decided to take back the one I have and wait for the newer model to come out.

This means that Roo had to stay under 22 lbs. until February at the latest. As it's only the middle of October now, I just couldn't see that happening seeing as she is gaining at least a half pound a week.

I found a Britax Marathon in Ashley Floral print that is really cute, and so we got that to tide her over until the TF comes out - and she loves it!

We have a milestone!

2008-10-12T13:27:00.000-07:00

Riley laughed for the first time today! Well, she had laughed in her sleep at 11.5 weeks but today she was wide awake and laughed for me!

Baby Booty

2008-10-10T08:34:00.000-07:00

Roo learned to roll over last week, right? Well, I guess last night she figured out how much fun rolling is...

...and proceeded to practice ALL NIGHT LONG.

Needless to say, Mama is very tired this morning.

Out and About

2008-10-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

I dist a wittle wambie - don't mind me!

We had quite the eventful day today - first day with a new mom's group, and shopping afterwards. Roo was great though! There were 2, 3, 4, and 5 month babies there, one in each group (obviously Roo was the 3 month baby!). I found out one of the moms (with the 2 month old) lives just down the road from us! Next week will be busy, as the LLL meeting is Monday, Tuesday is another mom's group meeting and then this mom's group meeting is Wednesdays. We may just go to the LLL and Tuesday meeting next week for the sake of gas.

It has turned quite chilly here, especially at night. Last night was the first night I had to get up and put another blanket on the bed because I was too cold to sleep. It was 40 deg. this morning so I'm guessing it was close to freezing last night. I guess winter has finally hit! It is very sunny still, which is nice, although we did have a bout of rainy gray weather last week. Par for the course I suppose, but at least in the Willamette Valley we get some sun in the winter. When I lived in Portland, I went around 28-29 days in January without sun and was so busy I didn't realize it until the sun came out. I had literally forgotten it could get sunny! (This was just after we got engaged, so I was planning a wedding, was working 40-45 hours a week and taking 12 credits at school - I was a little absentminded by the end of the month!)

I got Riley's Halloween costume in the mail the other day - I'll post a pic of her dressed up in it on November 1st or 2nd, as we will be taking her out to the grandparents Nov. 1st because Joe has a business trip that week and won't be getting back until way late on the 31st.

My mom is flying in on the 25th to stay the week with us and I can't wait! It will be nice to have her here while Riley and I are more mobile. Last time she was here I was either very pregnant or newly postpartum, so we didn't get to do as much as I would have liked. Hopefully, it won't be too cold to go to Tuesday Market (farmer's market) while she is here.

Happy 3 Monthiversary!

2008-10-04T15:42:00.000-07:00

Here's her 3 month shot! Excuse the fan in the background - the house is still a mess from me unpacking and whatnot. It's been a crazy week.

Roo started rolling over from back to front yesterday consecutively - she has rolled in the past, but I don't think she was really meaning to do it - now she knows how to do it and thinks she is pretty hot stuff! She is also solidly in 9 month clothes - I can't believe she is as big as she is!

Dates so I don't forget - first tooth came in on September 23, second on September 30, rolled back to front on October 3.

Some more pics:

We're home!

2008-09-30T07:44:00.000-07:00

After quite a few hours traveling due to delays and such, we have finally made it home.

The house is a mess, Roo finally cut her second tooth, it's dark and rainy out, and any initiative that I might have had to get things done is totally gone now.

The pic is from the Portland airport on our way to FL - Roo was watching some kids play with their toys.

I'll update later with more pics and more text, but for now - we're alive.

Happy Birthday, Mama!

2008-09-13T03:20:00.000-07:00

Pick me, pick me, I'm the one!

Yes - it IS 3:20 am here. However, Roo DID decide to sleep from 9:30 pm til now, so I have to give her credit for that. I went to feed her in her sleep about 10 minutes ago, she ate the entire side, which after almost 6 hours had a LOT of milk. It just kept coming, so in her half-awake state, she just kept eating. You can imagine the size of her stomach relative to the amount of milk she was trying to fit in there. All of a sudden, I had a coughing, puking ball of joy, complete with milk coming out the nose. Ooops. Of course, after that, she was wide awake, so here we sit.

In other news, I have been hardcore carseat shopping. Why? Well, I had the startling realization the other day that Roo has already outgrown her infant bucket seat! It only goes up to 26" and/or 20 pounds. Weightwise, she is fine, but heightwise she is too tall. Fortunately, I also have a Graco SnugRide that will go up to 29" and/or 22 pounds, so we have a little bit of time, around 2 months, I figure.

The specs I had to deal with were these:

- Gender Neutral - I needed a carseat that was gender neutral, or at least could work for a boy since we are definitely having at least one more. Fortunately, that is not hard to find with car seats, but I didn't want brown, particularly.

- Tall Shoulder Strap Heights - I needed one that could grown with tall kids. The weight it went up to didn't really matter to me because I'm pretty sure our kids will outgrow a seat by height LONG before they ever outgrow it by weight. Also, Oregon has tough car seat laws and requires kids to be in a seat/booster until age 8 or 4'9" tall.

- Small While Rearfacing - Have you seen our car? I will be getting a bigger car down the line, but at this point the infant seat she has now only fits with the passenger seat pushed forward quite a bit, so anything that has a really tall back was kind of out for us.

- High Rearfacing Weight - Most nice seats nowadays go up to 35 lbs. rearfacing, so this was a fairly easy option to find. Babies are safest rearfacing as long as possible.

- Comfortable - We drive a lot and I wanted a seat that I would want to sit for long periods of time. Have you felt some of the car seats out there? They make airline seats look cushy.

- Safe - I wanted a car seat from a company with high safety ratings. Cosco/Dorel and Evenflo do not do voluntary recalls and so both those companies were out.

I narrowed it down to the Britax Boulevard - on sale at Amazon for 229.99 (normally 309), but in a color I'm not especially fond of. It is cushy though! Other choices included the Radian65 and the First Years TrueFit. Since I wasn't going to pay 309 bucks just to have a seat in a color I liked, the Boulevard was out. The Radian65 is very long rearfacing, and most likely would not even come close to fitting in my car. That left the TrueFit.

I like the True Fit because the headrest comes off while rearfacing so it isn't so long - that is important in our car where space is at a premium! It also has the most cushions out of all the car seats. The shoulder strap heights go up to 18" which is higher than the Boulevard and as high or a little higher than the Radian.

BabiesRUs had it for 190 with a 20 dollar off coupon making it 170 but did not have free shipping so it was 190 shipped. I had a gift card there but I also had gift cards at Target. Target DID carry the TrueFit and had free shipping on it - so I found a 10% off code online and ended up getting it for 170 shipped in Sporty Blue. I had 135 bucks in gift cards there so it only ended up being 35 bucks out of pocket!

I've researched the heck out of carseats now, so if anyone needs info - I'm here!

How much laundry?

2008-09-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

SOOO much!

This looked so pretty I had to share with all of you - plus it's going to be one of the last days we see sun for months, I'm sure...

I am so glad we don't do disposables solely for the cost - this is 2 days worth of diapers.

Soy - definitely out.

2008-09-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

Roo and I went to Target the other day and found her new bathing suit for FL on sale for 1.48 for each piece! She is proudly wearing it in the pic, as you can see!

I trialed soy yesterday and unfortunately that was a no go. I had a bagel with the last ingredient being soy flour for lunch and by 6 pm she was acting colicky and like her poor tummy hurt. She also started rashing out again. Poor thing. I thought because I can eat soybean oil and she doesn't seem to react that soy flour might be okay, but apparently not. I'll be taking soybean oil out as well for now just because I don't want to risk it becoming allergenic.

Roo had been sleeping through the night (well, 5-6 hours in one stretch) but last night she was up almost every hour, if not more, wanting the boobies. I can't say that I blame her, I think she was wanting to settle her stomach. She is back to normal this morning though, thank goodness!

This morning, Joe was poking around looking for clothes and I had been behind on the laundry, I guess, because he had no more clean boxers. So laundry is the task for today. I needed to do diaper laundry as well anyway.

Our task for today, besides laundry, is to start packing for FL! We went to the Carter's outlet on Sunday when we went up to Woodburn and traded in all the clothes that no longer fit for ones that will - and they are oh so cute! I think we might have more outfits than days in FL though... oh well! She will just be the best dressed baby around!

Soooo sleeepy...

2008-09-05T07:05:00.000-07:00

Well, we have gotten half the night down pat as to sleeping well... At least she is back on her old schedule (if you can call it that) of sleeping well the first part of the night. Though I really have no idea why she is so insanely squirmy the second half of the night! She just kicks and kicks and talks and eats and squirms from 2-3am on - the thing is, she isn't really awake, but it sure keeps me awake! I'm honestly so glad we aren't feeding her formula, because I really wouldn't get any sleep with having to go make bottles and warm them up all night.

We have discovered Roo loves the book Olivia by Ian Falconer. I suspect she really likes the colors of the book - it's in blacks, white and red, but it's the only book she will sit still for right now. I picked up a board book copy at Ross' the other day for $2, and so we have been reading it a lot. I'm going to have to pick up a few more of them.

Roo has taken to imitating our sounds lately - it's pretty funny. We'll say "hi" to her and she says it back and then grins away. She just thinks she is the bee's knees for figuring it out. Frankly, I think she is, too! She also had this funny cry now - when she is tired, she says "Nee"! Every time she does it, I automatically think of the Monty Python skit, The Knights Who Say Nee! It cracks me up :-) She has figured out that if she kicks her toy (in second picture) it will make noise and lights come on - so she sits there and kicks and kicks at it, all the while staring at the lights intensely. If she can't get the lights to come on, (sometimes she kicks it too far away) she gets very frustrated and tells me about it loudly!

Monday I'm hoping to get Roo ready and down to Eugene to go to a La Leche League meeting and then to Trader Joe's and Market of Choice to get some good food. I'm trying to rework our diet so that poor Joe isn't stuck with college food and I'm not making 2 meals a night. 3, if you count Riley's meal!

There is a VW show this weekend up in Woodburn, Joe wants to go, although he was wishy-washy about going when I asked him last night. I want to go so I can take all of Roo's outgrown-before-she-ever-worn-them clothes back to the Carter's outlet up there to size up. She is at the upper end of the 6 month size clothes right now - I'm sure she will be in the 9 month clothes within the month. Who would have thought my 3 month old would be wearing 9 month clothes?!?! I do love Carter's clothes though, I think they are so cute and durable!

VW Vixen

2008-09-03T15:31:00.000-07:00

Roo has been phenomenal today. It seems like as the days go on, she just gets easier and easier. The dairy must have really messed her up!

She slept very well last night - partly due, I'm sure, to the fact that she didn't sleep much yesterday. Of course, well is relative. She still got up every 2 hours, but she slept solidly in between getting up, which makes it all okay. She was congested last night and a little this morning, I had a McChicken yesterday for lunch (was ravenous and didn't have a snack on me, so I chose the lesser evil). I didn't get mayo on it, but there is egg in the breading and I'm wondering if she is slightly intolerant to egg. I have been staying away from eggs, but figured I'd test it and see if she was intolerant or not. I guess she is. *shrugs*

Joe has a business trip at the end of October and I was talking to Mom today and she mentioned coming out to visit around that time which works out perfectly! I'm so excited; I wasn't really looking forward to a week by myself with Roo anyway. Our trip to Florida is coming up quickly - less than 2 weeks until we leave and 10 days until my birthday! I'll be over the halfway through the 20s mark to 30, which seems really odd. I feel too young to be closing in on 30. C'est le vie!

Just a quick post...

2008-09-02T23:15:00.001-07:00

Roo ended up being 14 lbs., 12.5 oz (not quite as much as I thought, but I also have not had a whole lot of fat in my diet these days and I think it might be affecting my milk - I have since figured out how to get more fat, what a problem, right?) and 25.25 inches long, making her off the charts in height and weight!

She has a head circumference that is solidly right on the 50% percentile line though (trust me, I was happy when she was born for that one!).

The pic is from the drive in to town - poor Roo really didn't get to sleep between the ped's visit at 10 am and shopping, so by 3 pm she had about had it. We picked up Joe from work and headed home and she promptly slept off and on pretty much all afternoon and right into the night. Poor tired baby!

I'll update more tomorrow - she's sleeping and I'm pooped.

Playtime!

2008-08-31T10:29:00.000-07:00

Roo decided to sleep WELL last night which I, for one, was extremely happy about. We fell asleep around 8ish in the papasan chair, I fed her and we moved to bed at 12 and then she got up at 3 and 6 to eat - actually, I kind of made her eat at 6, she was out like a light. She then didn't wake up until 8 when Joe and I woke up! Thank goodness, because I needed the sleep after the night before last. Joe was kind enough to take her at 6:30 yesterday morning for an hour after she was up grunting and moving around ALL night long. It's times like that that make me absolutely love him to death - because that hour of sleep was phenomenal. I finally figured out that she is probably cold at night - so last night I put her in one of those baby sleep gowns with long sleeves instead of the short sleeve onesies she is usually in. I guess it worked!

We have had a good weekend so far - Roo and I went shopping yesterday to Albertson's and she slept a bit on the way and then slept in the Baby Bjorn once we got there. I mainly had to go because I was picking up my 100 4-packs of TP - all free! They had some other good deals as well - I ended up paying 30 bucks for:

100 4-pks TP (saved $235 - free)
4 12-pks of Coke ($3 each - not that great of a deal but it's my treat)
3 packages of instant oatmeal (3/$5)
5 boxes of Wheat Thins (made 9.45 on them)
20 pkgs. of KoolAid ($4)
1 bag of sugar (free)
2 Ken's Balsamic Vinaigrette Spritzers (free)
Baby Tylenol drops because teething is coming up (saved 4.70, paid 4.59)
5 lbs. of boneless skinless chicken (saved 11.61, paid 8.53)
3 ears of corn
3 zucchinis
1 bunch of cilantro
and a baby book for Roo since it was only .50!
Total I paid out - 31.71, savings - $309! I thought I did pretty well on it.

I came home last night and Joe had cleaned up the living room, done the dishes, and done laundry. I seriously love that man. He reminds me of the guys in the book, "Porn for New Moms"! I honestly thought it would be easy when Roo was little because she would sleep alot; however, I didn't factor in a baby that wanted to sleep on people and not in bed. Well, actually, it's more that she doesn't really transfer from person to bed very well, not that she won't sleep in the bed. She is actually sleeping in her crib right now - we sidecarred her crib so she is right next to me while she is sleeping. Basically, we took the side off of her crib and put it right up next to the bed, so it looks like an extension of our bed. It's working really well so far!

Roo has gone to sleep SO well today - no crying or even any fussing! It's amazing how well behaved the child is when she gets some sleep and her tummy isn't hurting :-) Dave and Lynda came over for dinner tonight and Roo was actually happy and smiled and cooed for them! Roo had always been cranky when they were around (just bad timing) and so I was glad she was doing so well tonight. Joe made some AMAZING marinade (he has this knack for marinades) and we had grilled tritip steak, corn on the cob, cheesy bread (I abstained but it was hard to!) and grilled zucchini and yellow squash. It was really yummy. After the diet I've had lately (which has consisted of mainly chicken, spinach, LOTS of oatmeal, Wheat Thins and Powerade), it was nice to have "real" food. I am very appreciative for whoever came up with rice milk, but it honestly is not that great of a substitute for real milk. It tastes like really watered down skim milk with an odd aftertaste. I'm not complaining much though; having Roo happy almost all of the time is totally worth it.

We are going in for her 2 month checkup on Tuesday - I am very curious to see how much she weighs and measures! I swear, I woke up this morning and she felt heavier. I don't know if I'm getting weaker or she just gained a pound, but Joe agreed, so it can't ALL be in my mind! I'm guessing she is 15 lbs. or so. She was 12 lbs., 7 oz. at 5 weeks and was gaining 3/4 of a pound a week, so at 8.5 weeks that should put her at a little over 15 if she gained at the same rate. It's hard to tell though because just as she gets chubbier, she then gets longer and thins out. She was wearing a 6 month romper today and was almost too long for it, so I'm guessing she has gotten quite a bit taller than her 22 inches at birth! They say that they gain an inch a month - I bet she is at 25 on Tuesday. Everyone should guess in the comments and we will see who is the closest!

I put a NB sized sleeping gown on her tonight, it wasn't quite as bad as the orange pants from a few days ago (which were really not that bad in person, I swear!), but the bottom of the gown came to her knees! The funniest part was that it made her look so chubby and it totally looked like she had cankles :-D At any rate, it made me laugh. I'll stop this diatribe now before your eyes tire, but leave a comment with Roo's guesstimated weight and height and I'll tell you who is the winner on Tuesday when we get back!

The newest item in baby fashion is...

2008-08-30T09:37:00.000-07:00

...baby straitjackets! We have discovered what a wonderful item the SwaddleMe blanket is. I put her in it the other night on a whim when she was crying and voila! The crying stopped! She also has taken an affinity to having daddy put her to sleep - mama just doesn't cut it anymore. I think it's because she associates me with eating/comfort feeding and knows daddy doesn't have productive boobs :-)

Roo has been grabbing her toys and batting them around in the last few days - apparently this is really early (8 weeks this past Thursday) but she didn't get the memo. She will sit and stare and study and play with her "babies" for 20-30 minutes plus - it's pretty insane to see a baby that focused and intense. We are really going to have to watch it with her - I have a feeling she is going to take after her daddy. Thursday's child *does* have far to go after all!

When Joe was somewhere around 18 months old, he had a set of baby tools to play with. No harm right? He decided to escape from naptime one day by taking apart his crib with those tools. Yes, he is now an engineer! He also works on cars, so I guess those mechanical skills come in handy!

snore

2008-08-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

This is what the last couple of days have looked like for us - we get up anywhere from 4-6 am and stay up for an hour and then sleep (well, Roo anyway!) until 11-1. It's been very nice and the sleep has been sorely needed for both of us.

Unfortunately, my house is a mess, but hey, you pick and choose your battles, right? The good thing is that Roo's face has totally cleared up with the allergic rash (she still has a bit on her neck) and we have had 2 good days of no colicky symptoms, thank goodness!

shakes head

2008-08-26T03:04:00.000-07:00

<---Mama, I think we need bigger pants...

I'll warn you in advance, this is going to be a long post.

Last night was an adventure, and not in the tralala zipadeedoodah kind of way with little birds tweeting cheerfully in the background. About the only thing you heard in my background - oh, who am I kidding - you couldn't hear anything in my background last night; Riley was screaming her head off again. I really don't know what I ate yesterday that would have set her off so badly - I had oatmeal (no allergens that I know of, at least non of the top 8), tomato soup (possibly tomato?), an everything bagel (there is some soy, but it was the last ingredient), wheat thins (again, some soy, and obviously wheat) and caffeine free Coke (my guilty pleasure). She was already reacting long before dinnertime, so the chicken I ate is out, thank goodness!

The only other thing I can think of is that she is not as reactive as I thought, in that it might take her 24 hours to react to something, in which case, it could have been the BLT or the granola that she was reacting to today. I have a gut feeling that it was tomato related though, as she reacted the night of the BLT, and yesterday morning I think she was reacting to the whey in the granola.

Her schedule yesterday ended up with her waking up at 8 - sleeping from 1-4 and then was up until 10 with a couple of 15 minute naps thrown in when she couldn't fight them any longer. That's a whole heck of a lot of wake time for a not even 2 month old baby (though she DOES think that she is 4 months, I swear, but she still needs more sleep than that).

We finally found out a new thing that works to get her to sleep - running water! I was going to give Riley a bath to calm her down (it's amazing how fast it works for her, plus she needed one) and as soon as I turned on the bath, she calmed. So I took advantage of it and bounced/jiggled her to sleep. She woke up as soon as I sat down - so she got her bath after all. After the bath, she immediately started all out crying again (she hates getting out!) and so I nursed her and then took her into the bathroom with the lights off and the tub running. In about 2 minutes, she was out like a light and so we both went to bed, as there was no way I was going to risk her waking up again. She just now woke up at 2:45 am, and dreamfed (which I think is so cute), so we got a good 4.5 hours out of it!

On another note - Joe's car is in the shop (he got tired of chasing oil leaks around the block, so he took it in) and so I'm out a car. I'd use the Scirocco, but it's a 2 door and the tags are out of date anyway (bad me). There are some really good sales this week though! Albertson's is having a sale on Ken's Salad Spritzers until tomorrow at 2/$4 and I have 10 - $2 off any Ken's coupons making them free. Their other good sale starting Wed. has Scott's Extra Soft TP 10/$10 and I have a ton (35+) of $1/1 coupons and some .50/1 coupons. We are just now finishing up the free TP I got in October/November with the same deal, so I would love to stock up.

Plus, I haven't been grocery shopping in over a week and with my new and improved diet (heh) there isn't much left in the house to eat. I do have a lot of chicken though (thank you Costco!) so I suppose I could eat that all week, but really, who wants chicken for breakfast? I honestly think I am going to get deli meats and veggies for this week for me, minus tomatoes. Oatmeal for breakfast, which has the added benefit of upping my milk supply (not that I needed it!).

I am really hoping to get this somewhat under control before we leave for FL on the 16th. I just don't want to even think about trying to calm Riley down on a 4+ hour flight as she is screaming like she did last night. It's stressful enough when she does it here, I can't imagine it on a flight. The good thing is that our flights to FL leave at 5:40 in the morning, and she seems to be at her best in the morning, most likely because I'm not poisoning her with my milk all night.

*crosses fingers today will be better*

O what a night....

2008-08-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was really nice - we took Riley out to Ike's Pizza with the VW club and she did great! I had a BLT sandwich (obviously pizza was out) and I'm wondering now if they put butter on it. Last night we had the return of Fussy Baby, the non sleeper. I can't say that I blame her, if my poor little tummy was hurting, I wouldn't want to sleep either.

About halfway through rocking, coddling, snuggling, and bouncing her to sleep, I realized that the granola!, of all things, had whey in it. Crap. I had eaten some about 30 minutes before I fed her, and apparently it had gone straight into my milk, which in turn went straight into her. Poor thing.

As you can see, this morning she is all sunshine and smiles, though she was SO SO congested this morning. She actually was breathing out of her mouth off and on, she was that congested. I finally came out around 6 am and half sat/reclined on the couch with her on my chest so that it would drain or something. At any rate, she ended up sleeping until 8 that way, so I guess it did some good.

Unfortunately, she fought going to sleep again until 11 - so hopefully she will sleep for at least a couple of hours this time. Mama needs a break! ETA: Well, the nap lasted all of 15 minutes... back to the old bouncing grindstone!

Allergies 1, Us 0.

2008-08-24T08:46:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Riley was doing so well with me totally off of dairy, I thought maybe I could get away with a bit of cheese on my eggplant parmesan. After all, I had had a piece of cheese on my turkey sandwiches while going off all other dairy and she was fine. Well, turns out that little bit of cheese was our undoing. Grandma and Papa B came over last night and by that time Riley was just beside herself from not sleeping (one of her symptoms - she starts to sleep very lightly if at all) and was fussy as all get out. I guess we are off all dairy totally again!

We ended up awake at 4am this morning - fun times. She was pretty happy though - so we stayed up until 5 and fell asleep on the couch. Roo is a pretty snuggly baby, all things considered. I love it.

Allergies - oh yeah!

2008-08-23T13:37:00.001-07:00

Over the course of this week, I found out that Riley has a milk allergy. Yes, she is exclusively breastfed - apparently, her milk allergy is from ME drinking milk! Go figure. I cut out dairy this week and it's like she is a different child - she had been screaming crying at night for several hours before finally falling exhausted into bed (generally, we were right behind her). The first day after cutting out dairy (and mind you, I eat a LOT of dairy), she went to sleep a whole heck of a lot faster and without half the crying. Each day has gotten progressively better, and today she is just an angel baby! Smiling all the time, rarely, if ever even fussing. I have my happy baby back!

I have noticed that she has been eating more frequently though, I think that it is because I have almost no fat in my diet now. Since I have no fat in my diet, she gets not very much in hers, making my previously fatty ice cream like milk into practically skim milk. The good thing is that all the baby weight is gone, along with some extra - the bad is if I have lost this much weight after just 3/4 of a week off dairy, then I better find another source of fat and fast or I'll end up looking like a scarecrow. Any ideas?

Let's Grow Today!

2008-08-12T16:37:00.000-07:00

Apparently, today was growth spurt day, and I wasn't informed... It finally dawned on me after she wanted to eat every single hour since about 4 in the morning! She finally went to sleep after a bit - (I swear, whoever invented the exercise ball must have been a new mom!) her new going to sleep routine is for me to bounce on the exercise ball while singing to her while she is in the Baby Bjorn. Next thing will probably look something like this --->

We went out today to town and walked around Safeway for a while - it's our go-to place because it has air conditioning and she pretty much always goes to sleep there. Actually, anywhere there is shopping, she is good. What am I turning her into??? Joe's going to kill me ;-)

I've been working on a project for the grandmas (all 6 of them! That includes the greats though) and so whenever Queen Riley deigned to nap, I grabbed a few minutes to get some of it done. I'm maybe halfway done now, and should have it all done by Friday. Once I finish, I'll post pics.

Living the Life of Riley

It's been a while...

10 months! (almost)

Gorgeous day outside....

Riley quacks!

9 months old!

I've been a bad blogger....

Snow Day!

Goodnight Mom

Christmas Pics

Christmas Tree Time!!

Mom I Am!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ho hum.

Sitting Ducks...

BalleRoona Girl!

Bathtime!

Helping out Mama

Riley's Interim Car Seat

We have a milestone!

Baby Booty

Out and About

Happy 3 Monthiversary!

We're home!

Happy Birthday, Mama!

How much laundry?

Soy - definitely out.

Soooo sleeepy...

VW Vixen

Just a quick post...

Playtime!

The newest item in baby fashion is...

*snore*

*shakes head*

O what a night....

Allergies 1, Us 0.

Allergies - oh yeah!

Let's Grow Today!

snore

shakes head