I just had to document this for us to remember in years to come...
We've been having some issues with these tiny red bugs in Riley's bathroom (the exterminator is scheduled to come tomorrow) so we've been bathing him in the "big" tub in our bathroom. For no particular reason we've never really let Riley run around naked or in just his diaper very much. However, since he's walking from his room to across the house for bathtime instead of just right outside his door he has started to get more comfortable with himself. He walks around rubbing his belly and making muscles. Tonight when I put him in the floor he ran over to his toybox then turned around to face Jeremy, Garnet, and I and just started peeing in the floor! Bahahaa! The best part was it scared him half to death and he busted out crying when he started peeing! It was so priceless and hilarious! ...But I sure hope this doesn't scare him off from potty training later.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Baby Talk
I've been meaning to write down Riley's words for quite some time and as usual I've procrastinated a little too long! So I thought I'd make myself a list to remember these special moments. Riley is currently 17 months old. Here are all of the words I can think of at the moment:
1. He-ey! or a quick Hey! accompanied by a wave to complete strangers at the grocery store, mall, etc.
2. Momma-Riley said Momma as his 2nd word (after He-ey!) and until recently he hardly said my name unless he was sick or crying. Now he calls EVERYthing Momma and points to objects as he says "Momma. Momma.".
3. Da Da
4. Bye.Bye. (very quickly)...now he says this often, accompanied by a wave. He likes to say bye bye when he hears you saying "bye" as you hang up the phone.
5. Garnet (our dog)= Gah-neh, Gaw-gey (combo of Garnet and doggy), GaGa All dogs are called Gah-neh and he even calls squirrels Gah-neh!
6. Ruff,Ruff= ruh ruh
7. What does the duck say? "kak kak!"
8. Ava= BayBa
9. baby=Baay-bee (high pitched bee at the end)
10. Carly= Ca-ee....over and over and over. Lately Riley even wakes up saying Ca-ee over and over!
11. Trent=Tit (haha)
12. Grandmomma= Neh Neh
13. Pa Pa
14. School= Cool (every morning when we get to school he calls it "Cool"!)
15. Blue=Boo (he randomly held up his blue sippy cup and said "boo!" yesterday)
16. Green=Geen
17. Yellow is my favorite but I can't describe it well. "Yeah-o"
18. Red=Reh
19. Go Gamecocks!= Go Tay Tock! (almost sounds like Tick Tock)
20. Night Night= Nigh Nigh
21. Milk
22. Mo Mo (more)
23. Sit= See it. For awhile we were worried he was saying a bad 4 letter word!
24. Ball
25. Bite,Bite-when he's hungry
26. Car
27. Truck
28. "E-I-E-I-O" (singing)
29. Riley=Ri Ri (b/c Ava-Reese calls him that so he calls himself that most of the time), Riley...he really can say his own name!
30. Bay-ball (baseball)
31. Bah-ball (basketball)
32. Eyes (and points to his eyes)
33. Uh Oh..often accompanied by Sketti-o's
34. Doll Baby!
35. Choo! Choo! (usually he whispers it)
My favorite actions he does:
1. How old are you? He holds up a 1.
2. Where's your nose? eyes? ears? mouth? tummy? hiney (lol)? With tummy he pokes out his belly and rubs it with both hands, haha!
3. Where's Riley? He covers up either his eyes or just puts his hands on his head. Then he takes them away. There he is!
4. Do the Ava-Reese. He says "Ahh, Ahh, Ahh." while bobbing his head side to side.
5. Touchdown!
6. Give me love. He will lean in to "love" you but at very special times he now gives Mommy and Daddy real hugs and likes to play with our hair at the nape or our necks. So loving!
7. He does the motions on his own when you sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider"
8. He sings to himself often when he's playing alone, at home and at school. When I play the piano he always comes to play with me and often sits under the piano and sings!
How truly blessed we are! How I cherish these little moments. Thank you God for blessing us with Riley and changing our lives forever!
1. He-ey! or a quick Hey! accompanied by a wave to complete strangers at the grocery store, mall, etc.
2. Momma-Riley said Momma as his 2nd word (after He-ey!) and until recently he hardly said my name unless he was sick or crying. Now he calls EVERYthing Momma and points to objects as he says "Momma. Momma.".
3. Da Da
4. Bye.Bye. (very quickly)...now he says this often, accompanied by a wave. He likes to say bye bye when he hears you saying "bye" as you hang up the phone.
5. Garnet (our dog)= Gah-neh, Gaw-gey (combo of Garnet and doggy), GaGa All dogs are called Gah-neh and he even calls squirrels Gah-neh!
6. Ruff,Ruff= ruh ruh
7. What does the duck say? "kak kak!"
8. Ava= BayBa
9. baby=Baay-bee (high pitched bee at the end)
10. Carly= Ca-ee....over and over and over. Lately Riley even wakes up saying Ca-ee over and over!
11. Trent=Tit (haha)
12. Grandmomma= Neh Neh
13. Pa Pa
14. School= Cool (every morning when we get to school he calls it "Cool"!)
15. Blue=Boo (he randomly held up his blue sippy cup and said "boo!" yesterday)
16. Green=Geen
17. Yellow is my favorite but I can't describe it well. "Yeah-o"
18. Red=Reh
19. Go Gamecocks!= Go Tay Tock! (almost sounds like Tick Tock)
20. Night Night= Nigh Nigh
21. Milk
22. Mo Mo (more)
23. Sit= See it. For awhile we were worried he was saying a bad 4 letter word!
24. Ball
25. Bite,Bite-when he's hungry
26. Car
27. Truck
28. "E-I-E-I-O" (singing)
29. Riley=Ri Ri (b/c Ava-Reese calls him that so he calls himself that most of the time), Riley...he really can say his own name!
30. Bay-ball (baseball)
31. Bah-ball (basketball)
32. Eyes (and points to his eyes)
33. Uh Oh..often accompanied by Sketti-o's
34. Doll Baby!
35. Choo! Choo! (usually he whispers it)
My favorite actions he does:
1. How old are you? He holds up a 1.
2. Where's your nose? eyes? ears? mouth? tummy? hiney (lol)? With tummy he pokes out his belly and rubs it with both hands, haha!
3. Where's Riley? He covers up either his eyes or just puts his hands on his head. Then he takes them away. There he is!
4. Do the Ava-Reese. He says "Ahh, Ahh, Ahh." while bobbing his head side to side.
5. Touchdown!
6. Give me love. He will lean in to "love" you but at very special times he now gives Mommy and Daddy real hugs and likes to play with our hair at the nape or our necks. So loving!
7. He does the motions on his own when you sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider"
8. He sings to himself often when he's playing alone, at home and at school. When I play the piano he always comes to play with me and often sits under the piano and sings!
How truly blessed we are! How I cherish these little moments. Thank you God for blessing us with Riley and changing our lives forever!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Happy Easter 2010!
What a beautiful Easter Sunday. The sun was shining and it was just an altogether beautiful day! Easter has always been a special holiday but I notice the older that I get the more I cherish it and seem to understand the meaning in deeper ways. Maybe being the mother of a son has something to do with it. Regardless, we are so undeserving but so blessed that God sent His Son to die on the cross to save us from OUR sins.The "Easter Bunny" came to see Riley. He was very excited to see his presents. He ran over tot he coffee table where his Easter basket and presents were. He got Carolina squeaky shoes, a set of Cocky plates, a Gamecock basketball, Spring rice krispy treats, a Cars cellphone, and a Thomas the Train bubble maker.
To celebrate the Resurrection, we attended Bethlehem Baptist, where we have been visiting for a few months. Still praying over where God wants us to be but feeling like Jeremy and I are on the same page...God is dealing with us in so many ways!
Following church, we had lunch at our house. Mom, Dad, Mama Mary, Carly, Trent, and Ava-Reese came. Papa Cliff is still suffering with the cellulitis in his legs so he unfortunately was not able to make it. We had our family's traditional Easter dinner...turkey, ham, dressing, gravy, mac n cheese, green beans, sweet potato casserole, potato salad, and Aunt Joan's homemade rolls. Oh and for dessert a frosted pound cake. It was delicious but so filling...
After lunch we all went outside. Trent took some great photos of the kids. We hid Easter eggs. Riley really got into finding them and was finding them in the bushes and plants all by himself but I had to hold his basket and he literally "threw" the eggs into or beyond the basket! Grandmomma helped him keep his balance and he only had a couple falls. I just let him do as he pleased even though he was in his Easter clothes. Needless to say he has grass stains and all...oh well, I figure that comes with the territory of being a boy! Ava-Reese does not like grass. She would sit with her legs up in the air to keep from letting the grass touch her legs! She actually fit into her Easter basket which made for a great photo op! Mama Mary is going "down hill" at a rapid speed but it was so nice to see her really smile a few times today at the kids. Now she doesn't seem t
o remember that Riley was born on her birthday, but what a special date for us to always cherish! Daddy finally got to see the kids in the wagon. It is fun seeing him be a "grandpa"!
After supper, Nana (Judy) came by after work to bring Riley his Easter presents. Nana and Pop gave him Thomas the Train PJ's and a book, swim trunks, sunglasses, and a life jacket/swimmies.
With all of the Easter festivities, Riley got WAY off schedule. He usually naps from 12-1:30/2ish but did not go down for a nap until everyone was gone, which was about 3:15. He only slept for an hour but when he woke up went right to sleep on the couch with me and we both slept for another hour and a half. Oops! So of course bedtime was pushed back too. At 10pm I ended up having to hold him because he would NOT lay down! He wasn't crying or anything, just tired but not sleepy. So he let me rock him and sing him to sleep. You know we read books and people tell us what NOT to do but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. And none of those books or people tell you how special those sweet, rare moments are to feel your child's little arms around your shoulders, sweet hand rubbing your shoulder and then to sit and hold him peacefully asleep with his legs dangling down to your knees. I couldn't resist but to sit and hold him a few minutes because all too soon he won't fit in my lap because he'll be so big and/or won't want his Mommy to hold him! Oh how I cherish those kind of moments!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Wrong Address!?!
Well today God used the mailman to lead me to a new friend! A package was delivered to 127 Darmondale instead of 827 Wells Point! Coincidence? I think not! So our neighbor from Darmondale brought the package to us and after meeting her she began to tell me about a program called MOPS. It is a group for Moms of preschoolers that meets at First North on Tuesday mornings twice a month. They also do Mother's Night Out and playdates, etc. We discussed what an awkward time being a new Mom is and how you lose and gain friends. Needless to say, I believe God let our package be delivered to her house on purpose so that not only could I make a new friend in her but hopefully some new friends at MOPS because pretty much every other Tuesday just so HAPPENS to be the day I'm off of work! And also while we were talking I found out that there are alot of young children on her street and they meet in the cul-de-sac around 3:30 or 4 on sunny days to play so now I'll just start walking Riley up their street around that time since our street has all older kids! Another conincidence? I doubt it...probably yet another God Thing!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Baby Steps
We finally have a walker on our hands!! And what a cute little swagger he has! It just goes to show that Baby Steps are just that, BABY STEPS. A baby learns so much in such a short period of time and as a parent you worry and want to be sure they reach milestones on time. Riley has reached all of his milestones and the Doctors said it was normal for a baby not to walk even up to 18 months but needless to say we're relieved that he is officially walking at 16 months! On an interesting note, I didn't walk until 15 months myself so I guess not only does Riley look like his Mommy but he's following in my foot steps (literally) too!
We've tried everything from squeaky shoes (a great Christmas present from Riley's friend Lilly) to moving Riley up to the toddler class at school early. And Riley required a wide shoe so finally this weekend we bought him a pair of white size 4 1/2 wide Stride Rite walking shoes. We were so excited because overnight he went from 2 to 4 steps at a time to 8 to 10 steps at a time! Then when Jeremy picked him up from daycare on Monday they were RUINED! I'm talking the toes were not only scuffed completely black but the sides and all, including the laces were orange-ish. Jeremy marched back in and asked what happend and the director was FURIOUS! She kept the shoes and the next day offered to pay us back the $45 that his shoes had cost. Jeremy was all for that until he asked how that would work (thinking that we'd deduct $45 from our weekly $130 tuition check). They were going to split the amount and take it out of Riley's individual daycare workers' checks. Of course we refused to let that happen. But Riley will be wearing the shoes that in the directors words: "can't be worn in public" because of the "negligence of his teachers" to daycare ONLY.
Needless to say our experience with walking has been all about Baby Steps!
Lessons learned:
A child will walk when he is good and ready.
All hardwood and tile does not make it very easy for a child to gain confidence in walking (b/c it hurts so bad to fall).
Never EVER let your child just "cry it out" in the crib because even though he can't walk he can figure out a way to fall out.
No shoe is better than a Stride Rite Walker;but I do love the Robeez hard sole shoes and the squeakers.
Don't let your child wear anything too nice to daycare!
We've tried everything from squeaky shoes (a great Christmas present from Riley's friend Lilly) to moving Riley up to the toddler class at school early. And Riley required a wide shoe so finally this weekend we bought him a pair of white size 4 1/2 wide Stride Rite walking shoes. We were so excited because overnight he went from 2 to 4 steps at a time to 8 to 10 steps at a time! Then when Jeremy picked him up from daycare on Monday they were RUINED! I'm talking the toes were not only scuffed completely black but the sides and all, including the laces were orange-ish. Jeremy marched back in and asked what happend and the director was FURIOUS! She kept the shoes and the next day offered to pay us back the $45 that his shoes had cost. Jeremy was all for that until he asked how that would work (thinking that we'd deduct $45 from our weekly $130 tuition check). They were going to split the amount and take it out of Riley's individual daycare workers' checks. Of course we refused to let that happen. But Riley will be wearing the shoes that in the directors words: "can't be worn in public" because of the "negligence of his teachers" to daycare ONLY.
Needless to say our experience with walking has been all about Baby Steps!
Lessons learned:
A child will walk when he is good and ready.
All hardwood and tile does not make it very easy for a child to gain confidence in walking (b/c it hurts so bad to fall).
Never EVER let your child just "cry it out" in the crib because even though he can't walk he can figure out a way to fall out.
No shoe is better than a Stride Rite Walker;but I do love the Robeez hard sole shoes and the squeakers.
Don't let your child wear anything too nice to daycare!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Sick Days?
Each time I get sick I'm reminded that Mommy's don't get sick days! It makes me so thankful for my Mom and makes me realize the sacrifices that she made for us when she was sick! Prior to parenthood when I was sick Jeremy would go to every take out until he found me some vegetable soup and cornbread. Then he would proceed to heat it up for me and I'd probably even get a foot rub! Today I was sick and when Jeremy got home he went upstairs to run on the treadmill while I cooked our supper of Seafood Chowder. As I cooked I also had to get Riley out of cabinets, be sure I didn't splatter anything hot on him as he was standing right under me, and he spilled all of Garnet's water. Oh and I even had to clean up Garnet's vomit as she got sick twice while I cooked dinner. The life of a Mommy is WAY different and you especially notice it on days like today but I'll tell you what I wouldn't trade anything for seeing Riley's sweet innocent smile when he got home today!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Sisters
In life I have basically always had bad luck in finding faithful, loyal, true friends. Don't get me wrong I have a lot of friends and acquaintances. However, the one person who remains solid and true is the dearest person to me of all. She is way more than any friend could ever be, she is my SISTER. Like any sibling relationship we have our ups and downs and still occasionally even get mad at each other. But we always get over it and when it comes down to it, other than my husband, Jeremy, she's the closest person to me!
She has blonde hair; I have brown. She has blue eyes; I have brown. She's tall and slender; I am short and not slender. She is bold and speaks her mind when necessary; I am way too sensitive. She is often quiet; I don't stop talking. She tans really easily; I burn now. In so many ways we are opposites but we share the common bond of sisterhood.
When I'm happy, excited, sad, upset, stressed, or need reassurance, she's the first person I call. She is the one person I talk to almost everyday. I feel blessed to have such a strong, special person in my life that is not just a friend but even more than a friend could be, she's MY sister! Happy Birthday to my dearest Sissy, Carly!
She has blonde hair; I have brown. She has blue eyes; I have brown. She's tall and slender; I am short and not slender. She is bold and speaks her mind when necessary; I am way too sensitive. She is often quiet; I don't stop talking. She tans really easily; I burn now. In so many ways we are opposites but we share the common bond of sisterhood.
When I'm happy, excited, sad, upset, stressed, or need reassurance, she's the first person I call. She is the one person I talk to almost everyday. I feel blessed to have such a strong, special person in my life that is not just a friend but even more than a friend could be, she's MY sister! Happy Birthday to my dearest Sissy, Carly!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)