KinderMusik

How we all sit in a circle at KinderMusik.


Dancing with Daddy - can you tell he LOVES it?!


Playing with toys during "quiet time" aka Riley's screaming & banging time!
That's Jorge on the left! And see how Riley's arm is blurry? That's because he's banging with ALL his might channeling his inner Bamm-Bamm!

First Blood!

So Riley finally broke the seal! I swear since he backwards crawled off the bed at Easter, he's been on a roll! Literally! He rolled off the area where we change him downstairs with Kelly earlier this week and bumped his noggin. Then last night he lunged mouth first into one of his favorite toys and made his lip bleed! I'm telling you...he's already all rough and tumble testosterone filled boy!

It reminds me of the Flintstones - now I understand where the concept of Bamm-Bamm came from! That's how Riley explores his world - bamm-bamming everything in site! Speaking of cartoons - Kelly and I always laugh about how the baby in the Simpson's that sucks the paci looks EXACTLY like a kid sucking a paci! Someone that has a kid definitely does that character!

So only the top part of his tooth is still peaking out...we're patiently waiting for it to break all the way through!

Kelly went to Kindermusik with us this morning, so he got to see how vocal Riley has become there. He LOVES it! It cracks me up though because every time it's "quiet" time where the parents step back and let the kids interact - that's when Riley starts screaming his head off! Today it was so sweet - a little girl Monica - brought Riley a toy to play with during that time! And he loved it! He was flipping it and banging it all around and screaming his head off! Kelly and I were cracking up! But he definitely doesn't know how to share yet! Jorge came over (I told Kelly to be on guard for the hair pulling manuver!), and I swear Riley grabbed the toy and pulled it closer so he didn't have to share. It is cool to sit back and watch them all interact when the parents step back.

We may switch to Water Babies instead of Kindermusik this summer then back again in the fall. I'm trying to make a conscious effort not to "over schedule" Riley with too many activities already! There's plenty of time for that when he's 5! ha! Seriously, I can't believe how much kids have going on these days! It wasn't like that when we were growing up! I got summers off excluding a couple of summer leagues, but we still had at least 6 weeks off from sports and activities in the summer! Not now! These kids go all summer and all Christmas break for Select sports! And my friends with older kids tell me that there's no way to make a high school team if you don't play select. There's no concept of the "off season" anymore. I don't know about that! That's why so many kids have overuse injuries these days and for what? When most of them will only play sports for fun post high school. That's going to be hard to swallow for me...of course, that's assuming Riley is into sports like Kelly and I were/are!

Grandma & Grandpa Sterne are coming to town this Wednesday-Tuesday. They haven't seen Riley since he was 6 weeks old - right after he got out of the hospital. Boy oh Boy are they in for a surprise! He's not a little baby anymore! It's amazing to watch how much he grows and changes everyday, I can't imagine how different he'll be to them in that amount of time! It'll be interesting to see how he interacts with them and how it evolves over the span of the week - this will be the longest he's around someone on a daily basis excluding the usual suspects of me, Kel, Emily & GiGi.

OMG! This is totally off topic, but something that made me sit back and think this week. We had a townhall meeting on Thursday - think corporate pep rally - with our CIO, and the message there was the reflect on how far we've come as an Information Technology organization and how we have "better problems" now than we did 10 years ago, etc. Well part of that presentation was taking a look at technology and how it's evolved since the 1960s. Then Friday I went to the Credit Union to open Riley his 1st savings account. Grandma & Grandpa Sterne sent him a piggy bank back in the fall, so we've be steadily filling it up. But we figured we should put it in a savings account since compound interest is our friend! :) Anyway, I also wanted to move some of our $ from our Bank of America savings to the credit union so we'd get a higher interest rate on it and dividends - anyway, I forgot to make the transfer from my BofA savings acct to my checking acct - so what did I do? I wrote the check for the amount, then got right on my phone logged into my BofA accounts and transferred the money from my savings to checking! I'm sorry! That's CrAzY, right?! Imagine how difficult a task that would have been 20 years ago! It would have required me driving to BofA to do the transfer, then driving to the Credit Union, etc, etc! I LOVE technology!! I'm all about it! That's how I pay Emily every Friday too! A transfer from my bank account to hers FROM MY PHONE! Like poor man's direct deposit! I'd love to be able to schedule it automatically, but they won't let you do that to another person's account yet!

Seriously though, sometimes we need to take a minute to reflect on how far we've REALLY come! Another amazing factoid they brought up at our Town Hall was the fact that PDAs are 40,000 times more powerful than the original mainframe computers! Isn't it amazing to think about having ALL that power in the palm of your hand - literally!!

Okay, I'm showing my geeky side here! Now you know why I do what I do and I love it! I love change! And that's one thing that is guaranteed in my line of work! Constant change and evolution! I can only imagine what life is going to be like for Riley!! And I can't wait to see it through his eyes as he experiences it first hand!

We can see a tooth!!

And feel the sharp edges too! But it still hasn't broken all the way through!!

Stay tuned!!!

Da-Da-Da-Da-Da-Da

Okay...so I have to admit defeat! Riley said Da-Da 1st, but not officially 'Da-Da'! More like da-da-da-da-da-da-da, but he did say it! And we even had witnesses - Darcy and her parents! We ran by her house so Kelly could help her Dad with a fan after Riley's 1st haircut, and he said it while we were eating lunch with them!

So it's only a matter of time before he associates...Da-Da with Da-Da! ha! Especially considering how much they hang out and play together!


Here's the daily breakfast duo!


Here's a video of just one of their things....don't ask me! I don't get it either! It's between the 2 of them!

He's definitely jabbering more and more now! And sometimes he cracks himself up doing it! It's so funny!

OMG! I almost forgot one of the FUNNIEST things he started doing this week! We're 'practicing' with finger foods, so when he PICKS it up - not puts it in his mouth, but PICKS it up - he makes the face like it's in his mouth and he doesn't like it! It's his the FUNNIEST thing!

Riley's 1st Haircut!!!

We went to Pigtails & Crewcuts in Southlake for Riley's 1st haircut. I just couldn't take his hair hanging down over his ears another SECOND!

And of course we were total 1st time parents with the camera AND video camera going! :) I hope we can live up to this with the next one!


Before...

During - he was LOVING that steering wheel!


More steering wheel action - he was totally focused! ha!


After! MUCH BETTER!

Riley's 1st Easter!

Okay...so I didn't get this post done the evening of Easter like I had hoped! You know...life happens!

Well I guess the Easter bunny knows that a 1st child is supposed to get "showered" with gifts because he didn't disappoint! We had an 'all boy' themed Easter. Riley's plastic eggs were all different sports balls - basketball, soccer ball, baseball, football. He had an 'All Star' Easter basket. He got a toy remote (because Daddy's getting tired of him changing the channel in mid-program) and a toy cell phone to continue the 'boy' theme. He also got a little ball to roll around. That's one of his FAVORITE toys at Kindermusik, so the Easter bunny knew he wanted one! He also got an 'organic' green monkey stuffed animal - he's already been named Green Bean thanks to Dad! He also got a cool Mozart Music cube. And last but not least a BIG bunny!


The boys & their remotes!

He also got some presents from relatives. His Great Aunt Shireen sent him a Finding Nemo book and stuffed animal and the softest little bunny stuffed animal I have ever felt! And a little frog in an Easter basket that says Happy Easter! His Grandma & Grandpa Sterne sent him a new outfit, a cookie monster book & stuffed animal, a stuffed ducky and a Pittsburg Steelers Superbowl Terrible Towel. And...drum roll....a homemade lamb suit that Grandma Bonnie made! Now we know where Kelly gets his love of costumes! His Great Grandma Shirley sent him a cute little duck that dances and sings. Riley's still not really sure what to think about it!

Riley's Easter loot!

Then GiGi got the entire family a present....a new camera!! Thanks GiGi!!! Ours finally crapped out, so we were in dire need of a new one! Now we have 12.1 mega pixels, so you'll be able to see even more detail! ha!

We went to my Grandpa's for Easter. It's probably my 2nd favorite holiday after Thanksgiving. My Aunt Char out does herself with cooking and prepping Easter eggs. We usually hide around 1000 eggs. She has this cool tradition where besides just candy she puts little pieces of paper in the plastic eggs, then you get to trade them in for your prize or $$ when all the egg hunting is over. Prizes consist of coloring books, kites, you name it. It's funny because usually as kids get older, they complain they are "too old" to hunt Easter eggs - I know I did, but with our family - we eventually have to tell the kids they are going to have to retire! We even divide them all up into age groups so we don't have people getting trampled, and the egg hiding difficulty is based on the age group! It's always a lot of fun! And I've always enjoyed hiding the eggs for all my cousin's kids. Obviously, Riley wasn't old enough to enjoy it this year, but I know he will be all about it soon enough!

Unfortunately this year the Texas weather didn't cooperate, so we had to improvise! The 'hunters' basically did a round robin approach and got to grab Easter eggs out of a big box one at a time. I did the honors for Riley. He got a loot of candy that Kelly and I have already eaten and almost $20! More for the piggy bank!

Riley checking out his own picture with Michelle & Whitney.

However, the most eventful thing of the day for Riley had NOTHING to do with Easter! I put him down for a nap on my Grandpa's back bedroom bed. Knowing full well that he's a little wirey when he sleeps, I thought I was being smart by blockading him on the bed with his diaper bag, my purse, his bumbo, etc. He wasn't very interested in taking a nap with all the excitement, but he finally crashed. Then Kelly and I started watching golf with my Dad & Sheila....all of the sudden, I was like I better go check on him! He may have rolled off the bed! OMG! I swear...I think he did it AS I was saying that to Kelly! I walked in the room and he was on the floor on top of my purse screaming like a WILD banshee! I almost DIED! I picked him up to assess the damage..and luckily there was none! But omg did I feel bad! I know it's the first of many tumbles, but STILL! Why did the 1st one have to happen on my watch?! I even checked him over really close during his bath that night, and there were no signs of a fall! Thank goodness!

But when Kelly and I got home, we had to investigate! So we put Riley on our bed then stood back to watch what he had done. He's crawling BACKWARDS! And pretty well! About a foot per 'scoot'! So I felt a "little" better that he probably went feet 1st instead of head 1st!

Riley was definitely the star of the show though! And he was a trooper about it! I keep reading that stranger anxiety is quickly approaching, but he showed no signs of that on Easter! He went to anyone that wanted to hold him! And that was pretty much EVERY one at some point.

Then we went by to see GiGi on our way home because she was at work! I swear she took him to EVERY room where she works to show him off! He was WORN out by the time we got his booty home!

Then GiGi & Aunt Amy came to see us Tuesday night since she had to work on Easter, so we decided to try on his lamb suit that Grandma Sterne had made him.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone! I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your families!



I'll try to post the details of Riley's 1st Easter tomorrow night!

A Busy Week!

Wow! We all really had a busy week this week! I don't think I've had 5 minutes to relax all week! We started the week with my friend Angie giving birth to her son Kaden on Saturday! He reminds me a lot of Riley - they were both 21.5" long..so he has skinny little legs like Riley did, and a full head of dark hair. Awe..... Our friend's Greg & Renee also had their baby on Saturday too - Dalton! Lots of April babies! And we have a lot of friends that celebrate birthday's in the month of April too...makes me wonder if you count back 10 months...what holiday or 'special' time it is! lol!

Kelly, Riley & I took Angie and Korey food the day they came home from the hospital. We were lucky that my Mom pretty much moved in with us on her days off during that time, but I know everyone is not that fortunate. I was also fortunate to have so many wonderful friends bring us food, so I wanted to pay it forward and do the same for Angie. I remember the days of only having a second to grab a bite to eat of whatever was available, so I figured any little bit would help her. Our friend Nancy brought us dinner once a week for the 1st month too, so I'm going to do that for Angie as well. And when she asked me how to thank me, I told her to pay it forward to one of her friends. It's something that doesn't take a lot of time and effort, but it helps so much during those first few weeks of adjusting to being new parents!

It was so funny though. I had gone to see Angie in the hospital on Sunday, and when I came home I told Kelly Kaden was SOOOOOOO little - like his face is this big - putting my hands together to show how small his face wa! I couldn't believe Riley was ever that small! Let's face it Riley's 3 times that size now! Then when Kelly saw him on Tuesday...it was freaking him out! He was like there's no way Riley was ever that small! And Kaden outweighed Riley a full pound when he was born! It just drives home how quickly they grow and change!

Then Thursday night, we had dinner with our Lubbock family! Talana, her parents and her brother Kyle. They were in town before heading out for a family trip to Chicago for the weekend, so they invited us over for dinner. It was yummy as usual! Talana and her Mom could totally open a restaurant and make a killing! Think Pauladine Texas Style. They could be one of those restaurants that's only open on the weekends, and they'd make money hand over fist!

This is the 1st year in 5 years that we aren't going to be going to their house the last week in April. Texas Tech hired a new women's head volleyball coach, and she's decided not to host the Spring Fling volleyball tournament this year. So Kelly went out on top - he won all 6 years he played in the tournament! And I guess he'll remain reigning champ indefinitely! We didn't start staying with Talana's family until the 2nd year of the tournament. That's when we were introduced to warm snickerdoodles when we arrived at their house from the airport! And even though Kelly called them everything BUT snickerdoodles the 1st year - he's NEVER forgotten the gesture! Suzanne had him hooked at snick! :) This was going to be our 1st "test flight" with Riley because it's only an hour flight, and we'd have Talana with us as a backup if he was absolutely crazy, so we were disappointed when the tournament was canceled. BUT I think we're going to go in May for Kyle's 30th birthday party now.

Friday I took some more essentials over to Angie...obviously those 1st few months are fresh in my mind, so it's easy for me to remember what will help her out most. Of course, I had to take her an infamous Izbeen! I swear! That is the BEST present EVER when you have a new baby! (Thank you Mother/GiGi!) You can't remember if you've eaten all day! Much less how long "itzbeen" since you feed or changed the baby! I just think about how raising a child used to be done "in a village" so to speak - families lived in the same neighborhoods or next door to each other, etc. So I figure I can help my friends in a modern village sort of way! Because it does take a village to raise a child!! :)

Then today Kelly played golf, so Riley and I went to Kindermusik in the am. Then we had an early dinner with my friends Kelly Brown and Anne. We also finally got to meet Kelly's little girl Katelynn who is 3 months old! OMG! She was sooooooooooo precious! You could definitely tell the difference between sweet, QUIET, princess Katelynn! And LOUD, BOISTEROUS, can't sit still for TWO seconds, BANGING, PULLING, testoterone FILLED Riley! OMG! Never has it been more prevalent to me than today! I've been noticing it more and more at home, but it was really obvious when you have him next to a sweet little baby girl! He was like a human wrecking ball! There is definitely a difference between girls and boys! His is already so rowdy! It amazes me! And even though he's not mobile, all of the sudden this week he has become Mr. Grabby Von Grabberson! You blink for one second and he has something else in his hands and it's already tossed across the room before you blink again! We are in for a RUDE awakening once he becomes mobile! I can already tell he's going to be getting into things I have never even imagined! And my house...my new house...my new furniture...it's as good as GONE! Flashes of every funny commercial with some mischievious boy are cycling through my head nonstop these days! I know that will be my life soon enough!

It's weird though...we've been thinking Riley was a little shy, and that it took him a little while to warm up to new people. But that was NOT the case today at all! I think maybe because we we were in a loud restaurant he felt like the crowd level was competing with him or something because he was bound and determined to DEFEAT it with his shrieks! And he did! I got a few dirty looks, but we were at Logan's for God's sake! Like Anne said, we're in a restaurant where you throw your peanut shells on the floor! If he can't be a loud, rough & tumble little boy there - where can he be?!

This week Kelly and Riley started the funniest thing - at least to Riley it is. Kelly will put Riley in the middle of our bed and run around from side to side. Riley DIES laughing and starts screaming at the anticipation of Kelly getting to the other side of the bed to tickle him! It is soooo funny! And it's that adorable, innocent little kid laugh that just melts your heart! I may have to try to video it soon!

Wow...well I think that's it for now! I'm worn out just thinking about everything we've done this week! On top of preparing for the Easter bunny and sending out Easter cards! We accomplished a lot!! Now I better get to bed so the Easter bunny can come....

Sleep Crawling and More

So I never got another chance to blog this week - CrAzY week at work to say the LEAST! And we had a couple of things planned after work this week as well, so not a spare minute could I find!

Anyway - I'm happy to report that Riley's bad habit of pooping in the bathtub has subsided! Really I finally started giving him enough time after dinner to take care of his business before his bath! That's one silver lining about this phase of his life - bad habits change quickly! But the other side of that is that he's growing up WAY too fast already!!

Kelly and I caught Riley sleep crawling last night when we did our 'final check' of the night! I had suspected he was doing it because of how he would be positioned in the crib when I would go in to get him in the morning. It's the cutest thing! Ironically, he doesn't really seem that interested in crawling during his waking hours. You can tell he's a little frustrated about not being mobile sometimes, but not enough to do much about it except scream! My oh my does he have some lungs!! He definitely got those from his Dad! ;)

We went to dinner with a big group of friends this week, and they were all calling Riley Brutus Maximus! He's not fat! He's big boned! Since he's never around kids his own age, we don't really have the chance to compare him to other kids. But this night, Blake & Susan were there with their son Austin - who is 21 months old, and he and Riley were wearing the same size clothes! And they were lose on Austin, while I was commenting that this was probably the last time Riley would be able to wear those clothes! Speaking of, he literally catapulted right into and out of 6-12 month clothes in TWO weeks! 2 weeks ago, I went shopping for new 6-12 month clothes because we woke up one day and Riley had grown out of all his 6 month clothes. When I bought them 2 weeks ago, they were pretty big and lose on him! As of this week, he's pretty much out grown them! It's crazy! In Riley's defense, he's in the 90% for height and 50-75% (maybe 75-90% now) in weight, and Austin is in the 10%.

OMG! When Kelly and I were driving home from dinner that night we were in the front seat of the car and all of the sudden we hear Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. We both just looked at each other and died laughing. He's been babbling for a while, but this was the 1st time we heard him put together a string of blah-blah's that long!