Riley Pulled Up!

So he pulled up on his crib from the floor one other time a couple of weeks ago, but Kelly caught him in the act with the camera this time! He pulled up on the back of our sofa while he and Kelly were sitting there Saturday am.

Shoot! I accidentally posted this before I uploaded the pics...pics to follow soon!

Here are the pics!

Kelly catching him in the act, but almost all the way up! (And still holding the remote!)


And he's up! So he doesn't need the remote anymore!


Still leaning a little, but up!


Now he's just showing off with the 1 hand hold on!


And he's happy about it too!

Ethan Turns 3!

Saturday Riley and I went to Ethan's 3rd Birthday party. Well the "after party" at their house. Kelly was ill - we thought sinuses, but it seemed to be moving to his chest and Riley was still recovering from his ear infection so Kelly stayed home and Riley & I skipped the main part at Boomerjack's.

This was the funniest thing! I put Riley in Ethan's Jeep he got for his birthday for a "photo op". I figured 15 years from now, it'll be cool for them to look back on pictures of them when they were young and friends, etc.


Riley was a little unsure at 1st.


Then he decided he needed to check the gauges or something.


Ethan stopped long enough to give me a smile!

ANYWAY! As I was prepping to take the pic, Ethan took off! So I quickly switched to video - you'll have to excuse the roller coaster ride of the video, but I was trying to save my toes at the same time! And for some reason I decide to switch direction of the video midstream in BOTH of them..not sure what that was about! Good times for sure!

I think Riley started crying at the end because he thought everyone was laughing at him! :(

Riley's New Face

Don't ask me! I just take the pictures!! :) It's an equal opportunity face - it means he's happy, sad, glad, mad...whatever fits at the moment!

Riley's 1st Ear Infection! Oh my!

Well...the flight went well except for the fact that Riley got his 1st ear infection!! The dr's not positive it was related, but she said more than likely the pressure on the plane pulled some of the mucus from his swollen teething gums back into his Eustacia tube where once it became stationary there bread bacteria. Of course, it hit him Monday night (before we returned to work Tues). The 1st night, he woke up at 3:07 (yes, I remember the exact time!) and I had to pretty much hold him and rock him until almost 6am before he went back to bed. It didn't dawn on me at the time, but when I would hold him (not lying flat), he'd be fine then as soon as I'd try to lay him back in his bed (flat) he'd start crying. At this point, I just contributed it to teething. Then Tuesday night he barely ate his dinner, and he woke up again from 1-3am. I contributed it to teething again! I never took his temp, but he didn't feel hot or anything.

So Wednesday, I had IBM coming on site to do a review of my AA.com migration project - sort of a big deal! I make it to work on time despite my lack of sleep the last 2 nights, then at noon Emily calls me to say Riley was burning up when he got up from his morning nap so she took his temp and it was 100.9. We both talk it through and decide it's probably his teeth, but she's going to see if he'll eat his lunch at all then check it again. She calls me back at 1pm to say now it's 102.5. We decide she'll run to Wal-Mart and get some Motrin since of course I forgot to pack it in Riley's bag today. (Oh yeah, it's summer so the arrangement during summer is that Emily keeps Riley at her house because it's easier for her to entertain her 2 boys there than at my house.)

Flashback to me - Here I sit with IBM on site since 9am....these are the days when it's not fun to be a working mother, but I gotta tell you. I love my job, and I take it very serious, but my son comes 1st! I called Dr. Jim, and they said try to get Riley here before 2. I called Emily back. She had literally just put Riley in the shopping cart at Wal-Mart, but she grabbed him and turned around to leave and meet me at the pediatrician. Luckily, I work with a GREAT team of people - that are really strong and have already covered for me while I was on maternity leave - so it wasn't that difficult to leave work. I knew they would keep things going with the IBM review. And when I say they - I should really say Bobby Lewis. He's AMAZING! He's younger than me, but I wanna be like him when I grow up! He's totally got it together!! I don't think he ever has anything left on his To Do list when he leaves at the end of the day, so I admire that because mine always seems to get longer! And he definitely doesn't suffer from the ADD that I struggle with! ;)

See..prime example of my ADD right there! Back to making the long story longer...Riley had a VERY acute ear infection. Literally, the dr said the redness in his one ear was hidden behind a little bitty piece of wax, but when she blew in that ear he went ballistic! And I have to say if something that small made him wake up and night and cry non-stop! OMG! I'd HATE to know what a full blown ear infection would do!

For a second, I felt bad that I was thinking it was his teeth! And a little bad that I may have caused it by taking him on his 1st flight, but this is a learning experience for us 1st time parents! Now I know the signs of an ear infection a little better! And I feel lucky that he was almost 10 months old before he got his 1st one! I know that wouldn't be the case if he were in day care! Once again, thank God for Ms. Emily! Plus, she helped me know that I should call the dr by checking his temp, etc. I hadn't even done that, but he definitely hadn't been that hot when he was up at night either. The Dr said I probably would have been calling her emergency line the 3rd night, if we hadn't come in that day.

Speaking of the 3rd night, it was GiGi to the rescue once again! I had been up the last 2 nights - Kelly's out of practice and he just couldn't do it! And to be honest, I wasn't sure I was going to make it the 3rd night in a row! GiGi showed up at 11:30 and took over! OMG! I was so thankful! Riley didn't go to sleep until after 1am. I thought I was just going to "close my eyes for a minute" and I woke up the next morning! I told Kelly - I guarantee you my Mom is asleep on the floor in Riley's room...and sure enough - there she was! Obviously, I didn't want her to do that on her day off!! But I was so thankful! She stayed to watch Riley the rest of the week for us, then she had to go work her 2 doubles Saturday and Sunday! She's a machine! I can't get by on that little sleep, and I don't have to work 16 hour shifts on my feet as a nurse! I have no idea how she does it!

She also made us a good ol' fashioned southern home cooked meal of chicken fried steak, green beans (the kind that have been simmered for hours with bacon), macaroni & cheese and gravy! YUMMY!! The only thing we were missing was the sweet tea because I don't have any sugar of course! ha! Kelly said the chicken fried steak was better than most restaurants he's had, and that was her "improvising" with my meager kitchen utensils and supplies!

Riley's 1st Flight!

So we've been loosely planning Riley's 1st flight for a few months. Initially, it was going to be to Lubbock for Kelly's Annual Springfling Volleyball tournament! He's 6 time defending champion, so he has to go defend his title. Plus, it's turned into our annual voyage to Lubbock to see our Lubbock family and have a weekend of yummy Suzanne home cooked meals! Unfortunately, Texas Tech got a new women's head volleyball coach this year, and she didn't hold the tournament! So we decided to go Memorial Day weekend for Kyle's 30th Birthday party. Gary & Suzanne said they would take Riley home early from the party so Kelly and I could stay for some adult fun!

Of course, Talana made me think twice about this! She said to me one day before we left- Don't worry! My Mom will let Riley cry it out for 30 minutes then smile at you the next day and say he went right to sleep! I was like what?! I don't know if I can do that!! :) Suzanne assured me this wouldn't be the case! Plus, I know Gary is the rocking master! So I figured worst case, Riley would get rocked to sleep! In the end, he went to sleep easily (so they said) because he was worn out from trying to be the center of attention at Kyle's birthday party! We found out he LOVES Spanish rice and tortillas too! He must have eaten his body weight in that stuff, so I'm sure that helped lull him to sleep too!

I strategically chose our flights - the ones with only 10 people booked on them. I figured it's a 50 minute flight, so if he screamed the entire time - it would only bother 10 people not a flight full of 50-70. And I figured they could sit us away from everyone too. This was easy to accomplish because we flew out Saturday am and back Sunday on Memorial Day weekend.

Man! Talk about an ordeal to get out of the house on a normal day....then think of the ordeal to get out of the house for a flight and overnight stay!! This was also Riley's 1st overnight trip away from home! But we made it! The only thing I forgot that was super obvious was his pj's, but we improvised for that! He did have his own roller bag! And it was only for an overnight trip! We even made it through the TSA checkpoint with the baby food (jars) and bottles no problem.


Riley & Dad on his 1st flight. (I couldn't get a good picture of both of them! They are the 2 worst people to get to look at the camera AND smile!)

And Riley did GREAT! He's just in that phase where he's a busy body, so it was definitely a full time job for Kelly and I to pass him back and forth and keep him entertained. And he did want to bamm-bamm the guy's seat in front of us at one point, but other than that he did GREAT! On BOTH flights, he fell asleep 10 minutes before landing! His ears didn't seem to bother him at all, but I did push his paci on him during take off and landing. He totally worked over the flight attendant on the return flight with his charm. He was laughing and flirting with her! She was loving it!

Once we were in Lubbock, Suzanne was AWESOME! She had borrowed a car seat, stroller and pack n play from her neighbors so that made our trip A LOT easier too! I can't imagine how difficult it would have been to try to travel with all that stuff too!! I'm sure we'd have made it, but it was nice not to have to struggle with all that the 1st time too! We mainly just wanted to see how Riley was going to do. We learned we'll definitely take his car seat for a longer flight (plus we'll probably need it on the other end), but he's too big (25 lbs!) and rowdy for us to try to hold the entire time!

I wish I had videoed him looking out the window as we took off - you could tell he was taking it all in - like what the heck is this?! Especially all the clouds he was mesmerized!


A picture just doesn't capture the essence of how he was taking it all in, but this will have to do!

He was his usual laid back self while we were there too. Not being home didn't bother him at all! He was entertained by tearing up the Skymall magazine for an hour in their living room floor one day - again - the little things! Who needs toys?!

We also got to meet Talana's new niece - Clara Beth. She was only 2 weeks old! I wanted to get a picture of her and Riley together, but the time I thought about it she was sleeping and we didn't want to disturb her with rambunctious Riley!

I decided I'm going to train to run a half marathon with Talana and some other girls on November 15th of this year! This is my public statement of that, so now I HAVE to do it! First, I have to get back to running PERIOD and build up a base of 3 miles 3 times a week, then we start training for the half marathon 10 weeks out. I have the summer to do that, but I had planned on starting this week and I only got 1 run/walk session in! (I have a good excuse this week, but we'll get to in a later post!)

Anyway - Riley's 1st flight was a success! I don't know if we'll do it again before he's done with baby food though! Having to pack jars and bottles was a little crazy! After he's a year old (only TWO months!!), he'll be on cow's milk and big people food so that'll be a little more manageable. Of course, he'll be mobile then so he probably won't be as manageable!! ha!


Riley AFTER his 2nd flight! He didn't wake up when we put him into the car seat either! He was OUT!

We also firmed up that we'll be taking a family trip to Maui in December with the Hamilton's too. Kelly and I have traveled with them in the past - like I said they're our Lubbock family. This time GiGi is going to tag along too. She deserves a vacation after all she's done to help us this 1st year. Plus, we'll probably need some backup to keep up with Riley!

Riley's 10 Months Old!

OMG! For REAL! Was it 10 months ago that I had him?! I can't believe how it seems like yesterday and a lifetime ago ALL at the same time!! He'll be 1 before I know it!! Speaking of....gotta figure out what we're doing for his 1st birthday!! Like NOW!

Here's a pic of Riley and I at Ethan's bday party yesterday! This will serve as his 10 month old pic!


I think I said in my post a few days ago...he still has those adorable cheeks! Here's proof!

Riley's 1st Visit to the Ft. Worth Zoo

So I'm playing catch up today...hopefully I'll actually have time to get caught up! On this and some other things!

Riley's 1st visit to the zoo went well. It was me, Kel, GiGi and Riley. And we met Jason & Emily (my work husband and our nanny), their children Camden & Rowan and Jason's Dad Pete in for a visit from the UK.

Rowan was our tour guide reading the map and telling us which way to go next and what was ahead. Camden was content to ride his Dad's shoulders, and Riley was chillin' in his Bob Stroller.

I have to admit that at 9.5 months old - the theme was definitely "can't see the forest for the trees". We'd hold him up to see the animals - say an elephant - pretty hard to miss - and Riley would be mesmerized with the wood railing!


Riley & Dad

He was even sitting face to face with a chimp and was unimpressed! People walking by were laughing at how relaxed he was with his feet hanging on the rails of the stroller.


Face to face with the chimp...and chillin' - he grabs that bar with his toes and lounges - it's funny!

See below where Emily and I busted him holding his own sippy cup too! He never tries to hold it when we're around! ;)



He was pooped out by the time we got home, but we saw the entire zoo except the Texas Wildlife part. It was a BEAUTIFUL day too! Sunny and 80, so not TOO hot yet!


This is a random gator we saw with a HUGE zit on his nose! ha! Seriously! None of the other ones had that!

Playing Catch Up!

Okay...so no time! As usual lately, but I wanted to do a quick rundown of what's been going on! Mainly to remind myself what to write about later!

- Riley had his 1st trip to the zoo.
- We have 1 full tooth and 3 others peeking through.
- He's officially scooting maybe army crawling is a better description, but you have to help him assume the position. He's not proactively doing it yet!
- He took his 1st plane ride to Lubbock and back to visit Talana's family this past weekend.
- His cheeks are still totally irresistible! OMG! Smoochie!!
- Kelly and I have given him his rapper name - Too $weet! (you know like Too Short!)
- He totally recognizes songs from his music class AND has favorites! When we play them on the cd player - he looks at the cd player and smiles and gets all excited...it's so cute! It reminds me of me when we're out and I'm trying to convince Kelly to dance for ONE MORE song because it's my FAVORITE!

Steam Rollerrrrrrrrrrr!

OMG! Riley's new thing is rolling ALL over the place! And he's getting pretty fast at it! He can literally roll from one end of my bed to the other without stopping! It CRACKS us up! Except of course when I'm trying to nurse him, and he thinks my job is to sit there and wait for him to finish playing steam roller! He just rolls and rolls and shakes his head and laughs...it's the funniest thing! It seems like he's working so hard too! Like he starts to get out of breath and hot!

So stay tuned...he may crawl after all....it remains to be seen!

Tooth #2 is peeking through!

BUT it's probably not the one you're thinking! It's NOT his other bottom tooth! It's the top tooth on the same side as the one his bottom tooth has broken through on! You can just feel the rough edges as of today, so we'll see how long it takes for it to break all the way through! This teething thing has totally perplexed me! I just assumed the bottom teeth would break through together, then the top but once again Riley's choosing to do things HIS way! Not by the book! And if you know me...you KNOW I've read the book! ha!

Other than that, it was a good week! My friend Tim (Rosy Cheeks from a previous post) and his Mom in town visiting from England stopped by to meet Riley on Tuesday night. He was his usual charming self of course! ;)

GiGi's coming to town this weekend, and we're planning on going to the Ft. Worth Zoo either tomorrow or Sunday - weather permitting - so stay tuned for notes from that adventure!! I SWEAR Riley said GiGi today! Multiple times! It was more like GaGa, but STILL! I was telling him that GiGi was coming to see him this weekend, and it was like he echoed it back! He better not say GiGi before he says Mama and Dada (and knows what he's saying!).

Still only ONE tooth!

Okay, so I have to admit - I thought when he "got a tooth", he'd really get both his bottom teeth! I had no idea he'd get one and it would stay like that for a while! It's almost been 2 weeks I think! And I can already feel the hard ridges on the top, so at the rate he's going - he may get a top tooth before the other bottom one!

He bit me TWICE in one nursing session this week! OMG! I can't imagine what that will be like with BOTH top & bottom teeth! I spatted him before I even realized what I was doing....it HURT! The worst thing was that I knew it was coming! As I said "Don't you BiiiiiiiiiiTTTTTTTTTTTEEEEE - OUCH - me!" Then he latched off and smiled at me as I spatted him! OMG! That bottom lip immediately came out and the water works started! I told him I should have been the one crying not him! That was the 1st spat though! So then I immediately felt bad!! :( I could see that I hurt his feelings! Poor baby!!

Then when we switched sides - you got it! He did it AGAIN! Luckily, he hasn't done it since so hopefully we got that out of the way! I don't know if I'll be able to take that!!

Grandma and Grandpa Sterne come for a visit!

Grandma & Grandpa Sterne came for a visit this past week. It was their 2nd time to come see Riley since he was born. As Grandma Sterne put it "I knew he was cute, but I didn't realize how cute he REALLY is!" Kelly and I say that all the time! He's way cuter in person! It's so hard to capture the essence of who Riley is in a photo because it doesn't take fast enough or he moves and mainly it just doesn't show his fun loving laid back personality! Which makes him even CUTER! If that's possible! Again, I'm not biased! ;)

We had a great time while they were here - lots of family time, we ate out a couple of times, hit Bass Pro Shops (One of Chris' Favorite Places) and walked around Southlake Town Square one day. Kelly and I even got to have a date night of dinner and a movie! We saw Wolverine, and I even liked it! Of course, what's not to like about Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds! :)

I think Grandma & Grandpa Sterne had a great time too! Hopefully they'll be back for a visit sooner this time!

I wasn't sure if having new people around for more than a brief visit would effect Riley. He didn't want to go to sleep as easy as he usually does at night, but other than that he seemed to enjoy their visit as much as the rest of us. Of course, we pretty much stick to Riley's schedule around here - respect the nap and sleep times!! That's our motto! And it seems to pay off with a easy going happy baby! I'll take that any day!! Just like the books says - Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child!

Here are some pics from their visit:


Grandpa Sterne helping Riley practice saying "MaMa"!


Riley hanging out with Grandpa & Grandma Sterne


Picture on the "Mooo-nicipal" cow at Southlake Town Square Court house.


OMG! Look at that face! It's a new face he started making last week! Cracks me up! BTW, I HATE taking pictures right now, but I know I will want some years from now! I just feel like they are all my "before" fat pictures! ha! What can you do?!


Random High Chair shot - probably watching his Your Baby Can Read video since he doesn't have a bib on. He still LOVES those videos! He gets all excited as soon as he hears the intro song start! Can you tell he's getting even MORE new hair in the front - the short undergrowth in the front?

Also, can you tell he doesn't sit still anymore? We're going to have to invest in a new camera soon! Otherwise all his baby photos will be blurs of him! I guess we could call him Flash then! And tell him about how fast he was when he was little!

9 Months Old!

Riley turned 9 months old last week on Wed, April 29th! His growth stats from his appointment were:
Length - 29 3/4" - 90%
Weight - 23 9.0 - 75-90%
Head - 18.5" - 90%

And he's a happy healthy 9 month old according to Dr. Jim! Ever since our episode at Children's when Riley was 5 weeks old - I always try to take pause and say a little prayer thanking God that we've been blessed with a healthy baby boy! I remember how stressful it was for Kelly and I when Riley was in the hospital. I have NO idea where parents with really sick children find their strength to make it through!