Give me that DUCK!

Sorry these pictures are kind of blury...but I had to share. Bathtime has changed dramatically. Riley used to just lay there while I bathed him. Now I cannot keep him still. I think we may not be able to bathe with the duck anymore. I finally just let him lay on his chest on the seat and shove the duck in his mouth. He was happy.

6 Months Old!!

Can you believe it?? Where on earth does the time go? I feel like I was just pregnant yesterday (quite possibly bc I am still carrying around half of the weight), but no I have a 6 month old...a six month old!!! He is no longer a tiny baby that you can cradle and soothe. In the last two weeks he has learned to sit up and he is not interested in lying on his back unless he is sleeping. He is always on the verge of moving and going. It is really kind of sad, but at the same time wonderful!! I guess that is what the future holds, excitement over new stages and nostalgia over the past. It is still so surreal to be a parent! I am the Mom and I really can't get over that.

When I was little I relied on my parents for everything, like all kids do, but I really do not think that has changed all that much. What I cannot get over is the fact that my parents have always been, in my eyes, adults. They have always been the ones with all the knowledge and life experience and the ones I look to for guidance on EVERYTHING...I mean I call to find out what to do about car stuff, house stuff, recipes, finances, and of course Riley. Will I ever feel like a grown up? And how on earth would I get along with out such great parents, both mine and Michael's? We are so lucky!!

Back to being 6 months old...Riley now weighs 15 lbs and 3 oz, putting him in the 20th percentile for weight. He is 26 1/4 inches long, putting him in the 45th percentile for height. So he went up in weight and down in height but he is still right on track adn his pediatrician is pleased.

Here are some pictures from his 6 month photo shoot!

Girl's Night

a couple of weekends back, Tracy suggested girls night. TJ was fishing and Searcy was going to be hanging out, so Carolyn and I joined them. Avery was there and Jake too. Riley stayed home, as he does not do to well when we keep him up past 7:00 pm. Michael stayed with him, while I played. It was a perfect break from homework, work-work, and house work! We had a great time.

Here is Avery wearing the ballerina hat that I got her. It has pink toole on it and she looked precious.

Here she is checking out baby Jake.

And here we have a foot comparison between Jake and Avery.

Here we have Carolyn and Searcy with their babies.

And below are two hilarious pictures...atleast funny to us. First I walked in without a baby, but I did have my pump in tow and so I used it as an all in one type of bag. Medela pump parts and wine tote. The two don't really go together but they both needed to get to Tracy's house.

Then Carolyn walked in with jake and his diaper bag and look what she started to pull out! Even Momma's need a time out!

Michael's Bedside Table

Below you will see a picture I took of Michael's bedside table. Just one more example of how life changes. Our living room floor is littered with bright colored stuffed animals, squeaky toys, and teething rings, and if you are not careful where you step you will hear some Baby Mozart tunes come streaming out of a flashing smiley face (truly mesmerizing for Riley...kind of creepy looking to me). Anyway, Riley does have his own room, but first ting in the morning Michael brings him upstairs so I can feed him while he takes a shower, and occasionally he needs a diaper change up stairs or some baby lotion...so Michael's bedside table is no longer his own.

Below you can also see (on the video monitor...the bestest thing ever) that last Wednesday, Riley started to sleep on his stomach. I am pleased with this, though twice over the weekend he managed to fling his pacifier across the crib and was unable to get to it, so he woke me/us up. If this trend continues he is bound to start to squirm his way around out of desperation...just one more sign he will likely crawl before he walks. With all of the standing that he has been doing we had fears he would walk first...and they say that is not good for developing the proper motor skills, so I am relieved.

Spoon Training

So on and off since the end of April we have been doing what I call "spoon training". You can introduce first foods to a baby as early as 4 months, but they do no actually need to have solids until 6 months. So when Riley was a little short of 5 months old, we tried rice cereal with milk mixed in. It was a failure over and over again, but I kept trying hoping he would take interest in it. Then the weekend before we went to the beach we stopped through Pensacola, and I let my Mom give it a shot...suddenly he reacted and enjoyed it and he came out of the meal clean. So since then we continued to work our way up but he never would take to much until I started to add sweet flavors to the rice, such as sweet potatoes or acorn squash. here are some of those early attempts.

Etta fed him at the Pink House over Memorial Day and she too was able to get most of it in his mouth...it is either a grandmother skill or perhaps something to do with patience, which I lack. But I also make such a mess because Riley grabs for the spoon and I let him have it. He plays with it and we both end up covered in peas and rice, along with the dining room table and his chair. One night after a feeding we gave him a bath, and then about an hour later discovered his eyelashes were still coated in squash. Here is what he usually looks like after we are done:

Beach Weekend May 8th

So I finally uploaded a bunch of pictures tonight and over the next week I will be posting about May...since I never seemed to get around to it in May! Anyway, this post is dedicated to the weekend of May 8th, when we went to the "Pink House" with the Austins and Aunt Mary and Uncle Radcliffe.

As you can see, Riley enjoyed a drink on the pier:

And he finally met HAILS! Here he is pating Hails on the back. I am not sure that Hails new what to make of him at first.


Not sure what kind of look he is giving Hails above. And below he is lounging on his new beach towel, which Katie had made for him. He and Hails matched and were ready to get some sun.

Here he is hanging with Aunt Mary.

And below is a little adult fun after bedtime...actually some might consider card games involving beer juvenile fun. But we always play a round or two of P & A with the Austins (much to Michael's dismay).

This game resulted in a need for more beer, and below you can see how Radcliffe and Brigg transported it back to the house.

Rolling Over

I know I just said the other day he might crawl after all and he has taken one more step in that direction. He was in his crib last night, not at all interested in sleeping, laying on the Boppy wedge and he disappeared. I was watching him on the video monitor and when I looked up I could see the side of his head over to the right side of the crib. The little booger had rolled over from his back to his tummy for the very first time. We will see if it is a fluke or if he does it again this weekend. Michael and I jumped up and ran to see what he was doing and Carolyn started to come too but Jason was feeding Jake and could not get up so they watched from the video monitor. We all laughed about how funny it is that we sat around drinking beer and watching the babies and we were all so thrilled to be doing so...how life changes.

I would also like to mention that Riley has started squealing, we were thinking we were going to avoid all those loud shrieks, but he is doing it more and more.