Our Faves

The first picture below is Michael's favorite from last week and the second is mine. In the first one Riley just looks like he is about to strike up a conversation. And the next one is the way he was sleeping at one point Saturday night, though he did not do much sleeping that night.

Me & Baby Dwyer

Do I look like a proud or aunt? Because that is what I think little Jason Andrew Dwyer aka "Jake" will call me...isn't he BEAUTIFUL??? I went and met him tonight, and though I knew Carolyn and Jason would have a beautiful baby...can you believe this?? He looks like an angel, doesn't he? And believe it or not he is even more beautiful in person!!

I have been obsessing over this child since long before we knew he was coming, and he is one lucky little man. He has two of the very best parents and I know he has some kind of future ahead. Seriously...could he be more beautiful???

Cursed myself

Remember last week when I said that Riley would make these adjustments easily...I lied! On Saturday night he woke up every hour on the hour. It was awful. We threw in the towel and did what it took this weekend, so we are going to have to go back to sleep training this week...but it is horrible to hear your sweet little angel cry! And then it is even more miserable to hear them cry every hour...forget about sleeping. We think that Riley was not feeling well, because last night he was much better, and slept from 7:30 to 5:20, and Friday night he slept from 7:30 to 6:30. Riley also spit up more this weekend than he ever has before. It was constant and everywhere. Getting ready for church on Sunday was quite a chore, in order to get everyone dressed and keep us all from wearing spit up on our clothes.

Baby Model??

Michael and I are without a doubt doding parents. And we, like every other parent, think that Riley is the cutest most adorable thing on the planet. So to commemorate how cute he is we went and had his photos taken.

Two weeks ago, the day after Aunt Izzy got engaged, Gie Gie and I took Riley to our friends at Cook's Images. Hara and Jeremy did our wedding pictures and they are doing both of our sisters weddings this year. They are very talented and we knew we had to get them to catch Riley in action. It was amazing in a matter of 45 minutes or so, they managed to catch 31 fabulous pictures of Riley. He was happy and entertained the whole time. It is almost too bad they are so good at there job because I had too many great photos to choose from and only so much money to spend and so many walls to fill. Plus I plan to go back and get pictures of him when he is 8 months old and 12 months old.

You can click on this link below and you will be redirected to their blog where they have posted some of his pictures. In these pictures he is wearing the coat my mom made him and laying on the beautiful quilt Aunt BB (Joan) made him. The first picture he is wearing his bunny ears that Gie Gie and I found in Babies R Us. The second picture is Hara's favorite, the third is Jeremy's favorite (and one of mine too), the fourth one looks so good in combination witht the third one, and the fifth one is a face that he makes all the time. I call it his coy face...coy as in ..."Affectedly and usually flirtatiously shy or modest", not my father, though my sister thinks Riley looks alot like my Dad and I do too. And these are some great pictures, but there are even more!

http://www.cookimages.com/blog/?p=953

The BEST THING EVER!!!

This CD pictured below is an absolute life saver!! I cannot sing its praises enough. I thought perhaps it was just Riley who took so well to it, but googling for an image of it tonight I realize that there are others out there whose children love it just as much. Riley is usually lulled to sleep by the end of the first song, and if he is fussy in the car as soon as I put this CD on he calms down right away. I am going to download it on my Ipod, burn a second copy for the car and all of my friends with infants, and hope that I am NEVER EVER without it again. The music is actually very pleasant to listen to as well. My mom found the cd in Barnes & Nobles on a rack for $7.99 and being a big fan of music for infants she thought she would grab it. Since it worked such wonders on Riley on the way down to Tallahassee for the big engagement she has also bought a second copy for her house. We are also using it to single bedtime, so I am certain it will continue to help Riley fall right to sleep. I absolutely LOVE IT!

The end of the Swaddle/Baby Straight Jacket

This picture below is from last night. Riley was in his crib where I had put him down at 7:30 wide awake. It was one of the first times I had done that, because he usually falls asleep before I go to put him down. Anyway he got one arm free from his swaddle. In the past this has happened in the middle of the night and it usually leads him to fusiness (while still sleeping) and so I quickly re-swaddle and he goes back to peacefully sleeping. Unfortunately the night before last he did it at 3:20 am, and he continued to break out of it over and over again, Michael re-swaddled and put the paci back in his mouth several times. He finally just resorted to sleeping in our bed at an angle that allowed him to put his hand in Riley's bassinet and hold Riley's hand and it worked. He held Riley off until 5:30 and then I got up and fed him. Dr. Trumbell, who we love, says that there is no reason an infant needs to eat in the middle of the night, and Chappell's pediatrician said something similar, so I am avoiding trying to soothe Riley in the middle of the night because I do not want him to smell me and think food.

Below is a picture of Riley, the baby burrito. The swaddle is an absolutely magical thing that calms an infant in their early weeks. Not all babies still like it after the first few weeks, but I am not sure how Riley will adjust to sleeping without it. For now we are starting his new sleeping routine with it, in hopes that after a couple of weeks our routine will be solid and we can ditch the swaddle. The routine is putting Riley to be at a minimum of 30 minutes after he eats, awake so that he knows how to soothe himself and fall asleep without assistance from me, Etta, Gie Gie or Michael (aka Team Riley). It also involves letting him cry it out if he doesn't go to sleep or wakes in the middle of the night. My pediatrician and some others reccommend this method to start after an infant is atleast 3 months old because before 3 months many do not believe that infants are capable of understanding and connecting a routine. If you read Happiest Baby on the Block, the author refers to the first 3 months as the 4th trimester, he says infants this age are not yet ready for the real world and need for us to soothe them. I am sad to have to make these changes but I am lucky to have such a happy healthy baby that I am sure will adjust to them easily. (It really isn't much of a change, we are just going to have to be strict about the rules) And I hate to say it , but Riley is overall and easy baby...I know Michael and I are going to get whats coming with the terrible two's. But for now we are enjoying our little angel.

4 Month Photo Shoot