Just rollin’ around....

Today was mostly a typical day in the life of Riley. Except for the rollovers! I put her down for tummy time, and she immediately rolled onto her back! I cheered and applauded, of course, and put her back on her belly. Boom! Right back over. And over, and over. She was so surprised and delighted. Here is the series:





That was the big thing today. Before that, we had breakfast. I always have cereal and coffee at the table with Riley in her Bumbo. She likes when I make funny noises while I take bites of food.




That’s a poinsettia behind her. I haven’t started to decorate for Christmas yet, but I had to get that. It’s pretty, an unusual color.

Then we went for a long walk around the neighborhood. It was beautiful and sunny, but cold, so we bundled up. Riley fell asleep before we got home. That was part of the reason we went. She was going bonkers before we left!

We tried to have playtime at home, but she wore herself out:



Then I had some work to do. My office is in the bedroom, so she hung out in bed while I did my work. She likes that.




Then, we got to go for sushi! Our favorite place, Tazaki, is open after their vacation. Yay!! She slept the entire time. When we came home, she ate and had a bath. She loves her evening bathing ritual. I accidentally sprayed her face in the bath, and got really worried she would forever hate the bath. She looked startled for a moment, then started to giggle. Awesome! Here she is, wearing her angel towel from Oksana:



And here is the cutest bum-bum ever! I always give her a leg and foot massage after her bath while she reads (er, eats) a book.



Oh, I forgot to mention, she just had a week of getting up at 3am to eat. Oh man, that was a tough one. We haven’t done that since she was about 1 month old! I was worried that this was her new schedule. But, the last two nites, she slept from 9pm to 7am. Back to normal... yay!!! Knock on wood....

A triumphant Riley

OK, so I forgot to include the photo of Riley at the beach, knocking her dad out with a rock. She’s a good fighter.

Today was another example of that... what a trooper. She had her 4-month check-up at the doctor (she’s not quite 4 months yet), and her booster shots. Two shots in each thigh, and one oral vaccination.

I didn’t take any photos because she was extremely upset, but got through it with flying colors! She came home and was happy as can be, and took a nice nap. What a little doll.

I had turkey leftovers for dinner. Russell had pizza. And I worked all evening on my freelance work. I’m very tired, and will hopefully have more for you tomorrow!

A day at the beach

Well, it’s Saturday, and we veered from our usual path... we had breakfast at a new spot! We went to the Bashful Bull by the beach, and it was yummy.



We might prefer it over Tennessee’s, believe it or not. When we got home, Riley decided to take a little nap because we told her we were going to the beach.



Daddy decided he was going surfing today (we won’t talk about that), so we set up camp at the beach in Pacifica.




It was beautiful for a while, and Russell was lookin’ good!




He was a little beat when he returned from the water, to say the least....



Personally, I think that anyone who goes into that ocean is NUTS. The water is probably about 50˚. Gross. Once the sun went behind the clouds, I got cold just wearing shorts and a sweatshirt! But Riley was toasty warm... she had her soft fleece jumpsuit over her outfit. Probably sweating through it, as usual....



I took a hair-pulling and hugging photo series, and I have to share some of them:










Irresistible! I can’t stand how darling she is.... with her daddy. What a pair.

Riley’s sleeping, finally, and Russell’s on his way home from the mall. Yes, he was bored and decided to go hang with all the stylish teenagers on a Saturday night, and have some food at Chevy’s. I opted to stay home with Riley and have some turkey leftovers. Oh, suburban family life. Ya gotta love it!!!

Today, we took it easy

Riley and I let daddy sleep till 11:00 this morning. Then they let me nap from 12-2. Needless to say, we were all exhausted! And believe it or not, she rolled over with daddy while I was sleeping!! Can’t believe I missed it... the first time she’s done that since Russell was in Toronto. Maybe it’ll become a regular thing now.

After bagels at home, Russell went to Haight St. to do his weekend crawl, and Riley and I braved it, and went to Target. It was pretty nutty there. People get mean, shopping the day after Thanksgiving. We made a couple of returns, and got a space heater for her room. And then we were outta there.

Here is what she wore:



It was pretty cold outside for California, but of course she was hot as hell, so the sweater came off. Even though she looked so cute... she sweat right through it!

We went for sushi tonite. Our new favorite place by our house is still closed for vacation, but I had a craving. So we went to our old favorite place in Cole Valley. It was good, but next time we’ll wait for Tazaki to reopen. Riley wasn’t happy to be there, either. She did some of her screeching at the beginning of dinner, but that turned to crying halfway through. We took the rest to go. She went right to bed. Soooo sleepy.....

We are so thankful...

We are the luckiest couple alive. We have Riley-Belle, and what more could we possibly ask for? Our families are doing well, including Russell’s dad. He went for a walk outside today, for the first time since his brain surgery. It was a good Thanksgiving day. But before I get into our day, I have to tell you about the latest milestone.

This one is a whopper. Daddy discovered it while I was in the shower, and demonstrated when I came out. I immediately ran and got the iPod to record it. I’m not even going to bother trying to edit this one. You need to hear the entire thing (sorry, I have to figure out how to get the sound clip in here):



Yes, that is Riley laughing her head off. We both got tears in our eyes when we heard it. In fact, every time I listen to this, I almost cry. My God, what a happy child.

OK, now, about the less important remainder of our day. We started by watching the Macy’s parade. Riley loved looking at the balloons. Then we went for breakfast (where else? Tennessee’s, of course!). When we got home, Russell took Riley and Zoe for a walk to the beach, to watch the waves. Here they are:





She looked pretty cute in her sun hat... it’s huge! I took a mini nap while they were gone, then Riley came home and curled up with me:



She wouldn’t sleep, though. So we got up and started making turkey:



And noodles (a long-time holiday tradition in my family):




Here’s a toast to my great-grandmother’s noodle recipe, and the hand-written cookbook it lives in. My mom gave me this cookbook before I went off to college, with all of her famous recipes:




That cookbook has been with me for over 15 years, and I will always cherish it. It’s seen many, many miles.

While I was cooking, Riley got hungry. But guess what? Daddy got to feed her!




And then, I got to give her the last couple of ounces:



She actually let me feed her this time!

Then we finally got to eat. We planned dinner for 7, but it turned out to be closer to 8. I like having Thanksgiving dinner earlier, like 5. We’re going to start doing that next year.

Here’s Russell’s plate. He actually doesn’t eat the noodles. His loss.... and more for me!!



Here’s my plate:



Here’s Riley’s plate:



And here’s our centerpiece:



Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you enjoyed your day as much as we did.

Night moves

Infants are amazing. And confusing. Every day is a learning curve, always something new. But this one is goofy, and definitely takes the cake.

I want someone to explain this to me. How is it that we put her to bed like this:



And she wakes up like this:



Got me. The girl is a mover and a shaker! She never ceases to amuse me.

I took a series of the squeal face. Didn’t come out so great, since the face pretty much looks the same... unlike the poo face!



What’s better, are the actual sounds. I recorded some today, and will try to edit it tomorrow. I can’t wait to share the sounds with you!

We went for breakfast and then grocery shopping for Thanksgiving. Got a 10 lb turkey. I hope that’ll be enough for 2 people. (!!!) I had a good bit of work to do today, and she did a really good job of playing with her toys beside me. She’s getting to the point where she can entertain herself pretty well. As long as she can see and hear me.

She got a bath, and then she got to wear her new bath robe from Kelly (Crispin) Susa. It is so cute!



Nitey-nite!