Today was AWESOME!!

What a huge day! Started with the usual... Riley and dad up at 7:30, mom up at 9 for feeding, Riley nap at 10, then breakfast at the Bull. Then, we all headed to Gymboree! Russell and Riley had a blast. I enjoyed staying on the sidelines, taking photos and video. Here they are, enjoying the activities. Video will come later. I have a lot to edit...






Afterwards, we came home, and Riley only napped for about 1/2 hour. Then we spent the afternoon in the yard, weedwacking and mowing and ripping out nasturtiums by the roots. Those things are like weeds out here! Even though they're pretty, they really take over and kill the good stuff. Riley sat under the cabana in her ExerSaucer, and laughed when the mower went by. That girl's not afraid of anything!

Tomorrow we will finish mowing (the grass was so long, we had to cut it in two steps!). I'll take some photos of our success. And of Riley laughing at us. Oh, and of Russell's new haircut..... yippeee!!! What a handsome man.

A good day

Well, she had a really good schedule today. Up too early, in my books, but it worked for her. She woke up at 6:30 (ugggh). Nap 9-10. Nap 1-2. And bed at 8. Didn't get cranky at all, and ate a great dinner (she often doesn't want to eat her dinner). Hmmm, I may end up being an early riser.... Gawd, I hope not!

We went to the playground again today. She was crawling all over the place in the sand! No more face-plants. Oh, I don't think I blogged about that... we went to the playground last week, and she decided to try to crawl. When she hit the sand, she landed on her face. Now, you'd think she'd get really upset and cry. Nope! She looked at me, blinked her sandy eyelids, licked her sandy lips, and tried to get right back down. What a gal... not a girly-girl at all. What am I in for?!?!?

That is all. Tomorrow we swim. And this weekend, we will go try out a class at Gymboree. That will be a dad-Riley activity, if it seems like a good class. Fun!!

Get well soon, Ava, we miss you!

A nice weekend

Well, starting off with Friday, Russell took the morning off to rest... he was starting to feel under the weather too, and wanted to fight it before it started. It worked, I think.




After he left for work, Riley and I went for a walk to the playground. I decided to put her in the big girl swing for the first time. It was a hit!



Yesterday, Rilely and I had brunch with Laine. I was stupid, and forgot to take a photo of them together. Sorry Laine! Just another reason for us to get together again soon....

While we waited for Laine to get here, Riley decided to surf the web.



Then, she finally caught up with Mr. B, and he actually let her "pet" him for a little while. What a trooper he was.... she was practically humping him. Didn't get any video of that, but here are a couple of photos.




Today was more low-key. Riley didn't want to eat much in terms of her solids... I think that tooth is about ready to break through. But she's been sleeping like a true champ... today she didn't wake up until 6:45 (bed at 8:30)!

Three nights, and going....

Well, she's slept through the night for 3 nights now. Up at 5:30 consistently to eat, then back to sleep till about 8 or 9. But I'm not going to say anything else, because I don't want to jinx it.

I'm still sick. The stomach thing has mostly calmed down, but still stuffy and coughing. I've had it! I think we'll skip swimming tomorrow, just so I can rest. Poor Riley, I wish she could go without me!!



Here is a little movie Russell took in Toronto. The girls had so much fun in the tub!

Sleep Training 101

OK. So, according to my last blog, Riley was getting up every three hours. And I'd had enough. So, Saturday night, Russell and I decided to start some sleep training for the little doll. Here's how it went:



Night one:
She woke, like clockwork, at midnight. No feeding and 63 minutes of wailing and hugging later, she was asleep. (after some research, I decided I don't buy the Ferber method)

Night two:
She woke, like clockwork, at midnight. No feeding and 49 minutes of whimpering and hugging later, she was asleep.

Night three:
Bed at 8:30pm. First waking at 5:30am. No crying, no hugging. Even though I missed the hugging, I hope it's not a fluke. We all liked (and needed) the sleep.

The other day, we had to go and sign our taxes, so I went downtown and had a drink with Russell and his team after work. Marcus was there, and took some cute photos of us.

I went to the doctor today. Didn't learn anything new... Russell had been already giving me everything that the doctor recommended. And, he's been amazing, with staying home to take care of me and help with Riley. I couldn't do it without him. I'm very lucky to have such a good daddy for the love of my life. Anyhow, I guess I'll just have to wait it out. Yuck.

Check out these two. Quinn is two weeks younger than Riley. You saw them in their Halloween costumes. And here they are, 6 months later. What beautiful little girls they are becoming!




OK, so, I know I posted this photo on my last blog, but I have to post it again. How FUNNY is this little chair? How tiny does she look? I love it.



And here are a couple more great photos from Toronto, that I didn't get to post before:




And that is all. Oh, wait. I just finished this video. Just a little crawing fun... she's discovered a new way to get Mr. B!



Good nite!

Still not feeling 100%...

So, I got sick again. Or, I'm still sick. Something like that. And I've been going to bed at 10pm every nite. Hasn't helped that Riley's decided to get up every THREE hours now, screaming at the top of her lungs. Standing in her crib, not being able to get back down. She won't calm down until I feed her. The other night, she was having cereal at midnite. This has to stop! I need my beauty rest. So does she... can't miss out on that magic elixir!

A quick recap of this week before backing up to the rest of the Toronto trip:

We have a crawler. No joke here, she is so fast, I can barely keep up with her! I'll take some more video of her soon. You'll think I'm playing it in fast-forward. She's a little robot.

Riley's cold is gone. Yay! When I called on Monday, Dr. Pepitone perscribed eyedrops that cleared it up in 3 days. I LOVE Dr. Pepitone. Wish she could be my doctor too. Riley also had an appointment at the ear-nose-throat specialist. Her ears are exactly the same, still full of fluid. And we're still waiting. Two months and we'll go back. Hope they drain by then.



We went swimming yesterday. I think that's what brought back my cold/flu/whatever it is. I was just thinking about Riley's health, not my own. What's new? Go ahead. Call me a dumbass. I hear it's what moms do...

Russell had a second surgery on his ingrown toenail. It's doing much better. But I'm supposed to be taking care of him, and it's the other way around since I feel so crappy. I'm sorry honey, I'll make it up to you! ;)

OK. Enough of the boring stuff. Here's some Passover happiness. It was so wonderful to see most of the family together again. We really missed seeing Sharon and Howard... you guys can't go to Spain over Passover anymore!!!






My parents were invited to dinner this year, and they had a wonderful time. My mom can't wait to read the Haggadah, front to back. Seriously.




Charlie's birthday was celebrated at Passover dinner. What a lucky girl... she had a birthday for about a week! Party Friday, Cake Monday, Presents Tuesday... wow!! Too bad she already had the gift we got her. Miscommunication between moms! Russell replaced it with something she really wanted.




Here is some bath madness in Toronto. The cousins LOVED bathing together. It was hysterical. I have some video of it too, so once I edit it, you'll see it! Charlie was sad when Riley got sick and skipped the bath. What a sweetie.





That is all for now, I have to hit the hay. If I'm feeling up to it, more tomorrow!

Too tired to blog...

I'm sorry! Here is a photo to hold you over. I'm still a bit under the weather, and just no energy to write or edit.



Riley's doing better, too. Turns out she had a cold in her eyes, not pinkeye (yay!), and the doctor called in eye drops yesterday. She already looks back to normal. We might actually get to swim on Friday!

More when I'm feeling better... I have a lot of photos and footage from Passover in Toronto! In the meantime, check out Russell's update.

Lots to blog about...

Let's start with our last day in Derry. The weather was beautiful, so we spent some time in the yard. Mom and dad were showing her around. Nothing's blooming yet; in fact, it snowed again this week, but the grass is starting to get green:






Then, we drove to Toronto! Riley was amazing on the trip, only cried once or twice when she was hungry. And I pulled a very creative feeding maneuver in the back seat while the car was moving and she was in the car seat. Sorry, no photos of that one. But trust me, it was quite amusing.

Passover dinner was amazing, as always. Read about that on the next blog.



Today, Riley woke up with a fever and a crusty eye. Wonderful. She whined and slept a lot all day. But what a little trooper, she still was happy, clapping and smiling at everyone. Big-ups to Lindsay and Lorraine, aka *supermom* and *super-nanny* for helping out with the eye drops and infant Tylenol. For the morning nap, Lindsay and I took the babies for a walk for coffees. It was snowing, but trust me, the girls were comfy-cozy:








Check in tomorrow...