A big deal today

Riley and I had an awesome day today! It was totally foggy outside, but that didn't stop us! We went for breakfast with dad in Cole Valley before we picked up the car from the garage. Then we went swimming, and then home for a little snooze. Then we went to West Portal to get some birthday presents for some babies. We have 5 first birthday parties in the next month! Love it... so much fun. Then, we came home and played.



Here is her big start of something new: (Oh, and by the way, I did NOT speed up these videos. This is just how nutty she is!)



Then, it ended like this, before we moved it to the bathtub, where is was a bit more safe:



Yay! What a big girl... guess it's time to buy her some big girl tumblers!

A great playdate with Juliet!

So today, Riley and I had Lisa and Juliet from our swimming class over to visit. What a great time we had! Riley and Juliet really hit it off.






Juliet loved chewing on Riley's aspirator, just like Riley does. Except, she carried it around in her mouth while she did other things. She looked like a little anteater! Very funny.



They played a game of catch for a good long time. We were cracking up! You can too:



Check out Lisa's blog... she beat me to it tonite!!! Some more great photos. Good luck with those butterflies, Lisa! And I say really, just go for the regular melons...

She's been eating really well the last few days... loving some new foods. Hamburger with sauteed mushrooms and onions, flaked tuna with avocado, turkey and cheese on wheat bread... you name it!! I hope she always eats this well.

And she has just a little bit of a shiner on her cheek from her little stunt the other day. You might be able to see it in some of these photos. I'm so glad she's OK! The first fall of what I'm sure will be many.

Time for bed... we have to get up early to pick up the car from the garage before swim class.

Little new things

Not a whole lot to talk about today, but Riley's been doing some new things. Some funny, some cute, and some amazing.

She's figured out how to turn her board books sideways and get her little thumbs lined up properly to open the pages.

She knows her teeth are there now. She loves to bite us. Playfully, but ow-eee! Sharp little razors.

She has taught herself how to climb. Via the arm of Russell's TV pillow, across the coffee table, and onto the couch to get at the laundry basket, which she loves to play with.

She discovered that if her toys in the tub gather by the drain, she can swirl the water with her hand to get them to come to her.

She learned how to open the wipes warmer to pull wipes out. Can't use them yet, but she sure knows how to throw them around!

She's discovered that she often loses little toys under furniture, and has started laying on her stomach to look under and reach to get it.

Oh, that's about it for now. I discovered that I have a pretty good collection of sleep photos that crack me up, so I'm gonna do a series here. No, I decided to do a little movie instead. Enjoy!

A fun-packed weekend

We did so much this weekend! I'm still a bit exhausted from it, and then today really just took the cake. First, let's back up to the weekend, then we'll get to today.

Saturday, Laine invited me to go to the NY Yankees/SF Giants baseball game. We used to go to games when we lived in New York, so it was a nice trip to the past. And, reminiscent of our NY baseball adventures, the game went into multiple extra innings. I think it ended at the bottom of the 14th. And we don't need to mention that the Yankees lost. Bummer! We were SO outta there... Here we are at the game:



I took a little video of the stadium. It's a really beautiful ballpark. I can't figure out how to edit it though. I may or may not post it at a later date.

I had Riley withdrawal, since I don't spend much time away from her. But Laine wouldn't let me show photos or talk about her too much... she said it's good for me to get away. I agree. But I still don't have to like it!! I believe Russell and Riley did pretty well. Aside from mealtime, in my opinion. But that's OK. One day of unbalanced nutrition won't kill anyone. They had a really fun day, and Riley went right to sleep when I put her in bed. He's a great dad.

Sunday, Riley became a cereal killer. Here's proof of that:



We went to a BBQ at Lake Merced Sunday afternoon. Pam and Jacob, from my mom's group, are moving to Texas, so we wanted to get everyone together with the dads. Aside from it being windy, it was a really nice time. Russell manned the grill, and there were loads of babies rolling around in the grass. Who could ask for more?! I don't have any photos or video of the day, since it was all so overwhelming (wind, babies, food, etc...). You can imagine.

We gave her a new toy on Sunday... her first baby doll! I believe it was a shower gift from Auntie Carol Potthoff. And she LOVES it. She gets very calm and smiles really big when she sees it. She carries it around everywhere she crawls, and sucks on it's fingers. Here they are together:




And today, daddy brought home another new toy for her. He's the best toy-getter! A retro Fisher Price telephone. I remember having one of these when I was little! And she loved it, just like I did. Here it is:




WHAT'S NEW?
Oh man... so not only has she figured out how to get into the garbage can and the Diaper Dekor. Today, while I was fixing her lunch, she was making the rounds of the house, chasing Zoe all over the place. Then she stopped by the kitchen window and was hanging out there. Then, I heard the top of the pet food locker slam. Strange, because it's really heavy. But alas, she was sitting there looking at me with a very guilty look on her face. I went over to her, and because she had a hand to her mouth, I stuck my finger in. And proceed to pull out a handful of cat food! Uh, not quite a yummy snack...

Here she is, about a week ago, standing against the pet food locker. I know she was plotting and scheming and all the while, appearing to be distracted by some bubbles... gotta keep a close eye on this one.



Then, the kicker for the day. She terrified me for the rest of the afternoon, and I'm still feeling a little dizzy, just thinking about it. She was sitting on her changing table, leaning on me, since I was in front of her. I reached right above to grab a bib, and she did the lunge. The fast-as-lightening, sneaky Riley lunge. Off the table. To her right. Onto the Diaper Dekor. Off the laundry hamper. Into the garbage can. No joke. Right into the can (it was empty, because today is garbage day). She cried a bit, but got over it pretty well. Unscathed, aside from a small bump on her left cheekbone. She let me put ice on it for a short while, so hopefully she won't get a big shiner. And needless to say, the changing table has made it's way to the floor. For good. And Riley got blueberry ice cream out of it.

So, that was today. Hopefully tomorrow will be more uneventful...

Oh, and apparently, she's figured out how to get the DVDs out of the cases. Russell gave her some cases to play with, and looked over at her, and she was playing with the actual DVDs. WE can hardly even get them out. How in the hell did she ever figure this out??!! The baby's a genius, I tell you.

And that is all. Good night.

Recovering from her cold

We stayed home all day, so Riley could start feeling better from her cold. She seems a lot better, but her teeth still seem to be bothering her. She got up 3 times in the night. Arggh...



Even though she's not feeling 100% today and I have to follow her around with a kleenex, I did let her go for a drive. In her high chair, that is. Here is the footage I promised. Enjoy this silly gal.



We met up with dad after work at Cafe Gratitude. A totally comfy place, I love their Gratitude wine and the all natural, vegan health food, but it's a little too hippie. In the afternoons, someone always comes around to your table and askes the question of the day. First time we went there, the question was, 'What do you stand for?' Russell stood for liberation, and I stood for motherhood. Who knows.

Anyhow, Riley was the hit of the place again, as usual. When we got home, I gave her some Tylenol, and off to bed.

The exterminator came again this morning. These little gophers are persistent. They have tunnels all along our fence and our foundation line. They're eating the roots of the roses. Little suckers. Go to the neighbors. I noticed today that there's another black stray cat. He was in our neighbor's yard at the same time the other one was under our hammock. Guess they're looking for gophers. Get 'em!!

Just some funny faces

Not too much going on today. It was mostly gray outside, but the sun came out for about an hour. Riley and I took advantage and went for a big walk. I tried to buy her some strawberry-banana ice cream, but she didn't want it. So I had to eat it. Bummer.

So I'm just going to share some photos that I took last nite. She was really making some funny faces. Based on these photos, there's no denying she is TRULY her dad's girl.








She hasn't been eating very well the last couple of days. And she's been waking up in the late evening. She has a bit of a cold, and I'm pretty sure her top teeth are starting to come down. Poor baby! We'll be skipping the playdate tomorrow, in hopes that she gets better.

Oh, and grammy and gramps booked their flight for the week of Riley's first birthday (Aug. 6). Can't wait to see them again! Especially gramps... it's been a while.

Something new she's started doing today... she drives her high chair around the house. Seriously. It's on wheels. She gets underneath it, stands up, and pushes it all over the kitchen, through the doorway, into the hallway, and gets stuck. I'll try to get that on video, too. Too funny!!

We have a stray cat in our yard. He's gorgeous! Zoe loves to scare him away. I'm glad she does that... Russell said he's not a very nice cat. Here he is, under the hammock. This is the best zoom I could get.



Check this out. We finally got some photos of Riley's cousin, Quinn, in Toronto! She's two weeks younger than Riley. Look how pretty... and that hair... getting so long!

Door slamming at 10 months...

So, Riley has a few new tricks. This one is pretty funny. Watch:



She started getting really good at it, so I had to get a cushion to put on the door to prevent finger-slamming. It's the white thing right above the door knob. A great invention, if you ask me. I seem to childproof a little more each day. Guess it will never really end.

The girl loves her books. More every day. She pulls them off the shelf 20 times a day, and sits there for a long time, flipping through all of them. She's figured out how to get her little thumb to turn through the cardboard pages.



Daddy has received two of his three father's day presents so far. He can never wait until the actual holiday. And in this case, they were things he could use, so he got them early. One is a back-rest pillow for when he watches TV or reads (or works or plays video games). The other one is a grilling apron. From Riley. Because they're pirates together. Here is the apron:



And here's a reminder of how they're pirates together:



Here is a very amusing dog walker in our neighborhood. He always had about 6 little dogs around him. And he rides his big skateboard. Love it. So does Riley... she squeals and laughs at him. So so I!!



OTHER NEW THINGS:
She will absolutely NOT wear a bib. As soon as I manage to get it on her, she rips it off. They all attach with velcro, so there's not much I can do, aside from expect a change of outfits. If grammy was here, that would not be an issue. In fact, it would be welcome. But, we have things to do!

Riley had an ear-nose-throat check-up, and she's lookin' good! The doctor said she likes what she sees from the hearing tests they did, and we don't have to go back! We're all SOOOOOO happy to hear that news!

While we were at the ear-nose-throat office, Riley taught herself how to pick her toys off the floor and put them in the bottom compartment of the stroller. Wow!! Too cute. Every time I got a toy out of the bag for her, she put it away. What a gal!

We went to a playdate at Walter Haas Playground on Wednesday. It's a really beautiful place, with sweeping views of the city. The only thing is, what comes along with the views is an incredible force of wind. It was completely unmanageable for me... I was trying to feed Riley (and myself), keep the napkins and bags from blowing away, keep Riley's hat on her head because it was so sunny and she wasn't having it, etc. I was very overwhelmed, and we only stayed for about 1/2 hour. Didn't even take one photo. Sorry!

Her new favorite food: tofu. She just can't get enough of it. Wants it with every meal. Could be worse... could be cookies.

She's climbing things. And sitting still. For brief periods. Check these out, while she watches Baby Einstein before bed.






BACK TO MOM'S VISIT
Tuesday, we went to the zoo with Jen and Coral. It was the only beautiful day we had during mom's visit. The rest of the visit was gray and chilly. Such a bummer, cause the weather has been perfect for almost 2 weeks now. Anyhow, here are some photos of Riley and Coral at the zoo.

Watching the train go by:



Posing:




They both had animal crackers, courtesy of grammy, for the first time. The outcome was positive. Really.




Here's a much more flattering shot of darling Coral:



OK. Now I'm all caught up, aside from the videos I still have to edit and post. Those are coming one of these days.

And just for the fun of it, here are some new sleeping photos. I promise I'll stop taking these now. I got in trouble today from Russell because she stirred after I took the photo. Whatever! It's worth it... she went back to sleep for another 45 minutes.




Take that! One long blog... xo

Hair by Grammy, and more....

So, I guess it's just grammy's job to make the baby look silly. Here is proof. Riley poses as Shaniqua:



Shaniqua on weed:



Riley poses as Loni Anderson:



Grammy also wanted to be a part of the Feeding of the Beets. It is quite an experience.



How big is Riley? SO big!



This kid is up to NOOOOOO good.



When Grammy was here, I hosted a playdate with my mommy's club. We had a wonderful turnout, and a super-fun time! We had about 8 moms and babies show up, and Grammy had the time of her life. Babies Everywhere!!




Those are the only photos I got, since I was busy video-taping. That footage is coming soon, I promise!

And here is Riley after the play date. She didn't care where she fell asleep. At least she made it into her crib. The little drunk.



That would be it for now... good nite!