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| Riley at 27 weeks |
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| Baby Boy at 20 weeks |
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Siblings???
At our last ultrasound I immediately thought that the baby (yes, we are still negotiating his name) looked just like our ultrasounds of Riley, so I had a little extra time Tuesday night with Riley in bed early and Marc at a meeting and I went back and looked at old ultrasound pictures of Riley and sure enough...
Marc's genetics are too damn strong! I was hoping not to hear "He looks just like daddy!" as I am delivering him this time around!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Initiative
Tonight Riley took the initiative to put on her "night nights" all by herself. Yes, seriously! How great is my kid!?! It did take 3x as long to put them on but it sure beat the fight we often have!
I was totally going to let her lay in bed with me and watch Care Bears for a bit since Marc was at a meeting tonight but she grabbed her night nights and started to put them on. I also took the opportunity to ask her if she knew why she had to wear her night nights. She said "Because Dr Hoffinger said so." Bless her little heart. I tried to explain to her that when she was born her feet were different from other babies' feet and that they were crooked and so we brought them to Dr Hoffinger and he fixed them up and now she wears her night nights to keep them straight. I tried to tell her that baby brother's feet were going to be straight so he wasn't going to have to wear night nights but that she would still have to because of her special feet. I also thought it was a good opportunity to throw in a lesson and tried to explain that she's lucky she had differences that we were able to fix and that no one really knows her feet were different but sometimes we see people in life who are different and that we shouldn't stare and should absolutely not make fun of them, we should be their friend because we should always remember how lucky we are. I'm not sure how much she understood, after all she's still only 2 1/2 but I hope over the next 4 months that telling her about her feet versus her brother's will ease some of her questions when she has to wear her night nights and baby brother does not have to.
I took the videos on my phone so I had to break them into two different videos to transfer them so there's some overlap.
Now if only every night could go so smoothly!!!
I was totally going to let her lay in bed with me and watch Care Bears for a bit since Marc was at a meeting tonight but she grabbed her night nights and started to put them on. I also took the opportunity to ask her if she knew why she had to wear her night nights. She said "Because Dr Hoffinger said so." Bless her little heart. I tried to explain to her that when she was born her feet were different from other babies' feet and that they were crooked and so we brought them to Dr Hoffinger and he fixed them up and now she wears her night nights to keep them straight. I tried to tell her that baby brother's feet were going to be straight so he wasn't going to have to wear night nights but that she would still have to because of her special feet. I also thought it was a good opportunity to throw in a lesson and tried to explain that she's lucky she had differences that we were able to fix and that no one really knows her feet were different but sometimes we see people in life who are different and that we shouldn't stare and should absolutely not make fun of them, we should be their friend because we should always remember how lucky we are. I'm not sure how much she understood, after all she's still only 2 1/2 but I hope over the next 4 months that telling her about her feet versus her brother's will ease some of her questions when she has to wear her night nights and baby brother does not have to.
I took the videos on my phone so I had to break them into two different videos to transfer them so there's some overlap.
Now if only every night could go so smoothly!!!
Friday, August 19, 2011
On a Roll!
We had our 20 week ultrasound today (woohoo, halfway there! Well probably more than halfway there since RiRi was early) and we are on a roll! Baby boy is looking pretty darn perfect! We confirmed that there is NO clubfeet (not that we don't love Dr H but I am not going to miss weekly casting sessions this time). His heart, brain, stomach, kidneys, bladder, diaphragm and everything else look absolutely perfect. And there is no doubt that he is in fact our baby boy! The doctor even said that it would be a medical miracle worthy of the front cover of People magazine if he was not a boy when he was born! So it seems we are on a roll with this little guy! And he continues to measure right at his due date (well actually a day ahead of his due date), right now they estimate him weighing 13 oz. The doctor said she was trying really hard to find something wrong with him and just couldn't find anything!
I'm continuing to feel great and am loving being pregnant this time around. I'm doing my weekly progesterone shots which is a pain in the butt (literally, that's where they give them!) but they are worth it if it means a healthy little guy. I still have insomnia but my Doctor at my last shot said my hemoglobin levels were low and that could be causing the insomnia so I've started taking iron in addition to my prenatal so fingers are crossed for sleep! I don't want to be plum out of energy before he arrives! But other than that I feel really great, I feel him moving way more than I ever felt Riley and I have energy (despite not sleeping) and am really loving my baby bump and being pregnant. What a difference a pregnancy makes, though being miserable for 9 months was surely worth my Riley and I wouldn't have changed a thing because I could never imagine anyone else as my sweet girl but it is very nice to be enjoying this time, especially since he's our last baby!
So that's it! We go back in a month for a growth check! In the meantime, I'm going to continue to consume mass quantities of food because it seems to be working out well for the Little Guy!
I'm continuing to feel great and am loving being pregnant this time around. I'm doing my weekly progesterone shots which is a pain in the butt (literally, that's where they give them!) but they are worth it if it means a healthy little guy. I still have insomnia but my Doctor at my last shot said my hemoglobin levels were low and that could be causing the insomnia so I've started taking iron in addition to my prenatal so fingers are crossed for sleep! I don't want to be plum out of energy before he arrives! But other than that I feel really great, I feel him moving way more than I ever felt Riley and I have energy (despite not sleeping) and am really loving my baby bump and being pregnant. What a difference a pregnancy makes, though being miserable for 9 months was surely worth my Riley and I wouldn't have changed a thing because I could never imagine anyone else as my sweet girl but it is very nice to be enjoying this time, especially since he's our last baby!
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| My baby bump at 20 weeks 3 days! |
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| Check out his right dog! |
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| And the left one! They may already be bigger than Riley's feet! |
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| Marc gave me permission to post the baby's goods, in fact he wanted me to post them last month! |
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| Profile of our little guy, sadly for my genetics, I think he's going to look like Marc again! |
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| It's all good in here mom! |
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| How cute is this guy!?! I am totally in love with him and his cuteness! |
So that's it! We go back in a month for a growth check! In the meantime, I'm going to continue to consume mass quantities of food because it seems to be working out well for the Little Guy!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Party Hoppers
We were party hoppers this weekend, Riley has gotten invited to a ton of birthday parties this month, it's crazy! I've been trying to figure out what holiday is 3 months from now to figure out all of these August birthdays but all I could come up with is Thanksgiving! Hardly the romantic holiday! So the parties of the month kicked off with our friend Greg and Lyndsay's daughter, Clara's, 2nd birthday party. We skipped gymnastics this week (I really needed a haircut and she could get me in at 9AM so I took it) and headed out to Oakland for the 10AM party start. The weather was gorgeous, I was expecting cool Oakland temperatures but it was quite toasty in their backyard. They have a big sandbox that Riley loved playing with and her friend Jake was there as well as twins, Max and Kennedy. It was a fun time!
After partying it up with Clara and her family we headed to Joey's party. Joey is Riley's friend from school and they are quite honestly trouble together. Every time I am there picking up Riley at the same time as Jessica, Joey's mom, they are sneaking off together and we can't get either kid into the car, they just want to stay and play and chase each other. They were also caught kissing way back when Riley first moved to 2s. Yeah, bye bye Nate, hello Joey! Joey's party was at their community clubhouse and it made me very jealous that our HOA does not have a pool! They rented out an awesome clubhouse with side party area and the pool area had a toddler pool so all of the kids were swimming in there. It was awesome! Joey's party was a construction theme and they did an awesome job with it. Jim, Joey's dad made homemade enchiladas that were restaurant quality along with rice and beans. For the kids there were sliders and mac and cheese. Jessica made a bulldozer cake, that she sculpted and super delicious chocolate cupcakes with cinnamon frosting. She had them topped with ground up graham crackers to imitate dirt. Oh and did I mention that they also have a 3 month old son!?! They definitely put my plans for a low-key 3rd birthday for Riley since we'll have a new baby to shame! I guess I better start brainstorming! Riley was the only one there from school but she and Joey had a blast! They love chasing each other and they play so well together!
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| Playing in the sandbox |
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| Hello dahling! |
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| Grabbing the loot from the pinata |
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| Playing with the water table with twins Max and Kennedy (thank you Kristen for bringing them in their soccer uniforms with their names on the back!), Jake and Clara's cousin Max |
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| Checking out the kiddie pool |
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| Eating lunch with Joey |
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| The cake and cupcakes, AMAZING! |
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| Riley likes to walk around and strut her stuff in her bathing suit |
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| Riley's favorite part - singing happy birthday! |
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Ride Em Horsey
A few weeks ago, Riley's day care had pony rides, I actually had to sign my very first permission slip for this event. It had quite the impact on Riley, she's still talking about it and keeps telling me that I need to come and watch her ride the pony. She had asked me that day to come and watch, it was a Tuesday so I was working at home but I got wrapped up in work and never made it over there, I was also worried that if I showed up to watch that I would never be able to leave. I feel really bad because she keeps saying "Next time you come watch me?" I love that she wants to share all of these exciting experiences with me because soon enough she's going to want me to get lost so next time, no matter what, I am going to watch her ride the pony, even if that means the rest of my day involves trying to work with Riley around!
I was fully prepared to overpay for some pictures of her in a cowboy outfit sitting on a pony but there were no pictures of Riley, I was so bummed!!! I didn't even see a class photo but luckily Riley's friend Mitchell's mom found a class photo of the kids and the ponies and was nice enough to buy one for Riley. It's one of her most prized possessions right now and she walks around the house with it.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Closer to 3 than 2 and Clubfoot Check-Up!
WARNING: This is VERY lengthy!
It's completely hard to believe that as of today Riley is officially closer to being 3 than she is 2! Well I guess technically this was the case the day after she was 2 1/2 but today she hit the 2 year 7 month mark, crazy! I took her to the Dr last week when she was sick and she's finally at 25lbs, which is like the 9th percentile for girls her age (25th for low birth weight girls). Developmentally she's doing great, I think she's finally caught up on gross motor skills, she's a crazy jumper now, and day care keeps hinting that as soon as she's potty trained that she'll be ready for preschool! She continues to crack us up, she's talking in full on sentences and we continue to be amazed by how much she communicates and knows. You can actually have a conversation with her now. It's truly remarkable. The stuff that comes out of her mouth is absolutely HILARIOUS!
Here's a conversation we had this week on the way home from school:
Riley: "We didn't do Mr Clown today." (For those who don't know Mr Clown (you're missing out, ha! NOT so much!). Mr Clown is this silly song they do where they all sit in a circle and the kid who's turn it is gets to stand in the middle and then everyone sings "Mr/Mrs Clown Mr/Mrs Clown, you're the funniest clown in town, quick do a trick!" and they do a trick. Clearly Riley loves it because she gets to be in the middle of the circle and the center of attention.)
Me: "Why didn't you get to do Mr Clown?"
Riley: "Kids were talking so we no get to do Mr Clown."
Me: "Well, we're you one of the kids talking and not listening?" (A perfectly legit question for Riley.)
Riley: "No, I listen! Jimmy and Mitchell not listen!"
She repeated the same conversation with Marc when he got home, we were like "who is this kid?"
Riley also started asking this week if we were going to pick Marc up from the train, she remembered dropping him off and picking him up each day for the two weeks that I was off between ConAgra and Kellogg's. I was working retail locally on Thursday and didn't have to be there until 9AM so I told Riley that if it was ok with Daddy that we would take him to the train. This is the conversation with Marc that night.
Riley: "Daddy we take you to choo choo train Thursday?"
Marc looked confused so I explained that she's been asking to pick him up.
Marc: "Of course"
Riley: "Mommy, daddy said ok we take him to choo choo train!"
Marc: "But isn't the choo choo train too loud?"
Riley: "No daddy, we cover our ears!" She said it so matter of fact like it was pretty much the dumbest thing she had ever heard, HILARIOUS!
Sure enough, we took Marc to the choo choo train on Thursday and sure enough she had her ears covered!
So here's our sassy girl's official monthly photo, I think after she turns 3 I'm either going to go to every 6 month photos or yearly photos, especially since the little guy will be in the mix by then too.
We also took Riley to see Dr H today, if you remember a few months ago we went after trying to stop the brace for a month, see post here. Well her left foot was turning in about 20% of her steps, it was also the day we had our first ultrasound so it was a bit of an emotional roller coaster type of day! He wanted to see her back in 3 months after starting the brace again at night. I must say that Riley has been REALLY good about going back in the brace, Dr H told her that she needed to wear it and since she has a high regard for authority she's taken it to heart. Every morning she wakes up and says "I wear my night nights, Dr Hoffinger be proud!" And on the occasion that she does resist us, we tell her that Dr H said she had to and that usually works. I've noticed the last few weeks that her left foot looks so much better, I noticed her running down the hallway in Florida and didn't see her foot turn in once. I also put her back in gymnastics which I am convinced does wonders for her feet. So I was "cautiously optimistic" about today's appointment.
First of all, Riley cheered when we pulled into the parking lot, then she walked in to the place like she owned it. Beverly came to call another family back to orthopedics, saw us and told us to come back too. Riley ran to her, like full speed, like she forgot we were there. Riley also remembered the fire truck she was playing with last time with the family we met who's daughter had a clubfoot. She asked about the truck, from 3 months ago, it was not a special truck. She has a crazy memory! Riley ran all the way back to the orthopedic waiting room. Then Dr H walked out of an exam room and she saw him and said "I wear my night nights." It was adorable. He was running late for the first time in 2 1/2 years of seeing him so Riley spent the time getting lollipops from Beverly and helping her carry paperwork back to xray for other patients. She pretty much earned our co-pay back! We were back in the room when Dr H walked in and Riley was putting on one of her night night shoes, buckling it, Dr H commented on her fine motor skills. He also said he hardly recognized her and didn't know who she was until he saw Marc and I, that she had grown and matured a lot in 3 months. Ri sat on the exam table for the first time all by herself and let him check her flexibility and exam her feet without resisting or being afraid. He said she looked great, then we had her run/walk and he said her left foot looked great. So the night nights worked. Now what we don't know is if it's a band-aid and that once we stop the night-nights if her foot will start to drift back in our not but it's something we'll just have to test. So for now, surgery is off the table but we're not completely out of the woods. We got a new prescription for another brace because he didn't like some of the red marks that she had on her feet (she has about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of room left in them) and we were on our way.
The kicker: we don't have an appointment scheduled. This is the first time in 2 1/2 years that we have left there without our next appointment scheduled. I guess that's good, right??? They said to call after the baby is born when we get settled (oh and we told them that the little guy is a little guy and that he so far has no signs of clubfeet. Dr H even looked at the u/s pictures of his feet that Marc had on his phone and said they looked good) and to bring her in to get her checked out and see what next steps are, they also want to see the baby. :) I asked Beverly how far out he is booked because I am crazy, she said, "Don't worry, I'll get you in the week you call if that's what you want." It's so nice to feel so taken care of, you don't really get that with Dr's these days. I'm not sure how I feel about not having an appointment scheduled and not knowing what's in store next for our clubfoot journey. It's a little unsettling, though, certainly good that re-bracing did the trick for us.
It's completely hard to believe that as of today Riley is officially closer to being 3 than she is 2! Well I guess technically this was the case the day after she was 2 1/2 but today she hit the 2 year 7 month mark, crazy! I took her to the Dr last week when she was sick and she's finally at 25lbs, which is like the 9th percentile for girls her age (25th for low birth weight girls). Developmentally she's doing great, I think she's finally caught up on gross motor skills, she's a crazy jumper now, and day care keeps hinting that as soon as she's potty trained that she'll be ready for preschool! She continues to crack us up, she's talking in full on sentences and we continue to be amazed by how much she communicates and knows. You can actually have a conversation with her now. It's truly remarkable. The stuff that comes out of her mouth is absolutely HILARIOUS!
Here's a conversation we had this week on the way home from school:
Riley: "We didn't do Mr Clown today." (For those who don't know Mr Clown (you're missing out, ha! NOT so much!). Mr Clown is this silly song they do where they all sit in a circle and the kid who's turn it is gets to stand in the middle and then everyone sings "Mr/Mrs Clown Mr/Mrs Clown, you're the funniest clown in town, quick do a trick!" and they do a trick. Clearly Riley loves it because she gets to be in the middle of the circle and the center of attention.)
Me: "Why didn't you get to do Mr Clown?"
Riley: "Kids were talking so we no get to do Mr Clown."
Me: "Well, we're you one of the kids talking and not listening?" (A perfectly legit question for Riley.)
Riley: "No, I listen! Jimmy and Mitchell not listen!"
She repeated the same conversation with Marc when he got home, we were like "who is this kid?"
Riley also started asking this week if we were going to pick Marc up from the train, she remembered dropping him off and picking him up each day for the two weeks that I was off between ConAgra and Kellogg's. I was working retail locally on Thursday and didn't have to be there until 9AM so I told Riley that if it was ok with Daddy that we would take him to the train. This is the conversation with Marc that night.
Riley: "Daddy we take you to choo choo train Thursday?"
Marc looked confused so I explained that she's been asking to pick him up.
Marc: "Of course"
Riley: "Mommy, daddy said ok we take him to choo choo train!"
Marc: "But isn't the choo choo train too loud?"
Riley: "No daddy, we cover our ears!" She said it so matter of fact like it was pretty much the dumbest thing she had ever heard, HILARIOUS!
Sure enough, we took Marc to the choo choo train on Thursday and sure enough she had her ears covered!
So here's our sassy girl's official monthly photo, I think after she turns 3 I'm either going to go to every 6 month photos or yearly photos, especially since the little guy will be in the mix by then too.
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| Oops, put her in the same outfit AGAIN! |
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| The official |
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| One word: SASS! |
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| "All done!" |
First of all, Riley cheered when we pulled into the parking lot, then she walked in to the place like she owned it. Beverly came to call another family back to orthopedics, saw us and told us to come back too. Riley ran to her, like full speed, like she forgot we were there. Riley also remembered the fire truck she was playing with last time with the family we met who's daughter had a clubfoot. She asked about the truck, from 3 months ago, it was not a special truck. She has a crazy memory! Riley ran all the way back to the orthopedic waiting room. Then Dr H walked out of an exam room and she saw him and said "I wear my night nights." It was adorable. He was running late for the first time in 2 1/2 years of seeing him so Riley spent the time getting lollipops from Beverly and helping her carry paperwork back to xray for other patients. She pretty much earned our co-pay back! We were back in the room when Dr H walked in and Riley was putting on one of her night night shoes, buckling it, Dr H commented on her fine motor skills. He also said he hardly recognized her and didn't know who she was until he saw Marc and I, that she had grown and matured a lot in 3 months. Ri sat on the exam table for the first time all by herself and let him check her flexibility and exam her feet without resisting or being afraid. He said she looked great, then we had her run/walk and he said her left foot looked great. So the night nights worked. Now what we don't know is if it's a band-aid and that once we stop the night-nights if her foot will start to drift back in our not but it's something we'll just have to test. So for now, surgery is off the table but we're not completely out of the woods. We got a new prescription for another brace because he didn't like some of the red marks that she had on her feet (she has about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of room left in them) and we were on our way.
The kicker: we don't have an appointment scheduled. This is the first time in 2 1/2 years that we have left there without our next appointment scheduled. I guess that's good, right??? They said to call after the baby is born when we get settled (oh and we told them that the little guy is a little guy and that he so far has no signs of clubfeet. Dr H even looked at the u/s pictures of his feet that Marc had on his phone and said they looked good) and to bring her in to get her checked out and see what next steps are, they also want to see the baby. :) I asked Beverly how far out he is booked because I am crazy, she said, "Don't worry, I'll get you in the week you call if that's what you want." It's so nice to feel so taken care of, you don't really get that with Dr's these days. I'm not sure how I feel about not having an appointment scheduled and not knowing what's in store next for our clubfoot journey. It's a little unsettling, though, certainly good that re-bracing did the trick for us.
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| Does this look like a kid who's about to go see a Dr? Yep, she already has one lollipop in her mouth and she has another in one of her shirt pockets! |
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Priceless
2 Movie Tickets: $17
A Medium Popcorn & M&Ms: $13
First movie: Priceless
Marc's buddy from high school was in town this weekend so Saturday I decided to give them some guy time and after gymnastics I took Riley to see "Winnie the Pooh" at the movie theater. I was pretty nervous but I figured of all the movies out there, "Winnie the Pooh" was the best choice since it's geared to a younger crowd and it's only an hour and nine minutes. So we went to a 10:55 show. Riley was SO excited and had been talking about it for days, she even told her gymnastics coach that we were going to go see "Pooh Bear after nastics"! As we were pulling into our parking spot she said "Oh no, we should have brought Piglet!" I said "Oh no, how could we have forgotten Piglet???" (We had talked the past few days about maybe bringing Pooh Bear and Piglet with us to the movie). She said "We bring him next time." Clearly she had high hopes for this little outing!
I explained the whole process to her so she knew what to expect: how we had to get in line, buy our tickets, and then we would go in and go potty (for this pregnant lady, not her!), and then we would get in line and get our popcorn (Riley loves popcorn so I promised her some at the movies since our Target Cafe is under construction and doesn't have popcorn right now) and then we would go give our ticket to the nice man and then go pick out our seats. She was so excited about the process, she was also excited to go through security at the airport so I shouldn't have been surprised, she kept repeating each of the steps to me. We bought our tickets and then got in line for the concessions, of course they had a display of candy right by the counter so of course Riley needed her M&Ms. Or as Riley says "I just love Mns!" We went to the theater and poor Riley doesn't weigh enough to hold the seat down so she ended up sitting on my lap which was fine! They do have boosters so I will have to try that next time, yep, I said next time! She did great the entire movie. We poured some popcorn and M&Ms in the tray we got and we settled in, we got there just as all of the previews were starting. We watched all of the fun previews and there was even a preview for the new Muppets movie coming out in November! We are pumped. Then Pooh Bear started.
It was actually a really cute movie, told like someone was reading the story. It was a good mix of narrative and animation of the characters with Pooh interacting with the narrator and the pages of the book. It was super cute. Riley sat on my lap for most of the movie, double fisting, with popcorn in one hand and M&Ms in another. It was pretty stinking cute. And here's the kicker, my child was probably one of the more well behaved children (and she was by far the youngest) in the theater! My child!!! I was shocked, she got a little antsy the last 10-15 minutes but it was just about 12:00 and that's what time she usually goes down for her nap plus she had gymnastics in the morning so she's usually ready for an early nap after gymnastics so I couldn't really get too upset. She remained quiet though, we talked a lot about not talking and if we had to using our soft voice, she was just antsy and ended up standing in front of me and sitting on the steps of the theater. But since she sat through the previews she sat still for well over an hour which is pretty good for Ri.
All in all the experience was two thumbs up! I'm thinking we'll try the Smurfs in the next couple of weeks but maybe try to hit up a show after her nap and see how having her well rested works out since Smurfs is a little longer of a movie.
A Medium Popcorn & M&Ms: $13
First movie: Priceless
Marc's buddy from high school was in town this weekend so Saturday I decided to give them some guy time and after gymnastics I took Riley to see "Winnie the Pooh" at the movie theater. I was pretty nervous but I figured of all the movies out there, "Winnie the Pooh" was the best choice since it's geared to a younger crowd and it's only an hour and nine minutes. So we went to a 10:55 show. Riley was SO excited and had been talking about it for days, she even told her gymnastics coach that we were going to go see "Pooh Bear after nastics"! As we were pulling into our parking spot she said "Oh no, we should have brought Piglet!" I said "Oh no, how could we have forgotten Piglet???" (We had talked the past few days about maybe bringing Pooh Bear and Piglet with us to the movie). She said "We bring him next time." Clearly she had high hopes for this little outing!
I explained the whole process to her so she knew what to expect: how we had to get in line, buy our tickets, and then we would go in and go potty (for this pregnant lady, not her!), and then we would get in line and get our popcorn (Riley loves popcorn so I promised her some at the movies since our Target Cafe is under construction and doesn't have popcorn right now) and then we would go give our ticket to the nice man and then go pick out our seats. She was so excited about the process, she was also excited to go through security at the airport so I shouldn't have been surprised, she kept repeating each of the steps to me. We bought our tickets and then got in line for the concessions, of course they had a display of candy right by the counter so of course Riley needed her M&Ms. Or as Riley says "I just love Mns!" We went to the theater and poor Riley doesn't weigh enough to hold the seat down so she ended up sitting on my lap which was fine! They do have boosters so I will have to try that next time, yep, I said next time! She did great the entire movie. We poured some popcorn and M&Ms in the tray we got and we settled in, we got there just as all of the previews were starting. We watched all of the fun previews and there was even a preview for the new Muppets movie coming out in November! We are pumped. Then Pooh Bear started.
It was actually a really cute movie, told like someone was reading the story. It was a good mix of narrative and animation of the characters with Pooh interacting with the narrator and the pages of the book. It was super cute. Riley sat on my lap for most of the movie, double fisting, with popcorn in one hand and M&Ms in another. It was pretty stinking cute. And here's the kicker, my child was probably one of the more well behaved children (and she was by far the youngest) in the theater! My child!!! I was shocked, she got a little antsy the last 10-15 minutes but it was just about 12:00 and that's what time she usually goes down for her nap plus she had gymnastics in the morning so she's usually ready for an early nap after gymnastics so I couldn't really get too upset. She remained quiet though, we talked a lot about not talking and if we had to using our soft voice, she was just antsy and ended up standing in front of me and sitting on the steps of the theater. But since she sat through the previews she sat still for well over an hour which is pretty good for Ri.
All in all the experience was two thumbs up! I'm thinking we'll try the Smurfs in the next couple of weeks but maybe try to hit up a show after her nap and see how having her well rested works out since Smurfs is a little longer of a movie.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Riding First Class, Up in the Sky, Sipping Champagne
Poppy travels in style so he upgraded us all to First Class, this was Riley's first trip in her own seat, I'm afraid we've set a dangerous standard!
The last two days Riley really missed Marc. She yelled with excitement as we were landing that we were going to see daddy and when we landed Marc was waiting for us at baggage claim a Riley jumped into his arms, gave him a hug and said "I missed you,". So incredibly sweet!
I brought her car seat on to try to keep her in her chair longer, I'm glad I did, on the way there she spent most of the flight in her car seat. On the way home she slept in it for an hour and then woke up yelling "I want out, I want out!" I took her out, put her on my lap and she fell right asleep for another hour or so. The rest of the flight she spent on my lap or my mom's lap but she was really good the entire flight.
The girl sitting behind her was a Middle School English teacher that does a lot of studies on verbal and cognitive development and said that she thought cognitively that Riley was 4 or 5 but she looked so small so she was confused. She asked how old Riley was and when I told her she was 2 1/2 she was shocked by her verbal and cognitive abilities. She said that she could see Riley logically thinking through situations and what I was saying to her, and instead of screaming she was verbally expressing her feeling. Like when we were landing she said "I scared, we falling," instead of screaming hysterically. When I explained to her the pilot takes us up and then he very slowly and safely takes us down she said "I feel better now." But the girl said Riley verbally expresses herself and logically thinks through situations better than a lot of kindergartners. She said she was fascinated by our interaction with each other because it was so logical. Don't get me wrong, Riley still has her 2 year old moments but it's mostly driven by hunger or lack of sleep so as long as we can keep those taken care of Riley is a pretty good kid. It was a very proud moment! :) I was also super proud that we made it through a 5 1/2 hour flight with no temper tantrums!
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| Don't worry, it's just apple juice, she took my pre-flight orange juice glass and wanted to drink out of it. She had everyone around us cracking up. |
The last two days Riley really missed Marc. She yelled with excitement as we were landing that we were going to see daddy and when we landed Marc was waiting for us at baggage claim a Riley jumped into his arms, gave him a hug and said "I missed you,". So incredibly sweet!
I brought her car seat on to try to keep her in her chair longer, I'm glad I did, on the way there she spent most of the flight in her car seat. On the way home she slept in it for an hour and then woke up yelling "I want out, I want out!" I took her out, put her on my lap and she fell right asleep for another hour or so. The rest of the flight she spent on my lap or my mom's lap but she was really good the entire flight.
The girl sitting behind her was a Middle School English teacher that does a lot of studies on verbal and cognitive development and said that she thought cognitively that Riley was 4 or 5 but she looked so small so she was confused. She asked how old Riley was and when I told her she was 2 1/2 she was shocked by her verbal and cognitive abilities. She said that she could see Riley logically thinking through situations and what I was saying to her, and instead of screaming she was verbally expressing her feeling. Like when we were landing she said "I scared, we falling," instead of screaming hysterically. When I explained to her the pilot takes us up and then he very slowly and safely takes us down she said "I feel better now." But the girl said Riley verbally expresses herself and logically thinks through situations better than a lot of kindergartners. She said she was fascinated by our interaction with each other because it was so logical. Don't get me wrong, Riley still has her 2 year old moments but it's mostly driven by hunger or lack of sleep so as long as we can keep those taken care of Riley is a pretty good kid. It was a very proud moment! :) I was also super proud that we made it through a 5 1/2 hour flight with no temper tantrums!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Saying Good Bye
Saying good bye is always hard, but Poppa will be 99 in November so I always wonder if it will be the last good-bye. I'm so glad that he's gotten to know Riley and Riley has gotten to know her Poppa Jack. They adore each other. Every night after dinner Riley would walk Poppa into his apartment with my mom, I was not allowed go. She would say "Mommy, you stay here. Just Riley, Nana, and Poppa Jack okay? You wait here." It was pretty funny, it was her self proclaimed job to make sure Poppa got in OK. Poppa picked up quickly on Riley's energy level and asked me if she's always on the go like she was during our visit. My answer: ABSOLUTELY! But they had fun together and that's all that counts!
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| Four Generations |
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Did you know?
That dinosaurs are not actually extinct??? At least they aren't according to Riley!
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| It's a "small dinosaur" but we saw lots of them on our trip! |
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Little Water Bug
Riley was quite the little water bug while we were away. We went to the pool every day except for one day and we followed that up by going to the pool two times the next day. Riley was also the social director of the pool and made friends with several of the other kids staying at the hotel. Because most of her friends were older Riley taught herself how to swim. One day she told me to let go of her (she had floaties on) and she just started kicking and paddling her way right across the pool to "her friend." I was amazed, she did so well!!!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
We Get Around
Thursday my dad's cousins had us over for lunch, they hadn't met little Miss Riley so they were kind enough to invite us over for a yummy bagel lunch. Riley took to Betty Lou and Peppy right from the get go. Betty Lou was even nice enough to go to Toys R Us and get Riley a present, the new Crayola Dry Erase Crayons. They were a huge hit and made their way to all of the restaurants with us the rest of the week. Any blog readers out there that have toddlers, I highly recommend them! Riley again ate like I've never seen her eat before, bagels, lox, blintz souffle, and coffee cake, oh my! I swore she gained 3 pounds while we were away, but she weighed herself today and was still only 24lbs! I think her baby brother might be bigger than her shortly after he is born!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Side Trip
Wednesday I took a few hours and took Riley to see Marc's Poppy, it's been a full year since he last saw Riley and he was shocked my how much she had grown. He lives right on the beach so Riley loved looking out his windows at the ocean, next time we will definitely have to plan to spend more time over there with him and go to the beach, because there are "big dolphins" in there! After visiting at his place for a while he took us to lunch. It was a fun visit and Riley of course kept Poppy very entertained!
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