Ready, Set...Go!

Riley loves playing with her lion walker! She is still obsessed with walking back and forth across the living room. She'll run to one side and look at us with her cheesy smile that says "Moooommm, I'm stuck. Come and get me!" We are trying to teach her to turn it herself with little luck. So far she'll walk in an arc and just get stuck somewhere else!

My most exciting new to report: we have a talker!! Last Friday Riley started saying 'Mama!' I was very excited that this was her first word and made her say it over and over. I began to feel a bit sad for Brett when she refused to say anything close to 'Dada.' Well, you'll be happy to know that last night she started saying 'Dada!' Brett is so excited and now he makes her say it over and over. She is such a little talker now. It's so cute to listen to her baby babble! It is just so crazy how fast she is changing. We have also been hearing a lot of people tell us that Riley looks like her mommy. Finally! For the past 10 months all we've heard is "you look just like your daddy!"

We took Riley to the Art's Festival downtown. She was exhausted due to skipping her nap. Our hopes of her napping the whole time we were there were squashed the minute we walked out of the parking garage! She was in a bit of a daze most of the time, but did enjoy eating pizza and throwing her sippy every chance she could! We didn't purchase any art, but there really was a lot of cool stuff on display!

As you can see from most of the pictures she's finally decided to start smiling for the camera. It still takes a lot of pleading, but she has now graced us with her cheesy tooth filled grin.

New Tricks

Yet again, Riley has some new tricks up her sleeve. Some exciting, some not so exciting! She is now walking everywhere...with her Lion walker. There are some nights that she is only kept happy by walking back and forth across the living room 16 times (literally...we keep track). We have been trying to get her to walk without the walker. She will stand without support for quite awhile now, but refuses to take any steps. She will lean forward until she can touch you or sit down, rather than take a step forward. She is sooo close though!

I don't know why she does this next trick. It is quite possibly the most ANNOYING thing ever. Think fingernails on a chalkboard annoying. Riley grinds her teeth. It's been going on for the last week or two and it really does drive Brett and I nuts. First off, the noise is unbearable. Second, it can't be good on her teeth. I've researched this online and everywhere I read it said that this was a phase and like most things it will soon pass. I think those are common words in parenting: "phase" "will soon pass". They get kind of old.

Next, Riley loves to play in her pool. I know this isn't a trick, but it's still exciting. We bought a little pool that looks like a rhino and she loves it. She'll sit in it and splash and splash until her eyes are red and toes are numb. She's only been able to use it twice since we bought it last week, but I'm sure it will get a lot more use over the summer! We don't have very many pictures or her in her pool. As soon as I have some good ones I will post them!

It's hard to believe that next week is the 4Th of July already. I love the 4Th of July. For some reason it is when summer really begins for me. I love the parades, food, parties, fireworks, and spirit in the air. I can't wait for Riley to experience it herself. Hopefully we'll be able to make it as memorable and exciting for her as it is for me.

Riley at 10 Months Old

Yesterday Riley turned 10 months old. I feel like a broken record every time the 15Th rolls around each month...where has the time gone? Can my itty bitty baby really be 10 months old already? You betcha! She is so much fun and we just love playing with her every night after work. Her personality is really developing into a fun little girl. At 10 months old she weighs a whopping 17 lbs 12 oz, and is 26 1/2 inches long. It's hard to believe that she is about 4 times the size she was 10 months ago!

Here are some new things about Riley at 10 months old:

1. mumumum...this is just the noise she makes most often. I tell myself that means "mommy."
2. Answering the question "Riley, what does a fishy say?" (refer to fishy kisses post) or "Riley, what does a cow say?" (mmmmmmm)
3. Climbing up onto the fireplace.
4. Eating REAL food with her OWN hands! I think Brett is a little bummed that he doesn't have a reason to use the magic bullet each week now. Riley wants a bite of whatever we've got on our plate. She will crawl across the room and whine until she gets some! Gone are the days where we could eat an entire meal uninterrupted once we were finished feeding her. She loves pancakes, any fruit, grilled chicken and pork, cheese, crackers, bread, sweet potato, and the list goes on.
5. She has 4 teeth! A couple of weeks ago her top two teeth popped through. I think she's working on some more. She's on a "two teeth every month" schedule at the moment. Brett is so worried that she is going to have a big gap in between two buck teeth!
6. Clapping.
7. High-fiving.
8. Cruising everywhere. She's now exploring the entire house, not just the living room. She loves to chase the cat around the house (who has now resorted to staying sprawled out atop the fireplace mantel). She's even explored the cat's food.
9. Standing without support! So far her high time is 30 seconds. She's getting there.
10. Standing in her crib and crying when it is time to go to sleep. I hear this is a phase that soon will pass.
11. Watching the birdies and bunnies outside.
12. Playing in the grass. She loves to run her fingers through the grass, but hates standing barefoot in the grass. Little miss priss will only put one foot in the grass at a time!
13. Pulling out EVERY toy she owns and throwing them all over the floor. Her favorite toys at the moment: Leap Frog sing and learn activity table and her ball. Favorite book: Touch and Feel Baby Animals. She loves to roll and throw her ball back and forth.
14. Hair! She finally has some hair growing. She has quite a bit of 1-2 inch long hairs all over. It's looking to be a strawberry blonde color.

Riley crawling through her tunnel.

Mommy and Riley

Lastly, I had to include this. I snapped this picture the other day while I was driving so it's not the greatest. But, look in the mirror. Do you see Riley's face? That's my beautiful daughter blowing bubbles and making fart noises so hard she can barely stay seated! Also, note the crossed legs. Fart noises are okay when you cross your legs, right?

Riley At The Lake

We went to Ely, Minnesota with the Coppola's this past weekend. It was a long 8 hour drive and temperatures ranged from 50s-60s, but definitely a great time. Riley did great in the car. We weren't sure how it was going to go, but we were pleasantly surprised. She eventually took a two hour nap and then we stopped for dinner. We were back on the road within 30 minutes and drove the rest of the way with a sleeping baby. We arrived in Ely at about 11:15 pm.

Riley did not care for her first-ever boat ride. It was a bit scary to be woken up in the middle of the night, bundled up, strapped into a life jacket, and put into a boat. Why was she on a boat in the middle of the night, you ask? Because, the cabin is on an island!

Here is our little bundle:

Why Riley Doesn't Like to Nap...

Because this is way more fun!

Riley Does The Zoo

We took Riley to the Blank Park Zoo this past weekend. We had a perfect day with lots of sunshine. Perfect days means a packed zoo. We lathered Riley up with sunscreen, strapped her sun hat on and made our way through every exhibit. We went through the discover center where we encountered the Red Pandas. They were exactly as their species says: Red. Nothing too exciting. Riley liked looking at the fish swimming in the discovery center. Next, the Petting Zoo. No longer are the days when herds of smelly animals are roaming around aimlessly sniffing every person for food. All of the animals were pinned up. We fed the llamas food pellets and an ice cream cone (without ice cream) and stood in front of the big bull. Riley enjoyed touching the llama's nose.

Riley loved watching the penguins swim and wouldn't turn her eye away for a picture with Daddy.

She also loved the zebras. They came and ate right in front of where we were standing and she wouldn't take her eyes off of them. Riley's favorite animal of the day: Monkeys! The Monkeys are always my favorite too so we spent most of our time watching them. Several of them came and stood directly in front of us and Riley would just stare at them. Brett liked taking pictures of their red butts. He swears that he was taking a picture of the monkey behind the red butt. Hmmm. Lastly, Riley loved watching the otters swim up to the glass underwater.

Mom and Dad's favorite moment of the day: Watching the woman disregard the "stay on the path" sign in the Australian Exhibit. She and her son (maybe two years old) followed an emu (huge scary bird) all the way through the grass to the back fence. 15 minutes later we saw the same woman pulling her son back from the stream running through the Australian Exhibit. He was a foot away from joining the swans!

All in all, it was a great day at the zoo. We are taking Riley to the Omaha Zoo in July with her cousins. Hopefully she will love it then as much as she did this weekend!

What Teeth Are Made For...Right?

This is one of Riley's new tricks...

This is what happens when Mommy doesn't pay attention to Riley's new trick...