Crawl Baby, Crawl!

We officially have a crawling baby. Here is our little bugger in action:

Update on Dr. Appt:

I took Riley in to see Dr Fred on Monday because I didn't think that she was over her ear infections. Turns out she has fluid behind the ear drum. She is on a new antibiotic to treat it. She is sleeping much better, but has a new problem: diarrhea! :( She has blown out three diapers in the last two days (all of which have been at the sitter's house), pooped out of two outfits, and squirted in the tub once (Daddy was the lucky one to clean that up). She is supposed to take the medication for 14 days and we are only on day 2...I hope it doesn't last!

Updates: Teeth, Crawling, and Attitude

Last week I was so excited to post the video of Riley dancing that I completely forgot to write that she has two teeth! First came the bottom right front (doesn't sound right??) and then next came the bottom left front tooth. Also with the teeth came an ear infection. I "found" the first tooth as we were sitting in the doctor's office. Both teeth are about halfway through the gums and visibly crooked! Now, the little bugger is working on more teeth! I am taking her back to the doctor this afternoon because she is still pulling at both ears. Poor baby.


We now have an army crawler. For the last couple weeks Riley would push up on to her hands and tippy toes. She just couldn't figure out how to get her legs to crawl. This Saturday she started pushing up on her tippy toes and then putting one leg forward and falling forward. Sunday and today she actually crawled about two steps in a row. I'm sure that we'll be putting up some baby gates by the end of the week! She's been rolling everywhere for quite some time now, but at least we could catch her then. We have also been practicing walking. She likes to hold on to my hands and walk around everywhere. She always has the biggest smile when she's walking! She's just now getting the idea of walking, but is no where close to balancing on her two (tiny!) feet. Up until this week she was walking like she was on the balance beam...one foot directly in front of the next!



So on my first Mother's Day I couldn't help but think to myself how Riley has grown and how I have no idea how to handle a toddler. Now, I know she's not a toddler yet and she's still my baby girl, but I know it's not far off. She has so much attitude at not even 9 months. Just this past week she has started throwing fits (with tears) when she doesn't get what she wants. Never before has she done this! For the past 8 months I've been thinking that we were so lucky to have such a mild mannered child. Well, I think the little beast has unleashed! I'm sure my mom is thinking this is payback from all the trouble I caused as a toddler, but at 8 months already?? She cries when she doesn't get more puffs, when she hears the word bottle/bot/bah, when she doesn't get her bottle right this second, when we take away her sippy because she sucks the water out and then spits it all down her chin and smiles, or when I say "no, no" or "Riley, no" because she is rolling around the living room as I try to change her poopy butt! Seriously, could the terrible twos be starting at 8 months?


Our little drama queen in action:

Getting Ready With Daddy

Every morning before work Brett gets Riley up, dressed, fed, and ready to head out the door. This is a huge help to me since we have to leave the house by 7:15-7:20 am every morning. Brett looks forward to the time that he gets to spend with his little girl each morning. Now, there are some days that I walk out of the house wondering how I'm going to explain a certain outfit to Hedy when we arrive. Lately it has been "She's dressed in all white...we have an extra outfit packed" or "She's in shorts today...there are pants in her bag." Here are some pictures of Daddy putting the finishing touches on Riley's outfit this morning. (We changed the shoes before leaving the house :))

The Circus

We took Riley to the circus on Sunday. We met Grandma and Grandpa Burch, cousins Kennedy and Addy, Aunt Casey, Aunt Casey's friends Dusty and Hayden, and Riley's second and third cousins Sarah and Austin. She did really well and sat through most of the program. It was very long (almost 3 hours!) so by the end she was ready to get the heck out of there. She watched the tigers, acrobats, and glowing swords. She could have cared less about the clowns, elephants, and Lady who practically wears nothing and makes dobermans jump through rings of fire! This was the Shriner's Circus so it was small scale, but for a good cause. Hopefully we'll be able to take her to Barnum and Bailey or Ringling Brothers some day. Although, we did see Cannon Lady shoot out of a cannon and do some flips. She is one of two Cannon Ladies in the whole world. Here are some pics from the night.

"Hot Diggity Dog!"

Oh Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, where have you been hiding these last 8 months?? Friday I went to pick up Riley and Hedy told me that she did the "hot dog dance" off of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cartoon. This was a bit hard to believe so Brett and I set out to find the truth in it all. Sure enough, Saturday morning we watched Riley do the "hot dog dance." We taped it last night so you all could enjoy it!

Rain, Rain Go Away

Riley is ready for some sun!!! Check out her new sun hat. We found one with velcro...as you can see she tries to pull it off immediately!

Finally...A Tooth!

Riley had a bit of a rough weekend! She had a runny nose/congestion followed up with projectile vomiting! Gross, I know! We think that she had drainage from the nose causing the upchuckdeboogie. Riley didn't cry or become fussy. I yelled for Brett to come upstairs and help and she just smiled at her Daddy like "Hi, Dad. I just puked all over myself and Mom. How do I look?" It was pretty comical until she coughed and gagged herself four more times that night. We called the on call doc who responded with "Well, what do you think? Does she need to be seen?" Brett was a bit ticked after that and called our doc on his cell (thankfully he is Brett's Godfather). We gave her some pedialite and propped her up to sleep. Monday morning Riley wouldn't eat her breakfast and was coughing. We decided that we better take her in to see Dr. Fred. While in the doctor's office I felt her first tooth popping through the gum. We are still waiting to really "see" it. Turns out that she had an ear infection. We think she just vomited from the drainage from her nose. Dr. Fred also pointed out that she has "some protection" from the swine flu since she had the flu shot and booster this year. That's comforting. :)

Still no crawling, but she is sooo close. She rolls to get whatever she wants. She is able to push herself backward. She hasn't quite figured out how to stay on her knees to crawl. She likes to push up onto her hands and toes. She doesn't really know what to do once she gets there. Hopefully we'll have a crawler soon!

We are taking Riley to her first Circus ever on Sunday. I can't wait to see her reactions. She LOVES animals. It is so funny to watch her around our cat, Sam. Every morning she comes downstairs with Daddy and looks for Sam on the floor or bench in the front room. When she sees him she makes her crazy excited noise. It really is just a noise, I don't think that I can call it a giggle. I'll post some pictures when I have some.