Peas are the new avocado...

...except for the fact that Riley actually ate the avocados with some coaxing.

Tonight we decided to let Riley try one of the treats of spring, the mushy pea (recipe changed for the baby's palate). One little spoonful was more than enough to make him shudder with disgust, and then proceed to, how do you say, vomit a good portion of the bottle he just drank (as well as the 1/2 teaspoon of peas). We're (hopefully) thinking that it was a texture thing. Perhaps those fine folks at Gerber know what their doing with the strained vegetable thing.

Two posts in 5 minutes!

Riley is passed out so I get to make another update in less than 5 minutes- yay! The Little Gym must have worn him out today or maybe he's dreaming of weedy sea dragons & fluorescent jellyfish from his aquarium trip yesterday. Anyway, not too much new in Rileyland- he's still trying to crawl and is still getting VERY frustrated when things don't go his way in the crawling department but he's getting the hang of it. He's talking a lot these days..he moved away from "da dah dah" onto "bah bah bah" and has said "mah mah" twice now. He's plowing his way through his veggies and fruits and is starting mashed peas with mint tonight. Exciting, huh? (I think I hear crickets chirping)

Anyway, here's some pics from Aunt Leah's visit (we put her to work!) and also a few cute ones of Jim and Riley having some tickle time.

Where's Nemo?

So, we hit the Camden aquarium these weekend with a whole crew of friends (hey guys!)..it was a good time (nobody got pooped on and no major baby meltdowns occurred!) and Riley is already psyched for the next outing! Here's some pics...just a few since we were pretty stingy taking them yesterday. I guess Jim and I were too mesmerized by the pretty fishies, ha ha ha.

If I smile real handsome, can I get in to the aquarium for FREE?

Look ma, I'm a fishy!

Hey, Jonah's a fish too!

More caffeine, please...

So, Riley has decided to throw caution to the wind and STOP sleeping through the night. And it's killing Jim and I...a slow, slow death that has only been alleviated these last couple of days by heaping amounts of caffeine of the coffee variety. Now, Jim is no stranger to drinking lots of coffee but I'm usually a one-cupper and I only drink it because it tastes good. However, lately, with our little (and by little, I mean MONSTROUSLY atrocious) sleeping issue that is most likely attributed to a new teething round, I feel as though I should start drinking my coffee via IV drip. He basically will start wailing in the middle of the night now, want to nurse, and then won't want to go back into his crib to sleep- so we either get up with him and play or he sleeps on my shoulder while I lay there half-asleep because I'm scared he'll wake up and roll right off the bed. He's getting better at this whole crawling thing but doesn't have it down yet- sometimes when we go to pick him in the middle of the night, he's on his knees trying to crawl...um, can't the practicing wait until at least 6am? I keep telling Riley that he's making me old (well, older) before my time because I'm starting to get some serious bags under my eyes.

Oh, and the "da..da...dah...dah.." has begun- it's pretty funny b/c he does it in this very low, disgruntled voice- kinda jazzy. Riley loves when we "dah dah" him back too.

Hey Porker!

So, Riley had his 6 month check-up yesterday- He's in the 95% for weight (19.10 lbs), 90% for height (27.25 inches) and the 55% for head circumference (who cares?)...all else is going good and he met all of the milestones that Dr. Uma was looking for, so that was cool. He's trying to crawl which is very frustrating for him since he only does it backwards, and even then he sucks at it. I call him Rocky Retardo when he goes backwards after "rocking" when trying to get at some toy or something else of interest. I know, I know...it's very un-pc of me, but it makes me laugh, so there!

Riley also took his first swing on a real deal swing at the park with Olivia and Aunt Heather...he didn't seem to care too much but loved it when I started playing peek-a-boo with him on the upswing. Here's some pics of our playdate with the Catalano Crew..soon to be +1! Yay!


....completely unaffected by his first diaper swing (pfffft, whatever Mom...)


After peek-a-boo: This picture isn't titled "Happy Swing Face" for nothing!


Olivia takes a turn at pushing!



Olivia shows Riley how the big girls play at the park...Heather and I showed Olivia how the real old ladies play at the park by almost getting our bums stuck in the covered slide!


HUGS! Riley looks enthused, huh?


Jim and I LOVE this picture! Tada...this is my Auntie Heather!

Hot for Teacher

So we found out today that Alison has to turn in her SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) card effective September 1st, as she is the new Professor of Transfiguration. I mean, she accepted a biology teacher position starting this fall. Woot!

So ladies, get your fill of weekday lunches in while you can.

PS, I'm hoping 2 things return to normal (and not referring to the blonde hair) before she starts or her days are going to look like this...

Happy Easter Suckas!

HAPPY EASTER!

Happy 6 month birthday, buddy!

Today, Riley is a half yearling! Crazy, but true.

He's started drinking water out of his sippy cup, learning to crawl (he does the on my knees rocking thing but doesn't get anywhere) and doing lots of crazy acrobatic maneuvers (see collapsed play gym pic below), which means a lot more supervision these days. We'd love to celebrate Riley's 6 monther by introducing him to the finer things in life one indulges in on his or her birthday (lobster, ice cream, brownies, and boardwalk french fries) but we're still working on bananas this week! Next up on the roster of Riley's wonderful wheel of "new foods" is sweet potato...Wooo hooo!

Anyway, here's some new pics of the little guy on his 6 month birthday:

The Easter Bunny Hates Us

Yup, it's true, the Easter Bunny decided to make the weather yesterday a crap sandwich so we couldn't take the little poop machine to Point Pleasant for the Easter Egg Hunt. Word on the street is that there was actually some good prizes to win- Jim and I just thought it was candy and spider rings. Oh well, there's nothing worse than wet sand and we didn't want Riley to get his diaper in a bunch about it.

Reese and Lily came for a visit despite the craptastic weather, here's a pic of Riley and his harem:


Another coupla pics of Riley enjoying his first night on the town with the Croccos:




And one last pic of the dude who climbed almost all of our oak trees to clean up the ginormous branches that were over our roof (he also chopped down 2 trees)...Jim, me, and Riley were fascinated all day watching them up in the trees: