A plethora of pics from weeks past...

Hows does one entertain a baby while trying to fold laundry? Two words: Sock hands! *Riley looks like he's rocking "the robot" in the last pic- haw!



I present Team Awesome....well, we weren't so awesome on the ball field, but we sure had FUN! (and paid a very dear price the next morning with sore muscles and various bumps and bruises!)


A few pics from the CoExistence Fest (in late April?) that Auntie Liz took:






Pic of Riley LOVING his bday hat at Cali's 1st birthday party:



This is what dinner looks like when we don't have successful afternoon nappage:

Hmmm...

So, Jim made fun of me this morning for not posting for some time...no new pics so I didn't feel like it. Everyone knows that a post without a picture is like a cupcake without frosting..it's still good but so much better with frosting. Well, we do have BIG BIG news though (*no, I'm no pregnant so get your minds outta that gutter!)...Riley said his first word this week! And (drum roll, please!!)....it was, MAGGIE! It's very cute when he decides to do it as he's been keeping the Maggie talk at bay- we get like 1/day.

Hmm, what else? I go back to work at the end of August so that should be interesting as Riley starts daycare. I'm very happy with the facility I found (*super clean and family run) b/c it is small and they are committed to teaching age-appropriate material plus getting the kids outside every day whenever possible. I'll admit to being a little excited to be going back to work even though I know the transition period is going to suck big time, especially for the little guy.

We should have some pics soon of us whooping it up at the Pierces' softball fest and maybe some from Gibson's shower this weekend...Rain rain, go away, come back some other day! La la la laaaaaaa

Fussin'

So, Riley was a total fusspot yesterday. Luckily, my friend Kristi only caught the beginning of his tirade (see below). There was no napping yesterday which led to a very sleepy baby who nearly fell asleep in his high chair, which of course, Jim and I laughed at him for doing.

Riley has re-discovered his love for his plush boom box (oh yes, it really is a working radio). Here he is doing his best impression of Lloyd Dobbler (ok, Jana...this time, I will not behold my oldness by telling people to go to their local video haunt but to Netflix "Say Anything" if they're clueless to my nerdball reference) and enjoying his sweet tunes!

Happy Birthday Miss Cali!

Riley attended his 2nd kid's birthday party this weekend (The first one he went to he was just a few weeks old so I think he might have enjoyed this one a bit better)...Happy Birthday Cali!
A few pics from yesterday's party plus some random "Life With Riley" pics...


Mmmm, frosting tastes so much better than cake



Riley enjoying Cali's pool


Why yes, those are underwear on my head!


This is Riley's new "game"...throwing all of the toys in his playpen (yes, I still call it a playpen not the PC-version of "a playard") out and then wailing.

Playing Peek-a-boo post-bath:

Prince Viral

Riley has contracted yet another virus, this one, at least, does not require anything more than a few healthy doses of Benadryl. It's called "Fifth Disease" b/c the rash associated with the Parvovirus that causes the "disease" was the fifth most common childhood ailment that was discovered and named by doctors way back when. Apparently, 50% of kids will get it at some point during their childhood years, but I had never heard of it before yesterday when Professor Jim looked it up in our baby book (go, go go, Jim!). We did go to the pediatrician yesterday afternoon to confirm Dr. Daddy's diagnosis. Anyway, the rash that comes about at the end of the virus (no other symptoms really can be identified before the rash springs up) is pretty gnarly..basically, Riley has a red, lacy rash from his neck down to his toes (even on the soles of his feet!). Luckily, once the rash shows up, he is no longer contagious, so we can go about out daily routine like nothing happened. Yay!

Here's a few pics of our recent "daily routine", which, I suppose wasn't very routine at all since Jim was on vacation for most of last week!

Halfway through what seemed like the longest restaurant wait in HISTORY!


Hmm, Where's Riley? I thought this was "Riley's Blog", heh heh


Olivia is getting some practice for her soon-to-be brother or sister!


Farewell Chi tai! Thanks again for the rad crabby bib and the John Deere truckster!


Riley enjoying his first non-utero Korean BBQ experience

9 months!

Happy Birthday Aunt Leah and Aunt Karen!! Oh, and Congrats to the Martins...Go, go go, Baby Martin!

Yesterday was Riley's 9 month birthday...Uncle Greg and Poppy came down to celebrate the 4th- but b/c of the craptastic weather, we didn't get to the beach as planned but we did get to go to Manasquan for a walk on the boardwalk and do a little shopping (thanks for the cool new orange onesie, Uncle Woobs!)

Hmmm, some ninth month accomplishments?

*Riley can now "clap" when we ask him to...and he's very proud of his clapping abilities
* He can also "bounce" on command and open his mouth when we say "open"
* He also is getting the hang of waving- he started frantically waving at a little girl in a stroller today, which was funny b/c it was the 1st time he has done so without Jim or I prompting him to wave hello/goodbye
* He's a master crawler/cruiser and has even started to take some unaided steps as of today but we can see that he is still very wary of walking
*We're still having some sleep issues and he's not so keen on non-pureed foods (he's a lazy chewer)...but he's pretty neat all around so we can't complain!

Some new pics for ya'll:

He's like Jim...he needs to ease into the water

This next picture made Jim and I crack up b/c, as you can see, Riley is super excited about his new pool, he looks like such a goof, but a cute goof


"Well, I don't like my Mom's meatballs very much, or I certainly won't touch her mushy peas, so what makes me think I'm going to like her blueberry pie?"


"Wait a minute, that tastes pretty good!"


This next pic is just screaming "LARDASS, LARDASS, LARDASS!"...If you don't understand this, you need to run to your video store and rent Stand By Me.


Last but not least, a bath pic, b/c who doesn't love a naked baby?

Summer Nights...

We decided to have the Wojowitz's and the Hulaitis's (ha ha, it could be worse, the "Pussey's") over for some eats on the deck last night..in an odd occurrence, none of us had jack to do this weekend, and that never happens, so we invited 'em all down to hang for the evening (well, the "early" evening since everyone has a rugrat in tow)! The planets, or something, must have been in alignment...lots of fun was had and we ate lots of delicious-ness including Magnolia cupcakes and 'naner pudding (Thanks Kar!). Jonah was especially fond of the chocolate icing and the red velvet cake. My pics came out "eh" so I'll have to wait until I pirate some from Erika and Karen!

Anyway, here's a few:

Uncle Mark- Codename: Kiddie Entertainer Extraordinaire!

What the heck are you doing with my toys???