Sounds of the Wild

Riley's been practicing with new sounds since she could make a peep. It's always fun and entertaining when she figures out something new. Recently, she's been playing with consonants. At any given point in the day, you can hear her stringing along Ma-ma-ma-ma's or Puh-puh-puh's or even d-d-d-d-d's. This morning Ian called her Riley "Machine Gun" Kaden because of the stuttering sounds she was making. 

Well, this week, her new thing is O-sounds. She's moved on to Whoa-whoa-whooOOoOOOoooOoo's with an almost wailing like quality to them. It's a haunting sound, especially when she does it in almost a whisper. We went walking at the mall with some other girls (By the way, it snowed for about 5 minutes while we there!), and she whoa-ed practically the whole time. It was funny. This morning, she's started with go-go-go's. 

What a funny kid!

Pictures!

We got a new, big-girl stroller. Here are some pictures from a trip to the park on Sunday. We had a great day, as you can see!

Teeth!

Peanut now has two (very sharp) teeth. Her front two bottom teeth finally popped through! They've been bothering her for about two weeks and now they are finally here! She's back to sleeping through the night again, but the drool is NONSTOP.  And breastfeeding is becoming a challenge. She wants to chew and rub her gums because they're sore. Mom's chest is NOT an appropriate place for this exercise. And when I yelp in pain and tell her no, she just smiles and laughs. Fun times, I tell you!

Developmental Update

Since my last post was so picture laden, I decided to update you all on some of the things Peanut's been accomplishing lately.

She's getting a lot better hand control. Things on the table in front of her are now fair game. This means that we have to be really careful when she's in our lap at the table. We experienced this on Sunday when we met some friends out for a bite. Riley simply couldn't resist trying to pull my plate into our laps. We finally had to clear a section of the table about a foot deep to keep her out of trouble. 

Not only is her grip getting better, but she's starting to pass things from hand to hand. The pediatrician tells us it's a milestone to watch for. Honestly, its not all that exciting.

Peanut is starting to like being on her tummy. It used to only last about 5 minutes before she'd get bored and mad. Lately, though, she's been happier. She's starting to push up on her arms and really reach out for her toys. I think being able to push up allows her to actually play with the toys rather than face-planting into them. And lo and behold! Riley rolled over from her stomach to her back today!

Many of you know that she's been rolling from her back to her stomach for about 6 weeks now. It shouldn't be a surprise for her to roll the other way. I mean, really. She did that move when she was almost 8 weeks old! Somehow, though, she'd forgotten. Seems that's all over. Now I'm just waiting for her to realize that she can be mobile with the rolling. Let's hope she's a little slow on figuring that out. For my sanity's sake!

Riley is eating like a champ these days. I've been making most of her food on my own and its been really easy. We've been doing plain vanilla yogurt, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, bananas, squash, green beans and peas. She loves graham crackers, but she only gets those on special occasions. We have to watch her closely because she still doesn't chew/gum the pieces very well and likes to swallow the cracker whole. 

She's taken a liking to anything that rattles or makes noise. Right now, one of her favorites is a plastic container I've filled with dried beans. At least she's easy to entertain! She's figuring out that it will make even more noise when she shakes it or throws it on the floor. 

All in all, things are going really well. We are moving along at the exactly right pace and this is keeping mom and dad happy! Every day is a new adventure and we are loving every minute of it!

Happy Halloween

We had an awesome Halloween day. Through Triangle Mommies, we hosted a playdate at our house and had a total of 6 moms and 6 babies (ages ranged from 6 months to almost 9 months) attend. Everyone wore their halloween colors and we even had one in costume! It was a great time. We made hand and footprint crafts that looked like pumpkins and ghosts to celebrate the holiday. It was so nice to have all the babies together and meet some new moms in the area!

In the spirit of trick-or-treating, we are treating you with some new pictures!

We also took some new "naked butt" pictures before Riley's bath tonight!

Peanut's gettin' big!

It's hard to believe that its been SIX months since we brought Riley home. Seems like it was just yesterday and forever ago, all at the same time! We went for her six month well visit at the pediatrician's office today. She weighed 15 lbs. 1.5 oz. and was 26 inches long. Compare this to her four month visit when she was 13 lbs. 7 oz and 24 inches long.

Peanut's gettin' big!

Great Giveaway!

Visit the Little Window Shoppe for a great giveaway idea! It benefits a hospital that is dear to one of our family members. Her preemie son spent a lot of time here when he was first born.