I thought it might be easiest to bring everyone up to date with Riley-bug through one big blog post with lots of pics. Some of these pics are from Christmas. I suck, I know.
Over the last few weeks, Riley has made huge leaps in her development. She is rolling from back to front and front to back(which just cracks her up), she reaches out and grabs things with her hands and brings them to her mouth, she can watch and track things for long periods of time (like 20 minutes-an eternity for a 5 month old). My favorite things she does right now is grab me by my hair or ears, pull my whole face towards hers and give me a huge kiss. She gets so excited when she does this, and it makes my whole day. She is starting to get her teeth (lots of fun!) and has begun eating baby food for a couple of meals a day. She likes the fruit, carrots and squash, but peas and bean make her literally gag. I've tried to get this on the camcorder, but usually I am trying to make sure she doesn't gag herself until she throws up (which she has also done).
She also has developed quite a little red-headed temper. You may have seen the video of her pulling her socks off, and now she has moved on to trying to pull her feet off her legs, too. It just pisses her off that she can't quite accomplish this feat, so yelling and screaming ensue. I have to distract her with a toy or sing to her or something to get her mind off the fact that she can't pull off her feet. She is such a stubborn little thing (I wonder where she gets this) and it takes some work to distract her when her mind is set on something. The problem is that she usually moves on to trying to pull her hand off her arm, so the whole cycle starts all over again. The other day she managed to get her finger stuck up her nose, which was a HUGE drama. Her hair looks thicker and longer and more red to me every day. She is so much fun!! I never imagined I could love a baby this much!
At the end of the days, when I am exhausted and trying to decide whether to mop the floor, review some stuff for work, or just go to bed, my thoughts turn to Riley and I cannot imagine my life without her. The spills, messes, screaming and chaos are all more than compensated by just one smile or one kiss. I love that she squeals with delight when she sees me return from work, and I treasure the moments I get to cuddle her when she first wakes up in the morning. I love being her mom and even though the past few months were not what I expected the first few months of motherhood to be, I would not trade one single moment if it meant losing a moment of time with her. She makes my world full and rich and she is the brightest, most perfect thing in my life right now. How did i get so lucky?
When all the "silkies" are in the wash, Grandma's slip will do just fine.
Looking at these pictures, there is no question in my mind...This is one loved, adored, and doted on kid.
