And another month goes by...

Well, here it is - the beginning of November. Can Thanksgiving really only be two weeks away? And then Christmas. What they say about life going by in the blink of an eye seems more and more true every year. I just want life to S-L-O-W D-O-W-N!

So much has happened in the last month that I'm sure I'll forget to mention a lot of it.

First things first -- eating developments. Two weekends ago Riley was super whiny. He does not whine often, so our first thoughts were that he had either begun teething or he had come down with some new ailment from daycare. Two days of whining went by before we realized that the poor guy was starving. I suppose that would make me cranky too. So we upped his bottles from 6 ounces per meal to 8 ounces per meal. Problem solved, right? Well, not so much. He was still a bit "fussy" at school (which is so unusual that they actually wrote it on his daily log), so they politely encouraged us to try introducing some rice cereal (which, I will note, we DID understand that we should be trying anyway; however, we were determined that his first rice cereal should happen on a weekend in case it didn't go well and somehow interfered with his sleep schedule -- after two weekends came and went because one event or another got in the way of our grand scheme, we finally gave in and decided we could try it on a week night). So on October 27, one day short of his 5-month birthday, Riley had his first "real" food. As I'm sure it must be with every baby, the experience was hilarious. He didn't really understand the spoon, would hold the cereal in his mouth for a few seconds and then decide it was fun to use it to blow bubbles, and generally had a big time. Not to mention that he sat in his high chair for the first time. I doubt much food actually was consumed, but many pictures and videos were taken of the event. Each day he seems to enjoy eating more and more. Last night when Casey fed him, he even grabbed the spoon and wanted to hold it (more like play with it) himself. I suspect we will be adding some fruits and veggies to his diet before too long.


First Rice Cereal

Physical developments: We haven't had Riley weighed or measured since his 4-month check-up, but I'd be willing to say that he's grown quite a bit since then. He is developing quite a little belly at this point (see feeding developments above). I also think he is getting taller, as he is pretty much too big for his infant carseat at this point. He has loved his carseat since the first time he sat in it, but he is starting to get quite uncomfortable in it. So we have bought his "big boy" carseat and will have it installed this week. It can hold him until he is 65 lbs, so I hope he likes it!!! His 3-6 month clothes are starting to get too small, so I am going to have to fold up another batch of my favorite truly "baby" clothes and start the process of putting 6-12 month clothes in his closet. I can tell you that the 6-12 month items seem so much bigger and more grown up (more patterns and bright colors and less baby blue), and I am probably going to be in tears again when I fold his sweet little boy clothes for the last time (I was borderline hysterical when I had to pack up his newborn clothes -- thank goodness Casey was on his guys' weekend when I did that).

Beyond just growing, he has all sorts of new capabilities. He is rolling really well now from his back to his front. He is sleeping on his side now instead of flat on his back. He can spend about 30 minutes in his exersaucer before tiring out. He has less use for his swing and more use for his jumping toy (the kid LOVES to jump). He is starting to understand cause and effect (i.e. if he jumps, the music starts playing or if he his one of the keys on the piano, it lights up). He is extremely interested in Winston and Wrigley and has started reaching out to pet them (although it is more like grabbing at their hair and pulling really hard -- they have been great sports, which was to be expected). He grabs at absolutely everything and then proceeds to stick it in his mouth (this includes his feet).

His language skills, if you can call them that, are also coming along. He is doing a lot of what I will call shrieking, for lack of a better word. Not the kind of shrieking that hurts your eardrums, but funny and cute (but loud) sounds. He is also concentrating a lot when trying to use his lips to form sounds. So cute to watch. He is particularly talkative when getting his diaper changed. Diaper changes still continue to be some of my favorite times of the day.

Riley continues to be an easygoing little guy. Lots of smiles. Not much crying (only when Mom and Dad are too dumb to realize he's starving). Still a great sleeper (oh, I forgot to mention that as of two days ago, he no longer requires his 10:00 p.m. feeding -- we still put him down to bed after his 7:30 feeding and he will sleep non-stop until about 6:30 a.m., at which point he will wake up and "talk" to Wally until about 7:00 when he lets us know he's ready to get up and have some breakfast -- as an aside, I'm not sure if 6:30 will become his normal "waking" time or if this is the result of the time change (fall back) that just happened to occur on the same night that we did away with the 10:00 feeding; prior to that, he'd sleep until 7:30 a.m.). He is also a tremendous traveler still. He can amuze himself in his carseat (usually by playing with his ladybug or by staring at himself in the mirror) for fairly long periods of time and then will usually drift off to sleep without much fuss. On our drive to and from Amelia Island this past weekend to visit Casey's parents, he probably cried 10 minutes or less during the 15 or so hours we spent in the car. I'd say that's pretty good.

Speaking of our trip to Florida, we had a ball over the weekend. It was Halloween so there were lots of activities going on at the Plantation. Winston and Wrigley took part in the pet costume parade (Winston was Darth Vader, Wrigley was Princess Leah -- incidentally, Riley was supposed to be an Ewok, but ended up sleeping through the entire thing and never even made it into his costume). We all got some good quality time with Casey's parents. Besides the costume parade, the two highlights of the weekend for me were that Riley took a few naps on my chest (the little guy was worn out), which he hasn't done for months and which he probably won't do much more in the future, and that he really took a liking to the pool. Over the summer when we'd put him in the pool at the Club, he didn't really know what to make of it. Now he splashes the water with his hands, kicks his feet and tries to drink the water.



Amazing what a difference a few months can make. It was sooooo much fun for Casey and I to watch him in the pool. Such a goof.



Since this is the "Otis Family Blog" and not the "Riley Blog", I should probably devote some time to the rest of the family. Wrigley continues to be Wrigley -- devoted to playing ball and little else (she does, however, believe that she's Riley's mother and is constantly licking him and on guard to protect him from evil until it's time for her to take a nap or play ball). Winston is still our sweet little boy. Unfortunately, as they warned us would likely happen, the ACL in his other knee is on the fritz. It appears that another surgery is imminent -- most likely in early 2010. Poor guy, I know he will be brave, but I also know how much he disliked the experience last time around. I know he was in a lot of pain, but I think it killed him more that he couldn't come along on the daily walks or sleep in the bed or play with Wrigley -- all things that he is passionate about. Hopefully this surgery will be as successful as the last and he'll be good as new in time for Spring. Casey and I are good, but busy trying to juggle the things we did in our "old lives" with being devoted parents. Wouldn't trade it for anything.