Not My Child Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

My child definitely didn't wake up at 11 PM last night and keep herself and me up until 3:15 AM. Not my sweet baby. She also didn't refuse juice or formula for two days straight this week due to an ear infection, nor did she weasel her little self into our bed with us for two nights straight. She also didn't learn how to crawl on top of the couch like a cat, or figure out how to stand up in the seat of a shopping cart, even belted in. She also didn't demand to take the spoon from me last night while eating dinner, and proceed to dump out the rest of the jar of broccoli and cheese and carrots and spread it all over her high chair and me. She would NEVER discover that if she reaches through the holes of her babyjail she can grab at the netflix movies or the tv remotes or the books she's not supposed to have. She didn't discover the knocking over towers of blocks is her new favorite past time and giggled uncontrollably when Daddy kept building them for her. She definitely didn't run head first into a wooden post at Grandma's house and give herself a huge knot on her forehead and her daddy a near heart attack. And she would NEVER take two steps in front of her momma and then refuse to do it for her daddy. NEVER.


 

Ear Infections and No Juice and Knocking Over Towers, OH MY!

Dear Riley,
About halfway through the week this week you decided to boycott formula. For a day and a half, you stuck pretty hard with apple juice and that was enough for us. Then on Thursday you straight up denied any sort of fluids. By Friday, I was ready to commit you to the hospital simply for my own sanity, so we called the dr and made an appt. She was super perplexed by your symptoms, because you weren't spiking a fever and for the most part seemed to be in a relatively good mood. She checked you out, and said everything looked good until she got a peek into your left ear. Ta da! Your first ear infection. Problem solved. She said you were probably boycotting fluids because it hurt you to suck on anything, sippy cups especially. So she wrote us a prescription for antibiotics and told us to keep you up on a tylenol-motrin rotation every 3 hours to help with the pain control and that should help fix the no fluid issue. Grandma Sharon's exact words, I think were "you have this coming" to Momma. Momma had recurrent ear infections as a kid, and Grandma Sharon seems to think this is a bit of karma coming back to bite me in the butt. Ah well. You have been relatively peaceful and happy except when we try and give you a sippy- but you are more inclined to go after juice than formula, so that's what we've done.
It is so funny to see you lately- you are developing so much of your own little personality. You are stubborn, and love to climb on things. Just this morning you were climbing all over the couch and me and Daddy, and cracking up while doing it. This week you took steps on your own for the first time- but won't do it again. You are a stubborn kid. Have I mentioned that? You continue to crack us up on a daily basis with your faces and new things you love to do. Daddy was building towers for you this morning out of blocks and you were cracking up when you were knocking them down. What an 8.5 months this has been.
Love you as big as Daddy's leopard print snuggie,
Momma

Banana Pancakes, Fig Newtons and No More Sleeping

Dear Riley,
The trend of the last few weeks has been finding out what table foods you like and oh little darlin, there are many. So far, your favorites seem to be banana pancakes and fig newtons. You are oh SO healthy. You are extremely hit or miss as far as when you will eat baby food these days- for instance, tonight you sat down and ate 3 whole jars in about 8 minutes or less. However, twice last week I tried to give you baby food and you gave me a stare that made me wonder how I could even try to subject to you these injustices. Oh fickle child of mine.
The last week you have been going to the Schoolhouse at Union Creek with me. Before you were born, Momma spent 4 years working at the Schoolhouse, so to me, it is like a second home. It is quickly becoming one of your favorite places- there is so much to explore and so much to see and so many kids to play with. You hang out in the peanut shell (our favorite sling) and fall asleep for a few minutes, but wake up quickly, lest you miss anything.
Your other latest adventure is not sleeping through the night. You were the BEST sleeper for so long, and in what I can only assume is a desperate attempt to drive your daddy insane, you have decided it is appropriate to scream your head off at all hours of the morning until you get a cup full of formula. The irony in all this is that you won't take a freaking cup of formula during the day. Your screaming has even gotten to the point where I keep all the important ingredients to make you a cup by the bedside table, and most nights don't even need to turn the light on to make the cup. When I hear you sucking on the end of the cup, I hand you froggy and that's it, hopefully until the sun comes up through the window. You take up so much room in the king size bed that I have sworn many times in the last week that the next time one of our friends tell us they are pregnant the next words out of my mouth are going to be get a king size bed.
Love you as big as the cup of apple juice you drank today at the schoolhouse,
Momma

Baby's First Christmas (and New Years) (and OSU Rose Bowl Victory)

Dear Riley,
I've been meaning to write this for a few days, but ever since we got back from Washington if I have moved more than three feet away from you I have been afraid that you were going to begin breathing fire at any moment so needless to say I haven't had much free time to be able sit down and do this. It has finally found me, so here you go!
Your first Christmas- so Grandma Sharon loves Christmas more than anybody I know and has been so excited about your first Christmas it's just silly. She was going to Ohio to see Uncle Adam and her entire side of the family Christmas morning, about 2 hours after we flew to Washington to be with Grandma Sally and Grandpa Doug and Uncle Keith and Uncle Sam. So we spent Christmas Eve at her house- and while for awhile you weren't too sure about the whole present thing, eventually you figured out there were new things to play with. Despite Daddy's somewhat resistance, we got you a few toys and then Grandma Sharon got you a bunch of stuff. We hung out at Grandma Sharon's, you pulled her CD's off the shelf (your favorite thing to do at her house) and then we ended up leaving you there to spend the night because we hadn't packed a darn thing and were leaving the house at 5 AM! So we came home and packed to spend five days in Gig Harbor with Daddy's side of the family- then picked up you and Grandma Sharon at 5 AM and off to Denver we went. You continue to be the epitome of perfect on airplanes, which is starting to freak me out. We were terrified about taking you on this flight- but you were so freaking good AGAIN. You didn't even eat on the plane- except for Daddy's ice (you are such a strange little creature) and a bite of a cracker that I gave you. You looooved looking out the window and when you were ready to fall asleep, you put your little head down right on my hand and closed your eyes and passed out. Daddy and I were slightly terrified about how you would respond to so many people you didn't know because you are in the peak of the "Stranger danger" phase. You were sitting in your sling with me and Grandma Sally gave us a hug and said hi to you and you just looked at her and put your head down on my shoulder as if to say "this is my momma and you can't take her". Daddy said you did better with everybody than he thought you would, and I thought you did worse than I thought you would. If I tried to leave the room you screamed your head off until I returned. You did great as long as I was there!
While we were there, we took you to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium and the Seattle Children's Museum. You so much loved the fish at the aquarium and totally loved playing with all the kids at the children's museum.I know there's more that happened but those are the highlights. I will post pictures for you after I find our camera.
You are eight months old now- eight freakin' months! How did that happen?
Love you as big as the basket of stuffed animals that belongs to you that is sitting on our living room floor,

Momma

Swimming And Christmas Parties

Dear Riley,
Some annoying little virus has invaded your cute little body, causing some occasional crankiness and some lovely discharge coming out of your nose. We took you to your first Christmas party last night, where we attempted to leave you with some babysitters in a separate part of the house and hang out with some adults, and you lasted a little over a half hour before the baby sitter came running down into the house with you in her arms and you had huge crocodile tears running down your face and you reached out for Daddy like you'd never see him again. So, you got to stay and play with the adults whom you seemed to enjoy much more than the kids. Dave and Tanya had a stainless steel trash can which you figured out that you could see yourself in and were soon in love with. You are a funny little critter, Miss Riley. You also had your last swimming lesson for this session yesterday and for once you didn't seem to mind "jumping" off the wall. You still won't blow bubbles, but laugh at Daddy whenever he does it. You are such a terror to all the other kids but you can't help it you just like to play with them! It's funny to see you go after kids who are bigger than you and they start crying.
Love you as big as the air that Shaun White got in the Grand Prix finals at Copper today,
Momma

Baby In The Mirror

Dear Riley,
Your most recent discovery is mirrors, and more specifically the fact that YOU are in fact, the baby in the mirror smiling back at yourself. It's horribly amusing to watch you as I think you forget it from time to time when you are away from a mirror but once brought back to it, it takes you a few minutes to remember that it's you you're looking at. You stare around for a second and then try to grab at yourself- Daddy and I are always commenting on your seeming lack of depth perception sometimes. Although you have discovered wheel barrowing yourself off the couch and enjoy it way too much! You continue to amaze us. We were talking this morning about how funny you are in the mornings, just laying around for awhile, staring off, as if you are contemplating what monumental things you should try to scratch off your to-do list today. Today I left the living room to go to the bathroom and didn't take you with me (not usually a great idea), but you seemed to be happy and fine with it at the time so off I went. I came back to find you halfway across the living room and almost to the kitchen, searching frantically everywhere you went as if you thought I had left you alone in the entire condo by yourself. As if.
Love you as big as The Horse Shoe,
Momma

Crank In Your Pants

Dear Riley,
If I could find the person who put the crank in your pants after about 4 o'clock today, I would promptly take them and smack them upside the head and then probably take them out back and flog them. Or let them listen to the Mexican neighbors we have who insist on blaring their music at all hours of the day. When you are older, I will let you listen to some of the oompa oompa music that could become part of the soundtrack of the first year of your life. To say you were unpleasant is putting it nicely. We had an awesome morning, complete with you eating your first full meal in your highchair in our house, which was more than slightly amusing. You are a smart cookie, kid, you figured out faster than Daddy or I thought you would that if you picked up the food we put in front of you it could go straight in your mouth and be CONSUMED, rather than just chewed on and soaked like everything else we put in front of you. We watched some football, because before you were born your completely sane parents decided that they needed to purchase a huge flat screen TV because we wouldn't be going out to bars to watch games. Just for the record, we have also changed cable companies and added on about 300 bucks in sports packages so that you could watch us scream and yell at the tv on Saturdays AND Sundays in the comfort of your own home. We love you kiddo. We are getting ready for your first Christmas, (as are your grandparents). You love to tear ornaments off the tree at Grandma Sharon's house and have managed to break three at last count, but the Christmas season is still young. Your latest trick today was waving at Daddy- he said hi to you and waved at you and you didn't even look at your hand but you picked it up and just held it out and waved at him for a few minutes, and we were both so proud and amazed that your teeny little brain had figured that out that we were both crying! I gave birth to you 7 months ago and maintain that my emotions have been out of control ever since, but I don't know what Daddy's excuse is. You are sleeping peacefully in your bed as of now, surrounded by the two frogs and the red dog and hopefully we won't see or hear from you anymore until 6 AM when you will squak but not open your eyes and expect to be brought into the bed with us to take over more room than a 7 month old should in a king size bed.
Love you to the moon and back,

Momma