Lots of new changes.

The past few weeks have been amazing. It seems that Riley made a huge jump in dexterity and interaction. She is grabbing things, holding on, inspecting, throwing, playing, and having fun. She has realized she wants to go places, and is trying to do so on her own. Of course, she also had another milestone, her first cold.

Where should I start? How about the cold.
Last Friday, she started to get a little cough, and by Saturday, she had a good rattle going in her throat. Through it all, she stayed pretty happy with just a few periods of fussyness. At night, she was getting pretty noisy with her breathing, and at times, she would wake up with trouble breathing. So, today, I took her to the doctor. And, she's just fine..
Oh, we had another milestone of sorts. After one of her fussy periods on Saturday, we fed her, and I gave her a little bit of Tylenol, then picked her up to comfort her. Big mistake. I got her just to eye level, when I say this blinding white light (or so it seemed), and it was coming right at me. I didn't even have time to close my eyes all the way. Blam! She puked right in my left eye and all over my face. My eye felt weird the rest of the day.

On to the more interesting things!
Last week, I put her in her swing which has seat belts and a little motor to gently rock it back and forth. Well, I had just set her down and taken my hands off to grab the seat belt when she suddenly lunged forward. I was able to catch her, but it felt close. Once I got her buckled in and the motor set on medium, I turned to start breakfast. About 30 seconds later I noticed that the swing sounded funny. When I turned around, Riley was lunging forwards and backwards with the swing causing it to swing way past even the highest setting. Wow, she wasn't just passively sitting in the swing like previous, she was controlling it, and laughing! I took a video, but I can't post it here, so if anyone wants to see it, send me an email, and I'll email it back.
Today, almost a week later, I put her in the swing, and she did it again. Amazing.

Lauging and playing, and just about to roll over.
She now plays with her toys in a much more interactive way. She grabs, pulls, twists, hits, bites, grunts, gurgles, growls, and generally beats the heck out of things.
Here she is on her play mat. Previously, she would just wack at things or try to grab them, but now it's all about playing. Also last week, she discovered a Teddy bear. When we would give it to her, she would thrust her hands out to grab it, then grunt and pull it back and bite it, then burry her face in it. She smiles when she sees it in her crib or on the bed.

Bumbo
Another really cool thing was when her mommy brought home a surprise. Riley likes to sit upright, but she doesn't have enough strength to keep from falling over, and all her supportive seats put her in a very laid back position. So, mommy got a thing called a Bumbo which supports her butt. This picture is of her sitting in it for the first time yesterday. She absolutely loved it. Tonight, I had her in it in the kitchen while I cooked dinner. She enjoyed watching me, but she started to laugh out loud every time Laney (the cat) walked by. This picture might be the one we send to the Parents magazine contest (thanks Chris!).



Time for a nap.
Well, there are too many things to list tonight, and like a busy baby, I get tired and need a nap. For Riley, that means a nice little nap in Grandma's lap!
Good night!

Happy Valentines Day!

Riley wanted to send everyone her love today.

Back to work, and to daycare

Daycare
Last Thursday, I went back to work, and Riley went to daycare. Colleen is working from 6:30 to 3pm so she can pick Riley up early and spend the evening with her.
So, that morning, after Colleen had left, I got Riley and all her gear together and loaded up in the truck, then drove her to daycare. I was a bit nervous about leaving her with strangers and other kids and had a few butterflys in my stomach the whole drive. After I dropped her off and drove to work (one block away), I realized I had this nagging feeling that I was forgetting something. I checked the car seat, it was empty as it should be, and I knew that she was at the daycare, but I just felt as those something was wrong. This was the first time we left Riley with someone outside of the family. Weird feeling.
At 3:15, Colleen picked her up, then called me crying. She was sure Riley wasn't getting the best treatment; like what we could/would give her.
I think the whole thing was harder on us than Riley.
Friday, we took her to the doctors for her 4 month checkup and shots.
Today, she went back to daycare, and just to make sure all was well with her, I made a surprise visit after lunch. Well, when Riley saw me, she looked up and smiled, then went straight back to her bottle. No problem there. I then talked to the teachers to find out just what they do all day and how Riley is taking to it. They all say she is super mellow and gets along just fine. That, I think is very true. When I arrive in the morning to drop her off, she doesn't cry or seem scared, just very interested in the new place and people, especially the other kids. They also say that she is very interested in story time. She watches the teachers very intently when they talk to her. They also work on muscle strengthening for when she will start to crawl, and several of them mentioned how strong she was.
Well, so far, I think all is well at the daycare.

Friday's doctor visit

She had 5 booster shots, and she didn't like them.

Now, for her latest numbers:
Height: 26 inches --> 90-95th percentile
Weight: 15lbs, 8ounces --> 90th percentile
Head Circumfrence: 40.9cm --> 50th percentile

Learning to eat

We decided the time was right for Riley to learn to eat adult foods. She has taken it upon herself to start with solids.

16 weeks today!

It has been some time since my last post. I've actually been a stay-at-home dad this month, but that certainly doesn't mean I have any more time to post updates.
We are wrapping up a great visit with Grandma Joan. We all had a fun time, and I even got the lawn mowed (basically cutting off the frost killed tips). I could see in Riley's eyes that she was very content with GmJ, and will miss her.
Speaking of Riley, she has gone through so many subtle and overt changes this past month that it is hard to know where to start!
I guess the biggest thing is that she wants to move. She cannot sit still in your arms for long. She is either trying to touch and play with everything in sight, or she is trying to figure out how to get closer to things out of her reach.
Her smiles and laughs are more regular when she sees someone, especially when Mommy comes home from work. Yes, Mommy is her favorite person!

Cyclocross Season! (is almost over)

Finally got a chance to do a cyclocross race this year. The first race of the season took place on the two weeks after Riley was born, and the last race is the weekend before Christmas. At the start of 2006, I had this big plan to compete in all the races and go for overall points classification. That was before we knew. Even many months after we found out, I still thought I could do most of the races, I thought I would just miss the first few races.
Well, taking care of a newborn is not only extremely time consuming, it is also the most fun I've ever had. I may be gaining weight due to lack of exercise, but at least I'm enjoying it!

Here are a few picks of the race. It was out in Livermore on the 16th of December at the fairgrounds.I was doing quite well, moving up through the pack on each lap until my derailluer jammed. I had to stop and flip the bike for repairs. Though it only took me about 30-40 seconds, it was long enough for me to watch the field ride away. I was able to catch back on and pass a few people, but there weren't enough laps. The first picture is of me just getting past the guy in blue who hit the burm and nearly flipped head over. The other side of that burm is the arena, which is filled with liquified mud about 8 inches deep!


Right after the arena, we ran up the bleacher stairs. I'm the one just to the left of the pole in the middle of the picture. That was a tough run up after the third time....

Next race, maybe next season.

Here we are, in our vests trying to keep warm while surfing the net. Got to get her started right away so I have someone to fix my computer in the future!