Our little model

Luckily for us, Riley seems to have outgrown her sleep difficulties, at least for the time being. We chalked it up to a growth spurt - especially since the doc confirmed there's no sign of any teeth yet - and now we are waiting to actually see the "growth" part of that concept. The week went by rather quickly, and Riles has really made some friends at daycare now that she can join in more with playtime. She is really loving mealtime at home, trying some new foods this week - chicken, tomatoes, carrots, celery, and broccoli! After a pretty low-key Saturday, she headed out to meet Nene and Papa for dinner. She had a great time showing off her eating skills, and drinking lots of water out of Dad's glass too. Afterward, Mom and Dad headed to a going away party while Riles joined Nene and Papa for some playtime at their house.

Sunday she met up with Stacy for a photo session at the Botanical Gardens. Riles was quite the trooper, as it was very hot and humid even in the morning. We got some great shots of her though, and have a sneak peek to share before we get our hands on all of the pics.

6 Months Old

Update: Riley had her 6-month checkup at the doc on the 16th, and she officially weighed in at 13 lbs 12 oz, in the 10th percentile. She is 25 inches long which is about the 16th percentile. Small but very active and perfectly healthy, confirmed the doc :-)

At 6 months old, Riles is a small yet vocal and fun-loving little girl. She is constantly aware and involved in everything going on around her, and still loves to grab everything in sight and put it in her mouth. Besides rolling around, she now likes to grab her feet as well. She is VERY vocal, and will let you know quickly if she is bored and needs a change of scenery or a new toy to play with. She has been practicing more high-pitched and yelling type of noises, and thinks it's hilarious when she realizes those sounds came from her! Just as you know when she is bored, you also know when she is excited about something by the way she starts waving her arms and bouncing up and down with a big smile on her face. When it comes to sleep, Riles doesn't really think she needs it most of the time. She takes a morning nap at daycare but mostly goes the rest of the day with only short 20-30 minute naps until bedtime. While she was on a good nighttime schedule for the last few weeks, she is beginning to wake up more often again at night. With so much going on around her, we think she finds it difficult to wind down and actually get some shut eye when she needs it. When it comes to eating, Riley has now tried a few different foods and truly seems to enjoy the whole eating process. We plan to see how"baby led weaning" goes, and just have some fun with it as she tries a bunch of new things.

In honor of her half-year birthday, here's some pictures to show how much she has grown and changed in the last several months:

Month 0

 

Month 1

 

Month 2

 

Month 3

 

Month 4

 

Month 5

 

Month 6!!

 

Who needs sleep?

Riley started off her Sunday playing at the kids club while Mom got some gym time in. After that, they were off to meet Gigi, Michelle, Colton, Levi and eventually Nene for some pool time at the JCC. The tired little girl really didn't care for the water, but she did get to cuddle with Mom and take a nap on her shoulder. Later that afternoon, Dad was back in town and joined his girls, and the rest of the family, out for dinner for Uncle Josh's birthday. Riley had a great time, and told everyone quite a few stories while she was there! Then it was back to daycare for the week where Mom continues to work with her teachers on making sure she naps in the afternoons. She consistently naps for 1 1/2 to 2 hours in the morning but by the afternoon there is so much excitement that she doesn't want to stop to rest! Thursday night Riles, Dad and Ski got to hang out together while Mom met Katie out for some dinner and drinks. They didn't miss each other for long, though, because Riles woke up not long after Mom climbed in bed. Speaking of bed and nighttime, Riley has (unfortunately!) broken her streak of only waking up once at night, and is back to waking up multiple times. She has also been extremely difficult to get back to sleep once she wakes up - always moving around and trying to see what's going on, even in a pitch black room. Mom and Dad are really hoping this phase doesn't last too long, and are trying everything to convince her to sleep for longer stretches. Riley then capped off a great week with dinner with Gigi on Friday night, and dinner with Joey and Leah on Saturday night. She was the star of the show both times, letting her presence be known and demanding constant entertainment from the people around her. :-)

 

 

 

 

 

July 4th Beach Party

Last weekend Riles joined Joey, Leah, Emily and Ryan for some dinner at Shorebreak. She enjoyed sitting up in the high chair like a big girl, and really enjoys her new game of throwing toys on the floor so Mom and Dad can pick them up! The next day she went shopping and had a lunch date with Mom and Dad, where Dad gave her her very first taste of ice cream. Then it was back to daycare for a short week before the big beach party at Nene and Papa's for 4th of July. Riles was a trooper all day, and pretty much refused to nap because she didn't want to miss a thing! She spent time on the beach, in the water (which she didn't like too much), on the floor playing with her cousins, outside on the deck listening to the steel drummer, and even stayed up late to watch the fireworks. Finally, a very tired girl headed home and passed out for the rest of the night. Dad left early Friday for his referee camp, so Mom and Riles got to spend some quality time together. Saturday they joined Gigi for some breakfast while Mom's car was in the shop, and afterward headed home to play for awhile.