The Life of Riley: an exciting tale of babyhood

And we're off...!

2009-07-09T21:56:00.000-07:00

As of July 1st (giver or take a day or 2) Riley is finally living up to one of his middle names...walker. Ya, that was dumb, but its still cool Riley is walking now. Its not complete walking, like he walks all the time, but its walking like taking 5-12 steps then face planting. Which is sometimes even cooler...cause you never know whats gonna happen. Faceplant or smooth transition to butt sitting. His little Frankenstein walk is adorable. No knee bending yet, but he'll get there :)

We are excited. It has been so fun to watch him transition into a little boy over the past few weeks. All of his motor skills are improving and he is talking up a storm. Although we cant quite understand it, he is definitely trying to get his point accross. He's like a little sitting bull indian tribe leader...yelling things, pointing off into the distance and then directing us to do things like eat his food or drink out of his sippy cup.

I cant believe he is 16 days away from 1. CRAzY!

K, its late. Just wanted to update while I had time. Nick is off playing in Mexico so I am spending the evening updating the blog and downloading pictures...WAY cooler than chillin on the beach and drinking beer with friends. Nick really got the short end of the stick on that one. HA.

K, I am jealous. Really jealous!

Check out the new Riley pics below...

BabaBaBaba

2009-06-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

Its so crazy to watch Riley's development right now. He is copying EVERYTHING we do that he can do. Its cute.

He has figured out our bedtime routine so anytime you pull jammies out, he starts whimpering and crawling to the left, then to the right, then face plants into a mini tantrum...then looks up to see if you are looking and if you are...back to face plant into the carpet with a baby yowl...then comes up for air and jammies. Last night I pulled out the jammies and he started his routine so I put his shorts on my head and he began laughing hysterically...then he took his shorts off my head and put them on his head and laughed again. So FRIGGEN CUTE! We must have played that game for 10 minutes.

He is also starting to share everything!! He will literally pull food out of his mouth and try to put it in your mouth. As gross as it sounds, I usually take it cause he seems to take pride in sharing. The other night he fed me, Nick and Valentine Elmo (fake) cereal for about 25 minutes. He grabbed my empty cereal bowl and my spoon and fed each of us individually until it was jammie time.

I could definitely go on with the cuteness stories. He really is in a great phase right now. I cant believe he is almost 1. SO crazy.

Gotta run and get him from daycare. Been home for 2 days with the flu, figured I better write when I have a free moment....

Walk baby walk

2009-06-07T23:11:00.001-07:00

So...as usual, way too much time has passed between updates. Especially since Riley has now gone from crawling to almost walking in my writing lapse. Riley is cruising like crazy and took his first step toward Nick yesterday while we were playing in the grass. I cant believe how fast time is going. He'll be a year before we know it.

Other updates...we just moved into our new house. Yup, we bought our 1st home in Natomas. We are so excited and loving every minute of it. Every weekend is filled with projects...who knew that picking weeds could be so fulfilling :)

Nick and I are both loving our jobs and Riley is loving his new daycare. He fit in perfectly with the kids and seems to love the new staff. Our life has become so much easier without the extra 10 hours of drive time a week since his daycare is only 17 houses down from us. Its amazing. We can drop him off in our jammies, come home, go for a run, shower and be to work by 9am or 8am even. It is AWESOME!!!

Other than that...just working on the house, planning fun stuff for the summer and looking forward to watching Riley grow as fast as the weeds in our backyard :)

Check below for new pics...

Crawl baby crawl

2009-03-23T08:28:00.001-07:00

So I cant believe its almost been a month since I have written...

Riley has done so many new things. Its amazing to watch his growth. He is now officially crawling, pulling himself up on things, taking big boy baths, clapping his hands, banging things together and trying to speak by screaming OOO OOO OOO everytime the kitties walk by. He is getting so mobile that the kitties have to run and hide because he hunts them down. Loki officially has PTSD now and jumps at the slightest movements, mine, Rileys, Nicks or a snail teether. Poor cat. And poor Riley...all he wants to do is squeeze his tail and furr.

Riley is still recovering from his Croup experience and a little ear infection. Whoever thought it was a great idea to make a childs antibiotic bright pink and sticky is dumb. That stuff gets EVERYWHERE!!!

Anywho...so Riley had his first plan ride last week. We all went to San Diego (our 1st time back since we moved from there) to visit our friend Ken who was there with the University of Kansas baseball team. We had a blast. And little Riley was awesome! Never cried once on the plane. That was something we were both really worried about, esp with the ear infection. All the people around us on the plane were pleasantly surprised when he didnt cry. On the way home I heard a guy say "what are the chances, of course I sit next to a baby, jeez." And by the end of the flight he was turning around smiling at Riley. Its funny how peoples attitudes change...

So...besides the 1st plane ride, Riley had a few more 1sts in SD: 1st time in the ocean, first time putting his feet in a pool, 1st big boy bath and first time meeting uncle Ken. He made it so easy to travel that I am already planning our next trip...Hawaii maybe :)

Gotta run, but here are some recent pics of our trip to Tahoe, our trip to San Diego and our trip to the Dinosaur exhibit with the Friends...

Dada

2009-02-25T18:38:00.000-08:00

Its official: Riley said "dada" today. His first word. Nick says it doesnt count until he knows what it means, but it was the clearest thing he has said to date...so I'm going with it. Mark it on the calendars people...

Home sick today. BLAH! Trying to think of funny things for the blog...cant really think at all...

Time flies when you have a baby

2009-02-24T21:58:00.000-08:00

So last week was a little crazy without daycare, but we got through it. Riley is now both SCA and Terra Nova's top mascot since he spent most of the week there. I think he beat out everyone's dogs for mascot of the week last Friday at my job. Or at least I think he should have. Apparently since most of the people I work with have older kids, Fridays are: bring your dog to work day...Jiggy, Morgan Freeman and I think there are at least 2 Rubys. All cute, but not as cute as Rileybear.

Anywho...I wanted to take this time to say thanks to everyone at our jobs and Isaac and Clark and Ed for pulling through with babysitting. U all rock!!! Its times like these that I am reminded that we have such amazing friends!!!!

Here's the latest on the Ri man: he now has 5 teeth, almost 6. He is army crawling and can sit up on his knees and rock for a few minutes until flattening out. I swore he crawled two nights ago, but it was hard to tell cause he flopped down really fast. It looked like he went at least one rotation, ie: one hand fwd and one knee fwd. Soon enough, I'm sure...

His diet has expanded from just mom's milk to: mom's milk, squash, peas, avocado, carrots and sweet potatoes. He has tried bananas once, but wasnt a huge fan. I have been making his food mostly with fresh veggies and a blender which is fun, but he seems to like the Gerber stuff better. Imagine that. I swear they put crack in there, esp in the squash. Even Loki goes crazy for it!!! I looked on the ingrediants though, no crack, just squash and water...

Riley continues to be a social butterfly and loves people. Someone told me the other day that its not healthy for kids to go to ANY adult. WOW. He is only 6 1/2 months. Now when he is 4 years old and going off with strangers you can tell me that again and I might believe you. And then I would go look for my kid cause going with strangers is bad and creepy...ahhh, baby crying...gotta go...

Because mom has time...

2009-02-05T19:35:00.000-08:00

So I rushed home from work to take over so Nick could go teach Jiu Jitsu and Riley isnt even awake for me to play with...

So...I figured why not write a little while I have time....

Hahahaa. That is perfect...he just woke up :)

Foiled by the economy...but at least Riley is as healthy as a horse :)

2009-01-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

So for those of you who dont know...our house deal fell through. Yes, our dreams have been crushed by John Laing Homes. Ok, that was a little dramatic...but really, it does suck! John Laing apparently fell victim to the economic hardship that everyone else is going through and long story short, they do not have enough money to finish our house...

Yea, I know, only 3 weeks away from getting the keys...all I can say is: LAME!

So, other than that huge bummer, all is going well with the Ri man. He had his 6 month checkup today and he was cleared to join the military. I know, seems early huh! Kidding. He did get a clean bill of health and is tapering off on the percentages...which is good.

90th percentile for weight, 21 lbs
78th percentile for length, 27 1/2 inches
84th percentile for head size, 17 3/4 inches

In addition to his good health, he continues to develop as fast as a little hummingbird. I am assuming they grow fast. If not, at least they fly fast...so maybe Riley is growing as fast as a hummingbird flies. Whatever...u get my point...

He now has a third tooth up top and looks like his 4th is coming in slowly but surely.

Teething has been tough on the little guy...up several times a night with big tears, but we have all finally had some relief the past two nights since his top tooth broke the gumline...YAY!

Thats two nights of at least 4 hours of straight of sleep...I never thought these times would come again. Its amazing how much sleep controls my mood fluctuations. Sorry Nick! Hahaha.

Other than teething he is rolling all over the place and sitting up on his own. He can hold his own bottle and laughs hysterically when we tickle him. He looks like he wants to crawl sometimes when he flops from a sitting postion to his belly...and he usually ends up crawling a little, but backwards. Kind of funny to watch. He also continues to be very social and happy around other people...which is nice. Although, he is starting to have a little separation anxiety at the house with us, ie: if we leave the room he sometimes cries...sometimes so loud that you have to run back in the room and see if he fell...yea, he has us wrapped around his little chubby pinky...

So...I think that is a good enough update for now. More pictures to come soon...O and FYI...I used to arrange the pictures in story fashion so you would have to scroll down to the bottom to see the most recent picture...but now the site wont let me do that...so THE MOST RECENT PICTURES ARE UP TOP. Probably easier for all of us...

Hoping you are all doing great!!!! Lots of love...The Knights

2nd tooth

2009-01-03T22:46:00.000-08:00

same as the first...

Or is that 2nd verse, same as the 1st. Anywho...Riley got his second tooth yesterday...well, at least that is when we noticed it popping through. Exciting :)

So...we were at a new years day party and I mentioned Riley had his 1st tooth. The guy asked how old he was and when I told him 5 months he said..."O, I'm so sorry." I said "I know, I'm just waiting for him to bite me" and the guy laughed awkwardly and said..."wait, no, I mean, I've heard if babies get teeth real young they get cavities sooner." Ooops...and here I was about to divulge boob stories with a stranger and he was talking about cavities...naturally.

Anywho...HaPpY NeW YeAr everyone!!! I hope you all rang in the new year with your special loved ones and were safe and happy.

I fell asleep at 10:30pm on new years eve...SOOOOOO exciting! We put Riley down at 10pm and by 10:30 I was in the recliner, fighting sleep as much as possible until Nick finally told me to give up...so I did. BORING!

And to think it was just 2 (or 3) years ago that we were ringing in the new year like a rock stars (or people without kids) in Reno, with Josh, in his penthouse til 5am...eating chips to Josh's delight! Hahahahaha.

I swear...if you eat one more chip...

So now I am old and tired and sore and tired and a mom. Although Nick and I have been used to going out to celebrate big events, it was nice to be home with our family this time. Plus, its time for us to start chillin it out. A hard concept to grasp, but it seems to be coming naturally these days :)

Blah, blah blah...check out Riley's 1st Xmas pics below and have an awesome new year!

So much to say, so much to say...

2008-12-28T21:15:00.001-08:00

So I have been a bad mommyblogger and havent written much. Things have been a little crazy around here with my new job, Riley starting daycare and Nick back at work...plus the holidays...ahhhh.

Anywho...Riley has reached some pretty big milestones after his big roll over in November.

On December 1st he started sitting up on his own. Dec 2nd was the first night he sat up on his own and grabbed a toy that was sitting in front of him...only to put it right in his mouth, but hey, he still grabbed it. Since then he has learned to sit up and play with toys for long periods of time. Its amazing to watch and awesome for us cause we can set him down, put some toys in front of him and go take care of stuff around the house. He can keep himself occupied for up to 30 minutes sometimes. Who would have known that his being able to sit up would change our lives so drastically. Now we dont have any excuses to not do chores anymore...thats the down side :) hahahha

On December 17th Riley was "vampiring" my hand as he usually does when he is getting hungry and OUCH, something almost cut me. After about 10 minutes of trying to push his tongue aside I saw the culpret...his first tooth :) It is on the bottom right side and has now broken all the way through. Its pretty cute :) That would explain his massive drooling problem, his occassional fevers and recent sleepless nights...ahhh the wonders of teething. AWESOME :)

On December 21st Santa brought Riley an early xmas present...a high chair and some rice cereal. Since about mid December he started showing a huge interest in our food and drinks so we thought it would be a good time to see if he had any interest in eating his own food. And he did. On Dec 21 we fed him rice cereal for the 1st time and he literally screamed when I took the bowl to the sink to clean it out after he had finished his whole tablespoon of cereal. He was crying and reaching out as if to say..."gimme that back! Please. I need it!!!" Yea, like he needs anymore food. That kid is weighing at least 21 lbs now :) hahaha. Since then we have been feeding him cereal once a day. This week we are thinking of starting him on vegetables...YUM!

So...those are the big things in the past month. Pretty amazing to watch him grow. He's really turning into a little buddy too. So cute and social. Always great at parties and with people. We are very fortunate and thankful to have such a great baby :) More pictures to come soon...

Riley the rollover king...

2008-11-28T17:37:00.000-08:00

So, the big news of the week is that Riley rolled over for the first time on Monday, November 24th while visiting his cousins and aunt and uncle in Reno. He's now a pro at rolling from his back to belly, but has no idea what to do when he gets there other than mash his face into the floor and scream or do pushups until he collapses, then screams some more.

He also tried some mashed potatoes at aunt Cody and uncle Jason's house on Monday night (his first solid food). He had NO idea what to do with them so he naturally spit them out far enough to smash his hand into them and smear them all over his clothes. We wont be starting solids again for awhile :)

Overall, he seems to be making some big changes this week: like grabbing at things with the intention of making them his...since no one wants their water bottle back covered in baby slobber. He has been reaching for our soda cans and water bottles a lot this week. He can actually hold them on his own if they arent too full and bring them up to his mouth. Obviously the soda can is dangerous so we only let him hold that one. But he's strong and really wants to grab them. I am waiting for the day that he catches me off guard and throws soda all over me. Awesome!

He is also making some new noises and laughing a lot more. He loves when Nick holds him up in front of the bathroom mirror, he thinks that is hilarious. He also is starting to love the feeling of falling. He will laugh hysterically if you are holding him and pretend to drop him. He also likes to fly...either on our knees or when we are walking. Its definitely getting more fun now that he is interacting more!!!

Its funny because we both wanted him to roll over so bad, but we are now seeing how much this new milestone is going to affect his life...and ours. Last night we heard him screaming in his crib and both ran to see what was going on...only to find him on his stomach, sideways, wedged between his sleep bumper and the crib bars with blankets twisted all around him. Needless to say I now understand why blankets are a bad idea in the crib. Time for the "dreamsie" and nothing else, even his sleep bumper is a gonner. Since his new talent has begun, its like sleeping with a newborn again. He is up every hour now crying on the baby monitor cause he rolled over onto his stomach and doesnt know what to do. We didnt know how good we had it when he was only waking up once a night. Hopefully this phase will pass soon so Nick and I can get some sleep :)

Oh ya, we also had his 4 month check up last week and here are his stats: 18 lbs 2.6 ozs and 27 inches long. Basically the size of a 10 month old. Once again, off the charts and in the 96th percentile for weight, 90th percentile for length. His head is still in the 75 percentile...so no freakishly large Knight head yet :) Just kidding.

Check out the video and the pics of him rolling over and eating mashed potatoes. More pics to follow down at the bottom of the blog.

"Dad stop cleaning your glasses and watch me...I'm about to roll over!!!!!!"

YUUUUUUUUMMMMMMM!

Ps.

2008-11-11T20:43:00.001-08:00

Check out my Halloween pictures at the bottom of the blog :)

La la la la...Elmo's World!!!

2008-11-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

So, I've been back at work for about a week now and I STILL have that damn Elmo's World song stuck in my head. Not that we dont play with that toy in the evening, but when I was home with him we would play it every morning as a part of our morning play time and I would end up humming that damn tune ALL day, EVERY day, for about a month! He loves that damn thing.

For those of you who know that song, I bet you can feel me on this one. It will get stuck in the cracks and crevices of your brain and there is nothing you can do about it. At this point, Barry Manilow's "I Cant Smile Without You" would be a better song to have lingering in my head for an entire month. Cause I certainly CANT smile with Elmo's World stuck in my head. Thats for sure!! Hahaha. K, its not THAT bad. It is kinda catchy :)

AHhHhh the life of having a kid, so I am told, by many. Apparently it gets worse as they get older. I thought I would be tough and not get "stuck" in kid world, but I think its inevitable at this point. I guess its time to embrace Elmo and his wacky world.

As for an update on our little man...

Riley continues to be a great kid. He cries very little and smiles a ton (which still melts my heart). He has started singing a lot and using his little vocal cords as much as possible. He makes cool fart noises with his lips and has been making spit bubbles a lot recently.

This past weekend we think he started teething. He became really fussy at the Causeway Classic football game on Saturday and we couldnt figure out why he was so upset. We had never seen him cry so much. All day he had been rubbing his gums and chewing on anything he could get his hands on. On the ride home he literally screamed the whole way...which he has NEVER done. When we got home he had a fever of 100.9 and Nick found a little red spot on his lower gum area. So...after calling Kaiser, the nurse convinced me he is probably teething. Poor little buddy. She said he's pretty young, but it could still happen this early...

Good news is: fussiness disappeared Monday. He is back to his old self and singing away.

He is super close to rolling over now. I keep breaking out the video camera, but he has figured out what that is and stops what he is doing if you point it at him. Smart little pooper :)

Just realized this is getting pretty long. I have heard from some people that they dont like to "read" very much so I better keep it on the shorter side.

Ahhh, another quick milestone...he slept through the ENTIRE night on Sunday. Went to bed at 8pm and woke up at 6:45am. Yea, my boobs werent that happy, but we sure were. I swear his diaper must have weighed 8 lbs when I changed him at 6:45 :)

O and for those of you who dont know...Nick is home for the month of November. So far he is loving it and has done a great job! Today is the only day I heard him say he was feeling a little bored. I got there too. It happens. There is only so much tummy time you can do with a 3 1/2 month old :)

I am trying to convince him to blog since he has a pretty good sense of humor. He said maybe. I guess time will tell. Maybe boredom will get to him and he will need the outlet...

Exciting news

2008-10-28T18:53:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Nick and I found out today that we were approved for the loan to buy our new house! Yiiipppeeee!

We kinda kept it on the downlow in case we didnt get approved for the loan. So for those of you who dont know: we started, well, I started looking at houses online a few weeks after Riley was born. There were a ton of foreclosures (what we could afford) around Sac, but I didnt really find any I liked too much. Most were fixer uppers or old houses that should be updated. They were the right price, but I knew that we would have to put a bunch of time and money into them down the line. And since Nick is not so handy with the hammer, I knew it would cost a ton of money to hire people to fix up a fixer upper. So I gave up...

That is until a few weeks ago when our friend Rob put a bug in our ear to check out the house he bought in a new development. I was convinced we wouldnt be able to afford a new house so I kinda shined him on and said...ya, ya, we'll look at it. But once we discussed the price of his house I thought maybe we could swing it. After checking out a bunch of new developments around the area, we ended up liking John Laing Homes the best and long story short...now we are going to be neighbors with our friend Rob and his wife. Sweeet.

Funny thing: the house is in Natomas...a place both Nick and I said we would NEVER live. We also both said we would never live in Sacramento and we have been here 4 + years.

So, the home is in its first phase of being built and should be completed in mid to the end of January. The original closing date was supposed to be Valentines day, how sweet, but the new contractor is kicking butt and we will definitely close sooner.

Check out the picture below. Our house is the one on the right. The left one is what ours will look like when it is complete :) Except for ours is a different color I think...

The origin of the cat pony

2008-10-27T21:55:00.000-07:00

It was a mid summer's afternoon as the sunlight peered through the bathroom window like a ray of sunshine shines through a bathroom window. Warm and nice. And there he was, Loki, master kitten and now forever known as "cat pony, my pony." Or "my little cat pony," for those of you who grew up in the 80's. Now you may ask...is Jo drunk right now? And the answer is "no." I am just free of baby for a few minutes :)

Anyway...so back to the summer's day. August 16th to be exact. So the sunlight was peering through the bathroom window into our hallway where our dear little slow kitten, Loki, lay sunbathing. And there was our darling newborn baby Riley: 8lbs, 10 ozs...not able to form sentences, but still omnipotent, in his golden fleece diapers with his tiny, little fat balled up fists, lying there in his little ghost manger, lookin' at his Baby Einstein developmental videos, learnin' 'bout shapes and colors...

And BAM, Riley mounted Loki with giant eagles wings, singin’ lead vocals for lynyrd skynyrd with like an Angel Band and I’m in the front row. No, no, Riley mounted Loki like a muscular trapeze artist or like a changeling, a shapeshifter...you ever seen 'Manimal? And just after I took a cell phone picture, Loki bucked Riley off like a ninja, fightin' off evil samurai and came at him like a spider monkey!

And that, my friends, is how the cat pony came to fruition, a mix of truth and Talladega Nights...

Thank you!!!!!

2008-10-20T22:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

So I have been going through all these pictures to update the blog and have been reminded of all the wonderful friends we have. I wanted to thank everyone for their support over the past 3+ months and of course thank you for all of the wonderful gifts. Riley has been looking pretty hip and sweet in all the outfits you have gotten him (as you can see in the pictures :)

We are so fortunate to have people like you in our lives!

So this one goes out to you :)

THANK YOU!!!!!!
Love,
Jo, Nick & Riley

Typing 1 handed

2008-10-20T17:44:00.000-07:00

Nick won the US Open! As a purple belt! YAYYYY!!!!!!!!

Santa Cruz was awesome, as always. Riley was great and slept like a champ. It was great to see auntie T and uncle P! Thanks 4 coming u guys!!

Finally uploaded some pics from Rileys 1st 10 days...check em out below :)

Check out the new pics...

2008-10-15T14:40:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I have a quick minute so I thought I would write. Riley is doing great. Starting to reach out for toys and grabbing at things and pulling them towards his body (well, his mouth mostly :) He is drooling a lot and is making all sorts of new noises. He squeals and makes screeching noises when he is excited. And he is finally getting into a nap routine which has been nice for me. Its getting a lot easier to read his sleepy ques. Sucks cause now that I am starting to understand him, I have to go back to work in 2 1/2 weeks :( BUMMMER! Nick will take over for the month of November (which will be a nice transition), but I am still sad I have to leave him!

Other than that...all else is well. Nick is taking time away from his crazy work schedule to compete in the US Open in Santa Cruz this weekend. He won the tournament last year, but this year he will compete as a purple belt so he has no idea how he will do. I think he will win!!!!

I have started kickboxing again. I have only done it 4 or 5 times, but it feels great to be back in the gym. 20 lbs down, TONS more to go!!! hahahaha.

I gotta get back to the boy...but I finally uploaded some new pictures...scroll all the way down to see them.

Riley's Stats

2008-10-09T17:37:00.000-07:00

So, once again I have fallen off the blog map. Sorry. Its hard to do updates these days. Its weird to think one little dude takes up SO much of my time. He is currently sitting in his swing talking with "swing kitty" as Nick and I call him. There is something about that plastic cat that is perched on that swing that makes him laugh one minute and scream at him the next. Too funny. Ok, so for some reason "enter" isnt working on this thing so this is going to be one big paragraph. Riley had his 2 month appointment 2 weeks ago and he was in the 97th percentile for his weight, 90th percentile for length and 23rd percentile for his head. I know, weird coming from a Knight boy. Them and their giant heads :) So for those of you who dont know this percentile thing (cause I didnt) for his weight, there are only 3 other kids out of 100 that are fatter than him and 10 other kids taller than him. I am thinking line backer for the Broncos or Steelers :) Man, he is all tears. Gotta go...swing kitty must be talking mad shit to him right now...

What a difference 9 weeks makes!!!

2008-10-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

The Salty Boob: Riley's first trip to Santa Cruz

2008-09-23T15:16:00.001-07:00

Since I spent the summer el prego with Riley and spent a whole work week in labor with him we decided that, if I was cleared by my midwife, that I deserved a surf trip. I figured since I had a C-section I was most likely free of getting a seal caught...well, nevermind. Read the pregnancy blog and you will get what I am talking about :)

Anyway...although I am totally out of shape and couldnt even fit in my old wetsuit, I figured I better try to get back on the saddle and try to catch some waves before winter sets in and its too damn cold to surf.

So Nick and I packed up little Riley and headed to Santa Cruz with my long time friend Jenny (Auntie J bug) and her dog Snowy. Unfortunately we had to drop Snowy off at his Uncle's house, but he rode some of the way with us.

It took my about 3 days to think about and pack exactly what I thought Riley would need for the beach. And it took about 5 seconds for me to kick sand in his face once we got there. Poor little buddy. It had been so long since I had been to a beach that I forgot about how windy it can get and forgot that sand pretty much gets EVERYWHERE no matter how careful you are.

We even bought Riley a tent to protect him from the elements, but that got sand in it pretty much immediately. But once we covered the stupidly place tent windows Riley was a happy little bundle and I was ready to get in the water...

Now as for surfing...I was exhausted before even getting in the water. Those stairs at Manresa kicked my butt and so did walking in the sand AND putting on the wetsuit. Once I got in the water, reality hit and I couldnt even get past the break cause the waves were coming in so fast.

So...I did the next best thing and tried to ride the white water. MAN, I AM OUT OF SHAPE!!! I lasted about 30 minutes after getting my ass kicked by a few waves and could barely push myself up on the board. Actually, I couldnt push myself all the way up, so I never got up, but being back in the water was awesome!

Tag. Once I got out of the water, it was Nick's turn to try and surf. So being the dutiful mom that I am I thought I better feed Riley before he gets too hungry. Nick had told me he took 2 oz's of his bottle, but he was still acting hungry. So after taking off the upper half of my wetsuit and positioning myself half in and half out of Riley's tent and putting on the Hooter Hider so no one would see my boobs...I look down just as Riley is about to latch on and there is sand EVERYWHERE! I immediately pull him away from the boob and since he has no idea why, he lets out a huge scream. And as I am trying to simultaneously console him and wipe sand off my boob, the next thing I know, a gust of wind blows the Hooter Hider to the side and my salty, sandy boobs are out for everyone to see. Good thing there werent too many people near us!

Jenny and Nick decided that 'The Salty Boob' would be a good name for a bar...

So, anyway, since we had so much fun, we are thinking of trying to go again. I do have to say though, it was a little stressful going with a 2 month old, but I am proud of Nick and I for even trying! It was well worth the soreness I am still feeling :) And awesome to be there with Nick, Riley and one of my oldest friends, Jenny.

See below for some pictures of the trip...
And we're off...

My first time meeting Snowy, Auntie J bug's dog. "Hello little puppy..."

Playing with dad in the hotel room before my first trip to the beach

Here's mom ready to go out...

Manresa State Beach

Here's Auntie J bug waxing up her board

This is me in my tent...see if you can spot me :)

All packed up and ready to head back to the hotel And I am out...what a long day at the beach!!! I am POOPED!

Day 2 at the beach...this time I am in my carseat in the tent. It worked MUCH better!

Here's our friend Matt. He came to meet me and to surf with mom and dad...

Dad's trying to figure out if its worth paddling out since there were no waves at Cowell's :(

The ride home...dreaming of the beach and waves :)

Riley and his increasing lbs.

2008-09-16T14:30:00.001-07:00

So Riley has more than doubled his birth weight. Most of the books I have read say that babies usually dont do this until they are 6 months old. He is 7 WEEKS old.

Last week he weighed in at 12.5 lbs and last night he weighed 15 lbs. He is one chunky monkey. But cute nontheless. Perhaps I should think about Jenny Craig since it is my milk that is chunking him up!?!

Or perhaps a baby treadmill!?!

Anyway...here are some more pictures from our lovely trip to Land Park. I used a REAL camera with REAL film. Not that our digital camera is bad, but there is nothing like a film shot...

Enjoy...
Ps. if you click on the picture it will increase in size. I just learned that today...

CAT pony express...

2008-09-12T17:10:00.000-07:00

I cant believe how much Riley has been slacking on his blog. Jeeeez.

Awesome, just as I am about to add some charm to HIS blog, he wakes up. Thats been happening a lot lately. Well, here are some pictures at least...

Riley wanted me to tell you that we will be back later, sk8ters...
1st trip to Land Park

Watching the fights at the Friends house with the Lups :)

These are going to be my friends when I get a little older and can play with them :)

CAT PONY!!!

Dad got his purple belt!

6 weeks old

Does this mirror make me look fat?

The travels of a tiny bug

2008-09-03T16:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday started like any other day. Sleep, eat, change and eat again. Then my parents stuck me in that contraption again, the one that goes in their backseat, and we were off....

Even though they think I cant see very far, when I am in that contraption I still try to look around, but they block my view with that shade thing cause it gets kinda bright in my eyes. Oh well, time to snooze I guess.

So, after a nice long nap, all of a sudden I am moving. I think I am being carried around, but I wouldnt know because I CANT SEE with that damn shade in my way!

Hmmm. I know, I shouldnt swear cause I am only 5 1/2 weeks old, but everyone else around me does. They think I dont hear them, but I do. Especially my mom. She is the worst at swearing.

So I think I am being carried around and I feel lost. Things feel different and sound different. There is a chirping noise and the air is different. It is dry and my nose feels funny. Just like last time when we went to Reno. But things smells better here and the air feels good on my skin. It is warm, but not like at home. That place is HOT.

When my parents finally move the shade, I am blinded at first, but see these HUGE green things in front of me. Man, what are those things? Are they going to attack me? Are they going to bite me? I then hear my mom's voice and I know I am safe. Dad is there too. He sounds in a hurry. He said something about a "fantasy football draft." Hmmm, I wonder what that is?

After seeing some new things and seeing some familiar faces in a cabin...about 30 minutes later after a quick snack at mom's diner and a diaper change, I am put back in that contraption again and am whisked away. But this time I dont hear dad or see him. He must be tending to that "fantasy" thing he was talking about. What a nerd. Hahahah.

I hear mom talking on the phone. "Yiiippppeeee" she says. Then says something like "auntie J bug." I wonder who that is. Man, I am exhausted all of a sudden...I better go to...zZzzZZZz

Now I am awake. There is this strange lady staring at me. She smells like caramel popcorn. Hmmm. Too bad I dont have teeth.

Speaking of, I am hungry again...where are mom's boobs?

The rest of the visit is kinda a blurr since I slept a lot. I know that we were near the water at one point and that the caramel popcorn lady is Auntie Jbug and her and my mom ate lots of melon, m&m's and other kinds of candy. I remember hearing them laugh a lot. I also remember a lizard and hearing the Sound of Music. I also remember bouncing on a ball and watching my mom and J bug eat, again, at a nice outdoor restaurant. Man, they eat a lot. I guess I do too. I remember liking Auntie J bug. She talked a lot about snowboarding. I'm not sure what that is, but I cant wait to try it out.

So that was my first trip to Tahoe. It was kinda like my first trip to Reno. Getting to know new faces and seeing some faces I have met before. Looking at new colors, shapes and patterns. Hearing things I havent heard before. Trying to take everything in and stay cool and calm so my parents dont have to deal with my fussiness :)

Riley's first blog entry: Poop Capades

2008-08-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

Now that Riley is 4 1/2 weeks old I figured it was time for him to go out on his own and get his own blog site. I mean, he is pretty much self sufficient at this point: holding up his head, making cooing noises and able to grab things with his hands...why shouldnt he have his own website? It is definitely time.

So the excitement continues at the Knight house with baby Riley and his new love for "air pooping." Normally pooping in the air would be considered a fart, but not for Riley.

It all started last Thursday when I was changing Riley's 243584 diaper for the day. Earlier that day his diaper leaked a little on the changing pad cover so I took it off and forgot to put a new one on. When I came back in the room later to change him I realized there was no cover, but didnt think it was a big deal so I began changing him on a coverless pad. Well, when I bent down to get a new diaper I heard a little grunting noise and when I looked back at him I saw that my little angel had sprayed seedy mustard poop all over the changing pad.

So naturally, instead of cleaning the poop, I ran for my camera cause why not have photographic evidence of this first, and what I thought would be his only occassion, of air pooping. I literally laughed so hard that I could barely focus the auto focus camera.

All the while, Riley laid there kicking his little legs around and grunting more. Thinking he was done, I took my time with the camera only to hear one last grunt and see poop fly across the table AGAIN! I must have laughed for an hour.

Thank god I didnt have a cover on there cause that thing would have been ruined. Luckily that pad has an easy clean surface. Although I am still not sure we shouldnt buy a new pad...

As I said before, I thought that would be his only air poop so I was proud to get it on film and tell Nick all about it.

Well, not our sweet little baby. Apparently Riley tuned into my laughter and excitement about the air poop and is now addicted to it. Perhaps addicted isnt the correct word, but I cant help but think that somehow my reaction helped shape his behavior because this kid is now spraying mustard seed all over his room and all over Reno in our weekend visit. Yes, there have been at least 4-5 other incidents of air pooping since Thursday...less than one week.

Yesterday being the worst of them all. Or the best. Not that I am a weirdo or anything, but when he hit the wall, I couldnt help but be a proud parent. I know, sounds insane, but you have to admit...farting is funny and being able to shoot poop is hilarious!!

These poop capades have helped me get through a blistered nipple, a sleepless night or two and just the overall exhaustion of waiting hand and foot on our little son. Thank goodness for poop stories and his smile. That smile of his seriously melts my heart. More so than the air pooping...FOR SURE!

See below for some updated pictures of our little man. And if you are faint of heart or if the sight of poop bothers you...you might want to skip over that one or just ignore it :)