During Naptime

Sometimes I feel like I'm not giving Riley enough attention.  But Riley has always entertained herself and not required a lot of attention.  However, I've been making it a routine to give Riley my undivided attention while Hadley takes her morning nap.  Normally I try to get laundry and cleaning done during the morning nap but I figure that Riley deserves my attention more.  We play whatever it is that Riley wants to play.  Sometimes we color, we build with her blocks, play in her ball pit, or play in her new favorite thing- her Dora playhouse.  Riley likes for me to get into the playhouse with her, but my large booty makes it difficult to get through the door!!  I manage to squeeze in which is highly entertaining to Riley.  We climb in and out and chase eachother around.  Sometimes Riley will make us something to eat with her pretend food and then as soon as we are done eating she insists on making more.  Riley is really becoming more and more fun to play with.  She's got a spunky little personality that just puts you in a good mood.  Well at least when she's being good it puts you in a good mood!  I'm glad I am putting my cleaning aside and spending one on one time with my Riley!  She's growing up so quickly I don't want a moment to pass me by.

Some Independence

Hadley is now officially sitting up on her own.  For the past few weeks she's been kind of sitting up, but she was slouched over holding herself up with her hand infront of her on the floor.  Now she's on her own.  Sitting up like a big girl!!  She gets a little wobbly every now and again so I still put the boppy pillow around her just in case she falls backwards.  Hadley is thoroughly enjoying her new independence.  She loves the fact she can sit on her own and grab her toys and play with them.  And by play I mean chew them!  It's so remarkable to see her at this stage.  I like that she can keep herself occupied now sitting up and playing because it gives me a little bit of freedom from constantly entertaining her.  Hadley is definitely less fussy now that she has some independence.  Riley likes the fact that Hadley is sitting up too.  Riley sits on the floor and plays with Hadley, sometimes piling all of Hadley's toys on her lap.  Hadley gets a little overwhelmed by Riley sometimes, but all in all the girls have fun together!  I am looking forward to the next milestone...crawling!

Savor the Flavor

Since Hadley has been doing well with eating her cereal, I figured it was time to add some more flavor into her diet.  I decided to start with squash.  I think with Riley I started her on fruit.  But I thought this time around I should start with a veggie instead of pure sweetness.  I decided on squash because that was Riley's favorite veggie and I thought perhaps Hadley might enjoy it too.  Hadley surprisingly did well with the squash.  She's not a big eater like her big sister was so she didn't eat very much.  I do think Hadley enjoyed tasting a new flavor though. 

Of course after about 3 spoonfulls Hadley wasn't sure about the squash anymore.  She was looking at me like I was crazy as I attempted to give her some more.  I found that I have to play games with Hadley to get her to eat.  Riley would just open her mouth and I couldn't feed her fast enough.  Hadley on the other hand has to be persuaded to open her mouth and eat.  It's so funny how different my two daughters are.  Hadley will be eating squash for a week before I move on to another food so that we can see if she has any allergies to the squash.  Hopefully she won't get sick of it!  I guess I'll try a fruit next week.  I still can't believe Hadley is already big enough to be eating Gerber first foods!   

Terrible Two's??

For the most part Riley is an angel.  But she has moments where I wonder if she's the same child.  When Trey or I ask Riley to do something she doesn't want to do she either ignores us or tells us NO!  I'm not sure how many time outs she needs before she learns you don't tell mommy or daddy no.  Her other issue is hitting.  Riley normally won't hit Trey or me, but if she gets mad she'll slap herself on her leg.  I don't tolerate any type of hitting, so of course she goes to time out for that too.  Riley is definitely not a fan of time out.  So normally if we threaten her with it she'll start listening.  But then the other 25% of the time she goes to time out and has a meltdown.  This girl is such a little drama queen.  She gets the waterworks going and keeps the tears coming.  Riley is such a character!  After her time outs she is good about giving hugs and kisses to apologize for the way she was acting and can now say sorry!  Good or bad, I love this little girl!!

A Lagoon Day

Yesterday I took the girls to the lagoons at Ko'Olina.  As I mentioned in a previous blog, Trey and I said we would go to the beach every weekend.  Unfortunately Trey had to work yesterday so he wasn't able to enjoy the gorgeous day with us.  Despite the fact he was working I got the girls ready for the beach and headed out.  I wasn't by myself though.  I went with my two of my friends and their kids.  This made it easy for me because I had load of help from Erika and Abbey who just adore both of the girls.  I absolutely love going to Ko'Olina.  It is just so peaceful there.  The water was warm and the sun was shining bright!  It was a perfect day.  Riley didn't get out of the water except for about 15 minutes to have a little lunch and get a diaper change.  She was literally in the water for 3.5 hours.  I love the fact that she enjoys the water so much.  The lagoon is a perfect spot for kids.  There aren't any waves to knock them over.  The only thing I had to worry about was the fact that Riley has no fear and just walks out into the water on her own.  There was always someone with her, but she's quick so we had to watch her carefully!  I felt kind of bad enjoying the day so much knowing that my poor husband was stuck at work.  But I definitely enjoyed a nice relaxing day with some friends.  The best part was that while Hadley was napping I sat on the beach while Erika played with Riley in the water.  It was so nice for me to just be able to lay back and not have to do anything but close my eyes and listen to all the sounds and smell the fresh air.  Ahhh, it was heaven!  I can't wait to go back! 

And of course the only shot I got of poor Hadley was her sleeping again!  I promise next weekend I'll get a good shot of her in her adorable bathing suit that Kiki and Po sent for her!!

Riley's 2yr. Check -Up

I took Riley for her 2 year check-up today.  Riley has never been a fan of going to the doctor.  Ever since she was a little baby she has always thrown a fit during all of her doctors visits.  Riley has actually only been to the doctor for her check-ups.  I am so thankful that she's not been sick and had to see the doctor.  Riley's name got called and we went back to have her weighed and measured.  The screaming game began.  I asked Riley to take off her shoes, which normally she has no issue with.  Well not today.  She screamed when I took her shoes off since she wouldn't do it on her own.  She continued to scream as I put her up on the scale.  After 3 tries to weigh her the nurse finally got her weight.  Then it was time to see how tall Riley is.  All she had to do was stand up against the wall.  That wasn't happening.  Riley was screaming bloody murder so I had to pin her to the wall by pressing my body up against her.  Riley still was wiggling all around and trying to climb out under my arms.  It was one of the worst experiences of my life!  Getting your child weighed and measured should not be such a hassle.  I don't even think the nurse got an accurate height measurement.  Going by what the nurse said, Riley is 27.5lbs and 34.5in tall.  But who really knows about the height! 

After all that drama we head back to wait for the doctor to come and check out Riley.  Riley was just fine sitting in the room looking at all the fish on the wall.  And then in walks the doctor.  After asking me a few questions about Riley it was time for Riley to sit up on the bed.  I'm sure you know this isn't going to go well.  I had to sit Riley on my lap so that the doctor could complete Riley's check-up.  Dr. Chan checked Riley's eyes and ears and mouth.  Then all the sudden the doctor goes to take Riley's pants off.  I had no idea she was going to do this.  Apparently Riley didn't either and she kicked the doctor.  Oh yes, my little angel, kicked the doctor.  I guess in a way that might be a good thing because she doesn't want strangers taking her pants off.  I understand that the doctor was just completing Riley's check-up, but it sure would've been nice to know what the hell she was doing before she did it.  I mean with infants the doctor always asks you to undress your child, they've never done it themselves.  I guess Riley and I were both caught off guard when the doctor decided to undress Riley herself.  Poor Hadley was just sitting in her carseat probably wondering what all the kicking and screaming was about!  The good new is that Riley is up to date on her immunizations and didn't have to get any shots.  Praise the Lord!!  Riley is still a healthy little girl and on target.  Dr. Chan did inform me that I shouldn't be giving Riley so much milk to drink.  Riley drinks about 3-4 cups of milk a day.  She likes it, just like her father.  Apparently it's too much.  Whatever.  It's not like she's drinking soda or some other sugary drink.  I think I'll just keep doing what I do!

After the Beach

I forgot to mention that after we got home from the beach on Sunday, Riley spotted one of her sprinklers in the garage and wanted to play with it before going inside.  Trey hooked it up for Riley and away she went running through the sprinkler.  The best part was the fact she was wearing her bathing suit top, a pull-up and her cha-cha's.  This girl no longer plays outside in her crocs.  She's all about her cha-cha's all the time.  It was too funny to watch her run through the sprinkler in those shoes.  She had a blast and didn't fall.  Perhaps we have a little diva in the making!