Smiley Riley

When my parents were here last weekend my dad got Riley to smile a lot right before Kenny and I left for my birthday dinner on Friday night. And I, of course, got a pretty good series of photos of my smiling boy!

   

Just Hanging Out

My Birthday Weekend

My parents offered to come over and watch Riley this weekend so Kenny could take me out to dinner for my birthday, and we accepted pretty quickly! They arrived late Friday afternoon and left this morning. My birthday was on Friday, and Ken and I enjoyed a great evening out while Nola and Nopsi stayed home with Riley. We went to a little wine market/restaurant that we had only been to once before. It was just as good as we remembered it!

The next morning Mom helped me bake two new cookie recipes that I recently came across online. One was a bit hit (ranger cookies) and one was not (hot chocolate cookies). But I finally used my big Kitchen Aid stand mixer that we got as a wedding present. It only took me 3 years to do so! While we were finishing up our baking, Reyna and Matt stopped by with Natalya. They’re in town visiting family and wanted to meet Riley. It was great to see them!

After that, Mom insisted on getting me out of the house for a girls day. We went to lunch, shopped at Loft, and saw a movie (Morning Glory). We had a great few hours by ourselves and then came back home to be with the boys for the LSU game. Kenny made burgers and we watched the Tigers win very convincingly over ULM. Even though LSU won’t be playing in the SEC Championship game this year, it has been a pretty good season!

 

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for coming to stay with us and for babysitting on Friday night. We really appreciated it, and all three of us were so glad to have spent time with you two. See you again soon!

Tummy Time Champion

Riley is officially a tummy time champion (probably only according to his parents, but oh, well). True, he does have better days than others, but nobody’s perfect, right? Last night was definitely a good night, though, and he was doing so well that I decided to get another video. It just so happened that he was talkative and smiley, too! Enjoy. :)

More Firsts

When we got back from the outdoor concert on Thursday night Kenny decided to pull out Riley’s Bumbo seat that Aunt Debbie gave to him and test it out for the first time. I think Riley’s still a little too young to be in it for an extended period of time, but he seemed okay! We’ll probably wait until he can really hold his head up to use it regularly, though. :)

Then on Friday morning I decided to take Riley on his first trip to Target (and of course I brought the camera with me). He still has a bad patch of skin on his left cheek (which Nurse Amy said could be eczema) and our grocery store didn’t have Aveeno Baby lotion. So I figured a trip to Target was in order. I also wanted to look for another pacifier clip (slim pickins for those!) and pick up some free and clear detergent to see if that helped with his skin. He got a little fussy while I was looking for his lotion, but I popped his paci back in and he fell asleep for the rest of the time we were there. I’d say it was a success!

Outdoor Concert

Yesterday evening Kenny and I took Riley to a free outdoor concert offered at a development near our house every Thursday in the fall. One of our favorite local bands, GTO, played this week, and we thought they’d be a good group for introducing live music to Riley. It was a gorgeous afternoon to be outside, but it got really windy and pretty cold once the sun went down. We had Riley wrapped up tight in two blankets, but we decided to leave once it got dark (even though he fell asleep and didn’t seem to mind the chill!). Oh, well; we still enjoyed the hour of music we got to hear, and I loved dancing around with my boy!

Mobile Fascination

Kenny’s mom recently bought Riley a mobile for his crib, and he absolutely loves it. At first he was just in awe of it, but now he talks to it and laughs at it. It’s so cute that I had to get a video to share. Sorry for the rotation partway through….deal with it!

Riley’s First Halloween!

Kelli and Steve have hosted a party at their house on Halloween night for a few years now, and Kenny and I were so glad that we could bring Riley this year. I elected not to dress him up as anything; instead, I just got a cute sleeper from Babies ‘R Us that he wore. As always, the party was lots of fun and it was so great to see everyone. After hanging at the house for a bit and munching on all kinds of goodies, we walked with the group while the older kids trick-or-treated up and down the street. I think I’ll like it a bit better when Riley can walk on his own without me having to carry him….it was warm out there! 

After trick-or-treating, we went back to my parents’ house for their party and the Saints game. Riley got to meet more new people, and they were all glad to see him. He got a little fussy, but who could blame him after a really long day? All in all, I’d say his first Halloween was a great success. Kenny and I got to see lots of friends and family, and Riley got to look cute with a bright orange pumpkin on his booty. :) Oh, and the Saints beat the Steelers….Who Dat!

 

And even though he didn’t have a single piece of candy, it looks like Riley was having some sweet dreams on Halloween night. I already can’t wait for next year!

Pre-Halloween Craziness

Kenny, Riley, and I spent this past weekend in New Orleans, and we were non-stop from the moment we got into town. We met Nola, Nopsi, Aunt Erin, and Uncle Jeff for dinner at Houston’s on Friday evening. Riley had done well in the car until right before we got to 310 so I had to hop in the back to give him a bottle. I thought that would relax him enough to last through dinner but no such luck. He got pretty fussy but Nopsi walked outside with him and got him to calm down. After that he slept through the rest of dinner!

The next day Riley entertained multiple visitors at my parents’ house while Kenny and I ran some errands (including a massage for me – yay!). Then Nola and Nopsi were so nice to watch Riley while Kenny and I had a date night with dinner out at Martinique. Thanks you two!

 

Sunday morning the three of us met my old aquarium boss, Vaughan, for coffee at CC’s. I hadn’t seen him for almost 3 years so it was really good to see him and catch up! And later that afternoon we stopped by Grams’ house so she and Bop could get some time with Riley. I think she was really glad to see him!

 

After the grandparents visit we went straight over to Kelli and Steve’s for their Halloween party. More about Riley’s first Halloween in my next post, but let’s just say it’s good that he napped right before we got there…..