Category — Reily

As we briefly talked about in the previous post, Reily got a new favorite ‘toy’ for Christmas. The ‘Neglect-o-Center’ is a 3 staged activity center that, according to the manufacturer, is designed for ages ‘baby to 24 months.’ The first stage is simply a mat and few things that hang over head for the baby to bat around. We just completely ignored this stage as Reily is dying to be on his feet. The second stage, more appropriately geared for pre-walkers (6+ months), is a stationary center that he can sit/stand in and the seat moves in circles allowing him to rotate around the center console and play at each station. (This is the current phase that he is in). The final stage is just where it acts like a little table area that he can hold himself up and walk around it to play with all the toys. It is really a great toy.

Well, Reily has been at the early stages of teething and subsequently is infatuated with putting everything and anything in his mouth. As of late, he has grown increasingly frustrated while in the ‘Neglect-o-Center’ because he is to short to chew on the toys around the console. He tries and tries to bring his mouth to the toys in order to soothe his incoming chompers. Today, he tried a new approach. And I don’t think that the manufacturers ever anticipated such a young child to have the power necessary to accomplish this feet. And he can do it repeatedly! Its days like today that Christine and I realize just how much trouble we are in for in the future! Enjoy the show:

As we usher in a new year, it seems as though a healthy dose of ‘change’ is running afoot. From a macro-level, we are about to see history made with the swearing in of the ‘Buddy Christ’ President and the ‘America Wow’ campaign. (Reference Check – Dogma) And while that may be impressive and certainly deserves the media’s attention, its most important to remember that words have meaning and, when it comes to leadership (also read as ‘parenting’), are not meant merely to be structured poetically. All that aside, we are much more focused on the little things.

Things that we could very easily look over as just yet another moment but when evaluated as a collective piece in the ‘History of Reily’ are so much more. Admittedly, it has been some time since our last post. And in that time, we’ve seen him grow so much and want to share a few of those moments with all of you.

• Reily met his baby cousin, Jonah William, who blessed the family with an early arrival – born 3 weeks ahead of schedule but healthy as can be. Jonah and family are doing great and we wish them the best as they too are figuring out all the joys of parenting!
• Reily received the ‘greatest Christmas gift ever’ – The ‘Exersaucer’ which has been renamed in our household to the ‘Neglect-o-Center’. This damn gift from G-ma and Poohbah came in about 500 different pieces complete with springs and million tiny screws that needed to go into locations that Reily’s hand couldn’t even fit in. After a long battle, I was finally victorious and Reily was able to really get this thing going.
• Our New Year’s was incredibly uneventful; which seems to be a reoccurring theme that we are actually welcoming as of late! We hung out as a family, watching movies, and anxiously awaited for the ball in New York to drop. When the magical moment was quickly approaching, we flipped the channel only to be flabbergasted that the west coast apparently doesn’t televise the event live given that it occurs at 9pm here. In utter disbelief, we quickly scoured the internet to find a web-broadcast of the event. And with 35 seconds until Reily ushered in his first New Year, we realized that we needed to wake him up for the event. So with a drowsy baby and a laptop in hand, we ushered in 2009!
• We did quite a bit of traveling over the past month. The first trip was a long drive from Los Angeles to Albuquerque, NM – an 800 mile drive lasting 15 hours that brought us through a few deserts and even more indian reservations. Those two details are important as it indicates that there is virtually no radio stations and even few opportunities for cellphone reception! So we listened to what was given to us and enjoyed the view nonetheless. The second trip was Reily’s first trip to Chicago. For this one, we flew, another first for Reily – LAX to ORD. The trip was laden with firsts for Reily – first time meeting his Godfather (which Reily screamed every time he picked him up – apparently he’s not a fan of Marquette soccer!), first time seeing snow (and I mean snow – 12 inches in total feel during our brief trip there), first trip to O’Leary’s Public House to meet the old gang, first time riding in a cab, first time riding the ‘L’. Reily proved again to be a fantastic traveler – on the flight, we fed him for the first 15 minutes during take off and the last 15 minutes landing. The rest of the time he slept!
• Reily was also cleared for solid foods by his doctor. And this represented a whole new chapter in his life. So last night was the first experience for Reily with real food – I am not sure how rice cereal is classified as either a solid or real food but it was certainly entertaining nevertheless:

Change – its more than just a word! For us, its constant and we are learning to really embrace it. We can only capture the moments and cherish them for what they are and not for what they aren’t. We are embracing 2009 and back to running with scissors! Hope all is well in your lives and that you can take a few moments out of each day and embrace them for tomorrow it will be different. And if your a parent, you realize how quickly things happen and in flash those moments are gone. So burn them into your memory and share them often! God bless!

We have some other information that we are extremely excited about as well but that will have to wait for another post. Until that time, please enjoy the photos and check back soon as we are starting to get back into a groove which will allow for some more frequent posts and photos to be shared.

Well we survived week one of Christine being at work! It was much more challenging than I had originally anticipated. On the otherside, it was also far more rewarding than I thought it would have been. Not that there were any major moments or milestones but the rewarding was in my own personal growth in learning how to not be in total control. See, I had a schedule every day. And I had tasks planned every day. I had calls to make and emails to send and training to complete. So all of those are scheduled now for this week!

We really did miss having Christine around though. We walked her to the bus and then immediately began the clock waiting for her return. I think that she’ll tell you its pretty tough for us all but we’ll continue to make this work. Much of that will come in cherishing every moment that we have with each other and individually with Reily – its not about quantity but quality!

Looking forward to Christmas though – we one large extended family in New Mexico. We anticipate this to be an exciting week so we’ll continue to keep you all posted. Till then, please enjoy some of the videos that I took from this week!

This first video was on a day when he just wouldn’t go to sleep for me. In a very un-Reily way, all he did was cry and fuss all day…that was until I suggested that he need to take a nap. This was how he responded: And this video is from when I forgot that I just fed him and quickly followed it up with some ‘Tummy Time.’ A total mind-lapse from Dad on this one given that I forgot that he gets a little to excited when he is in this position – all though, his ability to rally after throwing up is a Stummer trait!

The day is finally here. Christine is heading off to work tomorrow morning and Reily and I are left to fend for ourself. These past 3 months have been amazing – Reily aside (which is incredibly difficult given that he loves being the center of our world!) – Christine and I have bonded more over this short time then ever before in our relationship.

I have always classified our relationship as being the strongest out of all the couples that we know – great communication, an understanding of our needs as a couple and as individuals, and the right balance of when to push and when to pull. And I certainly wouldn’t say that we were perfect or didn’t have areas in which we could grow. But these three months have been amazing ~ we have fallen in love all over again! (It may be that we have only slept 6 hours in those 3 months but we’ll just rule that out for the time being.)

I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have been with both of them every day for the past 3 months and for allowing myself the chance to experience it every day. Granted, it may have been easier financially had a few things gone a little differently – like the condo in Chicago selling or the investment house in Akron selling or not having my Lehman stock go from $60/share to $0.06/share – but none of that matters when I look back at what I’ve received in return. What I have received can’t be measured. And I want to thank everyone for your tremendous support as well because we couldn’t have done any of this without you either.

So as we head of to sleep, I think back on the past 3 months where every moment I got to spend it with my wife. And despite what she might tell you, I still believe that you can never have too much of a good thing. Its like I always say “If two Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are good, then 12 will be amazing!” I’m reminded that tomorrow is going to be tough on us all and I’m sure that there will be some meltdowns along the way. For Reily, his will come in the comfort of our apartment. For Christine, her outburst will just scare the crap out of the hispanic women sitting next to her on the bus! We’ll all survive because that is what we do…but she’ll definitely be missed. And not just during the time when he need a full outfit change because the diaper didn’t hold!

Tomorrow sunrise brings a new day and exciting possibilities for us. After the initial shock, we’ll begin looking forward again. And this will all work out ~ its just a matter us determining what our next chapter is going to look like!

Reily and I will miss Christine tomorrow during the day. We recognize the sacrifices made as parents and the courage that she has as a mother…And we are forever grateful. All our love to her ~ as its tougher on her than anyone. Till then we will count down the hours till she gets home!

With Christine’s maternity leave coming to an end, we took the opportunity to reflect on the past 3 months.  3 Months!  Can anyone honestly believe that Reily was born 3 months ago?  And in that time, our lives have been changed forever.

His development is faster than ever (as is his eating and then pooping! – He recently set a new record of going through 38 diapers in 2.5 days ~ and all with a smile on his face!!!).  He has started to enjoy more time on his stomach (tummy time), talking non-stop, doing his mountain climbers which appear to be a precursor to crawling, grabbing at objects and throwing them, and his latest ~ sitting up on his own.  So to show his latest trick, here he is:

He is absolutely amazing. Most people can’t believe that he is only 3 months old. And when they spend time and see some of his fearless attempts at activities reserved for toddlers, their amazement quickly turns into a sense of concern for us as parents…and then the words are uttered “Oh man, you guys are in trouble!” We politely smile and give a laugh as well but deep down, we are conflicted on the speed at which is maturing. He’s gone onto holding his own bottle but at times it doesn’t always work out so he still needs us there. And we hold onto those little moments for as long as we can ~ always trying to stay in the moment and stopping the mind for wondering if this is the last time he’ll need our help as he’s mastered another skill. But for the time being – we still call the shots! He may decide the schedule but we are calling the shots. And that gives us the opportunity to dress him in any outfit we want:

Reily in his 'Snow Shirt'

Reily in his snow coat