Category — Status Updates

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

This year’s Thanksgiving marked a number of firsts for us -

• The first one with Reily (obviously!)
• The first one in west of the Mississippi
• The first one without any family members
• The first one without a hang over on the following day (since its been legal for us to drink ~ obviously!)

We had a very nice Thanksgiving; we spent it with some friends that Christine met through work. We ended up driving into ‘the valley’ around mid-afternoon; and as it seems like every time we travel theses days – we were late! But it was certainly worth the trip – our host is a fabulous cook! We indulged in the traditional Thanksgiving turkey but were then met with a slew of other non-traditional dishes. These included a wild rice stuffing, sugar sweet potato casserole, a myriad of breads, a unknown dish that contained noodles, cream cheese, and corn flakes, and followed by apple (made by Christine) and pecan pies for dessert.

As dinner was fantastic, so was the company. Our hosts were originally from the east coast and were fairly recent (2+ years) transplants to the LA area as well. They adored Reily ~ who we gave a 3 hour nap to before leaving and that seemed to make him just the most pleasant guest in the world! (This could be construed as ‘false advertising’ to a couple who is due to get married in the spring and are anxious to start a family ~ we did our part to lay the trap that all babies are this easy!). And the two of them, who will make excellent parents when its their time, are welcome to babysit anytime they feel the urge.

All of this was fantastic, but something was missing. We found we missed our families and all that comes with them. We actually missed the too much wine, the hang over on Friday morning, the telling of past holidays, the drunk phone calls from cousins, and, ironically enough, the holiday weather. Its tough to know its the holidays out here – the trees don’t tell you so; the weather certainly doesn’t change; and without your family, it seems like just another weekend.

All that said, we missed you all this past holiday and hope that you had a fantastic and safe one. We have a few photos that we’ll post here over the next couple of days. And we’ll turn our attention to Christmas where we’ll be heading to Albuquerque to spend with my family ~ where hopefully, my sister will have given birth by then and we’ll have the joy of just watching this birth!

All our best~ Dan, Christine, & Reily!

Which sounds older?  10 weeks seems younger to me, but I secretly want him to stay little forever.  Although he’s not so little for his age.

I think it’s a typical mom thing to do, but Reily is so much fun to watch as he explores his little world!  Our little king is also very precious as he sleeps.

I love the innocence and wonder as he sees things from new perspectives.  We just need him to contain the drool a little better  

At Starbucks he turns his head side to side like a tennis match, watching all the different people come and go.  He is still exploring his own hands, feet and mouth.  Recently he discovered that he can put things in his mouth with his own hands!  We’re still working on the bottle, but he’s close!

He laughs when Dan washes his gums, lets hope that this leads to diligent brushing! 

Reily has also discovered Belle, our cat.  He doesn’t know what to think about the fur ball walking around so he stares quietly.  Belle likes Reily a little more these days because he doesn’t cry as much and didn’t even flinch when Reily rolled over on her one day.

Check him out in his Ohio State outfit for the big game today!  GO BUCKS!

I can’t seem to find it.  Christine and I have looked everywhere.  We’ve checked our email…we checked our all around the apartment…nothing.  We look at our schedules and still can’t seem to understand it nor where it went.  Reily turned 2 months this past Saturday – two months!  And where did all that time go?  I suppose it would be easier for us to account for the time if we kept track of time in a different fashion…like how many diapers he’s gone through since we’ve brought him home…

or…perhaps the number of onesies he’s outgrown…or…the number of hours that we’ve slept since his arrival.  And on the sleep subject, we realize that sleep is for the weak…and we long for the day to be weak!  Sleep aside, we are still loving every moment of being parents.  Every day is different and nothing seems to work twice.  Its fantastic as it forces you to never give up…teaches persistance.  So here we sit, two months after his arrival and we wanted to offer a few photos from this past month.

Some of his major events this past month include going to the Los Angeles Zoo, rolling over (twice!), meeting his Aunt Pam and Uncle Jeff, experiencing his first rain, wearing a snow cap, learning to pull his passifier out of his mouth, weighing in 4 lbs more than the neighbor girl who was born 2 weeks before him, tasting soap that was mistakeningly left in his nipple because it didn’t get washed out completely, witnessing Mom & Dad vote, be mistaken for a 6 month old, 4 month old, and referred to as a ‘bigger baby’ all in the same day, finished watching the first season of the West Wing reruns (his favorite show), and establishing himself as a morning person!  Quite the list and with that, we’ve put together a little photo show to try to capture his past month -

Dan and I have gotten a real kick out of the weather here lately.  Since both of us have always lived in places that have all four seasons (even if winter takes up most the year!), we found it pretty funny that there was a weather warning for Santa Monica last week.  They called for….RAIN!  The next natural question is “How much?”  Turns out it was 1/3 of an inch   We got caught in the desert rain, which was Reily’s first rainfall