Melissa here. I'm taking over the blog tonight to deliver what everyone really wants...tons and tons of pictures! There hasn't been a whole lot going on lately. Riley continues to grow, learn, and amaze us every day. She makes me laugh every day, and makes me see things in a whole new way. She adds new words to her vocabulary pretty consistently now. Some of her new words: Foofa (a character from Yo Gabba Gabba), noodle, strawberry, okay, up, Lily, leaf, yeah (she says this for outside...we're not quite sure why), and she's combined a few words like "Bye momma" and "more noodle". The word bottle used to be "baba" for her, but now it's turned into "bobble". She also can point to her belly, hands, feet, eyes, mouth, nose, and ears when asked. She loves her baby dolls, especially the one given to her by Aunt Jenny and Uncle Greg. She carries her up close to her shoulder, pats her back, gives her kisses, and tries to feed her and give her a bottle. She is also turning into quite the girly-girl. She likes to dress up, put necklaces and bracelets on, put things around her neck, put on hats, etc. It's so fun watching her grow from a baby to a little girl.
A foot of snow in Dallas, Texas?! Unheard of. But that's what some areas have experienced over the past 24 hours. The National Weather Service said a record 12.5 inches of snow fell within 24 hours in Dallas. Our little plot received 8 inches...which to us is more or less a blizzard. Even though she doesn't know it, Riley will be lucky if she sees this kind of snow again in these parts for many, many years to come (if ever). It has been a truly beautiful sight to behold, and the snow has been pure powder...unlike the icy mix we normally get in the South whenever it snows (or sleets).
Her reaction to the snow was a bit mixed. She really liked to see it, and seemed to like standing out in it while it was coming down. But touching it or standing in it? Not so much. But like any kid, young or old, she was not happy when it was time to come in out of the snow.
I built her first snow man, but she wasn't all that into him. At that point in the day she was pretty much over the whole deal.
Today was also her 15 month check-up with her pediatrician. After our last update the plan was to have tubes put in to her ears in just three days. Today was music to our (and Riley's) ears when Dr. Kaplan checked her ears and said they were "perfect". So for now at least, the tubes are down the tube. We may end up doing it later, but no need to jump to that extreme just yet if the ears are clear.
She weighed in at 24 lbs (70th percentile), and measured 32 and 3/4 inches (above 95th percentile). Her length/height continues to be literally "off the charts" according to the Doc. It was also shot day again today. Never a good thing, but surprisingly she calmed down much more quickly after these two than in the past. No more shots until November...so that's a relief for all at least. All in all, it has been a very good day.
(C0smo in the snow)
(Tony Snowmo)
Will this winter ever end? At the moment we don't think so. Sure it gave us a rare white Christmas, a Cowboys division title (boo Vikings!), and a Clemson bowl win (not a great bowl, but a win is a win)...but what it has given us far too much of is sickness and ear infections. Over...and over...and over. Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day" comes to mind right about now.
Riley has had an ear infection that just won't go away since basically the end of November. We thought it went away a couple of times, but it didn't. Round after round of antibiotics (both in prescription and shot form) have not yielded very good results. On top of that, as if that were not enough, there have been never ending stuffy noses and coughs. Combine that with a girl still getting her teeth and...well, it's not a very good picture. Granted I know there are plenty of things worse than this, but still.
In just a little over a week we will have ear tubes put in to help with the constant infections. We made a trip to the ENT a while back (as you can see, she was not pleased). For those who are not experts in the ear infection department, basically the fluid is building up in canal behind her ear drums without anywhere to drain. Though her hearing has not suffered at all with two straight months of fluid in her ear (see vocabulary later as proof of that), the doc did not like the idea that she is constantly on antibiotics. We agreed. Especially since they are barely helping it seems. So while we don't expect the tubes to completely eliminate ear infections, it will make it easier for her to get over them when she does have them, and that's a good thing in our book, and hers as well I'm sure. 
So about that vocabulary. At just shy of 15 months, she has the following words: hi/hey, mama, dada, bye bye, cup, bottle, ball, baby, blankey (blanket), gabba (Yo Gabba Gabba), kitty and "hi kitty!", doggy, bird, snack, uh-oh, bear, here (dee!), bath, apple, no, more, cookie, book, thank you, Olivia (her pal), vacuum (her favorite thing in the world), bubble, all done, all gone, and car. She also sings a bath time song, and knows the sounds for a cow, fish, sheep, dog, owl, rooster, and train. And just recently she started to blow her nose...and kisses. Not bad!! :)
She no longer walks though. She runs. Everywhere. Everything is full speed (including turning and running face first into the wall today while playing her favorite game of "chase"). Luckily both she and the wall recovered nicely. She loves for one of us to give her something to take to the other. For instance, I gave her two shirts to take to mommy for the laundry wash...and she dragged them across the floor and gave them to her and said "dee!" (here).
Her favorite things to do at the moment consist of: watching "Yo Gabba Gabba" (especially the intro and the funny faces segment), looking at her books, playing chase with either of us, putting on mommy's shoes and also pretending to put on mommy's makeup, being pushed in her baby doll's stroller (she won't fit in there much longer), us blowing bubbles for her, and of course asking to see the vacuum cleaner (in her eyes this is apparently the greatest thing EVER).
And since this is Super Bowl Sunday...Riley's expert prediction is Colts 34 Saints 24. She thinks that even though it will be a close game, in the end Peyton Manning will just be too much for the Saints defense to handle. That's all for now!
A little behind on the update, but two weeks vacation can be rough! My Christmas started a little early due to an unexpected (and very last minute) trip to South Carolina for a few days. In the end all ended up being well but I believe it was a blessing in disguise as I was on the verge of not seeing my parents for either holiday for the first time ever. Instead I ended up spending a few days with them the weekend before Christmas and in the process also got to see most of my closest aunts, uncles, and cousins whom I had not seen since 2006 or longer. So that was fantastic.
Back home in Texas, we were not expecting a white Christmas, but we got one anyway.
Santa was very good to everyone this year. Riley got tons of new toys, Mommy got a netbook she had been wanting, and I got a new camera.
This Christmas had a lot of twists and turns in the planning. Originally Nana and Papa were coming out, but due to Papa's on-going treatment, that was not possible and due to Riley's well documented travel attitude, we could not make the drive there this year. So the plan changed to Lubbock, TX to spend Christmas with Melissa's grandmother and the gang. However two things prevented that from happening as well: 1. Riley was sick with, among other things, an ear infection, cold, and just a hint of tonsilitis for over two weeks and 2. That unexpected white Christmas thing prohibited any journeys to west Texas. So in the end Nana and Granddaddy ended up joining us at our place for Christmas.
Christmas morning was a lot of fun watching Riley scope out all of the unexpected new arrivals under the tree. It did not take her long to figure out most of them were for her. Among her favorite items were a toy vacuum (same color as mommy's), a stroller for her baby dolls, her very own chair, and Scout (stuffed animal who talks). A last minute Christmas lunch was thrown together very nicely with me and Granddaddy frying the turkey...after a few technical glitches with the fryer...and Melissa and Nana taking care of the baking and other various items. Everyone had a great time, especially Riley, who loved all of her gifts...and loved even more all the boxes and paper in which they came.
For New Year's Eve we decided to venture out to eat dinner for the first time in a while. We settled on one of our favorite places, Nate's (http://www.natesseafood.com). We had to arrive a little early for dinner since Riley has an early bed time, but it was a good time...even though we did practically inhale our red fish in record timing since she had been quite fussy and we were not entirely sure how long her good mood in the restaurant may last. Luckily it did last long enough and while there she more or less said or screamed "Heeeey!" to any and everyone who walked by our table. In the end we made it home right on time for her bath and bedtime. Then Melissa and I rang in 2010 in style...both sound asleep by 10:30pm! :)So now we venture into a new year full of many surprises and new journeys. If it is anything like 2009, we will have no shortage of unexpected, entertaining, and fun-filled moments.
Melissa here. I'm taking over the blog tonight to deliver what everyone really wants...tons and tons of pictures! There hasn't been a whole lot going on lately. Riley continues to grow, learn, and amaze us every day. She makes me laugh every day, and makes me see things in a whole new way. She adds new words to her vocabulary pretty consistently now. Some of her new words: Foofa (a character from Yo Gabba Gabba), noodle, strawberry, okay, up, Lily, leaf, yeah (she says this for outside...we're not quite sure why), and she's combined a few words like "Bye momma" and "more noodle". The word bottle used to be "baba" for her, but now it's turned into "bobble". She also can point to her belly, hands, feet, eyes, mouth, nose, and ears when asked. She loves her baby dolls, especially the one given to her by Aunt Jenny and Uncle Greg. She carries her up close to her shoulder, pats her back, gives her kisses, and tries to feed her and give her a bottle. She is also turning into quite the girly-girl. She likes to dress up, put necklaces and bracelets on, put things around her neck, put on hats, etc. It's so fun watching her grow from a baby to a little girl. 
We've also made a couple of trips to the Dallas Arboretum. Riley's not too fond of sitting in the stroller while we wander around looking at flowers (who can blame her?). But luckily we've found one particular field that seems to be the baby/toddler playground. Riley is in heaven here, seriously. She loves it! She can run around, visit the other little ones, she just has a blast.
This little girl was 17mos. old and she & Riley quickly became best friends. They chased each other around, shared snacks, and before long were trading kisses.
