Today we went in for the 12 month wellness checkup...a few weeks late. And it was almost a few more weeks late. After getting caught in traffic, we were behind for our appointment. Our doctor gives a 10 minute window, and after that you must reschedule. Melissa dropped us off at the door and we hurried up to the 3rd floor and checked in with two minutes to spare.Riley weighed in at 22 lbs 10 oz (75% Percentile), which as you can see she was not very happy about (girls!), and she measured 31 inches long (95% percentile...or "top of the charts" according to Dr. Kaplan). Her exam went very well, and the doctor said her development is at a 15 month level...not too shabby!
The down side, of course, were the shots. Chicken Pox, Measles, and prevnar. Needless to say the reaction to those was not a good one. Although shortly after she did have her first sucker, a bubble gum flavored one, so that helped a little at least.She seems to take a step or two more every day. So far (we think) the furthest she has gone, unassisted and without anything to grab on to, is around 10-12 feet. And even more remarkably, this week she actually ventured out on to the lawn. :) Ok, probably not that big of a deal but up until now the most she has done is stay on the sidewalk and touch the grass, never actually going on to it. 
Among her longest journeys thus far...Next up: Thanksgiving!
On Saturday we formally celebrated her first birthday with family and friends. Thanks to everyone...Nana and Granddaddy (thanks to Granddaddy for the delicious brisket later that evening), Uncle Greg and Aunt Jenny (whose dog, Raider, she was most fascinated with...at least until he wanted to lick her face), the Browns, the Barners & Barrett, the Steiners & the twins Jacob and Eva, Tonise & Olivia (especially her best pal Olivia!), and Ralph, for all coming out to make it a great time for all, most importantly of course for the birthday girl. Due to circumstances beyond their control Nana and Papa were unable to make it, but they did get to enjoy some webcam time earlier in the day.
Thus far Riley has not been a big fan of big crowds in any setting, so we were not quite sure how she would handle 20 or so people in our house. At first things were a little uncertain, and she more or less kept her distance and hung out with one of her play-sets.
But once Olivia arrived all was well. The two of them ran (or crawled) around together and, as you can see, had quite a time together.
After some food...
...
and mingling time it was time to get down to business...presents! At first she was mostly interested in the wrapping paper, so Mommy and I ended up doing all of the unwrapping. Then her attention shifted to one of the picture books we gave her, and that was pretty much the only thing that held her attention until we opened the Little Miss Sunshine doll. The next morning though she realized she had quite a few new attention holders and she really enjoyed her Laugh & Learn Learning Home, as well as her Discovery Playhouse, Busy Gears, cookie jar, and her new "purse"...complete with money, lipstick, and bracelet of course. In addition to those fun things she also got some more much needed items...more clothes!
Earlier in the week (on her actual birthday) Mommy and I took her to Stride Rite for her first pair of "real" shoes. She wasn't all too interested in the sales guy, but she was more than interested in seeing the rest of the store on her own. As for the shoes, we, and she, liked them a lot. But seriously...how do baby sneakers cost as much as my own?
Finally it was on to more important business...cake! This cake deserves a little background though. Uncle Greg and I went to pick up the cake, a two tiered one with an owl on the front, earlier that morning. While we were very happy with the outcome, the ride home entailed Greg sweating it out while balancing the cake on his lap and us both praying none of the idiot Dallas drivers pulled out in front of us or stopped suddenly. Just in case disaster awaited us, I took a picture with the cell phone to prove that at least for a while we did have a very cool cake. Fortunately after a stop off to pick up a few more items for the party, we returned safely, and Uncle Greg spent the next hour in a dark room decompressing after that stressful ride. Ok, not really...but I am positive he felt like it. ;)
So back to the cake...we had given her a practice cupcake earlier in the week to see how she would handle it, and she handled that very well. In fact she was covered almost from head to toe in chocolate.
So we were pretty confident her cake would be a hit. Though it was a different color from the cupcake...pink instead of dark brown...it did not take her long to realize that it tasted just as good, and she dug right into the icing. She never really made it to the cake, but who cares...the icing is the best part anyway. For the record, I would like to officially recognize Mommy for 1. Delivering such a fantastic daughter. 2. Making all of the party decorations seen in the pictures. and 3. Everything else!
November 11, 1885: (General) George S. Patton is born. November 11, 1918: Armistice Day (Veteran's Day) signals the end of fighting on the Western Front in WWI on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Oh, and then of course there is one other minor event on this date, and that of course is November 11, 2008...the birth of Riley at 12:18pm.
It is hard to believe that one year has already passed, and what a year it has been. One year since we heard Dr. Webster tell us on the evening of November 10 that we would be parents less than 24 hours later. I can still remember one of the tests they did on Melissa that evening to see how Riley would respond...giving her a Dr. Pepper to watch Riley's heartbeat. As the Dr. Pepper went down, the heartbeat went up. From the moment she made her first appearance the next day, cracked that one eye open to take a peek around before breaking out into that beautiful cry, she has stolen both of our hearts and taught us many lessons about love, life, and of course being parents. On a personal note I had debated as to whether or not I wanted to stand up and take a peek over the curtain...and in hindsight what a moment I would have missed. I am fairly certain I will never forget seeing her crack open that eye to take a quick look around for the first time.365 days of washing bottles...changing diapers...struggling to find just the right remedy for naps (or lack thereof)...worrying (and often over-worrying) about every little thing...car rides (especially the return trip from Nana and Granddaddy's last Christmas) that at times felt like there could not possibly be any worse place on earth to be at that particular moment...all worth it a thousand times over. She has changed our lives in every way, and neither of us could be happier about that. In some ways the time has flown by...way too fast since she was wrapped up like a little burrito at Plano Presby...but in other ways life prior to her arrival seems like an eternity ago and we can not imagine it without her now.We knew that she was destined to be quite the little character considering how active she was in the womb...at times seemingly running a marathon. Or wrestling alligators...it was hard to tell which. Either way, she was all over the place, and many nights our entertainment consisted of watching Melissa's belly jump around in ways one would not imagine a belly should. Since her arrival, the only thing which has changed is her location: She's all over the place. From rolling...to army crawling...to crawling...to now taking a few steps...she has kept us on our toes.Somehow we have been blessed with the sweetest, smartest, prettiest little girl on the planet. Anyone is welcome to disagree with that of course, but that just means they are wrong. ;) She seems to pick up something new almost every day now. Among her "words" already are: doggie, cup, dada, mama, bottle, uh-oh, boo, bye-bye, hi, hey, ball, baby, and Yay Clemson! Ok...so maybe that last one is not entirely true.So happy first birthday Riley, the world is a better place with you in it. You have come a long way since that little grain of rice on the sonogram, and you continue to fill our lives with joy with every passing day. We hope that we have been and will continue to be the best parents you can hope for. We can not wait to see what the upcoming year holds for you as well as for us. Without a doubt we will have our hands full, and for that opportunity we feel as though we are two of the luckiest people around.
Today we went in for the 12 month wellness checkup...a few weeks late. And it was almost a few more weeks late. After getting caught in traffic, we were behind for our appointment. Our doctor gives a 10 minute window, and after that you must reschedule. Melissa dropped us off at the door and we hurried up to the 3rd floor and checked in with two minutes to spare.
The down side, of course, were the shots. Chicken Pox, Measles, and prevnar. Needless to say the reaction to those was not a good one. Although shortly after she did have her first sucker, a bubble gum flavored one, so that helped a little at least.
