I know it has been a really long time since I have updated this, and I doubt anyone will even see it since everyone has probably given up on me! However, Riley is now 13 months old and is walking (almost running!) and starting to talk some. We just got back from our first vacation with the Wortley's to Gulf Shores, AL. Riley had a great time! He even got two new teeth! I think they are the incisors. He doesn't have any other upper teeth, so he looks like a baby vampire. It is really cute! Anyway, here is a video from Gulf Shores that pretty much sums up a day in the life of Riley (but insert a sand and water table in our backyard in place of the beach.)
Top 5 worst moments of the trip:
5. Deachi's delight (Deachi...if you are reading this I am referring to the drink recipe you gave me. It was good, but sneaky!)
4. The car ride there
3. The car ride home
2. Coming home to a house full of fleas
1. Riley crying all night in the Gulfport hotel on the way there
Top 5 best moments of the trip:
5. Sitting in the hot tub after a long day at the beach (Will & Riley's perspective)
4. Sitting on the balcony overlooking the beach (adults perspective)/opening and closing the sliding glass door to the balcony (babies' perspective)
3. Watching the dad's build sandcastles for the boys to knock down
2. Riley pointing to seagulls & pelicans and saying "ducks"
1. Will slapping his own hand after throwing food on the floor
6 months!
It's hard to believe, but Riley is a half a year old! Counting life in months sure makes you realize how fast time flies. Riley is sitting up independently and trying to get into the crawl position, but he hasn't quite figured it out (thank goodness...I'm not ready for that!) He is still in the 25th percentile for weight and height, although he loves to eat! He had his first injury last weekend. Johnny had him in the hammock and the rope broke. Riley fell out of Johnny's arms and hit his head on a rock. We were all scared to death, but he ended up being just fine. He came out of the accident with just a small laceration...the first of many, I'm sure.
Almost 6 months
Just a quick post to add Riley's 5 month picture (4 weeks later) and to show the hair that he is getting! More to come next week...when he turns 6 months old!
4 months and counting!
As all of you regular bloggers can probably tell, I am having trouble keeping up with blogging! I will try to summarize what all has happened in the past month. Riley has started eating Rice cereal. The first time we gave it to him he cried because he didn't want it. Now he cries when it's gone because he loves it so much! He has been rolling over from his tummy to his back and back to tummy...and he can even stay in supported sitting for a little while. He is definitely giving his mommy lots to brag about to her Physical Therapist friends. :) He is lauging and smiling all of the time. Among his favorite activities are swinging at the park (or maybe it's just hearing me say "wee", but he loves it!), going to the Rob Flemming pool, and playing in his exersaucer. We love the Rob Flemming pool because it has a big umbrella in the water so we can stay shaded. The other day he was having so much fun that he almost fell asleep leaning up against me in the pool...then a giant bucket of water dumped on a bunch of screaming kids and he woke up. We will have many more of these outings because he and his friend Will Wortley are now season pass holders. :)
3 Months Old Today!
Riley has been developing quite a personality over the last month! Like his parents, he loves music! He loves to howl along to any song you are singing, and kicks and punches like crazy when he's listening to the playlist we made for him. On more than one occasion, Johnny and I have tried to sing Riley a lullaby to calm him down, but all it does is make him squeal with excitement. In other news, I returned to work this week, and I am missing the little guy like crazy. Daddy took the week off to bond with Riley, though, and they are having a blast. I'm pretty sure that every good habit that Riley and I have set up over the past month has been reversed, but it's hard to complain about that when both of my boys are having so much fun!
Summer Fun
Riley has had a lot of "firsts" since I last updated the blog! First concert, first pool party, first smiles, first ingrown toenail, first infection (as a result of the ingrown toenail), and first road trip. Our road trip was to Austin for Riley's cousin Owen's first birthday party. He did really well in the car, and even did pretty good when we dragged him to Barton Springs so that we could cool off! He didn't even seem to notice when his cousin Owen tried to poke him with a stick and then later run over him with his toy walker. I think we just may brave another trip at some point, and we will of course continue to brave Owen's rapidly developing motor skills! :)
6-7 weeks
Riley had a big weekend this weekend! Not only did he attend his first Mother's Day, but he was dedicated to Christ at Fellowship of The Woodlands. He did great in front of an audience! He almost got upset when his binky fell out of his mouth, but he decided not to make a scene. We are also getting some smiles out of him. They are subtle, but we will take them! We still don't get much sleep at one time, but we don't have to look good any more anyway because he does all of the work for us. :) No one is looking at Johnny and I any more anyway!
2 week appointment
Riley had his two week appointment this week, and he has almost gained a pound! He was 7 lbs, 3 oz at the weigh-in on Tuesday. He's a little porker, though, so I would bet that he is bigger than that now! :) We are still trying to figure each other out. Every time I think I have figured out when and how much he eats and sleeps he changes it up and proves me wrong! Below are some pictures from this week. He has already changed so much!
1 week old!
Riley is already one week old today, and getting cuter every day! He is still a good sleeper and a good eater! We are loving every minute of him (well...except maybe some of the minutes in the middle of the night. :)
Introducing Riley Graham Hester
Finally...I have a chance to sit down and post pictures and an update on our amazing son Riley! We just love him so much and can't stop looking at him and oohing and ahhing over him! He was born on Wednesday, 3/25/09, at 11:31 a.m. His birth weight was 6 lbs, 6 oz and he was 19.5 inches long - not the enormous baby that I thought I was carrying around all of this time! It's still hard to tell, but it's looking like he is going to be a little replica of his daddy with brown eyes and brown hair. His eyes have a blue ring around the edge, but brown seems to be the predominate color that I see when I look at them. He is having a small setback right now in that he has a little bit of jaundice. We are trying like crazy to flush it out of his system so that we don't have to take him back to the hospital tonight. Other than that, things have been going great! He is a good sleeper and a good eater!
This one's for you, Kirkham!
After months of promising belly shots, I realized that I am running out of time to make good on my promise! This is Riley & I at 34 weeks. It's hard to believe there are only six weeks to go - maybe even less than that!
Nursery Update
After three weekends of working on it, we finally have the paint & chair rail finished in Riley's room! I know many of you have been wondering what the blue & orange looks like, so here's a sneak preview.
It's a BOY!!
We had a level II ultrasound bright and early at 6:30 this morning, and were thrilled to find out that we are having a boy! Johnny is especially happy to have a future hunting and fishing buddy, and I am excited because of all of the little friends that Baby Hester will have right off the bat (since almost all of our friends and family have or are having a boy.) All of the toes, fingers, heart chambers, organs, etc were there and were all the right size. It was really amazing to see it all. I have posted a slideshow to the right. If you want to see a bigger version with captions, just double click on it. Some of the pictures are especially for my PT friends - such as the picture of the radius and ulna (the arm). I couldn't believe that we got to look at all of the individual bones! I wasn't expecting that, and (as someone who loves anatomy) was just ecstatic to see it all.
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