Evolving

our pumpkin plante is now upright--well, at least she can pull herself to standing pretty regularly now. i went to get her out of her crib this morning, and, surprise! she was standing.

unfortunately, she can also pull herself to standing on almost anything now: coffee table, couch, toys, mommy, cats . . . she toppled over while holding the coffee table today and now has a little bruise. you may be able to pick it out of this picture that i took during breakfast (it's under her right eye). she cried for about 20 seconds; i cried for about 20 minutes.

you also may notice from these pictures that riley has a new hair cut. that was a big day in our lives. i did the type of haircut that i promised that i would never do: the scotch tape trick. riley was extremely wiggly and kept trying to eat the scissors, and since matt was away again, we don't have a lot of pictures. but here is a "before" shot with the tape.

you can see that her new kicky do is a great improvement. no more itchy eyes and blowing the hair out of the face!

oh, one last picture. i can't convince riley to show me her new tooth for the camera, but she is more than happy to show her tongue these days!

that pink doll

matt bought riley this doll when he was in california, and she loves it. she can't fall asleep without it. it's very soft and chewable, and riley rubs it against her face and shoves the limbs in her mouth.

i ordered an identical doll (a back-up), in case this one gets lost. we usually keep it in the diaper bag, but somehow riley manages to end up with two twin dolls in her crib at night.

the doll is nameless right now--we call her "that doll" or "dolly" if we're feeling playful.

matt's in chicago now, but i don't think he'll be able to get a gift for riley that she'll like more than this one.

TEETH

i couldn't get a picture of this (but i will . . .), but riley officially has a tooth. it was suspected for a few days that one was breaking through the bottom gum, and it was proven today when she drew blood breastfeeding. ouch!

she's a little late for her first tooth. (she'll be eight months in a week.) but after our feeding experience, i'm happy that this is one area in which she is delayed.

she also finally has that three-finger pincer grasp. she goes after those cheerios like a pro now, alternating hands, shoveling them in her mouth, but somehow she doesn't choke. she is a great eater now, which is surprising as she was never great with the bottle.

i'll update with pictures asap. asap now, however, has a whole new meaning.

ah, the joys of being a working mom. with an over-worked husband.

men and their toys

matt borrowed mark's backhoe. yes, my brother owns a backhoe. i don't know what matt is digging or why (he doesn't know either), but he was having a great time. maybe matt isn't as afraid of nature as i originally thought . . . as long as there are no snakes around!

new hampshire guests

we were lucky to have porpor ellie and cousin brittany visit from new hampshire for the entire week! here we are at the pool.

michelle's bday

my sister flew up to massachusetts to celebrate her birthday with us. what a treat!

also of note, this is riley's only cousin, and she is smitten with her.

oh, and that cousin also gave riley cheerios for the first time (honey nut), and now she's addicted. another reason why riley loves her so much!

donnah, tammie, and elizabeth moments before elee walks down the aisle . . . (august 4, 2007)

ohio part 2

ok, so time keeps getting away from me. the rest of the ohio trip went too quickly. this is matt and i at elee and jason's rehearsal on august 3. it was so special to me to be back at case, where we all met originally, 15 years ago! this is taken on cwru campus, in front of amasa stone chapel (a massive stone? a mass of stone?). the rehearsal dinner was a traditional chinese banquet at our old stomping ground, li wah's. yum. i walked in the door and immediately felt my chinese half take over . . . i was even ready to sing karoake. li wah's surprised me with the new addition of bubble tea to the menu. imagine. bubble tea in ohio.

oh, and elee and jason were glowing, too.

i don't have a lot of pictures of the wedding, unfortunately. that's the cost of actually being in the wedding. there was no place to hold the camera in that bridesmaid dress! i'm actually lucky the thing fit at all. you'll have to take my word for it that the wedding was gorgeous and, i believe, exactly what elee and jay hoped it would be.

now my phone buddy is in hawaii for two weeks, and i've been driving matt crazy all week, asking him when elee will be back.

OHIO! August 1-5

we trekked to ohio to celebrate elee and jason's wedding . . .
i had the brilliant idea of driving through the night on tuesday. i was on call, and so we didn't leave until after 8pm. luckily matt is a good sport about driving.

we borrowed my mother's honda for the trip.

we arrived in the wee hours of the morning on wednesday, august 1st. the drive was eerily uneventful (except for the short period when i drove, which apparently scared matt quite a bit).

riley's grandparents were waiting for us at matt's uncle paul's house in medina, ohio. paul & the grandparents babysat while matt and i slept all morning.

matt, john, and paul golfed in the afternoon and i unpacked the 600 lbs of luggage that i'd insisted on bringing. riley adjusted immediately to paul's spacious, clean, cat-free home.

wednesday night, elee's parents hosted a bbq. it so delicious that i brought home a steak to eat for breakfast the next morning. this is me, jason's sister rachel, and elee. elee was remarkably relaxed!

on thursday morning, riley, kathy and i went to the medina county fair. i can't figure out how to flip this picture, so it's going to be on its side. riley was very curious about the animals. here she is watching the pigs nurse. i think she's trying to give them tips on how to be more efficient.

on thursday afternoon, the elee's "maids" met for lunch--a mini celebration of tammie's pregnancy. we discovered this fantastic restaurant called thyme in medina, upon the recommendation of matt's family. then we decorated onsies for tammie while feasting on snicker's cake.

we all met again thursday evening for mexican food and mechanical bull riding . . . elee was a champion. i was petrified that she was going to be black and blue for her wedding day.

(to be continued when more pics are downloaded . . .)

return from ohio

we're back! elee and jason's wedding was fabulous, riley was the perfect child, matt's uncle's house will never be the same . . . more details to follow later. right now i need to unpack/do laundry/recover from the 10-hour car trip . . .