Early Summer

Right now Riley is 14 months old. He is super-duper active and loves to be outside. We have been able to go to the Bog Garden several times and search for ducks! Today we saw a bunch of Mallard ducks and their babies, not to mention the geese and the Blue Heron (which I finally got on camera!). We also saw a mystery bird. I'll have to post the picture on facebook and see if anyone knows what kind of bird it is.
Here is a picture of Riley at the Bog Garden on June 22nd.

Riley is working on trying to "talk" to us. He has several different tones when he talks. Sometimes he has very high-pitched squeals and other times he has a low voice. His favorite thing to say is "oooh a dood". Not really sure what that means but he says it when he sees different animals; ducks, cats, dogs. He also says "ti ti ti ti" when he looks at a ceiling fan. He also uses that when he is excited about something.

We think he may be trying to say bird because he says "bu-d" sometimes. He also says dadadadada and mamamamama, of course :)

Even though he isn't using real words, he understands what we are asking or telling him. He knows bottle, cat, dog, bird, clock, fan, chicken and come on.

Riley still loves to open and close doors, cabinets and closets. He can play independently for a while which is really nice when I just need a minute or two to myself. He'll play with his blocks or push his lion toy around. He is such a sweet and well-behaved little boy with a smiley face and a cute laugh :)

Cascade Park with friends

This morning Riley and I got to meet up with our friends from Tumblebees! I was so excited because it was the first time I would meet mister Jeffrey!

                                             Aftynne and Mackenzy -- Denise and Jeffrey



We had a great time! Before Denise, her mom and Jeffrey got there, Riley and Mackenzy checked out the swings. Riley is still not very sure about swings but at least he didn't cry this time.

What could be more fun than chasing your friend around the park?

I am so glad we got the opportunity to meet and play at the park. I wish Denise lived closer so we could see each other more often, but Aftynne and Mackenzy live close so I know this summer we will see each other a lot. It's cool seeing us all grown up with kids of our own. Our Tumblebees days are over, but our friendship still goes on :) The weather turned out great and all three kids seemed happy to see each other and play, even though Jeffrey can't get down and run yet I think he had a great time. He even caught a nap on his grandma.

                      Here we have ms. playful, mr. grumpy, and mr. happy after a fun day of playing!

13 months old!

Hey there "little little"!

Here we are at 13 months!

Riley has become a much better eater now that he can feed himself. He likes to eat mandarin oranges, cheese, apple pieces, pears, peaches and blueberries.

He loves chicken, pancakes, dried cherries, Gerber cereal bars, Gerber cheese puffs and their apple puffs. He likes pasta, green beans, potatoes (sometimes), sweet potato fries, hash browns, and chicken nuggets.

He has tried eggs, steak, garbanzo beans and avocado! Apple juice and milk are his drinks of choice.

Riley loves to play. He loves to open and close doors. When he went to the Natural Science Center with my parents, they said he was acting a little worried because there was a doorway and no door! He also loves to push toys and chairs around, as well as pushing buttons and listening to music. Chasing friends, mommy, daddy, cats and dogs is also a favorite pasttime. His favorite toys include his beloved stuffed animals; a llama, a chick, 3 beanie baby cats, a German Shepherd, a horse and his green Scout doggie that helps him go to sleep sometimes.

He takes a bath each night and goes to bed most nights around 9. I'd love to try to get that to around 8:30, but we'll see. I'm still rocking him to sleep most of the time, which I do love, but I wish I could just put him in his crib and walk out of the room.

Summer is coming up and I'll be at home with him each day. I can't wait to see what kind of mess we will get in :)

We are one!

Yay! We made it to one! April 14th at 10:02 a.m., Riley was officially a one year old!! I am so happy to have this little guy in my life and I know Josh is too. Not to mention all of our family and friends who have helped us and love Riley so much!

This time last year I was a scared new mom with no sleep and just a little bit of experience with newborns. I still have a lot to learn, but I feel so much more confident in my parenting abilities now. I also wish that there was a way that I could reach out to other people who have had trouble conceiving and give them hope. I want to hug them and tell them that no matter what, just keep trying until you have a baby in your arms, either biologically or through adoption.

**Riley, momma loves you so much, little boy. I love watching you learn and grow. I can't wait until you can talk (although, I still will want some quiet moments), I can't wait to teach you how to ride a bike and pump your legs to swing. I can't wait to take you fishing at the beach and rock climbing at daddy's work. You're my everything, little railroad :)

I've always wondered...

A couple of times when I've looked at Riley's first ultrasound picture - his 7 week and 3 day picture -  before we even knew that Riley was Riley, I've seen a little something and I'm wondering if you'll see it too. Look to the right of where Riley is and you'll see a little curve that looks like a smaller version of the little sac where he is nestled inside of me.

Is that/was that a place where another little baby was? Riley's twin??! Was I supposed to have twins? Did one just not have what it took to form into a baby? I had 4 well-developed egg follicles the last time the doctor did an ultrasound before the IUI. Would that explain the bleeding I had a few days before I found out I was pregnant? Maybe it was God's way of showing me that my tiny frame couldn't have supported twins. It's probably nothing, just a fluke on the ultrasound screen, just a little extra fluid or something...

But what if it wasn't?

Hooray for Grandparents!

We are so thankful that we live within a few minutes of each of our parents. That means Riley gets to see his grandma, grandpa, nana and papa a lot! Not only does Riley get to stay with my mom or Josh's mom while we are at work, but on Wednesdays my dad comes over for some extra special Riley and grandpa time! This means a lot to me because Riley absolutely loves my dad. You see, from about the age of eleven to around sixteen, my dad and I butted heads often (we are both stubborn and like to have things OUR way) so having Riley go totally goofy around my dad makes me happy.

Grandpa and Riley in April :)



Grandpa and Riley in February :)

My mom is special because she came over the first night Riley was home from the hospital and stayed with us through the night. We weren't able to get him to sleep at all so she held him while we slept. My mom also sang "I've been workin' on the railroad" to Riley when he was a newborn and now it is his favorite song! Riley loves to give his grandma big hugs, too.  Before Riley was even born she came over and helped me clean when I had morning sickness and didn't feel like moving and when I was super-big preggo and couldn't move like I could when I wasn't pregnant.

Grandma and Riley after his first bath!



Josh's mom means a lot to us too. We have awesome conversations all the time and she is always giving me useful advice on babies. She rubbed my back  when I was having back labor and held my hands when I got the epidural. She watched Riley come into this world and I wouldn't have had it any other way. She always brings a smile to Riley's face when she talks to him. She taught him the words light, fan, clock and doggie. He can point to those things most times if you ask him. We can count on her to get all of the different holiday bibs for Riley, too! One night near Christmas I sent her a text that said, "Riley misses you". Not even 30 minutes later there was a knock on the door. When I opened the door she said, "You don't have to tell me twice!". Riley and I were so excited that she came over to play!

Riley and his nana :)

Riley's papa works out of town a lot but comes home most weekends that he can. When he does come home, he doesn't put him down. When Josh and I come over, his dad is waiting by the door. He always comes outside and takes Riley from us. Riley and his papa play together and he even helps feed him. His papa "flies" him around the house too.  We love it when we can go out to eat on Saturday nights when papa is home so he can get more of a chance to see him.

Riley and his papa!

10 months

Well, we've reached the double digits in months. So what's going on with us?

- Riley has about 3 teeth coming in that we can partially see. Poor little guy. He's been waking up at night so I think that his teeth are bothering him.

- He is obsessed with trying to get under the kitchen table and the computer. We have had to block off a few areas because we don't want him pulling the keyboard and mouse down. He has also discovered that he can climb through the cat post!

- He still likes musical toys but isn't really into his other toys right now. He likes to go into his bathroom in his bedroom and bang on the toilet lid. He also pulls on his Carolina Panther trash can to see what's in it. He wants the remote controls and this past Saturday pulled a cup of water off of an end table all over himself. There is no rest in the Cates' household right now.

- He loves the cats and crawls after them making cute little noises and smiling. They run away from his as fast as they can because he pulls their fur. I wish they'd stop and let him play with them!

- He is able to push his dinosaur on the carpeted floors in our house. I was not aware that he could do it by himself so that was definitely a surprise! He looks so proud of himself.

I am in the process of putting together stuff for his 1st birthday party! I am making the invitations myself because I haven't been happy with any of the dinosaur ones I've found in stores and online. I found cute dinosaur stickers at Michael's and some yellow cardstock and envelopes. I've made one sample invitation just to see how it would turn out. it needs a little something else, so that's what I'm working on when he naps on Saturdays.

So that's what's going on with us! I hope everyone had a great Valentines Day today.