Lisa's Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 10/9/02 -------------------- 8/24/02 7/30/02 6/19/02 5/24/02 4/20/02 3/5/02 2/3/02 12/30/01 10/15/01 10/2/01 9/17/01 8/19/01 8/7/01 7/21/01 7/6/01 7/1/01 -------------------- Lisa's Introduction

Introduction

My goodness, it's been a long time, hasn't it? Well, I tend to get very sick when I'm pregnant, and really haven't had the presence of health to sit at the computer without vomiting for a while. And then Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and well, here we are, with 2001 almost behind us. But I'm not vomiting anymore *crosses fingers* and our next ultrasound is January 11th, so maybe we'll know if Riley's having a baby brother or sister by then.

So much has happened since my last entry! I started the new job, and it's been so very busy but I really do love it. My big question is whether I'll go back to work after this baby is born. I'm planning to, I guess, especially since Riley seems to love his daycare so much, and always has. But, what if this one DOESN'T? Is it easier to go back a second time? Or harder?

Riley loved Halloween...he was the blue monster (from Old Navy) and also a dalmation that really looked more like a cow, LOL. He had a parade at my work/daycare, and our town had a small parade the weekend before. He trick or treated at two neighbors houses but mostly he enjoyed going to the door to see who was there. Unfortunately, we like to scare the (older) kids and have this sound activated spider that falls when people knock - a bunch of preadolescent girls screamed just as Riley was crawling over to see them, and he started to cry. It took another ten or so trick or treaters to get him to feel comfortable coming to the door again, poor thing. But overall, Halloween was a success. I thought he'd be walking by then, since he was taking 5 or 6 steps at a time, going from me to daddy, but I guess that dalmations just need to be on all fours.

On November 10, Vincent threw me a surprise 30th birthday party (my birthday is at the end of the month, so it was a surprise) at a (not so) nearby restaraunt. His parents even came from Virginia, and my mother from NJ. We had a wonderful time, and the next day Riley moved from sporadic baby steps to full fledged walking. Maybe it was all the excitement? Maybe it was because we kept him playing on a pool table the whole time to keep him off the yucky floor and he decided he'd better learn to walk? Either way, it worked.

We got Riley's first pair of shoes at Stride Rite, because of their famous "Natural Walking System", but my goodness, $40 for baby shoes??? Whe can I start spending $8 at Payless for fake Keds for him??

So anyway, Thanksgiving came and went and Riley came to eat solid foods more reliably, but he was still dependent on bananas and baby cereal every morning, and yogurt and fruit for lunch. He just didn't want to budge. But we did take a great photo of him for our Christmas cards at my grandparent's for Thanksgiving, which I'll try to include with this entry. He sat on Santa's lap the day after Thanksgiving (yes we went to the mall on Black Friday, it was my birthday and I wanted to! Call me crazy!). He was so good I was shocked! He just looked at Santa's beard and giggled, and then I put him on Santa's lap and he started clapping. Too cute.

Of course, the home town Santa parade was not as good for Riley, and he wouldn't let me put him on Santa's lap at all...but he had a great time watching the older kids run around the town square, and he loved the pretty lights and decorations.

And then...Riley's birthday! We were all set for the big party. We had a caterer, and I was baking the cake. I made the world's cutest invitations, and everyone was coming. And then, of course, disaster strikes. The party was supposed to be on Sunday the 16th, so we got up bright and early on Saturday to do everything we needed to do (OK, OK, we were up anyway). I noticed that Riley's breathing was odd, and we decided to take him to the doctor. RSV, they said. Cancel the party, they said. He is to have no stress! No excitment! Are they mad? Have they met this kid? He's a bundle of energy! But they said they wanted to ensure that Riley didn't end up in the hospital, so there I was, trying to force him to watch Baby Mozart to calm him down...but of course, he never watches videos, so he's dancing around. He's as happy as can be, running around, and we were stressed out as could be. Both of us were counting breaths with our watches ("not more than 60 per minute!") to ensure that he shouldn't be hospitalized, but of course (Thank God!!) he wasn't. Luckily, he did have a party on his birthday (the 14th was Friday) at daycare, with cupcakes that I made, but I was just so completely devestated to cancel his home party. We've resceduled for January 6th, so the house will still be decorated for Christmas and it will "look" the same in pictures as it would have if the party had been on the 16th.

Which leaves us with Christmas, of course. We went down to Virginia with DH's family, including Riley's cousin who is 16 hours younger than he is. It's so funny to see them together...Mason is still crawling, but was always a better eater than Riley. Priorities have always been different for those two, LOL. Riley got lots of toys, and a Pea Coat, which I love. But mostly he had a blast playing with his aunts and uncles and his Nonna and Pop Pop, and of course, his "little" cousin. He was really good for the ride, despite the fact that we hit so much traffic it took almost 9 hours to get down to VA and almost 7 to get back (it's suposed to be a 5 hour trip). Vincent and I even got to go out to dinner alone one night while the family babysat, which was a nice switch.

So here we are, awaiting our big rockin' New Year's Eve (which is also DH's birthday). OK, just kidding, no babysitter, but we are going to a friend's house for dinner, so that should be fun. Hopefully the Twilight Zone marathon will be on again this year...don't laugh, I was watching it and nursing Riley at like 4:00 am last year, and I remember it like it was yesterday.

So a whole year's gone, and my baby is now a little boy. He can walk, even run...he gives kisses, and will even blow you a kiss too. Riley can say dadda and mamma and it seems that he's trying to say other words all the time (he even went "blah" like the dragon puppet in Baby Mozart while we were watching it and trying to keep him "calm" a few weeks ago). He can put together megablocks, stack his stacking rings, pile blocks and yes, of course, knock them all down. Riley loves the wind and also music - he can dance on his own two feet, or to be sung to and held for a "dance" in mommy or daddy's arms. He's learned to clap his hands and wave bye-bye. Riley really enjoys his bath, and especially likes running around the upstairs hallway naked when he's done. He drinks water from a cup but still has his bottle...even so, he's totally off baby food now and could eat cheeses and bread and bananas all day! Of course, he's still a daddy's boy...but he loves his mommy too. And we love him so so much.

Happy birthday little man. We're so very proud of you! You are so beautiful, and we thank God for you every day.

Happy New Year's everyone...see you in 2002!

Love,
Lisa, Vincent, Riley & ???