10 Months

Ten Months

I have definitely had some trouble capturing Riley this month.  On September 26th, I realized I had only taken two pictures of her all month. I think it is because she has become so interactive and busy that I rarely take time to leave her and pick up the camera.  Also, she is a massive liability if she is left alone for even a split second! In the time it takes me to grab the camera from the stroller, she has found a pebble, chunk of bark, or piece of garbage to put in her mouth. 

We spend a lot of time at the playground.  As mentioned before, our apartment gets very old very fast during the day with Riley, so I typically make it out to at least two or three playgrounds each day.  She likes to swing for a minute or two, but she doesn't last much longer than that.  She prefers to get out and explore.  She is quite the bulldozer....  when she is playing with other babies, she tends to take whatever they are playing with, and if she needs to get somewhere she'll crawl right over them instead of behind them. I spend a lot of time apologizing on her behalf (and dealing with temper tantrums when I return the stolen toys). She is a typical bull in a china closet. 

I am also very "entertained" by the mommy crowds at playgrounds.  I swear there needs to be some rules and etiquette for playground moms.  If I could create a rule list, here are a few points I would add.  1) When your kid is swinging, please don't sit on your phone for 20 minutes and ignore the fact that your child is crying to get out and there is a line of patient kids waiting for a turn. 2) If your child runs over a baby while on a bike, please stop gossiping with other moms and do something. 3) If you have a kid who likes to steal things from other kids (like Riley!), please do your best to make the situation better... especially if your seven year old steals a car while a baby is riding it. 4) Don't compare another baby's development with your baby's loudly enough for the other mother to hear it - who cares if your kid started walking right out of the womb?  Trust me, you don't want to mess with protective mama bears. 5) If you are too preoccupied with your phone to notice that your child is finding it fun to slam a plastic door on another baby's fingers over and over again, don't get upset if the baby's mother (kindly) disciplines your kid.

I am certain at some point in the next few years a hurricane will be named Riley.  This baby leaves a path of destruction. I usually try and pick stuff up at the end of the day, but occasionally (and recently more frequently) Charley gets home before this happens...  I'm sure he has thought that our apartment has been ransacked by a robber more than once.

I love watching Riley inspect her surroundings.  She is very intrigued by nature at the moment, which is most likely because she is a city baby and doesn't get to interact with it very often.  The things that catch her eye are plants, animals, water and shadows.  It is very humbling observing a baby experiencing parts of nature of the first time.

The above picture is the moment before I put the camera down and dug out the chunk of mud that she put in her mouth.  I see many mud pies and leaf tacos in her future.

Riley has become a very fast crawler, and usually beats me to the forbidden places (drawers, cabinets and stairs).  I can just hear her saying, "It wasn't me, I swear!"

She loves music in all forms.  She stops dead in her tracks when music comes on the TV or radio.  And she was transfixed by this toy piano at her friend's house.

Recently Riley has become more cuddly.  When she is tired she likes to throw herself down on something soft and nuzzle her face in it.  She usually cracks herself up when she does this so much that she gets a second wind.  It is adorable.

Shoes and strollers.... ugh. These are two battles I have yet to win.

 Apparently we are into accessories right now.  She found my mom's purse the other day and wouldn't set it down. 

This is such a fun age... she is busy and fiesty, sweet and playful... and very, very stubborn. We love you Riley!