Let's see...Riley's now almost seven months old and next week, she'll be making her first flight to Cebu, Philippines. She's a little behind her sister in that Tay flew back to the US when she was 2.5 months old, Thailand at 6 months old, and Philippines at 9 months old. For some reason, we travelled a LOT that first year of Tay's life. I guess it's true that with two kids, it's harder to travel (and a lot more expensive, too!). Not to worry, Riley, because you'll get plenty of sky miles in your first year, too, because we're also heading back to the US this summer!
Anyhow, just wanted to write a quick blurb about what she's up to lately. She got sick sick for the first time last week where she was running a low-grade fever for about four or five days, but we didn't need to medicate because it never went above 101 degrees and she would cool down fairly quickly with a wet wash cloth and some down dressing. It all started with a little cough on Friday. Coughed a few more times on Saturday, but Saturday night, she couldn't keep any food down so she threw up about five or six times in the middle of the night. Yes, this made for two clothing and sheet changes, but after that I learned my lesson and finally just got a giant bowl and had it next to me as I held her so I could hang her over it. Survived the rest of the night catching the contents of her tiny tummy. I would have been more concerned if she was lethargic or wasn't wetting her diaper, but she continued to want to eat, her nursing was strong, and whenever she did get a bit of sleep, she would wake up happy and energetic. Long story short, Sunday, she started her low-grade fever with her continued cough, but again, no change in attitude or energy level from the little one and still nursing strong. Monday, she was able to keep down some solid food and more nursing, so it looked like she was on the up-swing, but she just wasn't shaking the fever. She ended up having a huge diarrhea diaper, and then her fever went down for a bit, and she seemed back to normal and then she got the snots. Yuck.
Anyhow, long story short, she's almost better; the fever is gone now and she's got the lingering cough and a snotty nose. But...now I think Daddy and big sister are getting sick. Arg...I hate when we share bugs.
On a happier note, Riley now calls me UMMA! Mostly when she's whiny. Like if she wants me to pick her up and I'm not moving fast enough, she goes "Ummmmma" in her sad little sick voice. She has also mastered the "bye-bye" wave...but she'll rarely pick up her arm to do it. She'll just open and shut her right hand. If you lift it for her, she'll wave perfectly and on cue. She also has figured out how to look really sad without actually crying so she'll squint her eyes and pout her lips and make a sound like "hmmhmmhmm" and then she'll open her eyes to check to make sure you're looking at her. If you're not looking at her or making an effort to "help" her, she will then shut her eyes again, open her mouth and let out a yell. Then, she'll open her eyes again and look at you once more to see if you're moving. This will go on for a bit before she actually gets mad and cries, but it's so darn cute when she does it, I can't help but just watch her to see her doing it again and again! Bad mama...
Riley also has figured out almost how to get from a tummy position into the sitting position, but she has not yet figured out how to get on all fours...it's weird how that works. I suspect she'll be crawling in the next couple weeks because she's quite the scooter and most of the time it's backwards, but every so often she'll scoot forward.
She now has two teeth, too! Both on the bottom. I can't believe this child has two teeth already! Tay didn't have her first tooth until she was seven months!
Anyhow, luckily, even through sickness, I have a very happy child, so I look forward to next week's vacation with the family. Work has been so TIME CONSUMING. Ugh.
Happy weekend!
