8 months

Last Thursday marked Rivers' eight month birthday! Eight months . .  . no way! I swear he was born just yesterday! But he certainly doesn't think so. The kid is growing. And growing fast. At least when it comes to teeth. He began his 8 month with a mouth filled with approximately 8 pearly whites (yes, Grandpa Bob called it four months ago, but I didn't want to have anything to do with the idea of my baby having eight teeth but month eight. But now that they are here, I can't help but adore each and every one of those pearly whites). He also finished out the month climbing up anything tangible - bookshelves, mirrors, couches, vacuum, boxes, kitchen stools, mom & dad etc. (you get the point). The kid is wild. He doesn't stop moving. (oh, and his speedy army crawl has now evolved into a regular straight up and down regular crawl). With all this movement going oh, I've learned to appreciate night time even more, when I'm able to just hold my baby boy (cuddle him all I want) while I rock him to sound to sleep.
Rivers loves people. I don't know if I can emphasis the word love enough in that sentence. I'm still carrying him in the sleepy wrap when we go to stores etc (although, sadly, I think those days are coming to a close as my little man is growing bigger and bigger). Anyways, I'm still carrying him in the sleepy wrap when we go to stores etc. and Rivers kicks and laughs and flirts with every little lady who comes to say hi. Cashiers are constantly commenting on what a happy baby he is. And people at church frequently say "He certainly isn't shy." In fact, Rivers does all he can to get someone to look at him and give him attention. While waiting at the DMV, Ben and I are sitting on the chairs and there is a line of people behind us. Rivers notices this line, and wants to stand on the chair. He sees an African-American man (I specify the race simply because Rivs takes a special interest African-American people) anyways he's sees this man and his wife, and begins to yell. And he yells, and he yells (in more of a "Hey you! Look over here! " kind of yell). When the man acknowledges him. Rivers stops yelling and breaks out into a hug smile and begins jumping up and down, up and down, up and down on the chair. He won the hearts of every last person in that line. Before long people were stepping out of line to pinch his cheek and touch his hand, all babbling baby talk at my more than satisfied son. Rivs truly is an absolute delight to be around . . . all the time. I wouldn't believe it if you told me, but I never get sick of the kid. Every second I get to spend with him, I'm content. He makes me so happy. I guess it's true: light begets light. You can't help but be happy when your in Rivers presence.
Along with people, Rivs loves love loves dogs. He adores Canbre (and lucky for us she is liking Rivers more and more these days - she even lets him climb in her kennel! You don't understand, no one climbs in Canbre's kennel - that's her cave. But she does let Rivers - thanks to the advice my friend Ashley gave me. Amazing.). Anyways, so we all know he loves Canbre, but she is not the only dog he loves, when we go hiking or to dog parks, Rivers laughs and squeals at every dog he sees.  It's not unusual to have a big, goofy dog, come up to check Rivs out, and gives him a slobbery lick on the foot. This fascinates little man. And he laughs and laughs at the dog. I think in an attempt to get the dog to do it again. But thankfully, most dogs are over the baby and are off sniffing another dogs bum or chasing a slimy ball.
Rivers cousin Emi gave Rivers a CD of her favorite bath time music for Christmas. Oh my goodness, does Rivers love bath time now. He has always been fond of his lounge time in the tub, but the music has created a whole new experience for this little guy. When he hears "Rubber Ducky" playing in the background, he can't help but start splishing and splashing all around his whale tub. Getting out of the tub use to be dreaded by all, but now it is welcomed with giggles and dance moves as we have a family jam out to "Under the Sea" before bed. Boy does he love his post bath dance time.
We had a wonderful month, full of Christmas surprises (hopefully I will be posting those photos soon).  And lots of firsts with little man (first sledding trip, first Christmas, first New Years, first snow fall, first, standing, first Ginger bread cookies, etc. etc). I can't get over how much I love this kid.

6 months

saturday marked rivers six month birthday. i can't get over that it has already been half a year! one thing is for sure, babies make you realize how quick time flies! don't blink, and don't take a single second for granted.
two songs come to mind when i think of baby rivers: "sweet disposition" (by the temper trap) and . . .  "wild thing" (by the troggs). lets just say rivers finds life exhilarating. at times he awakens in the middle of the night, simply to squeal in delight (for a very long time). and our days of pulling him into bed to sleep in with me are over. the moment this kid is full, it's time to play. he hits the quilts, rolls around, demands to stand, and once standing, begins to jump. i guess there's no better way to be awakened by his excitement for the morning.
the world has come alive to this little man. he notices anything and everything. and whatever he notices he must grab and of course taste. may it be a brick wall, canberra's fur, the ladies necklace at church, or the recently fallen leafs (yea, gotta' keep an eye on that one!).
rivers has discovered his first love . . . canberra. that kid thinks canberra is nothing less than 100% incredible. we're outside playing on a blanket when all at once he sees her lying under the tree. suddenly he bursts into screams of delight, simply by looking upon his furry friend. or we are inside playing when he notices her nose poking out from under the bed, and once again a squeal overcomes his miniature body. even in the middle of changing a diaper, and he's trying to roll away, he notices canberra through the rails of the table, and once again excitement overcomes him. when rivers is sad, canberra is always sure make him glad. and thankfully for rivers, canberra is beginning to appreciate him as well.
rivers is ready to move. he recently began sitting all on his own. but when left to his own wits, rivers rolls to his tummy and is up on his hands and knees rocking back and forth attempting to make that first step into the great vast world that lies before his big adventurous eye balls. (baby-proofing our house is on top priority of my list of things to do :). although he is not yet crawling, he has discovered the art of rolling. i leave for only a moment and i come back and the kid is across the room, discovering a whole new set of interesting things, may it be clothes or the ties on a quilt, sometimes the leg of a rocking chair, whatever it is, he will figure out a way to get it.
his laugh is becoming more and more distinct and happening on a regular basis. he loves playing with mom and dad, and will burst out into the most adorable laughs imaginable, just by kissing his neck, blowing on his stomach, tickling his sides, or making strange faces while pretending to eat the hand that he stuck in our mouth.
rivers is giving kisses. sweet baby kisses. i noticed it sometime ago when i came to get him in the early morning hours to feed him breakfast. he was lying there smiling and when i picked him up he grabbed my face and placed his open mouth against it. i was unsure if it was just his attempt of trying to eat sooner. but i began noticing it on many occasions when hunger was the last thing from his mind. the thing that solidified that his open mouth touch to the cheek was in fact a kiss, was at the denver airport when ben came, picked him up to give him a hug of "welcome home." rivers was so excited to see his daddy. that in the midst of all his happiness he pulled ben's face to his open mouth and touched him gently. just like a kiss "hello, i missed you dad". he did it once more. and there was no doubt about it, the little boy is giving kisses. you can just feel the love radiating from his sweetness.
i often tell ben this is the easiest time we will ever have in parenthood. rivers is so playful and delightful, absolutely no discipline is ever needed, he sleeps great, socializes fantastically, he's mobile, but not really (making life simple for me), and tantrums are non existent. let's just say, we're appreciating our time. :)
the past 6 months have been beyond amazing with this kid. i enjoy him so much. each day he is growing more and more. he is such a little boy. and such a joy to be around. i love every second with him. and when he's asleep i find myself adoring pictures of him  . . . i seriously cannot get enough of this kid. i can never ever ever express my gratitude to have him in my life.

solids

today was a very big day for mr. rivers. it was the first day he ate solids. he did a marvelous job. being extremely curious, and enjoying the strange texture he finished the entire bowl with no complaints. and even if it doesn't look it, i believe our little man, swallowed more food than not (even if the majority equals 51%). i was very proud of my little boy. so as you can imagine i shrieked with compliments praising my little sweetheart. if you didn't know any better you would have thought he just won the olympics.  and i think rivers knew very well that all the shrieking was due to him and his astounding accomplishment: his meal ended with him squealing in delight as he kicked his legs, flapped his hands and grinned his adorable two-toothed grin in delight.  love this kid. 

two of a kind

it's been on more than one occasion that ben or myself has offended a hard working, loving, parent; in an attempt to relate our "dog experiences" to their "kid experiences." well, now i'm a momma to both, and i can honestly attest that babies and dogs definitely have their similarities. different relationships, of course, but similarities, without a doubt. 

checking out each other's toys

equal

saturday we went pumpkin picking. . . and rivers chose the perfect pumpkin. it was perfect in so many ways, but mostly perfect because it ended up being rivers exact same size: 14 lbs. together the pair measured out to be 28lbs. for a first pumpkin picking experience the day couldn't have been more incredible for our delightful little boy.

taking a hayride to the fields: everyone gooed over rivers. mostly they adored his big chubby cheeks.

oh the beginning of posed pictures. . . poor baby rivers.

performing the taste test to determine the perfect pumpkin.

love the dark sky, the bright orange pumpkins, and most of all, i love my boys.

it really was the perfect day!

makeshift bumbo

since ben and i are so cheap (especially ben) we didn't buy rivers a bumbo seat. instead we just use the crock pot (i'm now hearing all the mom's whispering "first she puts her baby on a schedule then she sticks her baby in a crock pot! what's next?!"). it's perfect for our mini man. he loves every second in that pot: examining the red handles, drooling over the silver lining, watching mom prepare chili, and cookies. then, enjoying family dinner, as he curiously observes mom and dad bring that strange object to their mouth and proceed to chew (hmmm. . . . yea, he hasn't started solids yet. i figure, around six months we will make that step.)

mover

my sweet little angel is a mover. he likes to do these 360 degree circles all over his crib. every time i go in and check on him he's in a new location. but this past week he has added a new element to his night time moves. an element that has really complicated night time sleep: rolling over. yea, he does these flips onto his tummy in his sleep. then, he wakes up to find himself on his stomach (which he does not like). when he makes this discovery he arches his little back, lifts up his arms, and screams (making the roll from his tummy to his back impossible). i then walk in, give him a kiss, and roll him back over to his back. he proceeds to give me the sweetest little smile and falls back to sleep (those moments i love, and kind of embrace the excuse to go in and hold my little boy). the problem is, this cycle happens probably 10 to 12 times in the course of his twelve hour sleep (typically beginning around 11:30 pm and lasting until 6 am).  i feel so sad that he is obviously waking up scared, and is unable to help himself.  i'm open to any suggestions. please share if you've got it.

denver zoo

a couple fridays ago, rivers and i took a trip up to visit my long-time running buddy ashley and her cute little boy spencer. we went to denver zoo, and had an awesome time seeing all the baby animals, hearing the lions roar, and riding the carousel. ashley even bought rivers this adorable t-shirt signifying his first visit to denver zoo (there will be many more visits i'm sure) which he obviously loves!  (btw please excuse all the leg in this photo . . . i'm heading out for one of my few and far between runs) anyways, i'm so sad because one of the reasons i was so excited about my move to colorado was the close proximity to ashley. as soon as i announced our move to her, i learned she was leaving the state.