Scrambled

'twas a pretty good week around these parts.
The prune juice is still working on the bottom end and the teething pains have let up a little in the upper end.
Riley has found a way to self soothe the teething pains by sticking out, and chewing on, his tongue. It's pretty goofy looking, but if it keeps him from crying, I don't care.



He's been sleeping alot lately, and is back to going almost all night without waking. Kinda sucks though when we get home at 5:30 and he naps until 8, eats and goes to bed.



With absolutely no segue (or what The Soup calls a Danzition), here he is with his friend Gabe, showing off their serious, model faces.



Though he hasn't quite learned to smile consistently for the camera yet, Anna's trying to teach him.



Saturday morning, we went to Another Broken Egg where, for the first time, he interacted with Cousin Caroline. Fortunately for him, she was content in her carseat, which allowed him to do things like steal her toys and play with her feet. Luckily, she took it well, considering she could crush him if she wanted to.






Despite his preppy appearance from a distance....



....a close up proves that he really is a disheveled slob.



And he's developing a propensity, despite having no fine motor skills, to "flip-off" the camera.



He even broke major ground when Ms Amanda agreed to hold him for a little while. No pictures of course, the same way no one can ever photograph other mythical events like UFO landings and Bigfoot sightings.

So much for this scatterbrained photo diary of the week. I leave you with a family pic of us squinting under the glare and him refusing to look at the camera. What a photogenic bunch we are.

If it ain't one thing...

....It's another.

Loyal readers know that, for a few weeks, Riley been having some issues with the last step in the digestive process.
On doctor's orders though, we are pumping him with doses of Apple/Prune juice and it seems like things are moving. And when they move, they move.
Yesterday, he had a mega-blowout in the truck on the way to Target. Not quite as shocking now as it was the first time (see the Home Depoo), but no less disgusting. He ended up laying butt naked on the tailgate of the truck, in the middle of the Target parking lot, while we attempted to sanitize him while only minimally contaminating the surroundings.

The juice is a slow introduction into the impending solid food diet. It has started to add some smell to his waste and that's only going to get worse. Not looking forward to it. So far, I've only gagged twice, and it was only when I accidentally touched a puddle of poo. But, judging by what Anna's diapers do to our garbage can, I'm going to need to toughen up the gag reflex real soon.

So as one problem leaves, another arrives.
Our problems have shifted to the opposite end of the digestive tract, and it is an issue that only time will solve.
All signs point to the boy getting teeth.
His drool output needs to be measured, like oil, in barrels.
He's been having evening crying fits that are only soothed by letting him gnaw on something cold. And I think I see two little white spots on the bottom gum.
Hopefully they'll pop out quickly and he'll get back to being peaceful in the evenings.
(his friend Gabe, one week older, just popped one out, so the timing is right.)

No real events to speak of this week. He was going to have a nice early morning bike ride which was cutoff by a thunderstorm, but we sat in the garage and he was hypnotized by the rain and wasn't scared of the thunder.



He's getting really talky, and loud, and bouncy and squirmy. He's becoming a little boy and not a baby.

Saturday, he went to the vet with Jimmy and was talking to all of the staff, telling them how to do their jobs. That's my boy. Supervising already.

He's starting to pay alot more attention to Jimmy, and always reaching for him. He really grips at the fur, but, fortunately, doesn't have enough strength to actually hurt Jimmy with a good yank. We'll be keeping an eagle eye out.
I'm glad they're bonding, but it leads to lots of hand washing.





Not many pics this week, but here's one that would have been cute if the light was right. I'll try for some good pics next week. He'll be making the social rounds and posing for plenty.

Full of it........Literally

Many times in my 28 years (but mostly the last 15 or so) I've been told that I'm full of it (with "it" being only half of the word of choice)
But, it's always been said in a metaphorical sense.
For the last two weeks though, if you told Riley he was full of it, you would be scientifically correct.
For another week the boy's been hesitant about filling his diaper.
I think it's because all of the media's global warming hype is getting to him, and he's trying to save diapers.
Joan and Dr. Huval think it is because constipation can happen to breastfed babies around his age. I prefer their explanation, 'cause I can't tolerate some environmentalist-wacko, hippy baby living in my house.

Doc told us to give him pear juice, which worked for a day, then upped it to Apple-Prune juice. Still, he went 4 days, straining and crying daily before having a massive diaper explosion that rivaled some of the special effects in the new Batman movie. It was the first time in my life that someone else's BM brought a tear to my eye.
Once the noxious gasses cleared, and it was safe to approach him, in the debris were two undissolved suppositories that had been given to him earlier in the week. What the heck?
Turns out that, like his Mom, he has a lower than normal body temperature.
The effect of that is his innards aren't hot enough to melt the suppository. That is freakin' gross, but pretty hilarious.

Hopefully, now things will be moving on a more regular schedule. But, when they aren't, he's only comforted by pressure on his stomach. One of the best ways I've found is to carry him on my head like a jungle villager fetching water from the crocodile infested river.


He likes it, but somehow we always end up with puddles on the floor.




Now on to less crappy topics (ha,ha, ya get it? see what I did there?)

Monday was his regularly scheduled pediatrician appointment. He clocked in at 10% weight wise and 20% height wise. He's small but still in normal range, so no worries. (despite being tiny, he's almost outgrown his swing. Thanks Landrys. We totally got your money's worth out of it.)



Developmentally, he's on track, so if we can get his guts moving, we should be doctor free for a couple of months.

He got lots of attention Monday when Granny Lynn was his baby sitter. Then he had Nonnie all to himself on Thursday and Friday while Anna was at the beach.

He's found his voice alot more this week, which has been interesting, except during church.

Saturday morning he went for a long walk around UL's campus. He enjoyed the scenery for a while, hanging out with Granny Lynn and watching Jimmy run around.




but, eventually, he fell into one of his forceful sleeps. It just looks like it takes so much effort to keep his eyes closed.



Just to keep his ego in check, knowing he couldn't partake, we went to Johnson's Boucaniere, after the walk, for some awesome pulled pork sandwiches.



He was jealous, but ended up just eating his bib and pretending it was a Johnson's sandwich. (imagination is good)



Sunday night, he went to UL Fan Day, but didn't stay long because it was hot and all of the drinks had caffeine (which means Mom and Dad, both abstainers were thirsty). The new turf is nice, everyone should check out a couple of games this year. It is a much friendlier, less obnoxious environment than that vomitorium of purple and yellow an hour to our north-east.






and in defiance of all logic, he fell asleep in the big, loud, sunny, rough riding Jeep on the way home.




See ya next week.

Little Man

I need some reader feedback here. (if you've got something useful to say.)
We've got a conclusion that we're trying to work backwards to explain.

Everyone says Riley looks like a "little man," and we totally agree.
Of course he looks young (he always will with our genetics,) but most people say he doesn't look like a stereotypical "baby."

The question is, "Why?"

What about him makes him look like a "little man", not just a baby?

I'm posting a series of recent pics of his face for your study and input.
So, if you've got any theories, let me have 'em.

(and feel free to disagree with the basic premise, but know that, by definition, disagreeing with me makes you wrong.)









here's some of our theories:
a) he often has a wrinkled forehead.
b) he keeps his lips together most of the time.
c) his head is pretty small for his body.

Hand Me.......Ups?

Usually when someone gives you clothes they no longer need/fit, it is called a hand me down.
When you are 4 months old and those clothes come from a baby that is 2 months old, shouldn't it be called a hand me up?

That was the question we faced this week.
Saturday morning, we headed to Another Broken Egg for breakfast with the Breauxs. They, of course, brought along their latest addition, Eli, who will be 9 weeks in a few days.
Riley is right at 8 weeks older than Eli, but Eli has already outgrown some 3-6 month clothes, so Shane and Tara passed them along to us. But, even still, some of it is too big for Riley.
Eli is pretty big and Riley is pretty small, so when you put them together it is just plain funny.
So here they are, Riley at 18 weeks and Eli at 9 weeks.



From a statistical standpoint, among the recent Darby-branch cousins, here's how things breakdown.

Caroline, born February 26-- 15 lbs 8 ozs (this week)
Riley born March 30-- 13 lbs 1 oz
Eli born May 27-- 15 lbs 6oz (2 weeks ago)

some of you may remember this pic from back at Easter.



Which has now morphed to this pic



I made sure to tell Riley the lesson I've learned as the smallest, but oldest among my family, "Boss the younger ones around now, 'cause in a few years they'll be able to kick your (censored)"
I hope he listened.

Just get it out.

After a pretty good stretch of good weeks, this week was kinda rough for the boy.
Something in his body has changed the regularity of his digestive evacuations. He's gone from multiple times daily to once every few days. The books say it's normal, but after about 2 days it becomes obvious that he is uncomfortable, and he starts to refuse to eat. Combine that with evening tiredness and we've got a screamin' demon on our hands.

Plus the straining leads to some less than cool faces.


Fortunately, we go to the doc on Monday, so we'll get to chat about it then.

Other than those problems, the week was alright. His mom stayed home on Friday to watch him, and Lesley came in to help. I'm sure he and Anna were starved for attention by the end of the day.

On a "I don't know if it's good or bad" note, after a couple of months of gumming on his hands, he's learned to suck his thumb. Now, for the first time, he can put himself back to sleep without adult intervention. It's great that no one has to run to him every time he wakes up, but I've seen too many kids that go too long with the thumb, and I don't look forward to trying to break that habit.
Maybe once he learns to put pacifiers/teethers in his mouth, on his own, he'll stray from the thumb.



So much for a status update.
Only thing to really look forward to this week is more shots. Yay!