Happy Easter!

Ridley and I celebrated Easter with family minus the most important family member of ours: Philip/Daddy. He's still away on work business. But he's coming home very soon, less than two weeks, so we're really looking forward to it!
I have finished the job that was taking up so much of my time. I'm not really sure how I got through it honestly, but some how, some way I did. Oh yeah! I did it with the help of family and friends! Thanks, guys!!! I was working 13 hour days in a demanding job. I loved it, but it was also VERY stressful. I felt guilty for being away from Ridley so much. And it was just simply hard to cope single mom style. I have SO much respect for single mothers! And my family and friends came through for me and really helped in watching Ridley and letting the dogs out and just reminding me that I was working for Ridley and it was only going to be four weeks.
And I did get through it. Now I'm able to spend more time with Ridley and I'm loving it. This is such a great age!! She's 6 1/2 months now and she's becoming so active! She's pushing up on all fours and rocking back and forth. She is so ready to crawl!
Here are pictures of Ridley enjoying Easter/her 1st cousin Joseph's birthday on Friday.
Loads of more photos/videos to follow.

Sick Baby :-(

I wanted to make a quick update because the next few weeks are going to be very hectic! Phil just left for work to PA and MA until the beginning of May and I am starting a new job tomorrow that will begin 12 hour plus work days. Thankfully, I'll be done with this job middle of April, so I can then focus full time on little miss Ridley.
Good thing for that too, because she is not feeling well right now. She had the whole family up all night on Friday night with a congested nose that came out of no where. The next day Phil and I took her to Medac even though she wasn't running a fever. Good thing we did, because it turns out she has an inner ear infection! My poor baby! The nurse said that a congested nose can sometimes cause an ear infection or sometimes an ear infection can cause a runny nose.
I felt horrible at first because I didn't realize she had a hurt ear. She had been pulling on it for a couple of weeks, but I thought it was a new thing she was doing when she got tired. :-(
But we have her on amoxicillin and baby motrin. She should feel better soon.

In looking forward to brighter days, here's a picture of Ridley and Mommy enjoying the warm weather on Friday. Can you believe this smiling face had an ear infection?!

We're Eating Now!

Last Saturday we introduced Ridley to solids! We started with infant oatmeal with iron (mixed with breastmilk) and she has come to love it! And last night we tried a little banana mixed in as well. She LOVED.

Also, since I"m about to start a pretty rigorous work schedule and because Ridley's appetite has skyrocketing since introducing solids, we are having to supplement breast milk with some formula. I'm disappointed that I have to do it, but I know both Ridley and I will be happier for it.

Back to Tummy Rolling Over

I missed the very first time she rolled over to her tummy, but here's the second time she did it! This was on Feb. 20th (so says the video file...)

Blue Eyed Blonde Babe

Ridley is five months old today! And there's no more denying it: she's a blondie. When she was born, her hair was definitely lighter than imagined, but I considered it more a light brown. Well, it's only gotten lighter and lighter as she's growing and this past weekend I had to admit that she was full on blonde. I love my little blonde babe!
Phil was a blondie when he was a baby and toddler, and my mother was also blonde as a little one. So we knew it was a possibility that Ridley would be blonde, but I never thought of it as a very good possibility. I was wrong!
Philip's mom showed us a picture from Phil's childhood. He was on stage singing in a choir at about four or five years old and his face looked just like Ridley's! There's no denying her.
She also has kept her blue eyes thus far. She may have gotten most of her facial features from Dad, but I take credit for the blue eyes! Fortunately for us, those eyes are so often filled with happiness and curiosity.
Happy five months, Ridley My Love!

Sitting Up!

She's sitting up on her own now! She'll do this for long periods of time--ten to fifteen minutes at a time--though she's still just a little wobbly. Stronger everyday!

Highs and Lows

Last month Ridley was in a car accident. She's perfectly fine! But it was a terrible horrible no good very bad day for Mommy and Daddy. I debated whether I should post it on the blog, but then I thought, "why not?" Life is all about highs and lows and this blog shouldn't be a glossed over version of Ridley's life.
It wasn't a huge ordeal. The sitter was rear ended by some teenage drivers. Ridley didn't have a scratch on her and wasn't even upset by the whole ordeal. Elena was much more upset than Ridley! But just to be on the safe side, the EMTs took Ridley and Norah (Elena's 1.5 yr old) to the ER to be checked out. They were fine! Although we had to get her a new car seat to be on the safe side.
Poor Philip had had surgery that morning and had just gotten out of it (he had a kidney stone that wouldn't pass). So we literally spent the whole day at the hospital.
I'm glad it's over and that Ridley is okay. I stayed calm, but it was a difficult thing to do, especially before I got to see her with my own eyes to confirm she was unaffected. I even took her to a chiropractor to have her checked out (got to play it safe!).

Other than that, Ridley had a great time in the final weeks of February. Grams got her a stuffed octopus that matches her room. We're going to call her Maude the Cephalopod. She also got a gift from her Aunt Tammi and Uncle Mike-a Dr. Seuss bird. Here's a picture of her enjoying it:




She's getting better and better with the bottle! You would almost never know we had such a struggle with it in the beginning. It's good she's getting all the nutrients she needs, because she's going to need it now that she's rolling over both ways! I have video that I'll download when I have time that shows the second time she rolled over. Such a sight to see! A definite high!