Headstrong

Riley is now 7 weeks old, and is holding her head up very well. She has always been quite good that way, but she now manages to go long stretches without support. She is also smiling and doing all the cute things, she is just not doing them on command, so no pictures yet.

Digital Scrapbooking - by Carolyn

Carolyn Bender sent us this image which she created using her "Digital Scrapbooking" toolkits. Take a look at http://www.kevinbender.com/scrap1.shtml

The picture was taken by Kevin when they came to visit a little while ago.

Nona turns 70

Domenica had her 70th birthday on 24 January 2007. She got a huge bunch of flowers from Michael and Anne, which she loved. She was still more interested in Riley though, and wanted to pose for photos etc.

The Great Outdoors

On Saturday we decided to take a walk around Sunningdale, so Riley had to dress the part. Being a hot summers day, we thought that a hat would be a good idea, she doesn't seem to have minded, though I suppose there is not much she could have done if he did :-)
We had a really nice walk around, but Riley dosed off as we started up the road, so she missed the whole thing... Being pushed around in a pram is such tiring work.

The Life of Riley

Our little Riley really does sometimes seem to think she is living the life of Riley. Take a look at this shot of her relaxing on a cushion in the lounge, while we clean around her etc.

Uncle Chris

Chris and Stacie also spent some time with us for Christmas on their return from honeymoon. Claudia decided that Chris could not leave until he had held Riley... This is the evidence taken by his wife Stacie.

Looking good Chris... You even have Riley's attention :)

Van Gelder Brothers - with kids

My brother (Brett) and his family from the UK, left on Tuesday. Just before them we took some pictures of the van Gelder brothers with their kids. In the Picture are: Leo, Brett, Emma, Riley and Mark.

Thumb Sucker

I am not sure how I feel about this... Riley seems to like her thumb (more than a dummy). She has on a few occasions found her thumb, and seems like she is going to be a "thumb sucker".

She does not like her dummy too much, but will take it for short periods when she is in the mood.

Not Rattled at All

Well, Christmas and New Year have come and gone. We all had a great time with all the family around etc. Riley seems to have settled well. She is gaining weight nicely (even though she had us slightly worried for a while there, mostly due to interpretation issues), and is content most of the time.

One of the gifts she got for Christmas was a pair of "Rattle Shoes", which are nearly as big as she is. We put them on her during the proceedings, and she promptly dozed off... She took up her normal sleeping pose (hand up at ear) and ignored the rest of us, as only a sleeping newborn can do.