Category Archives: Parenting

17 Month Photo Session: No Go With The Bow

04/20/2015 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

This is the second month we’ve had to push off Avery’s monthly photo session. Last month, my wife and I had a date night paint night (King Kong even made an appearance), and this month Avery was too ill for us to subject her to pictures in the chair.

Once our little girl was back in action and running wild, we knew it was time for her photo session. She’s still not eating right and it’s obvious her current teething is the culprit. Poor kid, can’t catch a break.

I have to hand it to her though, aside from her stubborn eating, she bounced back from her fever rather fast and won’t let anything slow her down. She made sure to make her photo session difficult just to prove that she’s not sick anymore and we can’t just take pictures as we please like I did the other day. Taking her away from the book she was “reading” probably didn’t help either….

But that’s what parents do, right, we annoy the hell out of our kids. The first setup seemed promising and Avery put up a front as if she’d cooperate.

But not a second later, she was lunging forward with her crazy face.

It became obvious this session would be added to the another one of those categories, so we just managed with what we had. Basically, just a lot of re-positioning.

The only time she held still was when she was pulling on the bow in her hair.

Which, of course, led to it coming off.

Kelley only had to put the bow back on, ohhhhhhh, eleventy-billion times.

Which only made Avery increasingly interested in the little white thing clipped to her hair. Maybe it would be something good to eat?

Nope, maybe handing it to Daddy would be better.

Or maybe I’ll just hold on to it and give a quick pose.

Guess that was all we got, because things went “downhill” from there….

And hey, what’s with this bow always getting stuck on my head?!

So that was our photo session for her 17 month mark. I know there’s a lot of changes occurring each day in our growing girl, but does that mean she’ll be better or worse for her 18 month session?

I don’t know!

#MySundayPhoto, Parenting

Getting Over Sickness: #MySundayPhoto – 04.18.15

04/18/2015 R.C. Liley 13 Comments

It’s been a hectic week with Avery experiencing her worst sickness and fever yet. All of the life was drained out of our highly energetic toddler and all she wanted to do was have Mommy and Daddy hold her close.

The cuddles are priceless, but never under these circumstances. Thankfully, our little girl’s fever finally dropped and she gradually became her normal, crazy self. I attribute a lot of her recovery to my wife’s “boob milk” because there’s nothing better in terms of nutrition and comfort.

Before she was fully recovered, I was able to snap a few photos of Avery while she remained motionless. It was sad to see her this way, but at the same time, so nice to have the opportunity to take pictures of toddler that isn’t constantly on-the-go! Is that wrong of me? I hope not!

Anyway, here’s one close-up of I think captures the life slowly coming back into Avery. The picture isn’t as clear as I’d hope, but you can almost see her recovery just from her eyes alone. No editing for this one.

Do you “take advantage” of cuddling with your kids when they are sick?

Have you ever used their sick, immobile state to snap a few easy pictures?

Life, Parenting

Recovery Mode From Boob Milk Magic

04/18/2015 R.C. Liley 6 Comments

After two days of a roller coaster fever and lethargic toddler, Avery no longer has a fever and seems to be on her way to recovery. I attribute much of her recovery from her Mommy’s boob milk magic since it’s full of antibodies and nutrition that’s hard to find anywhere else.

Avery was refusing most solids, so Kelley nursed more in place of the food. Not only did this give Avery vital nutrients to fight of the sickness inside, but it acted as a the perfect way to provide soothing relief from her ailment.

If I wore a hat, I’d take it off for my wife for being so bad-ass when comes to breastfeeding and just being a great mother all around. Actually, maybe that’s why I never wear hats, because they’d always be off anyway since she’s just great all the time. Well, besides when…nevermind….. 🙂 I love you, Kelley!

We were supposed to go to a good friend’s house for their son’s 2 year birthday party, but felt it best not to bring Avery out quite yet. Despite the healing properties of nursing, Avery is still not eating well and has had a case of “the runs”. Here’s a pic I took 5 minutes after I gave her a small bite of something soft.

Yeah, she simply refuses to chew and will end up spitting whatever it is right out on the floor after it sat in her mouth for 10 minutes. Damn teething, and poor little girl!!!!!

Yesterday morning was a slow start and Avery just wanted to be held most of the time, but she eventually became mobile and started playing with her toys. She even attempted to dance a little, always a good sign!

But right as I busted out the camera to capture our daughter feeling better, she went into a slump. At least her Catch-Me-Kitty was there to help comfort her in the box.

Such a depressing photo, huh? She never lets me put the camera in her face and will just turn around or be too squirmy resulting in a blurry image, but this time she kept still with a blank stare.

Double depressing! I kept thinking I was pushing my luck with the camera in her face, but she acted as if nothing was happening. Or maybe she simply did not care.

Just as my broken heart broke further into tiny pieces, she gave a glimmer of hope with a halfsie-grin-like-thing.

I must of scared whatever excitement she was working on away because the next shot had her back in slump mode.

That was too much, so I put the camera away and just read several of her new Sandra Boynton books. It didn’t help to get her to smile, but she sat snug in my lap the entire time and will hold on to that sweet memory for life. Just as my wife has the same memory from cuddling with our sick baby in bed the night before.

I wish we had our normal toddler back and we were celebrating at a 2 year old’s birthday party today, but Avery has a little more recovering to do first. The good news is that we’re going to find another time to go down and visit with our old friends and see how grown their kids are now.

Not much happening this weekend, just a trip to Costco and getting our little girl back to normal. By normal, I mean the crazy, rampant and overzealous toddler that she is!

Do you have any plans for the weekend?

Have you nursed or witnessed nursing that helped your kid recover from illness before?