The Celebrating Continues

Saturday rounded out our weekend of events with an engagement party for my cousin Melissa (Auntie “M”) and her fiancé Kevin. There are a lot of kids on Kevin’s side of the family so Reed made some new friends and even got to try out a bounce house, which he loved.

My Aunt Jana is in LOVE with Reed

Kari, Kyle, Annaliese, Grandma, and Reed

I was trying to get a picture of Reed, my Aunt Laurie, and my Mom
but . . .

Reed was having too much fun with Grandpa

My Mom was smart and insisted on taking advantage of the lovely location (Kevin’s parents’ house) to take a few family pictures.

Jon, Reed, Me, Grandpa, Grandma, Kyle, Kari, and Annaliese

Kari's Mom, Tara, with the Family

Think my Mom likes being a Grandma?

Going for a spin with Uncle Kyle

Great Papa Ken, Reed, and Aunt Jana

Annaliese and Uncle Mark dancing

Cousin Picture!!!
Greg, Melissa, Austin, Me, and Kyle

So I never got a picture of Kevin (or quite a few of our family members either), oops!

Happy Birthday Annaliese!!!

My niece, Annaliese, turns one today, so my Mom and Dad took advantage of having everyone in town for the Holiday and hosted a Birthday Party for her on Friday. She looked super cute in her Birthday outfit and loved helping her Mom open presents. Unfortunately I had my first official failure as an Aunt and didn’t notice that the settings on my camera had been changed until Jon pointed it out after most of the festivities were over. Luckily a couple pictures turned out from earlier in the day and I was also able to capture her getting a taste of her first chocolate.
 

G-Momma getting hugs from the Lug

Annaliese and Reed "sharing"

Reed checking out the
Birthday Loot

Happy Birthday Annaliese, we love you!!!

Giving Thanks

Well it's been a big weekend with lots of events, but we not only survived but had a lot of fun in the process. One thing I noticed this year is that I don't feel like I got to spend nearly enough time with our visiting relatives, I guess chasing a toddler around makes sitting down to chat a little more difficult! Reed did great over the last four days, even with us messing with his eating and sleeping schedules. He was a trooper and definitely turned on the charm for our visitors. On Thursday we did our usual Thanksgiving party hop - we started out the day with my family at my Uncle Mark and Aunt Penny's house and then went to Jon's parents' house for dinner in the evening.

Grandma, G-Momma, GG Norma, and Grandpa
trying to figure out how to make a toy car work

Uncle Mark teaching Reed how to e-mail from his phone

Some of the guys decided to play Boccie Ball
and Reed thought he should join in

Reed's cousin, Annaliese, had gone down for a nap right before we arrived and we were worried she was going to sleep through our entire stay. Luckily she woke up and we were able to spend some time with her before we had to leave.

They kept leaning in to touch their heads together - too precious!

We told Reed to sit with Annaliese and he promptly went
and sat ON her

My boys

We knew Reed loved socks, but stealing
Annaliese's took it to a whole new level

Before we new it 4:00 had rolled around and we said our goodbyes and headed over to Nonna and Pepe's for dinner.

The Men carving the meat
Doesn't Tio Drew look creepy with his Movember Mustache?

The "Adult" Table

The "Kid" Table

Pepe made a bunch of allergy
friendly food for Reed



Reed got stollen away to the Adult table

Trying out Pepe's shoes

Gran and Aunt Diana reading books to Reed

Even though Reed and I had to head home before dessert and Trivial Pursuit we still had a great day with all of our family. We truly are so lucky and have a lot to be Thankful for.

Happy Birthday to Dodger

If you know me at all you know that Dodger is a very important member of our family. The last couple months have been hard on him (and me). Because of Reed's allergies he doesn't really come in the house anymore. Somedays he just stares in the back door with the saddest eyes and all but says "what did I do wong, why can't I come in." About once a week I have a moment of weakness and let him in the bathroom or living room (if Reed is asleep and I know his fur will be vaccummed up soon).

He is such a sweet dog and Reed and I still take him on a walk almost every day. Reed even gives Dodger a treat after we get back and both boys are sooooo good about it. Reed knows that the treat is for Dodger and has never tried to put it in his own mouth or do anything else with it but hold it out for the dog. To his credit Dodger is so gentle when he takes the treat from Reed. Every morning I get a little swell of pride at how caring both of my boys are. Since Reed handles the treats Dodger has the benefit of getting upgraded jerky treats that are free of all of Reed's allergens.

When we play outside we are usually in the front yard. While Dodger isn't a licker he is definitely a drooler and frequently slimes anyone he comes in contact with. Since Reed and Dodger now come eye to eye it makes it really hard and inevitably I'm wiping Reed's face within a minute of playing.  I really need to be better about letting Reed play in the backyard, I feel like that would make Dodger feel more included, it definitely needs to be something to work towards this Fall and Winter. Even though I worry that Dodger is a bit lonesome I think he understands his place in the family and has done a great job adapting to all of the changes that have come his way in the last year.

Recently I've found myself doing what we always used to make fun of my Mom for - calling Reed by the dog's name and vice versa. Jon and I are also both guilty of using Dodger's commands on Reed from time to time. Including, but not limited to, "leave it" "stay" "come here" "easy" and "sit" the sad thing is they are pretty effective with The Kiddo too!

What's the saying? "Every Dog has his day" and November 21st is Dodger's day, his Birthday to be exact. Dr. Money (aka D-Money, aka Dodge Bear, aka Dodger) had a great day. Reed and I took him on an extra long walk, then when Reed was napping I brushed him and gave him a shower. He got to spend some quality time in the house too. When Reed woke up from his afternoon nap we gave Dodger his Birthday cupcake. I thought Reed would think it was so much fun, but he was in a horrible mood. He kept signing that he wanted more of his cupcake and then as soon as I would give him some he'd throw a fit, then take a huge bite, then start crying, and then sign more.

Tio and Auntie "C" came over to watch a movie in the evening and we let Dodger hang out with us the whole time. All he did was sleep, but I loved having him inside with us again, plus he got some major loving from his Aunt and Uncle!

14 Months

I don't know what happened this month, but I've had a couple of people guess Reed's age at 18 months and two years. His walking has become really good, plus he is pretty tall and lean for his age, so I feel like that makes him look older. Sometimes even I forget that he is only a couple months removed from being a "baby" and find myself expecting him to be able to do things he's just not capable yet

I was shocked when I looked at his milestones for the month and only saw one developmental item. I think he has just improved so much on the "firsts" from the last few months (eating with a fork, signing, walking, etc.) I was expecting a long list of things. Reed's breakthroughs in communication have helped so much. Just last week he was inexplicably up at 1:00 am and just wouldn't go back to sleep. Finally he looked at me and did the sign for "milk." He hasn't had a bottle/feeding in the middle of the night in months, but I immediately gave him a sippy cup full of milk, he downed it, and was asleep in five minutes. It was awesome! I've heard that the "terrible twos" originate out of frustration in communication and I think we've already experienced that a few times, mainly when we can't understand what he wants and he can't understand why we can't figure out what he needs.

Monthly Statistics

Weight:  23 lbs

Clothing Size: 12-18 months for pretty much everything, he has a couple of 18-24 month tops that fit well, and all of his pajamas are 18-24 months.

Shoe Size: Size 5

Teeth: 10 - 4 bottom/front, 2 bottom molars, and 4 top/front.

Reed likes: Shoes, Soft Sheep, Signing Time DVDs, eating (including using his fork and dipping things), doing "cheers," playing with the Soda Stream bottles, balls, reading books, playing outside, his wagon, Dodger (all dogs for that matter), going to gym class, and his puppy dog key board.

Reed dislikes: Sleeping in, getting his face and/or hands wiped off, being put in the car seat, waking up from naps, and diaper changes.

Nicknames: Reedster, Reedcito, Reed Reed, Buddy, Monkey, and Baby Bear.

Favorite Foods: Applesauce, berries, grapes, Mom's homemade muffins, toast/bread, avocado, mushrooms, risotto with peas, carnitas, dried cranberries, chicken, bananas, plums, fish, sausage, steak, graham crackers, mini bagels, snap pea crisps, smoothies, and Oatmeal.

Foods he doesn't like: Broccoli, ground meats, carrots, tortillas, and he hasn't been into hummus or beans lately.

Words: Dada, daa (Dog), wooroo (woof woof), owww (meow), boom, mo (more), daan (done), baa (ball), choos (shoes).

Signs: Eat, more, finished, bird, dog, baby, milk, he's been trying to do the sign for ball (but it looks like more) and water (but it looks like eat).

How Reed is sleeping: Reed takes a nap in the morning that lasts a little less than 2 hours and one in the afternoon that is about 1-1.5 hours. He goes to bed around 7:30pm, then he usually wakes somewhere between 5:30 and 6:30 am. A couple of times a week he wakes once during the night, a pacifier is usually all he needs to go back to sleep. He sleeps in a sleep sack, with a pacifier and Soft Sheep. We also have a sound machine and a night light that goes off after about half an hour.

Favorite Moment(s):
This month has provided us with our first glimpse into the "human sponge" that is our son. I feel like he is starting to connect the dots in so many different ways. He will see a picture of a dog in a book and start making the "wooroo" sound or he'll hear a bird outside and do the sign. He also has picked up a few signs from his sign language video without us doing a thing.

On Sunday he did what has got to be one of my favorite things of all time. We were out for a walk - Jon had Dodger on the leash and I was walking aside him with Reed in the carrier. Twenty minutes into the walk Reed just reached out his hand to hold Jon's. We walked that way for a couple of minutes, it was just so loving and precious!!!

Milestones:
10/23/12  A very successful first trip to a pumpkin patch
10/26/12  Reed's first "Business Trip" which included his first stay in a hotel
10/26/12  His first time on a slide
11/11/12  Reed starts stacking his wooden blocks (instead of knocking down Mom's towers)
11/19/12  I give Reed his first "haircut"

Favorite Photo Shoot Outtake: