Gone Fishin'

Yesterday afternoon we took advantage of the cooler weather (it was only in the low 90's) and took Reed over to Nonna and Pepe's house to go fishing in their pond. Tio and Pepe have been talking about this for months, but we've all been so busy we haven't been able to make it work. After getting off to a bit of a rough start - tangled lines, a swarm of bees, lost bait etc. everyone started to catch fish. We weren't sure how Reed would react to it all, but we explained ahead of time about the equipment and then that we were trying to catch a fish to say hi and then we would say goodbye and let him go back in the pond so he could swim again. Once the fish started coming in Reed thought it was a lot of fun, would run over and say "hi" and then "goodbyes sish" (he can't quite make the "f" sound), and seemed to really like the whole thing. I do think his favorite part was having Nonna give him water out of a water bottle, but we'll still count fishing as a definite win!!!

Dad had to step in when it
looked like Reed was going to take
Pepe's suggestion to kiss a fish

23 Months

Not that our son has ever been lacking in the personality department, but I think this month he has really started to come into his own. Each month I try to jot down little funnies on my iPhone and this month my notes are so long I had to really narrow down what to share. Even scrolling through my notepad I found myself smiling and giggling at his adorableness!!!

Growing up, Papa always teased Jon and Chelsea about their "panzas" (an Italian word for stomach/paunch) after meals. He has done the same with Reed on the occasions we've had dinner with him and Gran. Out of nowhere this month Reed started eating food and then telling us it was going in his panza. It is just so endearing to hear him pick up something so cute from his Great Grandfather. We count that as Italian, he also will say "bonjour" when asked to speak French, calls Giraffes "Giraffi" and Cats "Kisa" because of his exposure to Icelandic from his Great Grandma Didi, and when we let him watch TV he chooses El Perro y Gato.

The Monkey has also started to sing parts of lots of different songs and his imagination seems to really be developing. In the bath tub the other night I heard him mumbling as he poured water from one container to another, when I started listening to what he was saying he was listing baking ingredients (salt, baking powder, water, etc.). He also likes to play tea party and mixes up imaginary brews of brown, black, chai, green, earl grey, and his specialties of blue and purple tea all of the time. He even takes a travel mug in the stroller so he can enjoy his morning tea while we walk Dodger, sipping air and chatting to himself the majority of the time.

Monthly Statistics

Weight: 26.5 lbs

Clothing Size: Everything is 18-24 months or 2T. His 18-24 tops are getting a little short and if he were wearing long pants they would definitely not be long enough, but we are going to make the shorts work as long as possible.

Shoe Size: 6 and starting to get a little snug.

 

Teeth:  16  -  8 on the bottom, 8 on the top. Still waiting for his 2 year molars to come in.

 

Reed likes: Playing dress up with hats, shoes, and sunglasses, Soft Sheep and Pup to sleep with, and all his other stuffed animals to play with, balls, reading books, playing outside, Dodger, blocks, going to gym class, bath time, his Grandma and Nonna, sidewalk chalk and doing "artwork," his tunnel,  watching El Perro y Gato with Dad, cooking with Mom, anything that has to do with water, and playing with his Star Wars Bath toys aka "good guys and bad guys."

 

Reed dislikes: In all honesty it depends on how much sleep he has been getting. A well rested Kiddo equals a pretty even tempered guy, but if naps or bedtime have been going roughly so will our day.

 

Nicknames: Reedster, Reedcito, Buddy, Monkey, Dictator-tot, Kooky Monster, and Bud.

Food: His favorites remain the same and he still struggles with veggies, but loves "sauces" (purees that have fruit and veggies in them) and eats those for snacks almost daily. We've tried a few new snacks this last month including jerky, big pretzels, banana oatmeal cookies, and Mama Chia drinks/smoothies all of which he's really loved.

Communication: Reed continues to amaze us with his understanding and narrates our days most of the time.

How Reed is sleeping:  He goes to bed around 7:30pm and has been making it to around 6:00 am most mornings. We are still using the toddler night light and he sleeps in a sleep sack, with a pacifier (which I'm SLOWLY taking small cuts out of), a sound machine going, and his two "guys" Soft Sheep and Pete the Pup. He goes down for his nap between noon and 1:00pm and sleeps 2-3 hours.

 

Favorite Moment:

We are very lucky to be a family very involved in the agricultural world and for a long time Reed has known that Grandpa grows oranges, Tio grows grapes, and Dad and Pepe grow peaches, plums, and nectarines. For some reason he has really latched on to Tio's farming ability and has decided when we don't have something on hand that he wants, that Tio will grow it for him. One day we were out of tortillas and Reed simply told me "ok, Tio grow tortillas for Reed."

 

Milestones:
I used a Band-Aid for the first time with Reed.
Thanks to some hard work on Grandpa's part Reed now likes dunking his head completely below water when he is swimming.

Favorite Photo Shoot Outtake: While Reed has been great about acknowledging the baby's room - even sharing some toys and books with the baby that now stay in the room, he did not like it one bit when he turned around during our photo shoot and found one of his special quilts behind him. I tried to explain that I had just brought it in to take his picture, but he was adamant that "Laurie's blanket back in Reed's room!"

Two Down, One to Go

It's official, I'm in my third trimester!!! We've continued to take weekly belly pics and I've tried to keep a few notes on the events of the last three months to share.

Week 15-16 While my "morning sickness" has been around for a while, I'm starting to feel a bit better. I reluctantly start wearing some of my maternity clothing and think I feel a flutter or two of baby movement. I also compete in a 10k race while pushing Reed in the jogging stroller.

 

Week 17-19 We get some test results back that indicate there may be something wrong with the baby, after a very hard and emotional night we see the doctor and are reassured everything is in fact fine. The baby is continuing to develop well and the only thing that will change is I will have ultrasounds every six weeks through my entire pregnancy to make sure that continues to be the case. We officially decide not to find out the gender and, drum roll please, I FINALLY start to feel like myself again.

Week 20 Jon feels the baby move for the first time

Week 21-24 Reed and I both get a horrible stomach bug and Jon gets a bad cold. Just when I start feeling better I catch the cold. I'm rarely sick and this marks the third time while pregnant that I've been ill, yuck!!! We return to the doctor for another ultrasound and get to see our beautiful/healthy Little One. This is a few weeks farther in development than we ever saw Reed in utero and the baby really looks much more like a baby than he did, pouty lips, chubby cheeks, and all.

Week 25-27 The baby's movement changes to be more of the rolling and pushing variety with a few sharp jabs thrown in here and there for good measure. I continue to run a few times a week but think I'm going to call it quits soon as I'm starting to get a bit uncomfortable. Between Jon's schedule and Reed's inability to sleep in I haven't made it to the pool yet, but think that is going to change very soon as I really enjoyed swimming when I was pregnant the first time around and the thought of feeling weightless is sounding more and more appealing.

 

 

Questions that people ask me often:

Do I want a boy or a girl? I honestly don't care as long as he or she is healthy I will be happy. A girl would be fun because Jon and I both grew up with a sibling of the opposite sex, but I also feel like I know how to do "boy" at this point plus we have a lot of clothes, etc. that could be used again. Like I said I really don't have a preference.

Cravings? Same as with Reed, dairy in general, particularly cheese. Since we try to keep an allergen free household I have a "cheese drawer" out in the refrigerator in the garage I visit at least once a day. I don't really crave them but if sweets and greasy food are an option I gravitate toward them a lot more than normal.

Differences between pregnancies? I felt this baby move a lot earlier than I did with Reed. I have gained a little less weight but as Jon pointed out the other day I'm "way bigger" than I was with Reed at this point - thanks Dear!!! I definitely felt more nauseous this time around and for a longer period of time. It is nice not sitting (uncomfortably) at a desk all day long since I only work two days a week, but keeping up with Reed can be exhausting and there are some nights/weekends that I do miss the ability to go to sleep/nap when I feel like it.

What is the theme for your nursery? I don't do "themes" very well, more like general color schemes. We are leaving the walls the French blue they were already painted. The other colors are a light grey, lots of white, and pops of red. Just like with the first nursery, we are reusing some old/vintage items, but are also adding some modern furniture touches. I will do a nursery tour when I have it a little more put together, but have definitely been working on it much more this month.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Okay, so maybe Reed can't have Cracker Jacks, but we didn't let that stop us from introducing him to America's favorite pastime this last week. Fresno has a pretty decent AAA Baseball team, the Grizzlies (farm team to the Giants), and HMC always gets season tickets. One of the perks of being a season ticket holder is a free suite at one of the games. We took advantage of Pepe's generosity and used the suite as a trial run for taking Reed to a game. Not only did this allow the Monkey to wander around a bit more, we also didn't have to worry as much about peanut shells and other allergens that are in abundance at the ballpark.  Adding to Reed's excitement about the game was the fact that some of his favorite people were there . . . Nonna, Pepe, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt "C," Tio, Auntie "P," Tim, and our good friend/co-worker Jerry.

When I told Reed we were staying up late and going to a baseball game he got so excited. Jon got stuck at work late and only got home a few minutes before we needed to leave. Reed charged Dad as soon as he walked in the door, screeching about going to the game. He stayed at that same level of excitement pretty much the rest of the night.

 

A couple of years ago Jon had a "run-in" with the Grizzlies' mascot, Parker - Jon's not a big hugger and dislikes having his face touched, both of which Parker did in abundance. When we heard Parker was making his way over I got a bit concerned for Jon (I don't pack enough sanitizer to undo that damage) and also for Reed, I wasn't sure how he'd react to an oversized stuffed animal, especially up close. When Parker came in Jon immediately turned beet red, Reed however was mesmerized and in awe of him. He gave Parker a big high five, talked to him a bit, and then said goodbye with an adorable wave. I think he spent more time looking for Parker down on the field than watching baseball for the remainder of the time we were there.

 



Not only was it a fun night of baseball, but we found quite a bit of food Reed could have. Reed ate a hot dog, chips, guacamole, and an iced lemonade which he wouldn't leave until he finished. All in all I would say our night was a huge success!!!

Fun Day VIII

This past Saturday marked our eighth annual Fun Day. This year's theme was "eighties" and most everyone did a great job of dressing up, including my adorable son. Last year was the first year we had a kid at Fun Day (Reed), not because they weren't welcome, we were just one of the first among our friends to have a child. That all changed this year and we had seven kids attend ranging in age from 4 months to 2 years. This day definitely leans towards adults with one of the main events being a beer hunt, but we tried to make it a little more kid friendly and can't wait for a few years down the road when some of the Kiddos can participate in some games themselves.

Cole and Reed (yes that is a fanny pack)

Reed from the back

Family Pic

 

Kevin, Shannon, and Baby Clara (wearing cabbage patch hair)

Michelle and Ryan

 

Lee and Amanda

Nonna and the Kiddos

 

We always divide into teams for the organized events of the day, this year we used zinc oxide to mark the team you had been chosen to.

 

Blue Team (Reed wanted to be on Tio and Auntie "C's" team too



Pink Team (also the Winners)



Yellow Team

 

We did have a few late comers that missed some of the events, but joined in on the fun as soon as they arrived . . .

 

Russell

Karl, Lindsay, and Baby Carver one month from his debut
(that is a beer accident not urine on his shorts, I promise!!!)

Emily, Drew, and Baby Parker