Tio teaches Reed a new word

Jon and I went to Seattle this past weekend for a few days of much needed rest and relaxation. When either set of Grandparents watches Reed they are always very good about sending lots of pictures because they know how much we miss the Kiddo. This time around Reed got to stay with Nonna and Pepe and, as always, they were great about keeping us updated the whole time, but the winner has to be the video below that we received from Auntie "C."  Tio Drew and Reed are looking at pictures of dogs and he is trying to teach the Little Guy what a puppy is. I think I've watched it about twenty times, it is just the cutest thing!

Christmas . . . Round 4 - Video Addition

I put together a quick montage of the videos from Christmas at our house so you can see for yourself just how adorable Reed was this year.

Hard Worker

I know I've talked about Reed walking, but I haven't posted any video of it since he was the wobbly ten-step maximum kid. Well he is a walker now. People warned me not to be in a hurry to have a walker, but I love it. He is so much more independent and we have so much fun. We are outside anytime the weather is nice and he can entertain himself doing the most random stuff. Today we headed outside after lunch and I was able to get a video of him doing something he does a lot - picking up the orange markers and putting them in his wagon (this is after he's thrown them out while being pulled in the wagon of course). He will do this over and over again, until he gets distracted by something like a ball, bubbles, or a friendly neighbor. I usually get in on the action and we race around to see who can pick them up the fastest, but seeing how good he does on his own, I may have to just pull up a chair and watch from now on!!!

At Least He's Entertaining

In my last post I mentioned that we got to the hotel on Friday after Reed's bedtime. Jon hung out in Nonna and Pepe's room with The Reedster and the rest of the family while I set up shop in our room down the hall. His day had been really long and he was running on fumes which means he was delirious and hilarious all at the same time. Tio Drew caught him in action as he "shot up the room" with the remote control.

Getting in the SWING of things

I take Reed with me to go running a couple of mornings each week. He does great and will tolerate 45 to 60 minutes in the stroller before he starts to complain. Now that school is back in session and it is getting light so much later I've had to change up my route a bit to avoid the traffic congestion that surrounds the high school. This morning I decided to try parking at a different point along my route -  a park. Besides being a less traffic-y area the park has swings, slides, etc. I finished my run in good time and Jon is going to take Dodger running later so he didn't need to be walked, so we stayed in town a bit longer and played.

I honestly feel bad that this is the first time Reed has ever been on a swing, I've known for months he would love it, but our mornings are usually pretty hectic and it's been so hot that outdoor play in the afternoon is down right unhealthy. Anyway, he loved the swing right away and the only bad part of the experience was that I only had my iPhone with me. I know I could have gotten some pretty fantastic shots with my camera. Oh well, I know we will be back soon.

In case you are wondering - no, that is not his outfit for the day and yes he is wearing dinosaur pajamas, green puma shoes, and a cal poly sweatshirt in public. Sometimes function beats out fashion!!! In case you want to hear the laughter that goes along with that smile, there is also a video . . .

It Happened

I've been debating on whether or not to write about what happened last Thursday, but obviously I've decided I should say something. Reed had an asthma attack. It's something Jon and I both knew would probably happen (Reed's allergist gave us about an 85% chance of him having it), but were so hopeful maybe our little guy would beat the odds. It was a weird twist of fate because Jon came home from work early so I could run some errands up in Fresno. On my drive up Jon called me to ask me about Reed's breathing. I told him that he had been wheezing a bit earlier in the day, but I guess Reed's wheezing had gotten worse and he was breathing really rapidly. Jon, being the veteran in the asthma department, recognized the signs and got him up to the Pediatrician right away. I felt so horrible for not being home, but at the same time wondered if I would have recognized what was going on quite as quickly as Jon did. At the worst of it Reed was breathing at about 80 breaths per minute. I met the boys at the doctor's office and they were able to start Reed on a breathing treatment there and stayed open an hour and half late so that we didn't have to go to the ER.

Nonna and Pepe met us at CVS so that we could get home while they waited for the prescriptions to be filled. We had to give him the inhalers every hour until about 11:30pm and then contiued the same treatment the next morning. We continued with reduced home treatments for the next six days and as of yesterday Reed is down to one inhaler twice a day. He's gotten really good about taking the inhalers through an MDI (metered-dose inahler) and doesn't put up much of a fight anymore, which is really good because he will be on at least one inhaler permanently.

Even though Reed was doing much better by the next day I took him up to Fresno again for a follow-up with his Pediatrician and then a consultaion with this Allergist. It was a long day and we had to wait over an hour to see the Pediatrician. Luckily Grandma came along to keep us company and Reed was able to entertain himself in the exam room for quite awhile (I think we played the magazine game for a good half an hour).

Happy Birthday to Reed

Yesterday we had a small party to celebrate Reed's Birthday. Once I've gathered everyone's pictures I will do a post of the highlights. In the meantime here is a video of Reed being sung to by all of his Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, and most of his Great-Grandparents. At the very end you can hear him say "Mmmmm" when he looks at his cupcake (soy free/vegan of course).

 

We have a Walker!!!

Reed has been taking steps here and there for a few weeks, but in the last couple of days he really has started to get the hang of it. He regularly will go 5-10 paces by himself, he has gone around corners, and even pivoted a couple of times. Sometimes the jaunt ends in a fall, but other times he will do a controlled sit or even just stand still and then take some more steps. This video isn't very long, but you can definitely see how proud he is of his new skill!

Let there be Light

Besides eating, Reed has been up to a few new tricks while he noshes.

Bad Parents

Life isn't always grand or perfect, there are fairly regular tears and meltdowns, but I assume everyone knows that, and would rather hear about the fun stuff. Sometimes though tears can be funny (we're not sure how bad of parents this makes us though). Last weekend Reed kept pointing to a Jack 'n' the Box that he has always been pretty scared of. We played "Peek-A-Boo" with the monkey that's inside the box a few times and he seemed to be liking it so we decided to go for the whole crank/music/pop show, you can guess what happened from there. . .

I'm posting another video this week so that you can see Reed laughing as well. He has a new favorite game, we like to call it "Shoot DaDa with the Remote."

Strollin'

We have a ridiculously long hallway that runs almost the entire length of our house. Up until recently it has only been good for sliding in socks (think Risky Business) or a misguided competition we had one Halloween that involved sling-shotting people on rollerblades. Now the hallway belongs to Reed. My dear friend Amanda gave Reed an adorable wooden push toy at Christmas time knowing it would be awhile before he would be using it, but hoping he would like it as much as her nephews - well he does!!! He probably does 10 to 20 lengths of the house every day with this thing. This video is a bit wobbly, but at the end you can see him stand independently for a few seconds (his newest skill).

Reed's First Harmonica Lesson

My Dad plays the harmonica and over the years has collected quite a few of them. He will often pull one out and play a few songs up at the cabin, on a hike, when he goes backpacking, or any other time he's in the mountains. On Saturday Reed discovered the box where he stores them and was even more impressed with the shiny objects he found inside once Papa Jay started playing one of them. He would rock out anytime a song was played or a sound was created - it was also pretty entertaining watching Grandma and Granpa try to get Reed to blow into the harmonicas!

Having a Ball

Reed has suddenly realized he can throw a ball, sometimes the results are more impressive than others, but he is really getting the hang of it and knows what we are asking him to do when we say "throw"

Reed is excited to see Dodger

I think I've mentioned it before, but if Dodger is in the house while Reed is napping he usually just hangs out in our bathroom, that is until he hears the little guy wake up. When that happens he sneaks into the hallway and waits for me to finish nursing and then gets some lovin' from his little brother.

Again I apologize for the focus on this video, wrong lens again, I promise it gets clearer around the 25 second mark. I just couldn't bring myself to cut the first part because you can hear just how excited Reed is to find Dodger waiting for him. By the way, for you Lord of the Rings fans out there we've decided when he does his one knee/one foot crawl and makes those excited grunting noises it is eerily Gollum-esque.

Splish, Splash, Reed Takes a Bath

Nothing amazing happens in this video, but I think it is fun to see Reed play in the bathtub. If you listen closely he does mimic me saying "duck" at one point. He also shows off his new found ability to clap and if you are into all things boys, he ends the videos with a couple of "toots."

Reed Loves to Dance

As I've said before Reed and I usually have daily dance parties. I used to hold him and dance around, and I still do for a song or two but after that he usually holds on to the ottoman to dance or practices his moves while holding my hands. He loves dancing so much, that now when we put on any music he starts rocking out.

I recorded this video this morning and was standing completely still, the moves are all Reed, he starts looking away because Jon walked in the back door not knowing what was going on, but once in the room he didn't move either, I will repeat the kid does this all on his own.

Proof Reed can actually Crawl

This video is proof that Reed can actually do a "two-knee" crawl, but there is definitely some "peg-leg" crawling thrown in there as well.

Reed and Annaliese provide Father's Day Entertainment

I was pretty busy running around making dinner yesterday afternoon and missed some great interactions between Reed and Annaliese. I was able to get this video recorded so you can at least see them interact a little bit and hear Little Missy have another gab session.

I definitely didn't have to worry about entertaining our crowd of 17 with these two around!!!

My Boys in Action

I don't know what makes me happier - how willing Dodger is to tolerate Reed and his shenanigans or how in love Reed is with Dodger. Either way I love watching my boys interact. I'm apologizing now for the middle of this video - you hear me disciplining the dog, but I love the beginning and the end of the clip and had to share.

Reed loves his Munchkin Mesh Feeder

I mentioned the Munchkin Mesh Feeder in the previous post. Reed loves these things, and when I say LOVES I'm not kidding. Onetime we gave him two at the same time and he was so excited he tried to fit both in his mouth!

I always have one in his diaper bag so if we are out I can grab a pear out of a salad, a carrot off of my plate, etc. and hand it over. Like I mentioned before I will use them to keep him occupied in his highchair while I clean up the rest of his mess.