New "Do"

If you've seen Reed lately you have probably noticed his ridiculous hair. He has the typical uneven length hair that most kids his age have - short in the front, long in the back. The problem is that he's got a crazy cowlick so the hair that should be making a mullet instead goes in three different directions on top of his head. I've been doing a comb over every day, but if he rubs his head or I play with his hair, he starts looking looney!

Last night Jon and I decided it was time for a trim, but first we wanted to see that hair in action. Jon got out a tub of hair gel and went to work.

So we got all the gunk out of his hair during his bath, I toweled off his head, and then went to work. Jon spotted as I tried to trim our wiggly little toddler. I cut a few times and it was instantly better. The good news is now he looks a little more normal from the front, the bad news is I got a little overconfident in my hair cutting abilities and took a big chunk off of the bottom in the back when he lunged as I cut. Oh well, I still think it looks better than before!

Quick Pics

I know it's been a while since I posted any pictures. We've been taking things pretty easy around here, we have a big week coming up and we all have been sick in one form or another. I haven't had my camera out in ages, but almost daily I snap a few shots with my phone. Since I have had requests for pictures I thought I would share a few from my Instagram account (and one from Grandma) from last week. If this isn't enough, just wait, I intend to have a lot more in the next few weeks.

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!!!

Running, Running, Running

Whenever I get ready to head out on a jog I sing Reed this corny little ditty that I made up. It goes "Running, Running, Running, Yeah . . . Running, Running, Running, Yeah!!!" He thinks it is funny and now he also knows that it means he will be in the jogging stroller very soon. This morning I sang the song to him but for a different reason, we were heading up to Fresno to watch Grandma run a marathon. I didn't tell my Mom we were coming because I didn't want to disappoint her if we didn't make it (I wasn't sure Reed was going to get the memo on the time change - he didn't, but we went anyway). I've only surprised my Mom once during a race, while she was happy to see me, she stopped dead in her tracks completely flabbergasted, I literally had to start running to get her moving again - so I was a little nervous that seeing Reed might overwhelm her. She was surprised, but sooooo excited to see us, especially her Little Guy.

My friend Heidi lives near the race course and her husband and sister were doing the half-marathon so her and Drake were going to be cheering them on. Both races loop around so you can see the runners twice from the same vantage point, the park nearby was the perfect place to watch the race, plus there was a swing set and slides so Reed was thoroughly entertained during the down times.



Reed helped with the artwork - can you tell?

This kid can rock a track suit

I don't know too many kids that can brag that their Grandma runs marathons, let alone in times like 4:31:56 (3rd in her age group) - what a lucky Kiddo!

How do you say Trick or Treat in Danish?

After a long weekend and an already busy week we were all pretty exhausted, but we love Halloween in the McClarty household so we had to do something. This year I made chili and cornbread, Tio and Auntie "C" brought over candy to hand out, and Grandma and Grandpa brought some vino. Pepe and Nonna were supposed to come too, but have been feeling under the weather so they stayed in for the evening. They were there in spirit though because we dressed Reed up in a Danish outfit they had purchased for him in Solvang a few months ago. He looked even more adorable than I thought he would and I still don't know if I thought he was cuter from the front or the back.

He's been making this ugly face lately when he is confused or doesn't want to do something (like have a picture taken)

But he loves when I pretend to take a picture of him with the wooden camera Amanda gave him as a present - go figure.

Tio Drew and Auntie "C" came bearing gifts - I'm not sure what Reed liked more, playing on his new drum set or looking at his reflection in the symbol!

Reed thought all of the masks and scary makeup were cool and every time the doorbell rang he would run to the entryway to check out the costumes. Jon and Auntie "C" would go along to help out. It got to be such a routine and by the end of the night he was so tired he was walking around like a crazy person (in astronaut pajamas of course) and Jon couldn't help but mimic him.

To complete the costume marathon we put a wolf hat on Reed that I had worn the night before, even though he took a good spill when I put it on him, he didn't seem to care and hung out in it for awhile.

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.

It's Business Time

"It's Business Time" . . . this was the comment I made on the photo below when I posted it on Instagram last Friday. Jon, Reed, and I were heading to Southern California. Jon had a convention for work over the weekend and Reed and I went along to have some fun.

Janessa made up this card for us after Reed was born - too cute!

The conference didn't start until Saturday so we drove straight to my friend Sarah's house and hung out there with her family. The last time we saw them was in February and their daughter, Alyson, was the same age then that Reed is now. Reed and Alyson got along great (they shared toys, went on a walk, played on the patio, ate together, played on the swings and slide, and even took a bath together)and even though it wasn't nearly enough time, Jon and I had a great time catching up with Sarah and Dan.

He was so excited to go down the slide

We got to the hotel past Reed's bedtime but he was fine entertaining the rest of the McClarty/Ketelsen family while I set up shop in our room. We haven't slept in the same room as Reed in months, but he did great and even slept in on Saturday morning. Jon had a breakfast meeting and then headed over to the convention center. Reed entertained me and Nonna until it was time to get in the car. The two of us headed out to Temecula to visit my friend Alisa and her two boys. He was in awe of the "big kids" but had a great time exploring and playing with their toys. Noah and Levi were very sweet with him and Alisa and I were even able to catch a couple minutes alone to talk when Noah decided to teach Reed how to play video games - Jon would have been so proud!

Reed thought the hotel room was awesome and found lots of stuff to keep himself entertained. We stayed in a business hotel next to the convention center so it lacked some of the amenities that we would probably look for if we were vacationing with The Reedster. We made it work though and Reed had a fabulous time.

Nonna was very sweet and watched Reed on Saturday afternoon for a few hours so I could attend the conference and then stayed in our room with him that night so that I could go out to dinner with the HMC gang. They ordered room service, I had called ahead and the head chef was more than accommodating with Reed's allergies. On Sunday Nonna and Tio Drew were sweet and came along with me and Reed to a park, then out to lunch, and then a long stroll around the Irvine Spectrum so Reed could take a nap in his stroller since we no longer had the luxury of a hotel room. Tio even took over camera duties at the park, he got some great shots, and I got to be in some pictures which is pretty rare.

The ride home on Sunday was a long one, but I'm so glad that we took Reed. It was nice to get our feet wet in the world of traveling with food allergies. There are definitely some dos and don'ts  I should remember for next time, but all in all it was a great trip.