I probably went a bit overboard checking out Christmas books this year, but we did manage to read 34 unique titles during the month! Not too bad.
Because I have those titles all recorded elsewhere, I want to record here the titles I didn't get to. I'll try again next year.
Letters from Father Christmas - I think TJ would love this if I could get him to read it :)
Cobweb Christmas
Apple Tree Christmas - one of my very favorites
Song of the Stars
Cranberry Christmas
The Christmas Cat
The Little Fir Tree
Twas the Evening of Christmas
Prairie Christmas
Great Joy
Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve?
Christmas Tapestry
The Dolls' Christmas - too long for now
The Twenty-four Days Before Christmas - L'Engle
Pick a Pine Tree
Monday, December 31, 2018
Monday, December 24, 2018
Monday, December 17, 2018
Sunday, December 9, 2018
Monday, December 3, 2018
Monday, November 26, 2018
Monday, November 19, 2018
Monday, November 12, 2018
Thanksgiving Books
A quick list of our current favorites:
It's Thanksgiving - Jack Prelutsky
Balloons Over Broadway - Melissa Sweet
Bear Says Thanks - Karma Wilson
Too Many Turkeys - Linda White
Thanking the Moon - Grace Lin
The Thanksgiving Door - Debby Atwell (this is really lovely and heart-warming)
The Firefighters' Thanksgiving - Maribeth Boelts (Reed's current favorite)
Off to Plymouth Rock - Jack Hayford
Tattered Sails - Verla Kay (I've fallen in love with the cadence in this book)
Thanksgiving at the Tappletons' - Eileen Spinelli (there are two illustrations for this - one with humans, one with foxes. I think I prefer the foxes, illustrated by Megan Lloyd)
A Turkey for Thanksgiving - Eve Bunting
Thanksgiving Is Here! - Diane Goode (LOVE this artwork)
The Thanksgiving Bowl - Virginia Kroll (not my #1, but a fun story I think kids would enjoy)
Rivka's First Thanksgiving - Elsa Okon Rael (a bit wordy for kids)
Autumn Leaves - Ken Robbins (not Thanksgiving, but so beautiful)
Sharing the Bread - Pat Zietlow Miller (a new FAVORITE)
This First Thanksgiving Day - Laura Krauss Melmed
Sometimes it's Turkey, Sometimes it's Feathers - Lorna and Lecia Balian
This Is the Turkey - Abby Levine
Happy reading!
It's Thanksgiving - Jack Prelutsky
Balloons Over Broadway - Melissa Sweet
Bear Says Thanks - Karma Wilson
Too Many Turkeys - Linda White
Thanking the Moon - Grace Lin
The Thanksgiving Door - Debby Atwell (this is really lovely and heart-warming)
The Firefighters' Thanksgiving - Maribeth Boelts (Reed's current favorite)
Off to Plymouth Rock - Jack Hayford
Tattered Sails - Verla Kay (I've fallen in love with the cadence in this book)
Thanksgiving at the Tappletons' - Eileen Spinelli (there are two illustrations for this - one with humans, one with foxes. I think I prefer the foxes, illustrated by Megan Lloyd)
A Turkey for Thanksgiving - Eve Bunting
Thanksgiving Is Here! - Diane Goode (LOVE this artwork)
The Thanksgiving Bowl - Virginia Kroll (not my #1, but a fun story I think kids would enjoy)
Rivka's First Thanksgiving - Elsa Okon Rael (a bit wordy for kids)
Autumn Leaves - Ken Robbins (not Thanksgiving, but so beautiful)
Sharing the Bread - Pat Zietlow Miller (a new FAVORITE)
This First Thanksgiving Day - Laura Krauss Melmed
Sometimes it's Turkey, Sometimes it's Feathers - Lorna and Lecia Balian
This Is the Turkey - Abby Levine
Happy reading!
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Reed:18 months
Yesterday marked 18 months that Reed has been with us. We left him for the first time overnight last weekend and it was bizarre to be away from him for 24 hours. He is my companion all day, every day, and boy do I love him!
-Nearly every night we go into his room, take him out of his crib, and hold him. I finally convinced TJ (who was so worried about waking him) to hold him and now we're hooked. We take turns snuggling that sleeping boy every night before we go to bed, commenting to each other how much we LOVE this little boy, how sweet he is, and how full our hearts are to have him. It is a tender moment of every day.
-Reed has really taken to music in the past couple months. We have a little radio/CD player in the kitchen and almost every day while he's eating he points to it to ask us to turn it on.
-Reed has started dancing. :) His fanciest move is turning in a circle (slowly) but he also sways and bounces. Our favorite is his signature dance move: rolling his wrists. TJ texted me when he took Reed to an "introduction to the opera" a couple weeks ago and said that as soon as they entered and heard the orchestra Reed started "revving his engine." It is a funny thing to see both his hands raised, twisting in circles.
-I'm guessing we're at about six months now that his syrup containers are some of his most treasured toys. He's loved them long enough that we've gone through two, washed them, and turned them over to him to play with every day. He screws and unscrews them, bites the top part open, sticks things in them, and carries them around. He has a specific way of saying syrup ("gyup") and whenever we open the fridge he hollers "gyup!" and makes a beeline to grab the full one in the door. It was so fun to take him to Costco and show him a whole pallet of syrup bottles.
-Construction continues near our home and frequently he'll look at me and point to his ear to say he hears something. "What is it?" "Guk."
-This little guy loves trucks. I think it must be an innate love because we are not truck aficionados. :) On walks he points out trucks of all types, even recognizing that pick-up trucks are not the same as other cars.
-Now that Reed is a pretty capable walker, he's decided he should probably learn to walk up and down stairs. He is teaching himself by holding tightly to our banister and going up and down slowly. Given that it's probably the safest way to learn I let him practice, reminding him to please be careful!
-Reed is a vegetarian. He refuses meat (in all forms), even going so far as to spit out foods he loves if his dad has tried to hide minuscule amounts of meat in them. He won't eat eggs either. Foods he especially loves: black beans, roasted chickpeas, pumpkin seeds, pineapple, bananas (recently he's been holding the banana himself, which is about the greatest thing on the planet to him), apples, clementines, Cinnamon Chex, Cheerios, granola, Gogurts, cheese, and - thanks to his Grandpa Milar - candy corn and M&Ms. He still loves chocolate chips and points to their cupboard to request them.
-At 18 months he still loves to be swaddled. He sleeps with all four swaddle blankets each night (and in two layers of pajamas) and laughs contentedly when he has his binky in and gets wrapped in his swaddles each night.
-Reed takes one nap each day (he probably switched to one nap around 14 months old). We try to keep him awake until about noon, he naps until 2:30 or 3, then goes down for the night between 6:30 and 7:30. He almost always wakes us in the morning, sometime between 6:30 and 7:30 AM.
-Reed still continues to point to people as his greeting, often tilting his head onto his shoulder when he does.
-He is learning more words. He's excellent at truck and syrup and now knows (and says) Mom and Dad. He's great at saying baby and zoo, though he has no clue what a zoo is, as well as ball, pumpkin (ba), boat, and light.
-We love hearing Reed make animal noises. :) He's quite proficient at lion, duck (which sounds the same as lion - vicious things), cat, dog, cow, horse, seagull, velociraptor twins :), and chicken. They're basically all darling.
-One day when Reed was about 17 months old I randomly asked him, "Reed, can you smile? Show me how you smile?" I was thrilled, delighted, surprised to see him grin right back at me! On TJ's birthday I grabbed out the actual camera for pictures and Reed sauntered over, tapped it, and smiled at me. :) We love when we capture his cheesy grin.
-Reed is learning more body parts. He knows nose, tongue (sticks it out), teeth (chomps them together), fingers, toes, and hair. It's fun to see him pick up on more and more.
-This little guy still loves to read, which is fabulous. We read lots of books together and it's amazing to get glimpses of how much he understands! There are several books that he will call out lines to before we turn the page. A few that come to mind: saying "Stop!" in Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion, saying "bomp bomp" for the velociraptor twins in Dinosaur Dance, saying "bow" in Barnyard Dance, saying "strong" and "cold" in Sandra Boynton's Opposites. There are times he'll make a noise in a book that we didn't even know he knew and we'll test him (by reading it over and over) to see if he's really quoting the book. :) A fun discovery when he is.
-When TJ leaves each morning Reed gives him kisses (either blows him kisses or just kisses the air, usually) so now when I tell Reed, "Okay, Bug, time to go!" he'll start blowing kisses. :)
-Reed absolutely adores our next door neighbors. We are devastated they are moving next month, but no one will be more so than Reed, when he realizes that Jodi (the mom) is no longer behind the door he pounds on so often. He loves loves loves Jodi.
-Reed made the cutest dinosaur in all the land for Halloween. The first time he tried his costume he sobbed. On Halloween I told him, "Time to put on your costume. Hold still and we'll go see Jodi." He held still, no tears, and kept his costume on happily! We took him to Jodi's, Nana and Papa's, and Grandma and Grandpa's for his debut trick-or-treating.
-We try not to focus on them, but he is starting to throw more tantrums! It's tough to have an opinion and wants and no way to clearly communicate them. Sometimes we are flabbergasted trying to figure out what on earth he wants (while other times we understand completely the answer is still no, ha!) It is interesting to try to reason with a toddler. We have a lot to learn!
-Reed provides entertainment for a good chunk of the congregation at church each week. He and I sit on the front row on one side of the chapel and I let him walk around our bench. He also does laps up and down the wheelchair ramp and goes to visit TJ on the stand, sometimes 4 or 6 or 8 times during Sacrament meeting. Church currently starts at 1 - right during his nap - so he usually eats lunch during Sacrament meeting and by the time we get home he and I are both exhausted!
-If we ask Reed to sing he will (quietly). If he sees someone conducting music he also waves his arms. If I play the piano it's a battle for the keys and recently he's started just pulling the lid closed while I play. Oh boy.
-Often when something is missing around the house I'll tell Reed, "Call it. 'Binky!'" and we walk around the house looking for the item. This means that now when I say, "Let's call Dad," Reed responds by yelling, "Dad!" :)
-The other day at the grocery store I said, "Okay - we've got our produce, let's go get some chicken," to which Reed immediately responded, "Boh, boh!"
-At the grocery store Reed has gotten quite good at putting items on the conveyor belt at the checkout stand. It's probably my favorite part of grocery shopping. He's also VERY particular about wanting certain items right next to him on the little bench in the cart (chocolate milk always has a spot by him) and he frequently insists on holding items for a few minutes before they go into the cart.
-Reed continues to be a big time observer. He frequently just stands and watches others interact or play (even kids). He is recently starting to sometimes play also, but often he just likes to watch. I also see this in how he "plays" with things - he stays busy and he enjoys himself, but he is often studying things out and figuring out just how they work.
-When we have a prayer we ask Reed to fold his arms and he clasps his little hands together in such an endearing way. Sometimes it's his turn to say it, but so far he doesn't repeat anything we say. :)
Okay - I'm sure there are a million more things I will wish I recorded, but that's a good brain dump for now. Maybe I'll come add more as I think of it, but as I read back on past posts about him I'm just so grateful for all I have written (because I already have forgotten things!)
Broken record though I may be, I am absolutely, completely in love with this boy. It has been a bit hard to realize he's a little boy now and not just a baby, but he is still my baby and I love him more today than even the day he was born. We feel lucky, lucky, lucky to have this boy in our lives. I love you, Reed Baby!
-Nearly every night we go into his room, take him out of his crib, and hold him. I finally convinced TJ (who was so worried about waking him) to hold him and now we're hooked. We take turns snuggling that sleeping boy every night before we go to bed, commenting to each other how much we LOVE this little boy, how sweet he is, and how full our hearts are to have him. It is a tender moment of every day.
-Reed has really taken to music in the past couple months. We have a little radio/CD player in the kitchen and almost every day while he's eating he points to it to ask us to turn it on.
-Reed has started dancing. :) His fanciest move is turning in a circle (slowly) but he also sways and bounces. Our favorite is his signature dance move: rolling his wrists. TJ texted me when he took Reed to an "introduction to the opera" a couple weeks ago and said that as soon as they entered and heard the orchestra Reed started "revving his engine." It is a funny thing to see both his hands raised, twisting in circles.
-I'm guessing we're at about six months now that his syrup containers are some of his most treasured toys. He's loved them long enough that we've gone through two, washed them, and turned them over to him to play with every day. He screws and unscrews them, bites the top part open, sticks things in them, and carries them around. He has a specific way of saying syrup ("gyup") and whenever we open the fridge he hollers "gyup!" and makes a beeline to grab the full one in the door. It was so fun to take him to Costco and show him a whole pallet of syrup bottles.
-Construction continues near our home and frequently he'll look at me and point to his ear to say he hears something. "What is it?" "Guk."
-This little guy loves trucks. I think it must be an innate love because we are not truck aficionados. :) On walks he points out trucks of all types, even recognizing that pick-up trucks are not the same as other cars.
-Now that Reed is a pretty capable walker, he's decided he should probably learn to walk up and down stairs. He is teaching himself by holding tightly to our banister and going up and down slowly. Given that it's probably the safest way to learn I let him practice, reminding him to please be careful!
-Reed is a vegetarian. He refuses meat (in all forms), even going so far as to spit out foods he loves if his dad has tried to hide minuscule amounts of meat in them. He won't eat eggs either. Foods he especially loves: black beans, roasted chickpeas, pumpkin seeds, pineapple, bananas (recently he's been holding the banana himself, which is about the greatest thing on the planet to him), apples, clementines, Cinnamon Chex, Cheerios, granola, Gogurts, cheese, and - thanks to his Grandpa Milar - candy corn and M&Ms. He still loves chocolate chips and points to their cupboard to request them.
-At 18 months he still loves to be swaddled. He sleeps with all four swaddle blankets each night (and in two layers of pajamas) and laughs contentedly when he has his binky in and gets wrapped in his swaddles each night.
-Reed takes one nap each day (he probably switched to one nap around 14 months old). We try to keep him awake until about noon, he naps until 2:30 or 3, then goes down for the night between 6:30 and 7:30. He almost always wakes us in the morning, sometime between 6:30 and 7:30 AM.
-Reed still continues to point to people as his greeting, often tilting his head onto his shoulder when he does.
-He is learning more words. He's excellent at truck and syrup and now knows (and says) Mom and Dad. He's great at saying baby and zoo, though he has no clue what a zoo is, as well as ball, pumpkin (ba), boat, and light.
-We love hearing Reed make animal noises. :) He's quite proficient at lion, duck (which sounds the same as lion - vicious things), cat, dog, cow, horse, seagull, velociraptor twins :), and chicken. They're basically all darling.
-One day when Reed was about 17 months old I randomly asked him, "Reed, can you smile? Show me how you smile?" I was thrilled, delighted, surprised to see him grin right back at me! On TJ's birthday I grabbed out the actual camera for pictures and Reed sauntered over, tapped it, and smiled at me. :) We love when we capture his cheesy grin.
-Reed is learning more body parts. He knows nose, tongue (sticks it out), teeth (chomps them together), fingers, toes, and hair. It's fun to see him pick up on more and more.
-This little guy still loves to read, which is fabulous. We read lots of books together and it's amazing to get glimpses of how much he understands! There are several books that he will call out lines to before we turn the page. A few that come to mind: saying "Stop!" in Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion, saying "bomp bomp" for the velociraptor twins in Dinosaur Dance, saying "bow" in Barnyard Dance, saying "strong" and "cold" in Sandra Boynton's Opposites. There are times he'll make a noise in a book that we didn't even know he knew and we'll test him (by reading it over and over) to see if he's really quoting the book. :) A fun discovery when he is.
-When TJ leaves each morning Reed gives him kisses (either blows him kisses or just kisses the air, usually) so now when I tell Reed, "Okay, Bug, time to go!" he'll start blowing kisses. :)
-Reed absolutely adores our next door neighbors. We are devastated they are moving next month, but no one will be more so than Reed, when he realizes that Jodi (the mom) is no longer behind the door he pounds on so often. He loves loves loves Jodi.
-Reed made the cutest dinosaur in all the land for Halloween. The first time he tried his costume he sobbed. On Halloween I told him, "Time to put on your costume. Hold still and we'll go see Jodi." He held still, no tears, and kept his costume on happily! We took him to Jodi's, Nana and Papa's, and Grandma and Grandpa's for his debut trick-or-treating.
-We try not to focus on them, but he is starting to throw more tantrums! It's tough to have an opinion and wants and no way to clearly communicate them. Sometimes we are flabbergasted trying to figure out what on earth he wants (while other times we understand completely the answer is still no, ha!) It is interesting to try to reason with a toddler. We have a lot to learn!
-Reed provides entertainment for a good chunk of the congregation at church each week. He and I sit on the front row on one side of the chapel and I let him walk around our bench. He also does laps up and down the wheelchair ramp and goes to visit TJ on the stand, sometimes 4 or 6 or 8 times during Sacrament meeting. Church currently starts at 1 - right during his nap - so he usually eats lunch during Sacrament meeting and by the time we get home he and I are both exhausted!
-If we ask Reed to sing he will (quietly). If he sees someone conducting music he also waves his arms. If I play the piano it's a battle for the keys and recently he's started just pulling the lid closed while I play. Oh boy.
-Often when something is missing around the house I'll tell Reed, "Call it. 'Binky!'" and we walk around the house looking for the item. This means that now when I say, "Let's call Dad," Reed responds by yelling, "Dad!" :)
-The other day at the grocery store I said, "Okay - we've got our produce, let's go get some chicken," to which Reed immediately responded, "Boh, boh!"
-At the grocery store Reed has gotten quite good at putting items on the conveyor belt at the checkout stand. It's probably my favorite part of grocery shopping. He's also VERY particular about wanting certain items right next to him on the little bench in the cart (chocolate milk always has a spot by him) and he frequently insists on holding items for a few minutes before they go into the cart.
-Reed continues to be a big time observer. He frequently just stands and watches others interact or play (even kids). He is recently starting to sometimes play also, but often he just likes to watch. I also see this in how he "plays" with things - he stays busy and he enjoys himself, but he is often studying things out and figuring out just how they work.
-When we have a prayer we ask Reed to fold his arms and he clasps his little hands together in such an endearing way. Sometimes it's his turn to say it, but so far he doesn't repeat anything we say. :)
Okay - I'm sure there are a million more things I will wish I recorded, but that's a good brain dump for now. Maybe I'll come add more as I think of it, but as I read back on past posts about him I'm just so grateful for all I have written (because I already have forgotten things!)
Broken record though I may be, I am absolutely, completely in love with this boy. It has been a bit hard to realize he's a little boy now and not just a baby, but he is still my baby and I love him more today than even the day he was born. We feel lucky, lucky, lucky to have this boy in our lives. I love you, Reed Baby!
Monday, November 5, 2018
Monday, October 29, 2018
Monday, October 22, 2018
Monday, October 15, 2018
Monday, October 1, 2018
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Guck!
For eight and a half years we've lived with a huge field next to our house. We moved into a neighborhood under construction and while our home is phase one, the lot next door is phase seven. We assumed - back in 2010 - we'd have five years until we had a next door neighbor on our other side. We have loved our quiet little street - it's been a dead end with only four houses on it - all this time.
Well, last week the big trucks rolled in to start leveling the field and putting streets in. We have prime viewing, not only because we're next door, but also because we're the construction access road, so the workers park next to our house and at the end of the day all the big construction gigs are parked here for the night.
These trucks are currently the highlight of Reed's life. All day long we hear them working. Reed stops several times a day and points to his ear to show he's listening. When I ask what it is he proudly responds, "Guck!" and makes a "bzzzhhhh" noise to show what it sounds like. :) He is so enamored that everything he hears (TJ coming home, an airplane - anything) is now a "Guck!"
The best viewing is from our unfinished bonus room upstairs, where I spend time holding this little boy, as he points and exclaims with excitement, while I try not to step on dead flies. Yesterday I pulled the glider over to his window, pulled open the blinds, and let him stand and watch. Boy, the excitement!
At about 3:00 each day a big water truck hoses our street down a half dozen times to try to limit the amount of dust we have. When we hear him beeping we run outside, sit on our bench, and watch. It is so exciting for Reed, as he sits on my lap and just points, craning his head to see when the truck disappears through the trees. It'll be a sad day for Reed when the construction is done, but I think we have a couple years of it ahead!
Well, last week the big trucks rolled in to start leveling the field and putting streets in. We have prime viewing, not only because we're next door, but also because we're the construction access road, so the workers park next to our house and at the end of the day all the big construction gigs are parked here for the night.
These trucks are currently the highlight of Reed's life. All day long we hear them working. Reed stops several times a day and points to his ear to show he's listening. When I ask what it is he proudly responds, "Guck!" and makes a "bzzzhhhh" noise to show what it sounds like. :) He is so enamored that everything he hears (TJ coming home, an airplane - anything) is now a "Guck!"
The best viewing is from our unfinished bonus room upstairs, where I spend time holding this little boy, as he points and exclaims with excitement, while I try not to step on dead flies. Yesterday I pulled the glider over to his window, pulled open the blinds, and let him stand and watch. Boy, the excitement!
At about 3:00 each day a big water truck hoses our street down a half dozen times to try to limit the amount of dust we have. When we hear him beeping we run outside, sit on our bench, and watch. It is so exciting for Reed, as he sits on my lap and just points, craning his head to see when the truck disappears through the trees. It'll be a sad day for Reed when the construction is done, but I think we have a couple years of it ahead!
Monday, September 10, 2018
Monday, September 3, 2018
Monday, August 20, 2018
Monday, August 13, 2018
Monday, August 6, 2018
Reed: 15 Months Old
Yesterday our little boy turned 15 months old. It seems like over the past week or two things have really started to happen quickly: it seems he learns more every day!
-Reed has lots of teeth. Maybe 16 - hard to tell, because he hates letting us look at his molars.
-On Friday/Saturday we spent some time teaching him that a lion says "ah!" a cat says "ooooh" and that a monkey says "ooh ooh ooh". It's pretty darling, though he still doesn't always do it (or get the animals right. :)
-He is climbing, climbing, climbing! He has learned to climb on the couch by himself, he climbs up the toilet (! - maybe that's better than into the toilet?) and yesterday he realized that since he can climb onto the kitchen chairs that also means he can climb onto the table. He can't walk yet, but boy he can climb!
-We are realizing more and more how much he understands us. In the bathtub we tell him "Reed, please sit down." and he does. Or "Reed, do you want a drink?" and he'll reach for his cup. Just a few days ago I asked Reed to go get a pair of socks and was pretty surprised when he crawled to his closet, grabbed a pair of socks, and held them out to me!
-When we go to put a diaper on him after he takes a bath he's started crawling away as fast as he can, looking over his shoulder, laughing his head off. He waits for us to follow him and then takes off again, laughing even harder. It is awfully cute to see that little bare bottom racing down the hall.
-"Ah oh" means that something fell (...or was thrown). He throws food off his tray and hollers "ah oh!" He plays on our bed while I shower and pushes his toys off, one at a time, calling out "ah oh!" He also throws things down the stairs (typically going to get them after) and yells "ah oh!"
-He loves to read. He spends time every day reading by himself but he also loves to sit right on my lap while I read to him. He'll point to the book(s) he wants and usually turns the pages. Papa (Gem) made him an audio recording of "Little Blue Truck" that NEVER gets old for Reed: he'll listen over and over again. Favorite books include Dear Zoo; Heads; But Not the Hippopotamus; Big Cat, Little Cat; and Art and Max. When I grab library books down (we moved them up high after several were torn) he'll do his excited laugh, which is darling.
-Reed sure loves looking out the windows and knocking to whatever he sees out there. He races to the windows by the back door when he hears TJ walk out: he stands up at the window pane and knocks and knocks (with his single pointer finger) until TJ comes, laughing when he finally arrives. They play a game of switching from window to window, Reed racing across the floor on hands and knees to greet TJ at the next pane.
-We've had two baby deer in and out of our yard all summer and Reed can watch them tirelessly. He has a unique sound he makes for "yes! I see them!" and will laugh and watch them (knocking when he can) for up to an hour. He sometimes is the same way with birds, though they don't stay as long as the deer.
-Reed ADORES airplanes. On walks or outside he points at all of them. He'll stop what he's doing in the house and point outside with an "ah" if he hears an airplane.
-The point is still his signature move. He doesn't give fives or do knuckles: he just points, all the time, at all the things.
-I'm not sure when or how he learned it, but he blows kisses now - waving his open hand away from his wide open mouth.
-He's getting closer to walking and I love seeing those straight little legs moving forward, usually while he clings to our fingers. His shuffle reminds me of Frankenstein. Also, he usually leads with his left foot.
-Reed LOVES his blankets and binkies and has learned to stand at his crib and pull them out between the slats. I also never tire of seeing him crawl under his crib to grab a binky that fell under there: he crouches way down until his belly is on his ground so his head won't hit and scoots under, emerging triumphant with his binky in his mouth. He still loves his tags and a couple nights in recent weeks wouldn't go to sleep until all the blankets he could see (even in his closet) were in his bed. :)
-When he wakes up if I tell Reed to say "Good night, binky!" he'll pull his binky out and throw it into his crib.
-This baby is not deterred by cold water: as we've been going up the canyon this summer and to a couple lakes, he wants in, no matter the temperature. I've started keeping swim diapers in the diaper bag and now take a towel up the mountain, as he'll sit in that cold river water until he's half frozen. He loves it.
-Reed is great at being in his stroller: he's gone on a 6.5 mile run with us (and many, many shorter runs besides) and lots and lots of walks. He is almost always calm in the stroller and on nights he can't fall asleep if we take him out for an evening stroll he'll go to sleep while we walk.
-This little guy is still a supreme observer. One example - we went to library story time a few weeks ago and they turned on a pretty epic bubble machine. Every single child ran to play in the bubbles except my Reed, who sat contentedly and watched all the other kids. He just takes it in. Now that he's in a bigger car seat he can see some tall things out the window while we're driving - he spends lots of time looking out the window (and making faces at himself in his mirror, which is adorable and hilarious to watch).
I could go on and on and on. This boy has our hearts. We love, love, love him.
-Reed has lots of teeth. Maybe 16 - hard to tell, because he hates letting us look at his molars.
-On Friday/Saturday we spent some time teaching him that a lion says "ah!" a cat says "ooooh" and that a monkey says "ooh ooh ooh". It's pretty darling, though he still doesn't always do it (or get the animals right. :)
-He is climbing, climbing, climbing! He has learned to climb on the couch by himself, he climbs up the toilet (! - maybe that's better than into the toilet?) and yesterday he realized that since he can climb onto the kitchen chairs that also means he can climb onto the table. He can't walk yet, but boy he can climb!
-We are realizing more and more how much he understands us. In the bathtub we tell him "Reed, please sit down." and he does. Or "Reed, do you want a drink?" and he'll reach for his cup. Just a few days ago I asked Reed to go get a pair of socks and was pretty surprised when he crawled to his closet, grabbed a pair of socks, and held them out to me!
-When we go to put a diaper on him after he takes a bath he's started crawling away as fast as he can, looking over his shoulder, laughing his head off. He waits for us to follow him and then takes off again, laughing even harder. It is awfully cute to see that little bare bottom racing down the hall.
-"Ah oh" means that something fell (...or was thrown). He throws food off his tray and hollers "ah oh!" He plays on our bed while I shower and pushes his toys off, one at a time, calling out "ah oh!" He also throws things down the stairs (typically going to get them after) and yells "ah oh!"
-He loves to read. He spends time every day reading by himself but he also loves to sit right on my lap while I read to him. He'll point to the book(s) he wants and usually turns the pages. Papa (Gem) made him an audio recording of "Little Blue Truck" that NEVER gets old for Reed: he'll listen over and over again. Favorite books include Dear Zoo; Heads; But Not the Hippopotamus; Big Cat, Little Cat; and Art and Max. When I grab library books down (we moved them up high after several were torn) he'll do his excited laugh, which is darling.
-Reed sure loves looking out the windows and knocking to whatever he sees out there. He races to the windows by the back door when he hears TJ walk out: he stands up at the window pane and knocks and knocks (with his single pointer finger) until TJ comes, laughing when he finally arrives. They play a game of switching from window to window, Reed racing across the floor on hands and knees to greet TJ at the next pane.
-We've had two baby deer in and out of our yard all summer and Reed can watch them tirelessly. He has a unique sound he makes for "yes! I see them!" and will laugh and watch them (knocking when he can) for up to an hour. He sometimes is the same way with birds, though they don't stay as long as the deer.
-Reed ADORES airplanes. On walks or outside he points at all of them. He'll stop what he's doing in the house and point outside with an "ah" if he hears an airplane.
-The point is still his signature move. He doesn't give fives or do knuckles: he just points, all the time, at all the things.
-I'm not sure when or how he learned it, but he blows kisses now - waving his open hand away from his wide open mouth.
-He's getting closer to walking and I love seeing those straight little legs moving forward, usually while he clings to our fingers. His shuffle reminds me of Frankenstein. Also, he usually leads with his left foot.
-Reed LOVES his blankets and binkies and has learned to stand at his crib and pull them out between the slats. I also never tire of seeing him crawl under his crib to grab a binky that fell under there: he crouches way down until his belly is on his ground so his head won't hit and scoots under, emerging triumphant with his binky in his mouth. He still loves his tags and a couple nights in recent weeks wouldn't go to sleep until all the blankets he could see (even in his closet) were in his bed. :)
-When he wakes up if I tell Reed to say "Good night, binky!" he'll pull his binky out and throw it into his crib.
-This baby is not deterred by cold water: as we've been going up the canyon this summer and to a couple lakes, he wants in, no matter the temperature. I've started keeping swim diapers in the diaper bag and now take a towel up the mountain, as he'll sit in that cold river water until he's half frozen. He loves it.
-Reed is great at being in his stroller: he's gone on a 6.5 mile run with us (and many, many shorter runs besides) and lots and lots of walks. He is almost always calm in the stroller and on nights he can't fall asleep if we take him out for an evening stroll he'll go to sleep while we walk.
-This little guy is still a supreme observer. One example - we went to library story time a few weeks ago and they turned on a pretty epic bubble machine. Every single child ran to play in the bubbles except my Reed, who sat contentedly and watched all the other kids. He just takes it in. Now that he's in a bigger car seat he can see some tall things out the window while we're driving - he spends lots of time looking out the window (and making faces at himself in his mirror, which is adorable and hilarious to watch).
I could go on and on and on. This boy has our hearts. We love, love, love him.
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