Reed at 3 Years Old

Reed is growing and learning and changing so quickly.  I want so desperately to remember how he is right now.  Here are a few notes about Reed at 3 years old:

• Anyone who knows Reed knows he loves vehicles.  Really, really loves vehicles.  He doesn't really care about cars or daily transportation vehicles, but he loves all vehicles with jobs: grab excavators are probably his favorite, but he is an avid fan of everything from concrete piping trucks and bulldozers to tractors and fire trucks.  His eyes and mind race while we're on the road, calling out "Man lift!" and "Helicopter!" and "Look, Howand, a semi" one after the other.  He loves vehicles.
• Reed adores his legos (Duplos).  There have literally been maybe two days in the past 3 months (6 months?) that he hasn't played with them.  It's the first toy he asks for in the morning, he plays with them every single day during quiet time, and if we have downtime with TJ in the afternoon they do legos together.  We've bought him several construction sets and he makes endless vehicle creations, hooking them together, putting them in rows, having them work together, building things.  The other day he put one of his trucks on a stack of Legos and told me "Look, Mom - outriggers!"  He calls the little people either his "workers" or his "guys" and the first two were Mac and Joe (named by Nana).  He has since named another two Jeff and TJ.  :)  We bought him a train Lego set for Christmas that he rarely uses - typically just his construction trucks and then his blocks for other creative play (like he just brought me a tall tower and said "Look, Mom, I made a walking stick" and the other day he made a violin.)
• Every day Reed asks to "scoop and dump" - go play in the dirt in the backyard.  He is most delighted when people will go out and dig with him, but most often he spends time out there by himself, surrounded by shovels, digging in the dirt we've always intended to make a garden.  He fills his bucket and dumps it back out, moves dirt from one spot to another, rakes and digs again.
• When he pushes down with his foot on his big shovel he calls it "pedaling."
• He loves dirt so much he has dug up and/or dumped out two of my containers of seeds/food (I put the seeds in containers so he could keep his dirt to himself!)  When I asked him why he dug up my seeds he replied, "I wanted dirt."  
• Reed is still very analytical and thinks a lot about the things he observes or hears.  He is full of questions and surprises me by randomly asking questions about things that happened months ago (remembering enough accurately to ask valid questions).    
• His hair is incredibly coarse.  I don't think I know anyone else with hair the same texture as his.  When we do it I always ask him, "Do you want it spiky or combed?" and he always chooses combed, so we do it combed to the side with the Got2b glued stuff, which works pretty well.
• For the past 2-3 months he has told us every day, "I'm a tiger."  We have no idea where this came from.  He roars randomly throughout the day.  Sometimes when we ask him to wash his hands he'll tell us they're paws.  He'll holler, "We are all tigers!" when we're eating.  When he's especially tired if I say something like, "Hey, pal!" or "See you later, alligator!" he'll start crying and say, "I'm a TIGER."
• Thanks to Poppy, Reed is really getting into birdwatching.  Poppy gifted him a (really nice) pair of binoculars a few months ago.  We're not confident he actually sees anything yet, but he does know now which way they go and he can consistently hold them up to his eyes (yesterday, while riding in the stroller, he was holding his binoculars and kept telling me, "I'm watching for hawks, Mom.")  He easily recognizes and can name ducks and geese, but also pigeons, mourning doves, yellow headed blackbirds, quail, and coots.  He also knows the names of many more (grackles, red winged blackbirds, etc.) but can't accurately name them by sight.  
• As Reed learns more about birds, he becomes less patient with Holland's inability to differentiate them.  :)  Holland loves ducks and calls out "Hi duck, hi duck, hi duck" whenever she sees one.  But she also calls "Hi duck" when she sees any other bird.  When Reed hears her he'll yell at her, "Hahn!  That's a QUAIL!  Say 'quail!'" or "Howand, that's a yellow headed black bird.  Say 'yellow headed black bird!'"  He just can't understand why she keeps saying duck.
• Reed adores books and reading.  He'll listen to books as long as anyone will read to him and asks us to read with him several times every day.  We read pretty widely and he likes everything from poetry to nonfiction to board books to picture books.  A few favorites right now are The Digger and the Flower, Zen Shorts, Chester's Way, a nonfiction book all about tractors and what they do, Brambly Hedge, and Jamberry.  He has many books that he can nearly recite and more that he can finish the second half of every phrase.
• In addition to being read to, Reed both reads to himself (by sitting with a stack of books and flipping through, looking at the pictures, and asking us questions if we're near) and loves listening to audiobooks.  We put a CD player in his room and checked out a number of books on CD from the library and he listens to at least one every day (during quiet time).  His favorite is Zen Shorts this week.
• Reed's job at dinner is to set the silverware (typically just forks) on the table.  He sets them near each person's seat, facing all different directions, and it makes me smile every time I look over.  It's especially darling when he's done more than forks (added spoons and/or knives) and there is cutlery all over the place.
• He is really good at saying thank you - to most everyone, for most anything.
• He says a few "grown up" phrases that crack me up.  When I ask him how he's doing he nearly always responds, "I'm doing fine, how 'bout you?"  He says "absolutely" and "seriously" all the time.  Today while we were driving he said, "That makes sense." but couldn't tell me why he was saying it.  :)  (Maybe just heard it and was trying it out?)  
• Reed is not at all into crafts or artwork.  For his birthday I got him sticker books, twistable crayons, paints and paintbrushes - all of which he looked at, set on the ground, and never picked up again.  :)  Every couple months he'll put stickers on a paper for about 5 minutes and then go back to his normal life.  
• I thought Reed would be more into puzzles, given how much he LOVES the bus puzzle Nana gave him.  He will do that one by himself easily, but that hasn't translated to enjoyment to all puzzles.  
• Reed's favorite show is Random Acts on BYUTV.  It's really the only show he watches, and he always prefers the exact same episodes: ones that include construction (where they put together a backyard or pour a driveway).  The show is set up to surprise people by doing kind things for them and he knows the hosts by name.  We've heard him many times quietly singing the theme song to himself or repeating their closing line, "A ha ha ha - you're welcome!" when he's doing something else.  It's pretty funny.  Poor boy has...never seen a cartoon.
• He's excellent on his "lean" bike - his strider bike that he got several months ago.  We walk at Daybreak Lake every morning and he rides his bike.  He's never taken a really nasty fall, which I'm grateful for, and he doesn't complain about wearing his helmet (orange - he chose the color himself).  For his birthday all he wanted was a "pedal bike," and when he started telling strangers he was getting one we caved and bought it for him (we intended to wait until his 4th birthday, given he's had his balance bike just a few months).  He tried it for about ten minutes, got frustrated, and gave up.  Ha!  He's tried maybe twice since but just can't figure out pedaling (it's probably very difficult to visualize since he really doesn't see anybody riding bikes except those he passes while we're out walking).
• In spite of being such a picky eater when he was 1, Reed is now an excellent eater!  It is really thrilling.  :)  It feels luxurious to be able to make whatever I want for dinner and have all of us eat it.  Yahoo!  Reed won't eat eggs, but he is game for pretty much anything and everything else.  He happily eats vegetables and fruits, meats, grains, etc.  It's so nice.  He especially loves shrimp, steak, watermelon, M&Ms, roasted carrots, cinnamon rolls, cucumbers, chips or crackers and red pepper hummus, ice cream, toast with butter and jam, waffles, clementine oranges, fruit snacks, and chocolate milk.  
• Reed has a soft heart.  He notices and sympathizes when people are sad or upset.  If I'm crying he'll come give me a hug and ask if I'm okay.  ("You okay, Mom?")  If Holland is upset he'll put his arms around her a squeeze (which...might often worsen the problem, but it comes from a loving place).  If he sees someone else crying he'll ask me what's wrong or what's happened.
• This boy is tall!  He is wearing 4T this summer and he's knocking on 40", which puts him in the 96th percentile for height (and up from 35% to 65% for weight - go, Reed!)  I don't really notice his height right now because we're not interacting with others his age (covid) but it seems he is definitely tall.
• Reed wears Crocs every day.  He has an "outside" pair and an "inside" pair so that he can wear shoes all day, every day.  He refuses to wear them without socks and hates being barefoot anytime, anywhere.  
• Reed's the first one awake virtually every morning, between 6 and 6:30 AM.  He does go to sleep about 6 PM, so we're incredibly pleased he's putting in so many house sleeping.  He will go weeks when he sleeps through the night every night and then weeks when he's up every night during the night.  When he wakes up he always walks into our room (the sound of opening his door usually wakes me) and comes right to my side.  He sleeps with his cherished, beloved, battered "white blankets," which are his ultimate comfort item.  After three years they have holes in them and the tags are connected by just a thread, but he clings to them and loves them all the same, sleeping with his tags grasped tightly in his fingers.
• Reed is really smart.  I can have full conversations with him about we discuss a number of topics.  Poppy was just telling me how inquisitive and curious he is: intelligent beyond his years with an incredible memory.  And he's right!  
• We have - for some time now - been trying to teach Reed how to get undressed himself.  It is so funny to me that he just can't seem to figure it out.  :)  He pulls down his shorts or pants by grabbing the fabric on his thighs and tugging straight down - both legs at the same time.  He then gets upset (every single time) that he can't get his feet out of his pants by himself.  :)  He has learned to pull his arm into his sleeve, but inevitably sticks it out the neck instead of pulling it down to the bottom of his shirt.  :)  And socks?  They're just infuriating.  Ha!  And to think we haven't even started how to put clothes on...
• Instead of "Where are you" I hear "Whey ah you" several times a day.  It's adorable.  
• He's in the middle of trying to figure out "anything" and "nothing" and it's cute to hear them get hashed out.  "What did he say, Reed?"  "Not anything."  "Do you need something?"  "Anything."  
• Instead of saying "won't" he says "weeon't."
• He is excellent at recognizing a couple letters: H (he always says "H for Howand!"), R ("R for Reed!"), and D ("D for Dad!")  He finds these letters in the most abstract places, which blows me away.  First of all, he recognizes them no matter their orientation - backwards, upside down, it's all the same to him.  Then he sees them in things that I'd never notice: this morning he spotted a blue box on our neighbor's porch with white tape sealing the bottom and top.  The pieces of tape were across the middle of the box and they came halfway up and down the sides of the box, which made Reed yell out "H for Howand!"  
• He's wearing 4T pants and shirts, 5T pajamas, and I just ordered him size 11 and 12 shoes.

There are, of course, a million more things that make Reed uniquely Reed, but I've been writing this post for a week so I'm calling it a wrap.  He is one in a million and we are so incredibly grateful he's ours.

The Kids Are Talking -3-

I've got so many notes and emails all around with things that Reed has said lately that I think I better compile them all here.  That boy makes us laugh daily.  He's got such an imagination and the vocabulary to express it!  There are times we cannot figure out what he's saying, not because we don't understand the words, but usually because he's referencing something so obscure we can't even figure it out.  He asked me two days about what I thought Ashley was doing - he was referencing the person who answered the phone when I called the doctor's office two weeks ago!

November

TJ and I were complaining about something that was quite a "process" (I don't even remember what).  Later, as we carried him to the bathtub he screamed, "Stop the process!!"

Rachel: Reed, I want to get out the door, hurry and get dressed.  You'll wear your red pants, gray shirt, and orange [thinking Crocs...]
Reed: Tiger.

One day while I had my hair flipped upside down before I dried it off in the shower he looked at me and said, "Mommy have noodle hair."  (??)

After Facetiming with Papa Reed kept asking me what the "red spider" was at Poppy's house.  We eventually had to Facetime him back and Papa walked out to his garage where we saw a red bike rack on the wall that, sure enough, looked like a red spider.

Reed's nonsensical phrase is "Conky no no" which has led to us using "conk" instead of bonk ("Be careful or you'll conk" or "Don't conk me," for example).

Calls our toaster a poster.

I gave him a treat and he hollered back, "Holy smokies!"

Reed (holding Holland's binky - dangling on a binky clip - in front of her face): I catch Holland.  (I think that's the product of watching fishing videos with Papa.  :)

Reed: Want pancakes for lunch.  Tiny little square pancakes.
(I was panicking trying to figure out how in the world I'd pour SQUARE pancakes when I realized he just wanted them cut up.  Ha!)

(After picking his nose) "I got a bug!"

Reed continues mixing "yours" and "mine."  A few examples I jotted down:
Want your binky.  Want own.
Cut mines toenails.
Want yours!  (Really wants his)


December

Rachel: Holy smokies.
Reed: I'm not holy smokies.  I'm Reed Morris.

Reed (after hearing his binky when we were moving blankets): Where's binky?  Heard it snap.

Reed kept turning off the lights in the house when the Christmas tree was plugged in.
Rachel: Reed, I need you to leave the lights on.
Reed: Need to leave 'em off.  Christmas shining.

One day while walking home from shoveling snow at a neighbor's house TJ turned around to see where  Reed was and Reed was laying in the gutter, drinking/licking the snow.

Rachel: Reed, what do you want to give Hahn for Christmas?
Reed: A....big digger?
Rachel: Do you think she'd like a big digger?
Reed: No.
Rachel: What do you think she'd like?
Reed: Um....a pusher?

Over a period of a couple months we read "Freight Train" by Donald Crews dozens of times.  One day reading another book with a train in it Reed was pointing to things in the picture and asking me what they were.
Reed (pointing to a house next to train tracks): Whose house is it?
Rachel: I don't know whose house that is.
Reed: It's Donald's house.
Rachel (baffled by how he could know who Donald Duck is, since we've never seen him): Donald who?  Donald Duck?
Reed: Donald Crews.

Started calling out pallet jacks in December.

Calls the wise men "wise mans."  :)

One night Reed was laying totally still on the ground, holding his raggedy, precious blankets above his face, rubbing the tags.  I heard him say, "Sometimes it's really pretty, my white blanket.  I just stare at it."

For Christmas I thought I was quite clever to wrap each person's presents in unique paper: Reed had red trucks and Holland had white snowflakes.
Rachel: Reed, that one is for Hahn.
Reed (looking at the present, then Holland): Merry Christmas, Hahn!  (Tears it open)

The day after Christmas we helped Reed throw away his beloved binkies.  It was a rough transition (that really took several weeks to get through) and the first few days were especially hard.  He put them in the big garbage can in the garage by himself - us cheering him on and Facetiming everyone he loves for them to cheer him on - and on Friday as we watched the garbage truck drive past I commented about it.
Rachel: Look, there's the garbage truck.
Reed: It lift up garbage.  Bye, binkies.  Have a good ride!
Rachel: (silently sobbing)

At a stoplight, pointing to the birds on top of the light:
Rachel (pointing at the birds): Reed, see those birds up there?  On the sign?
Reed: What kind?  Pigeon?  Peacock?
Clearly we need to review peacocks - ha!

Reed (pointing at a neighbor's inflatable moose decoration that was up for Christmas): What's happened to moose, Mom?
Rachel: Oh, it looks like it fell down, huh?
Reed: It have owie?

Rachel: Reed, are you sick?
Reed: No, I'm not sick.  I'm nice and smooth.

January

Calls eggnog egg squash (took a LONG time to figure out what he wanted).

Reed, noticing the darkening sky: Mom, it's getting nighter?

Calls a frog a "tog"
Calls a fork a "toke"
Calls a fox a "tox"
Almost always calls TJ "Daddyo"
Waves his hand in front of him when he says no.

We got tired of changing Reed's stinky diapers and bribed him with TEN M&Ms if he'd go in the toilet.  Success.  The first time was just thrilling.
Reed (looking into the toilet): Fish!  Daddy fish!  Mommy fish!  Tiny baby fish!
Every time he went more he was thrilled to find another fish.
On day two when he went he insisted that his "stinkies" were "scrambling out my leg."  When I asked if he was pushing them out he insisted, "No, SCRAMBLING."  (???)
In the coming days his reported findings became more and more preposterous.
Reed: Dolphin!  No, three dolphins, Mom!  And stable.
Reed: Lizard.  No, not lizard.  (I affirm, "Nope, that's your stinkies, huh?) Nope.  Alligator.  (Clearly he had just seen the wrong reptile at first)

Rachel: Where do you think that bus is going?
Reed (no hesitation): To Jerusalem.
(Note: this is probably a combination of numberless recitations of the Christmas story as well as Tiny being in Jerusalem on study abroad).

Rachel: Reed's runny nose has turned green again.  Reed, look at Dad and show him.
Reed: What's happened to my face?

Papa (wanting to keep a secret from Reed): Rachel, the b-i-n-o-c-u-l-a-r-s [spelled it out] came if you want to use those as an incentive.
Reed: What ya talkin' 'bout, Poppy?

In the middle of scripture study:
(Reed hits Holland)
Rachel: Reed!
Reed: Wicked!
(Hits Holland again)

We see an excavator driving down the road.
Reed: Digger going to Befhem (Bethlehem) to see baby Jesus.


February

After putting both hands on Holland's head and pushing down:
Reed: Mom!  I baptize Hahn!

Rachel: What do you want to do today, Reed?
Reed: Wanna walk to Befhem (Bethlehem).
Rachel: Oh, that's too far away.  We can't walk to Bethlehem.
Reed (crying): Wanna walk to Befhem!

Rachel: Reed, come get your pajamas on.
Reed: I'm grateful for Dad.

Reed: Where's Dad?
Rachel: School.
Reed: I miss him like crazy cats.

Rachel: Reed, what did you do with Nana and Papa while we were gone?
Reed: Just played like crazy cats.

Rachel: You're my baby boy.
Reed: No, I'm growing up.  I'm getting taller.  I'm going to grow up to be a tall, tall man.

Reed (listening to TJ and me talk about putting on sunscreen when we arrive to the beach): I love sunscreen.  I can just smell it.

Reed (walking through the zoo): What's that?
Papa: A bearded dragon.
Reed (seeing a bearded dragon for the first time in his life): I love bearded dragons.

We stopped at the bank to deposit a check.  I didn't have a pen in the van so grabbed one that was in the little "drawer" that pops out in the drive through.  I pointed out the drawer to Reed and told him they leave pens in there for people who don't have any.  I also tried to explain that the bank is a place where you put money.
Reed: Who's that worker?
Rachel: His name is Robert.  He works at the bank.
(Five minutes later, as we're driving home)
Reed: What does Robert do at work?
Rachel: I don't know.  What do you think?
Reed: Him give pens to people.

Reed (calling from his bed at 6 AM): Mom!  (Pause)  Mom!!!
Rachel: Hi, Brother.  What's happened?
Reed: Who's that talking?
Rachel: Everyone is asleep.  I didn't hear anything.
Reed: It's Debi.  Debi is talking.
(Debi is our neighbor that lives a quarter mile away)

The Kids Are Talking -2-

Things I've jotted down that Reed has said lately:

September:

Rachel: Don't worry - it's not a big deal.
Reed: Tiny deal.

Pronounces trucks as "kwuts."

When he doesn't know the answer to something just says "Uhhhh ummmm."  Also does this when he doesn't know what something is and wants us to tell him (he points and just drags out "uhhhhhh ummmmm").

After Holland spit up and I cleaned her up one morning Reed burped.  He looked down, expectantly, and I told him, "You didn't spit up."  His response?  "Darn it."

He calls peacocks apricots.

After a special musical number at church he clapped wildly - enough that people were watching him and chuckling.

He came RUNNING up to me with a paper in his hands and yelled, "I did it!"  "What did you do?  Draw a picture?"  "Draw Hauna!"  His first picture.  It's still on our fridge.  :)

Playing at the library one day another boy came up to play on the same (rather large) toy.  Reed just started screaming, "Stop!  Stop it, Boy!"

When Holland cries he frequently calls out, "What's happened, Sis?"  He also says "What's a matter, Hahn?"

TJ singing
Reed: STOP!
Rachel: Reed.  (Stern look)  What do you say to Dad?
Reed: Stop singing.

First prayer alone:
Heavenly Father, Thank you Mommy and Daddy.  Thank you temple.

Every prayer since:
Heavenly Father, Thank you Nanny Poppy school.  [Note: we still have no clue what this means and it's been months.]

Every day when we do his hair he says it's "like Emmett" (his cousin who always has his hair spiky).

Calls skeletons monkeys and ghosts boos.

On a walk one day Reed pointed down the road and started repeating "Jeff.  Jeff."  As we got closer he started saying "Jeff car."  He had recognized a BMW from about 50 yards back and knew it was the same kind of car his uncle drives.

Reed loves the Tabernacle Choir.  He frequently asks me what Mack Wilberg (the choir director) is doing (at random times of the day, random days of the week).  His favorite song, which he requests frequently, is "Mack Red Dressings," which is Reed language for "Come Thou Fount," where the Tabernacle Choir wears red dresses.  He knows when the shots are on Mack and will yell out in anticipation of seeing him.  He also always says "Mens" when the men start singing.


October:

Reed: Duck, duck, duck, goose.  Meh-nee [Mary] house.  Outside.
Rachel: What do you do when you're the goose?
Reed: Run, Reed, run.  Lexi says (rhymes with haze) that.

Rachel: Reed, next week is Dad's birthday.
Reed (singing): Happy birthday to you.
Rachel: Yes!  What do you want to give Dad for a present?
Reed (after a pause): Spicy chips.
Rachel: Oh, good idea.  How many spicy chips?
Reed: Yot.

Later, when TJ comes home:
Reed (shouting): Dad!  Spicy chips present!

For about two weeks Reed would yell "Trick or treating!" instead of just "Trick or treat!"

When he goes to bed, as he sucks on his binky and rubs his tags on his blanket, he looks up at me and says "Nuh night, Mommy."

If he wants two of something he requests "Two ones."

We hung the pictures of the apostles up in anticipation of General Conference.  He learned all their names and would do funny things like yelling "Nuh night, Prophet Nelson!  Nuh night, Rasband!  Nuh night, Oaks!" on his way to bed.  One day it really hit him that Elder Holland is named Elder Holland.  He looked at us and exclaimed, "Same!  Holland (pointing to the picture of Elder Holland), Holland (pointing to his sister), same!"  :)  Since then he says "Same same" whenever things are the same (ie seeing a picture of an apostle in a magazine he'll yell "Same, same Gong!" or seeing a book at the library that we also have at home he'll point and just say, "Same same!")

On the way to one of my sister's houses we drive through a roundabout.  One day Reed was running circles around Holland hollering "Roundabout!"

He spent all October calling the pumpkin patch "pumpkin match."

Rachel: Do you want your quinoa warm or cold?
Reed: Nice.  (He always requests "nice").


November:

Tucking Reed in bed after my pregnant sister left.
Reed: Mommy have baby in belly?
Rachel: No, I don't.
Reed (peering down my shirt): Mommy have baby in milks?

Reed is loving being held and snuggled (instead of sleeping - ha!)  He also mixes up "you" and "me" and "your" and "my" often, which means that he frequently asks me, "Mommy hold you green chair?"

Reed goes to turn on the music on his toy horse.
Rachel: Let's not turn that on.  Want to listen to some Christmas music?
Reed: Want horse music.

While driving down the road we saw someone on the sidewalk in a wheelchair.
Reed: What's is it, that, Mommy?
Rachel: That's a wheelchair.  That person's legs don't work so they use a wheelchair.
Reed: Reed ride wheelchair.  Daddy push Reed.

Nana: Why am I all sticky on my shirt?
Rachel: Sorry, I think Reed ate something sticky before he gave you a hug.
Nana (laughing): I am so sticky.  It's all over my neck and shoulder.
Reed (crying): Reed stick Poppy! (Just wanting to share all the love).

Reed has started recognizing words and letters.  The first word he recognized was Costco, which he now calls out whenever he sees it.  He knows Harmon's now too, which is a great indication of where we spend our time.

Reed steps to the edge of the room to fill his diaper.
Rachel: Reed!  Do you want to do your stinky diaper on the toilet?
Reed: Yup.
Rachel: Run!
Reed successfully goes to the bathroom in the toilet, which I make a huge deal about.  Reed glances down into the toilet and yells, "Snake!"
Rachel: Yep, that's your stinky.
Reed: Stinky snake!

Rachel: Ouch!
Reed: What's happened, Mommy?
Rachel: Oh, I got a cut on my hand and it hurts.
Reed: Get out, cut!

Reed: 2.5 Years

On November 5 Reed hit two and a half years old.  His personality seems to be just bursting out and - as usual - I just want to capture as much of it as I can.  In preparation for writing this I went back and read my last write-up for Reed, when he was 22 months and before Holland was born.  I feel like so much has changed since then (at that point he didn't know colors and I feel like he's known his colors forever!).  Here are a few notes about him right now:

• This boy can talk!  I think (but am not certain) that his speech is fairly advanced and he is pretty consistently now speaking in full sentences.  It is so fun - and often funny - to hear how his little brain works and the thoughts he has.  Just tonight, as TJ came home, he said "Daddy!  Shhhh.  Han sleeping.  Whisper."  
• Reed really loves Holland and wants to interact with her more and more: this often means he is nudging her so she falls over (from sitting), grabbing her head to pick her back up, lying in her lap, rolling her over like she's a log, and doing other comparably loving actions (which I know is just him figuring out how she works but it can get tiresome to holler "Stop squeezing her hand!" or "That screaming she's doing?  That means stop.").  To be fair, he really does love her: he gives her loads of kisses, hollers "What's happened, Han?" when he hears her cry, tells her "Deep breath, Han" when she's screaming, gives her loves before she goes to bed, and tells her, "I love you go-whoa (girl)" every day.    

• Prior to General Conference Reed memorized the names of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve.  It's pretty darling to hear him yell out "Gong!" and "Soares!" when he sees them (on TV, in a church magazine, etc.)  We also taught him that President Nelson "fixes hearts" and that Elder Uchtdorf "drives airplanes" and he figured out for himself that Elder Holland and his sister Holland have the same name ("same same!").

• I can't really understate how much Reed loves vehicles.  He is incredibly aware of the vehicles around him at virtually all times.  When we eat breakfast he is calling out what he can hear working in the neighborhood (with all the construction in our area).  He tells Holland when an airplane or helicopter flies overhead.  And he is on high alert anytime we're driving: he has fantastic eyes and knows so many types of vehicles it's fun to hear him call them out as we drive.  At present he can identify: diggers (excavators), pushers (bulldozers), cranes, police cars (even ones without lights on them, leading me to know how he can tell them apart from any other vehicle with writing, but he can), ambulances, fire trucks, tow trucks, box trucks, semis, hopper cars, Hummers, Jeeps, BMWs, oil tank trucks, chippers, covered dump trucks, dump trucks, side dump trucks, cherry pickers, up and downs (forklifts), motorcycles, motor homes, buses, trailers, flat beds, street washers, vacuum trucks, mail trucks, garbage trucks, trucks with lift gates, vans, race cars (anything that looks fast to his mom, who doesn't know the difference...), tractors, snow plows, and probably a dozen more I can't think of.  He also knows the type of car/truck/vehicle that Jeff, Mary, Papa, Bompa, a random neighbor, and TJ drive and will call them out ("Jeff car!" for a BMW) as we see them.  As someone not inclined to notice or care about vehicles before now, his ability to grasp the differences and notice them is pretty mind boggling to me.

• After 8 months of spending 95% of his sleeping time zipped into his tent, Reed has FINALLY chosen to sleep in his bed.  This is a big deal and after two weeks of him almost exclusively sleeping in his bed I still worry he'll revert to his tent!  For 8 months we have consistently asked him (at both bedtime and nap time), "Reed, do you want to sleep in your bed or tent?" His answer was always, "Bed," and we'd lay out the terms: "If you stay in your bed you can sleep in your bed all night.  But if you get up, you'll sleep in your tent."  We'd get maybe once every two weeks that he'd sleep in his bed, month after month.  But something clicked a couple weeks ago and he's doing it!  After he stayed in bed for both his nap and overnight I added some incentive: if he would stay in his bed all night he could get a whole page of stickers when he woke up.  I bought him some transportation stickers and they've worked like a charm.  He no longer is asking for them but the sleep continues.  HOORAY!

• As a funny side note to the sleep thing, I've told him that once he's in bed he needs to stay in bed but that if he needs something he can call for me and I'll come.  This has led to Reed hollering, "Mom!  Need something!" with some frequency.  When I go and ask him what he needs he usually just says, "Something."  :)
• Reed has started regularly (as in, many times a day) asking about random people and where they are.  "Where's Mack Wilberg?  Where's Poppy?  Where's Paige?  Where's Dad?  Where's tiny Graysen? [Our neighbor's cousin, for crying out loud]"  We talk about where they are or where they could be.  "He's at work.  Maybe he's at the temple.  It's 7 AM, I bet she's at home."  He's started using my wording and now says "Prob'ly at work." or "Prob'ly at church."  The "prob'ly" always makes me smile, as does the whole habit of asking where people are.
• I was thinking it would be good for Reed to know his full name if he ever gets lost, so I taught him that he is Reed Morris.  He probably calls himself Reed Morris about half the time now.  "I want some Reed Morris" is a pretty regular example of how he tells me he wants something.  He also knows, and frequently reminds me, "Gem Morris, Poppy.  Eileen Morris, Nana.  Gordon Milar, Bompa.  Rachel Morris, Mommy.  TJ Morris and Tanner Morris, Daddy.  Elliana Ava Peterson (he nearly always calls her by her full name).  Holland Eileen Morris (same, same - Eileen Hana and Eileen Nana)."  He is getting pretty good at Cora Milar, Grandma, and knows a few other random ones too.
• Reed has a pretty incredible memory and every couple days says something or brings something up that really surprises me.  A quick example: in September Nana and Papa spent a week back East, starting in Boston and then visiting New York.  While they were there Reed - as usual - asked me where they were and for a couple days I told him they were in Boston.  Fast forward to two months later: last week we were listening to a podcast that was made by "WBUR Boston" and Reed immediately picked up on "Boston!  Nanny Poppy."  
• Related to the memory thing, Reed seems to be pretty good at knowing where we're driving.  We drove around the point of the mountain this week and he called out "Go butterflies," referencing the Butterfly Biosphere at Thanksgiving Point that we went to once a few weeks ago.  When I told him we weren't going today he said "Go Petersons," because that's the way we go to their house too.  
• I tried to get myself pumped up to take away his binkies a couple months ago and I definitely didn't even try.  He loves them SO. MUCH.  I think he's become more attached to them since Holland was born and I just think it would be a miserable battle if I tried to take them now.  We've started telling him more and more that he's a big boy and that big boys don't use binkies (naming a number of the boys he knows as proof).  It seemed like that was clicking for him, but then he noticed that Holland gets a binky clip to keep her binky from even getting away from her and...now we have a toddler using a binky clip.  Ha!

• Nana gave Reed a darling puzzle with lots of vehicles and he loves doing it (calls it his Red Bus Puzzle).  We've bought him a safari one and a farm one and he's getting pretty good at them - can't do any alone yet, but can put several pieces together on his own in each of them.
• Reed still loves books and reading - hooray!  We typically have 30-50 picture books checked out from the library and cycle through them pretty regularly.  He will sit and listen to as many books as we'll read him.

• A few months ago I thought it would be good to introduce him to audiobooks.  We moved the CD player into his room and, using Mercy Watson, taught him how to put the CD in and out of the player, and how to start it.  We listened to Mercy Watson dozens of times as he started turning it on before every nap and bedtime and often throughout the day, which we take as a good sign that he enjoys it!
• Reed is becoming a much better eater - HALLELUJAH.  He still isn't open to trying everything but he loves meat now (grilled chicken and steak especially), drinks smoothies with me every morning, and is even starting to like vegetables (broccoli, zucchini, cucumbers, sometimes bell peppers).  He still loves chocolate and has now fallen in love with M&Ms (which he called "MMs" for the longest time - I'm sorry he fixed that one!), which his Bompa gives him every time he sees him.  Breakfast is usually pancakes or waffles with a smoothie; lunch is usually pasta, quinoa, or rice with fruit, chicken, string cheese, dried fruit, crackers, nuts, or something else in the cupboard; he typically eats what we eat for dinner (which we really appreciate).  Pao de queijo is an ongoing favorite, as are all kinds of noodles, berries, and whipped cream.  :)

• We have a pretty steady daily schedule while TJ is at work.  Reed is almost always the first awake, typically between 5:30-6:30.  He comes to our room and sometimes comes into bed with us but sometimes is wide awake and turning on lights, talking at full volume.  We get up to get ready and TJ and Reed usually start eating breakfast together while I'm getting ready for the day.  TJ leaves to work around 8 and I am in and out of the kitchen feeding Reed and Holland while I do my makeup and hair.  After we've finished breakfast we get dressed and head out the door, usually about 9:30, for some sort of morning adventure: the Bean Museum at BYU, story time at the library, grocery shopping, a trip to the zoo, a visit to Thanksgiving Point, just something to get out of the house.  We come back home around noon, sometimes eating lunch in the car on the way (me passing Reed pieces of bread, nuts, fruit, etc.) and get home in time for nap time.  I love that Reed still naps every day.  He goes down sometime between 12-1:30 and then sleeps 2-3 hours.  Holland usually falls asleep on our morning adventures and is ready for a full nap in the afternoon while Reed sleeps, so I run around and get as much done while they both nap.  Holland almost always wakes from her nap before Reed does.  Reed is typically up around 4:00, which is when TJ finishes work, so we get the house cleaned up and dinner going while TJ drives home.  We eat dinner together and then try to do something together before we start the bedtime routine: maybe go for a walk, go visit someone, run to the library, read books together, whatever.  At bedtime we read scriptures, brush teeth, and say prayer together before putting Reed to bed and then Holland down after - Reed goes down usually about 7:30..

• Reed is pretty insistent about saying the prayer anytime we pray.  When he does say the prayer he started "Henly Dadar, Tank you Nanny Poppy stool."  Then he waits for us to help him with the rest.  We have NO idea what "Nanny Poppy stool" means and have tried many means of interrogation to figure it out, but no luck.  :)  He ends each prayer with a simple "Christ amen."  Given that we'd like to rotate who says family prayer we've taken the angle of trying to say "Reed, you get to say the prayer with you're in your room."  So far it hasn't worked and he either prays over you while you're praying (clever boy) or screams until you give up and let him pray.  :)  Ha!
• Reed has a tender heart.  He notices when people are upset (he tells me when he hears babies crying or watches when someone is upset) and is genuinely concerned about them.  When I'm having a hard time and crying he gives me loves (sits on my lap and snuggles me) and says "What's wrong, Mommy?"  If I tell him I have an owie he kisses it better.  If I'm really upset and crying hard he'll tell me, "Deep bref, Mommy."  He is just so sweet and loving.

• I'm not sure what started it but at some point we started calling people that help "helper bees."  Reed loves to be a "helper bee" and we can usually say, "Reed, be a helper bee: go grab me this." and he'll gladly jump up and do it.  

 

• Reed takes the garbage very seriously and randomly empties all the garbage cans in the house into the kitchen garbage.  He asks me several times a week when the garbage truck is coming and loves running to the window (or outside) to watch them.  It makes his day when the garbage truck driver waves back.

• In fact, Reed loves workers of all kinds and calls out "There's a worker!" and "Hello, worker!"  We first started using the word "worker" to describe the little worker guys in his Duplo set and that has transferred to real life workers.  Bless all those sweet workers who wave and say hi, especially the ones driving past in fire trucks, dump trucks, ambulances, and diggers, who absolutely make his day every time.  One time a police man next to us at a stop light even noticed Reed staring at him and turned on his lights and waved and Reed: he talked about that for weeks.
• Probably Reed's favorite thing in all the land is to "scoop and dump," which is digging.  He will scoop and dump in our yard with shovels and buckets and dirt.  He will scoop and dump in the family room with kitchen utensils (spatulas, spoons, etc.) and pretend the carpet is dirt.  He will scoop leaves or dig up grass or scoop and dump his bath water.  We found a park that has dirt and water that the kids can play in and he calls it the "scooping dumping park."  Naturally he loves that place and asks if we can go all the time.

• TJ and Reed have started doing dates together.  Reed calls them "hot dates," haha.  Their first couple dates were to Costa Vida, which was so thrilling for Reed.  They have since gone to the scooping dumping park too.  It's so cute to get pictures from them.

• I call him Reed or Brother most of the time.  He also responds to Baby or Sweet Boy or, of course, Reed Morris.  If I call out, "Has anybody seen my sweet baby boy?  He's wearing yellow and he's handsome and he's two and I love him." He'll respond, "Reed Morris, right here!"  He is a momma's boy.
• While he's getting better at smiling for pictures he is worse than ever at actually looking at the camera.  We have gobs of photos with him smiling at something other than us.

Obviously I could go on and on and on - I should probably do posts like this every day or two given how much I have to say.  :)  

Reed is the person I talk to more than anyone else: we spend all day together and - unlike Holland so far - he can actually converse with me.  He makes me laugh and sometimes makes me cry but he fills my heart to overflowing with love.  I am incredibly grateful that he is my boy (as he says "Two babies: Hana and Reed.") and that I get to be with him every day.  

Love you forever, Brother.

Reed Napping

How sweet a sleeping baby is.

Treasured blankets surround him.
Books and trucks within reach.
His music is playing.
He's home.

All is right in his world.

The Kids Are Talking -1-

As Reed's vocabulary expands (and we understand him more and more), we smile pretty often at the things he comes up with.  Here are a few things he's said lately:

(This one was at the end of May) While on a drive, looking out the window: "Tiny diggers, I love you."

Last week, also while on a drive, over a particularly rough section of the road.  When we hit bumps I often say, "Oh, that was bumpy," which he's started mimicking.  He loves the bumps so after the road had smoothed out he said, "Me mo bumpies.  Hana want bumpies."  :)

He's got an impressive grasp on vehicles and will call out a number of things as we pass them (his current favorite being cherry pickers, which he yells out with such enthusiasm it sometimes makes Holland cry).  I've pointed out semis and box trucks to him for some time but he's never caught on.  One day last week it clicked and he happily called out "Semi!" over and over while we drove.  And then we came to a stop light and he clearly hollered - accurately, and for the first time - "Box truck!"

Rachel: Okay, Reed, when we get home I need to change and feed Holland, so I'm going to turn on a show for you to watch.
Reed: Me mo music.  Me mo Mack [Mack Wilberg, director of The Tabernacle Choir].  Arms.  Red dress.  [This is Reed requesting watching "Come Thou Fount" by The Tabernacle Choir].

Rachel: Reed, who's your mom?
Reed: Minnie.
Rachel: Mary?
Reed: Yep.

Reed: Mommy, kiss Reed.  Lips.

Biggest Smile

It's an interesting thing to watch a baby grow.  Each day I look at Holland and I look at Reed and wonder how he went from her size to his size so quickly.  What an incredible, crazy miracle that these tiny humans grow physically, learn so quickly, develop mentally, and become their own little person.  

It seems like every stage with Reed I think "Oh, this is so fun - I never could've anticipated the million little things he does and says that make me laugh," and then a month later, as we enter a new phase, I think that same thing again.  To date, both TJ and I have found a whole lot to enjoy in each phase.  

Don't get me wrong - there are absolutely times when I think I'm going to blow up in just one more minute (like when he threw a shoe at my face from point blank this morning...)  But there are so many more endearing moments, like the times he just wants comfort and thinks he'll feel that best by having his cheek squeezed against mine, his soft skin held tightly on my face as he says "Mommy, right here."  

Since he was teeny tiny Reed has been a pretty serious kid.  He's a thinker.  He studies things out.  He watches other kids for quite a while before he joins them.  He squats down to the ground and stares at something, then takes it apart to figure it out ("Mommy - did it!").  He just isn't one of the giggly, smiley kids - which is totally fine!  But how I love to see him smile.  :)  He does smile - and often - just not constantly.  

A few days ago I thought I'd see if I could get him to smile by challenging him to give me his "biggest smile."  He consented and then tried his hardest to meet my request to smile, "Bigger!  Bigger!"  :)  The pictures I got sure make ME smile.  My biggest.

Fishing at Strawberry

Just a few years ago TJ's dad (Poppy, around these parts) started catching kokanee salmon while fishing at Strawberry Reservoir.  He tells us "it's a disease" - he has become fairly focused on catching all the kokanee he can.  Last year he put a decent chunk of money into outfitting his boat so that he can catch even more kokanee (and now I feel like every time I eat one of those delectable fillets of fish I'm eating the most expensive fish of my life).  Poppy loves fishing and we really love Poppy, so we asked if he'd take us up to Strawberry to join him in the chase.  We went up on July 5.

Nanny and Poppy - saints that they are - took the boat up on the fourth of July and slept overnight at the lodge so they'd be ready for us as soon as we made it up July 5.  In spite of our intentions to leave at 5:00 we pulled out of the driveway at 6:00 and arrived to the lake right near 7:30.  As we drove slowly through the parking lot, trying to remember where to go, we heard Reed exclaim, "Nanny!"  He was, in fact, the only one of us that saw Nana standing in the parking lot as we passed her.  That boy has some great eyes!

We spent a gorgeous morning out on the water, trying to figure out the perfect trolling speed (1.5 mph), the best depth for the lines (they seemed to be biting between 20-30 feet, though the fish finder never saw them at those ranges), the right lures and scents and spots on the lake.  We had a great time and even pulled in a few kokanee (well, I never did  - I refused to pick up the rod when there is a valuable fish on the line as I nearly always lose them).  Reed got to pull in three cutthroat (we don't trust him with kokanee either ;) and seemed excited about that, but bawled when we had him go back for a picture and the fish flipped right next to him - that was unforgivable behavior from the fish.

Each time we drive up to Strawberry I am blow away by the beauty.  And it's so close to home.  God is an incredible artist.

So grateful for this family of mine and for Nana and Papa who spoil us all rotten.