Holland: 14 Months Old

Holland's sweet personality is bursting! Every day we see more and more of her likes and dislikes, what she wants and what she needs.

• She pushes away anything that she doesn't want (this especially applies to food), making it incredibly clear when she isn't interested.
• We call her Holland (Reed pronounces it Howand), Lady Lover, Lover (Reed calls her Luv-o and it's adorable), Sis, Little Lady, Sweet Girl - basically anything sweet and kind and wonderful.  :)  She still gets called Hanuh or Hahn but mostly by other family members (not typically the three of us).
• Holland has eight teeth.  
• She still has bright blue, vibrant eyes.  They are gorgeous and many people comment on how beautiful they are.  
• Holland has darling blonde hair.  During quarantine it started becoming a mullet but it was a really darling mullet - it curls on its own and she would wake up with such wild hair.  Her hair is long enough that when we comb it forward it gets into her eyes.  We've started putting a little ponytail on top of her head (or pigtails when we're feeling ambitious) and she really does a good job of sitting on the counter while we do it!  After the elastic comes out her hair stays in the same shape it was in, prompting Reed to say "Hi, cockatube."  ("Hi, cockatoo!")  :)  It is darling.  We trimmed the back of her hair to even it out and I think we're all missing those extra crazy curls.  Grow, hair, grow!
• Holland is at that age when I'm continually surprised how much she understands. I can ask her to let go of something or come to me or spit something out or bring me something and she does!  
• This little lady is one smart girl.  It's such a treat to watch her mind work.  She can point to her nose and ears and show her teeth.  She can make noises for elephants and tigers.  She spots ducks before we do (and makes sure we see them too).  The other day she pointed to three balloons and clearly said "boo."  She points to her ear when she hears an airplane or helicopter flying by.  She shows us in a million little ways that her brain is definitely working - she's a smart girl!
• Holland loves shoes (and says "Hi, shoes" frequently to show it).  She tries to put them on her own feet and will hand them to us to ask for us to put them on her.  She has a funny "trick" she does in her high chair, popping her right foot up to the edge of her try, pulling the strap off her shoe, and kicking it off her foot, virtually every day.  Ha!  She also pulls off her shoes and socks when she's in her car seat, nearly always getting out of the car barefoot: we hear her grunting and working while we drive, screaming in frustration when there are hold ups, and contentedly riding when she's accomplished her goal.
• Holland has a unique cry to say that she's stuck.  Apparently she gets stuck often enough that I know this.  :)  Whether she's stuck a finger in a heating vent or closed her fingers in a drawer or stuck her arm between the slats in a chair, she has a distinct way of telling us she needs help.
• Holland is at the stage when she is confident standing IF she's holding on to something. She must have rock solid quads from all the squats she does every day - as soon as she reaches the end of the couch and wants to go elsewhere, she'll squat slowly down until she's sitting and then take off crawling.  She's confident enough standing that a wall is sufficient support, so she stands anywhere but the open floor.  Occasionally she'll walk holding just one hand, but she's most comfortable if we hold both her hands.  It will be interesting to see when she takes her first steps, because right now if we try to have her let go for even a second she immediately sits down.  :)  She has started climbing on some things (like the top of the toy bin) and is really competent at getting around.
• Holland is a busy girl.  When I'm doing my makeup she'll come into the bathroom and, starting with the bottom drawer, pull it open, explore it, pull things out, then move up to the next one.  In a matter of minutes she'll have every drawer open, her little eyes peeking over the top one, looking for more to explore.  When she's left to her own devices there is a visible trail behind her of everything she pulls out in her curiosity - books off shelves, shoes out of drawers, diapers from their basket, blankets from their bin.  We leave bathroom and closet doors closed during the hours Holland is awake.  :)  She prefers to be on the ground, moving, any time she can.
• Holland loves music and starts wiggling her little body anytime she hears some.  She bobs her head and rocks her upper body almost as soon as it starts playing.  When she's fussy in the car turning on music will almost always calm her down (at least temporarily).  Her definition of music cracks us up, though: she'll start dancing if Reed turns the siren on his fire truck.  Haha.
• Holland is still an excellent eater and I think she'd eat everything if she had the teeth to do it!  In the past couple weeks she's become somewhat meat averse, but typically loves chicken, steak, and especially shrimp.  She eats scrambled eggs for breakfast almost every morning.  She really loves noodles.  I'm racking my brain trying to think of her favorite foods (as Reed clearly has food preferences) and I'm realizing she really is happy with almost everything we feed her.  Her clear, strong love is fruit.  All fruit.  Any fruit.  We often wait to pull out the fruit until she's eaten other things first because once she knows there is fruit, nothing else goes into her mouth!  Smoothies, fruit salad, a handful of berries: she loves it all.  She cannot get enough of berries (especially blackberries and raspberries), watermelon, or clementine oranges.  
• Holland also really loves ice cream.  She knows what the container looks like and when it comes out she knows what is coming!  She eats it as fast as she can and we have to have a diversion as soon as she takes her last bite or she wails.
• Holland's vocabulary seems to be quickly growing.  It is so cute to hear her speak.  :)  Her first word was "Hi, Dad," which is still a common phrase.  She's learned to wave her hand by just bending her wrist until her hand is at a 90 degree angle from her arm - she waves and says "Hi" to anybody she sees.  She is lightning quick to say "Hi, duck.  Hi, duck.  Hi, duck." anytime she sees them (daily on our walks at the local lake).  Other words include "shoes" and "Papa," which she says almost silently by just doing "pa pa pa pa" noises.  Over the past week she's taken to very clearly announcing "buh bye" and I've spent a lot of time trying to get it on video.  :)  While making noises on our drive a couple days ago she figured out how to say "Hello" and is now calling that out frequently.  We're still waiting for an intentional "Mom" (she has muttered "mamamama" in the past, but not referring to me) and Reed frequently begs her "Howand, say 'Reed'!"  (I think she did yesterday, as just a "Ra" twice).
• Holland is becoming more interested in books and reading.  Before bedtime or nap time she's especially inclined to just sit in our laps and listen (typically when we read with Holland she's crawling all over the place - we read anyway).  Her two favorite books are "Dinosnores" and "Moo, Baa, La La La," both by Sandra Boynton.  She interacts with both texts, which delights us every time.  When we read Dinosnores she chomps her teeth when the dinosaurs clean theirs, she reaches her arms high to the sky when the dinosaurs stretch, and on the page that says "Honk shoooo" she very clearly says the same, again and again.  When we read Moo, Baa, La La La she waits for the page that says "Three singing pigs say" and she chimes right in with "la la la."  
• Probably because we've been driving FAR less during this covid-19 quarantine, Holland has become pretty unaccustomed to her car seat.  She hates it.  When we drive more than 10-15 minutes she screams until she gets out.  We are heading to Lake Powell in a few weeks and when TJ asked me what our game plan is I told him ear plugs.  There just isn't a whole lot that will make her happy when she's stuck in her car seat!  The exception is Face Time.  Holland ADORES our phones and will happily hold the phone to Face Time someone while we're driving.  Several people have told me that she's quite good at holding it, too.  Haha.  
• In spite of his occasionally rough interactions with her, Holland sure loves Reed.  Just this morning they were crawling around together, being tiger cubs, roaring as they went.  She happily followed in his wake.  She wants to do what he's doing, play what he's playing, be where he is (sometimes to his consternation).  Just now I told Reed I'm writing things down that I love about Holland and asked him what he loves about her: "I love to kiss her."  When he's outside and she's in with me she crawls to the window where she stands, staring and screaming at him, or hitting the window.  She just really loves him.
• Holland is a pretty incredible sleeper - the past few nights around here have been rough with her being awake 1-3 hours each night, reminding us how good we typically have it!  She takes one nap each day, usually from about 11-1, and then sleeps at night from about 6 PM - 7 AM.  It's a dream! A really wonderful, delightful dream!  We wrap her legs in her swaddle blanket, positioning it in such a way that her tag ends up in her hands, then put her Saranoni blanket on top, tag grasped tightly in her hand, and she goes to sleep.  She moves a lot while she sleeps, roaming from one side of her crib to the other, blankets moved all over, typically waking with cold hands and feet because she hasn't been covered by anything.
• She's an incredibly light sleeper.  I mourn it daily, and not just because she wakes easily when she ought to be sleeping.  What I really mourn is not being able to rock my sleeping baby during the night!  She's such a light sleeper that - with her noise machine on - the odds are probably 50/50 that she'll wake when we twist the doorknob to open her door (and it's not squeaky).  Sometimes I want to hold her so badly that I'll do it anyway and if she sleeps through the door I can typically get away with picking her up and rocking her for a few minutes, but I don't think she ever makes it past 3-5 minutes before she's totally awake, looking around, wondering what's happening.  Then I whisk her back to her bed and cross my fingers that she'll go back to sleep.  
• Holland is playful.  When I try to put her diaper on she'll squirm again and again, making it impossible until I either pin her down or she takes a break.  TJ said that every time he goes to put her socks on she pulls her feet away, repeatedly teasing him.  
• She blows some pretty adorable kisses.
• At this age Reed LOVED his binky.  Holland isn't like that.  She sleeps with it, but doesn't go to it for comfort and doesn't keep it outside of night/naps.  

There are a million more things we love about this sweet little lady, but that's a decent list for now.  We love Holland.  We love, love, love her.  We're so glad she'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)

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.

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.

An Ordinary Wednesday

Yesterday as TJ was rushing out the door to get to work I heard him exclaim, "Oh, Reed.  Did you decide to pour some Cheerios?"  From back in our room I hollered, "Take a picture before you clean it up!" 

That right there was probably an omen for the day ahead.  :)

Before diving into all the other notable things for the day, let me post this cute picture from our adventure to Temple Square yesterday morning.  I was relieved I didn't drop either child for this picture.  In spite of what the rest of this post might suggest, I really love my kids.  A lot.

A short while after cleaning up the Cheerios Reed kicked out of his stinky diaper, doing a decent job of getting the contents on himself, his clothes, the changing pad, and the carpet.  Bath #1.

We went down to Temple Square in the morning then came home for lunch and naps.  Reed woke up after only a 90 minute nap, when he typically naps 2-3 hours.  In spite of my best efforts, he would not go back down.  The next couple of hours looked like this:

• Reed goes out to dig in the "dirt box."  (Around here our garden grows a little boy but no food).
• After some time Reed comes to the door at the same time Holland wakes, hungry and crying.  Reed says he's done outside and because he's covered in dirt I help him decide where he wants to go next.  He wants to play in the garage, so I carry him there and open the door: he immediately starts crying that he does not want to play in the garage.  Holland is still crying.
• I explain that I need to feed Holland and he says he wants to "scoop and dump" in the front yard (in the dirt under the Japanese Maple), so I take him to the front door.  There are lots of construction workers out (finishing the roads) so I tell him to stay right there to dig and I'll feed Holland in the front room where I can watch him.
• Grab (a still screaming) Holland, change her diaper, go to the front room and start nursing.
• My phone rings a minute later with a call from my brother.  I need to go to my laptop to answer a question for him.  Holland and I are a talented nursing duo so I just stand up and walk with her to the kitchen, making sure Reed is still in the dirt.
• Holland and I are not as talented as I thought.  She loses her latch and starts crying.  I tell my brother I'll call him back.
• I walk back to the front room to resume feeding and peek on Reed who...is gone.  I scan the front yard: not there.  I hurry to the back of the house to check the backyard: not there.  Heart racing I get my shirt back on, lay Holland (still screaming) on the floor, and race outside yelling Reed's name.  (NOTE: there are construction trucks up and down our street all day, so losing him takes years off my life).  He saunters out of the neighbor's yard - they just put fresh dirt in their flower beds, which is great digging material.
• I carry Reed home to the tune of Holland still crying.  I know Reed will object to going inside, so I take him straight to the bath, where I think he'll be happy.
• As the water reaches him the bath is pretty immediately muddy.  I pull off his shorts and shirt and find that he's stinky.  Sweet Holland is still crying.
• I lift Reed - muddy feet and all - out of the bath and clean up his dirty diaper, trying not to cringe about the mud in the bathroom.
• I take the dirty diaper to the garage, pick up the still crying poor, poor Holland, and head to the bathroom to feed her while Reed plays in the bath.
• Since I've been gone Reed has been using his boat to dump water over the edge of the bath.

It was about at this point that I called TJ and asked him if he ever wonders what he misses at home.  :)

After TJ came home Reed successfully grabbed a container of almond milk in the pantry, twisted it open, and dumped it into the recycling bin.  While TJ cleaned that up Reed ran into the kitchen and picked up the spatula I had set down and dripped it across the floor.

Sometimes I wonder why I eat so much chocolate.  :)

Reed - 22 Months

We have a c-section scheduled for March 21, which is just nine days away.  Time with just Reed is slipping through my fingers so quickly, no matter how I try to hold on to and cherish it.  I want to capture the hours and days we have together right now, freeze in my memory his little personality and the funny things he does.  I have a terrible memory and know that anything I record will be valuable later, so here's a list of things I want to remember about this darling little boy.

• On February 22, the night before TJ and I had a trip scheduled to Phoenix, we put Reed down to bed in his crib (as usual).  He fussed (not super uncommon) and we were waiting it out when he walked into the room, grinning behind his binky.  My lands.  He learned to climb out of his crib, and even when we raised the side rail all the way up he would go up and over within just a few seconds.  After battling him for several nights and naps, we put a twin bed into his room, and use his sleeper tent (his travel bed that zips all the way closed) if he chooses to get out of bed.  We're about two weeks in on a twin and he's getting better, though sometimes he just wants to sleep in his tent, which is fine with us.  :)  He doesn't sleep nearly as long now that he can get up at will and I'm not sure I'll ever respond calmly when he walks into our room at 4 AM and screams "Mommy!"

• Reed still loves (understatement) his blankets and binkies.  He has three swaddle blankets that he sleeps with every day/night, carries around, and rubs the tags on to calm down: he's had all three since he was a newborn and now that they've been washed over and over they're much smaller, but still soothing to him.  One is white with grey polka dots, one is white with turquoise flowers, and one is white with navy constellations.  He also sleeps with his Saranoni blanket every night.  We are working on making his binkies just for bedtime - and he's getting better at that - but he loves them so much that I can't imagine trying to take them away!

• He loves to sing and we love to hear his little voice.  The two songs he sings are "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."  Sometimes he likes us to sing with him and other times as soon as he hears our voices he'll say, "No.  No."  :)  When he sings Twinkle Twinkle he usually gets stuck on the line "Up above the world so high" and repeats it over and over.
• Papa (TJ's dad) often comments that Reed's name is perfectly fitting: Reed loves to read.  We read together virtually every day, recite books if there isn't one in our hands, and have recently started reading The Friend while he eats.  Several times each day Reed can be found on the floor in the front room or the family room or his bedroom, pulling books out and flipping through them on his own.  He really loves his non-fiction books that show pictures of lots of different things: 100 animals or 100 common words or vehicles or something.  He'll point to them and say the name (or make the noise) of the thing and when we "read" him those books he just wants us to tell him each item.  He also loves his Richard Scarry books (especially finding all the vehicles), his interactive "Heads" book (and the similar "Tails" one, though not as much), and several different books about trucks (which is pronounces "cuts").

• We have taken down his counter-top seat and just have him sit in his booster seat at the table.  Usually we sit right next to him and he almost always rests his feet on one of our legs throughout the meal.  :)
• Reed is still a terribly picky eater.  It gives us a whole lot of angst!  He loves Ramen noodles (noo noo), rice (ice), black beans (bees), Cheerios, Chex, watermelon (inexplicably "ba ba"), pineapple (also "ba ba"), bananas ("ma ma"), apples, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, popcorn, crackers, green smoothies, CHOCOLATE, cashews, peanuts, peanut butter (yet another "ba ba"), dried apricots, craisins, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, yogurt, and a few other random things.  He refuses to eat meat in any/all forms, and will even spit out a bite if you happen to hide a tiny morsel of meat in it.  

• When he walks he often swings his left arm back and forth.  It's incredibly endearing.
• He seems to be left-handed.  Sometimes he'll use his right but he ALWAYS leads with his left foot.
• I know I'm his mom, but Reed is pretty impressive with animal noises.  He knows dozens of animals.  Some of my favorites include elephant, crab (he pinches his fingers together), mouse (Tiny taught him to squeak), bee (which he just grunts "BEEE" every time), chicken, moose, turtle, hippo (his most recent favorite), turtle, any bird (he makes a bird call to all of them), and duck.  He even knows random ones (from his books) like polar bear and walrus, giraffe and alligator (he chomps his teeth together).
• Reed loves to figure things out.  He is pretty analytical.  He's our only child, so maybe that's normal, but he really loves finding how things work.  He can often be found unscrewing the knobs from our cupboards.  He loves flashlights and knows how each of them turns on/off - he also takes them apart and then puts the spring and batteries back in.  He can open doors, is figuring out how to pick hangers up (a tricky skill), and has mastered how to turn his white noise machine off and on.  He opens toothpaste, unscrews lotion, and has recently started opening and eating my chapstick.

• Related to the above, Reed loves helping with the "wash."  He stands on a laundry basket next to the washing machine and loads up the dirty clothes.  He gets to dump the soap in, throw in the cup, close the lid, and push the button before opening the lid to watch the water.  He so loves doing laundry that I find him taking clean clothes and - standing on his tippy toes - putting them into the washer.
• One of the books we read recently had a page where a bunch of animals laughed.  From that page (that said things like "ha ha ha" and "hee hee hee" and "ho ho ho") Reed has learned to fake laugh, which is pretty hysterical.  :)
• We have an audiobook called "A Weekend with Wendell" on my phone that Reed loves.  He's never watched the pictures while we listen to it (he doesn't know there are any), so he just loves it for the narration/music.  His favorite line is when the narrator says "Soon" and he'll request the book by saying to me "Soon" in a similar voice.  When he hears his favorite part he stops when he's doing, listens, and then just smiles.
• Reed loves to be tickled.  He also loves "This Little Piggy" and will give you his foot to do it over and over again.
• Over the past couple weeks we've been working on colors.  He's got orange down (we've thought for several months it's his favorite color, as it's almost always his first choice) and has a very funny way of saying it (I'd have no idea how to type it, but we've got a video or twelve).  Most of the other colors he calls "geen."  :)

• Reed is a good helper and is hitting a stage when I can ask him to do things and he gladly will.  For example, I was in my bathroom one day and said, "Reed, we're all out of soap in here.  Can you go get me some soap?"  I showed him the soap container and repeated it a couple times and he walked out.  A few minutes later I heard him grunting and opened the door to see him carrying four containers of hand soap from the other bathroom.  :)  Similarly, one day he wanted black beans so while I was working in the kitchen I showed him they were all gone in the pantry.  I asked him to go get some more from the basement on the shelf.  He slid down the stairs and after 2-3 minutes, when I was getting curious about what he was doing, I walked over to the stairs to see he had indeed gone to the basement, opened the door, found the black beans on the food storage shelf, crawled back up the stairs carrying a can (which he set at the top of the landing) and was back down the stairs shutting the door.  It was fabulous!  Since then bringing up black beans has become a game: his current record is working for maybe 20 minutes to bring up ten cans.

• This should maybe be the first thing on the list: Reed LOVES vehicles, especially trucks (pick-up trucks), construction vehicles (diggers, dump trucks, cement mixers, and cranes specifically), buses, airplanes, and helicopters.  He calls trucks "cuts" and diggers "digga" (using his arm to make a scooping motion), dump trucks are "beep beeps" and cranes he clicks his tongues for (to show how the hook clicks).  He calls airplanes "me" (?) and helicopters "cocka".  He stops what he's doing several times a day to listen to airplanes and helicopters outside, calling out which one it is.

• Since Reed has been in his own room (about seven feet away from ours), we have slept with our doors open so we could hear him in the night.  In preparation for this new baby, we bought a white noise machine for Reed, to help him sleep through the baby's cries.  The machine came with about 27 different noise options and I intended to use something like "appliance" or "ocean" or something.  But Reed heard "Rock-a-bye Baby" and goes ballistic if anything else is put on it.  The new soundtrack to our life is that darn song, which plays about 12 of every 24 hours around here.
• Reed is a good sport about going on walks with me.  We bundle him up in his snow pants, coat, mittens, fur-lined boots, and hat, and head out to the busy roads for our walk.  He gets terribly bored in neighborhoods, where there are few vehicles to see.  While we walk he calls out most everything he sees.  Yesterday's walk was particularly enjoyable for him: we saw two dogs, several airplanes, a cement mixer, dump truck, digger, fire truck (with firemen who waved back!), birds, and a helicopter.  He'll point out, name, and talk about all of those as we walk (crying when we walk away from the construction trucks).

• Reed recognizes the temple each time we pass it and calls out "temple."  When it's out of sight he says "me mo, me mo," which is how he requests more of something.  It's always a good reminder to me that we do need the temple more.
• "Me mo" was probably Reed's first meaningful phrase (we first heard it in November driving away from the temple after Paige's wedding).  It has come to mean "I want more" or that something is all gone (like if I finish drinking my smoothie he'll say "me mo").  This phrase is particularly humorous to me when it's something I just can't give him more of: more airplanes flying overhead right now, or more trucks passing on the road, for example.  
• Reed pronounces milk "mickow" with a guttural sound on the "kow".  It is hilarious.

• He loves his duplo blocks and plays with them almost every day.  He has a couple pieces that make a dump truck when put together correctly.  For a long time he would bring me the wheels and the bucket and ask for a dump truck: I always told him to look for the black piece to put them together.  So now he'll dump out his blocks and yell "Piece?  Piece?" until he finds that one piece.
• TJ thinks it's pretty funny that I've taught him to call things he wants or is looking for.  He'll walk around the house yelling, "Binkies?" or "Tags?" (his blankets).  But he'll also yell "boot?" or "Mickow?"  :)
• Reed's getting quite good at verbalizing what he wants/needs.  When we don't understand we'll ask him to show us and he'll grab our hand and take us to what he wants.  

• Reed likes to take baths but his favorite part is after we dry him off and tell him to run "bunder bear" into his room.  He jumps down naked and runs, squealing with laughter, up and down the hall.  :)
• He calls me Mommy and TJ Daddy, though we're not sure how he learned to add the "y" at the end.  Though he responds to Reed, if you ask him his name, he doesn't know it yet.

I could (obviously) go on and on, but this captures a few things I want to remember right now.  We love this little guy with all our hearts.  We're just counting on our hearts growing to make room for more love for this baby next week, because there's no way we could love Reed any less.  He has made life so meaningful for us - we're grateful every day to have him!

Winter Walking

We've made a conscientious effort to make walking a regular part of our family culture.  When TJ and I were engaged I would frequently invite him to go walk with me - there's a fabulous park with a walking path halfway between our parents' houses - and I think he turned me down every time.  :)  After we got married he started joining me on my walks and, after a while, came to love them: it's so relaxing and rejuvenating to be out in nature.  It's a great way to have conversations.  It just feels good to move your body and it's a nice way to spend time without being tied to devices.

So we've made it a high priority to make sure Reed is comfortable being in his stroller for long walks (60-90 minutes) since he was born.  After we returned from the hospital (he was born via c-section) we started putting him in his stroller at 6 days old and walking down the street, just a few houses at a time, as I built up strength and stamina.  We've walked hundreds of miles now as a family and even taken Reed with us on many runs.

But sometime in the past few months we got out of the habit of walking.  It was probably a combination of issues: TJ being in the bishopric, starting teaching school, the days getting shorter, morning sickness then sciatic pain, then frigid temperatures.  I realized I was missing walking a couple months ago and tried to resume, but it was super cold and Reed would pull his mittens and blanket off again and again, then sob because he was so cold.

Finally we've found the appropriate cold-weather outfit for him to wear: snow pants (that I can't get over - I love how chubby his legs look and how he waddles when he wears them), fur-lined boots that he has asks to wear all the time, a warm coat with a hood he can't pull off, and mittens so long they stay tucked into his coat. 

Today marks the third consecutive day we've bundled up and headed outside for our walk.  He's been so happy to go!  I love that he doesn't cry when we put on his mittens and he walks right to the garage door when it's time to go. 

A favorite trait of the mittens?  We haven't figured out how to work together to get his thumbs in the right spot, so his hands always appear to be turned wonky ways, since they're just in fists at the end of the glove.

While we're walking he calls out when he sees a truck or a bus (especially exciting).  He makes bird sounds anytime he spots a bird and he frequently sings to himself.  It's so nice to get out, soaking up what little sunshine there is, and we're both happier when we get home.  Hooray for walking!

Noo Noo

We recently spent a week and a half staying with my sister's family while she and her husband were on an international trip.  One of the (many) great things about being there was Reed's exposure to new foods and kids eating so many new-to-him things!  I didn't realize the positive impact it would have on Reed to see kids eating foods: I feel like he tried lots of things he had refused before and came home with a few new things he really loves.

Presenting: noo noo.  Brown rice Ramen noodles that Reed now ADORES.  There was one day in Alpine when he refused to eat anything but noo noo, pointing to the cupboard they were in and sobbing "noo noo" over and over and over again. 

Now that we're home, we've tried to space out how frequently we have noodles, but Reed's love seems pretty unfazed!  He is incredibly annoyed when they stick to his fingers but is also at a very independent stage where he insists on feeding himself (I think we're averaging four outfits a day right now).  Noo noo are pretty tricky for a little guy, but he's getting some in!