Eleven Months!

These photos are not the best, but I still wanted to capture the moment. It is getting much harder to take Reid's picture as he is just a man on the move! Notice the comb in his hand...it was the only thing I could grab to keep his attention for 2 seconds while I snapped these pictures. He tried nonstop to crawl out of the chair or pull off the sign behind him. Needless to say, I decided to be done after a few shots.

One of the biggest pieces of news from this month involved Reid being tested for possible food allergies. I know! I noticed he was breaking out on his back and showed the doctor when we were there for Ryan's 5-year appointment. She became concerned and had us do an adult allergy panel (mainly because it covers more food than an infant or child test). Luckily this involved drawing blood, which still wasn't fun for Reid, but at least they didn't have to poke him 30 times. Even better--his results came back last week and all were negative! I was beyond relieved!

At eleven months, Reid:

• has 7 teeth. (Two just popped through on the top, making it a total of 4. Still 3 on the bottom.)
• eats about every 3-4 hours.
• naps twice a day--even though his morning nap is longer than his afternoon nap.
• sleeps from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. We still wake him up (or he wakes up) before we go to bed for another bottle.
• is a super-fast crawler, and is now inching along furniture.
• loves crawling up the stairs. We do this a lot!!
• enjoys walking with his walker.
• still can't get enough of peek-a-boo!
• loves bath time! He just loves to splash and pull himself up on the sides of the tub. He also takes the bowl we have for washing his hair and puts it on his head like it's a hat. If you take it off, he'll put it right back on.
• is the best eater we've had! We're hardly doing baby food anymore for him. He pretty much eats whatever we have, just as long as we cut it into small pieces. His favorite veggies are green beans and broccoli. His favorite fruits are bananas and pears. He loves chicken and just had a whole hamburger over the weekend. I am just in awe!
• is still signing for "milk" and "all done." We think he's occasionally done "more," but can't be sure. A family in church came up to us Saturday night and said they noticed him doing his signs during church. Of course we told them that sometimes we have to ignore when he signs for "milk" and we don't have any! :)
• loves getting into cabinets and pulling everything out. Which is why I just went and bought safety latches yesterday...I'm tired of cleaning things up or worrying about what he is going to put into his mouth.

It's hard to believe we'll be celebrating his first birthday in another month! I am not one who tends to get emotional about my kids growing up...not that there is anything wrong with that! I just tend to look forward to what exciting things the next stage may bring!

Such a laid-back, cool guy!

Recreation Unlimited

Two weekends ago, Joel and some of his friends went to the Chicago Auto Show for the weekend. It's a trip he's been looking forward to for quite awhile. Cars, no kids, and Chicago--what could top that?! ;)

The kids and I did very well with him being gone. We went to Recreation Unlimited, an idoor playground place, where you can pay to play on the equipment. The kids had a ball!

Reese climbing up the rope ladder.
She seems so big!

Reese and Ryan were having so much fun playing together!

I was so glad they had Thomas the Train tables here and there for Reid to play with. He loved it so much that it made me think I should take him to the basement more to play with our train table.

Such a happy little family!

The kids said this house reminds them of the one at Carter and Leah's house. :)

Ryan loved playing on the Goalrilla basketball hoops.

He shoots...

...he scores!

Reese loved the trampoline. I was impressed that they no longer have the springs around the edges. I read information about how great of a workout they are and how it's equivalent to running. Who knew?

This is the playset I would like to have someday.

And, look! It's on sale! ;) As Joel always says, "You have to spend money to save money."

I took Reid down the slide a few times, then Reese wanted to give it a try. She did a great job with him!

I think we'll be doing this a lot this spring/summer!

I have to mention that Kelly and Keith took the two older kids swimming after this, then we all went over to my parents' house for dinner that night. It was so nice of everyone to offer to help. We all had a great weekend!

Buddies

I snapped these pictures two weeks ago when our school had a Colts day. Jenson and Ryan just happened to wear the same jersey, so I thought I'd take their picture. These two are quite the characters! It has really been so nice having Jenson here. They have so much fun running around the house and have the biggest imaginations. Sure, sometimes the two of them don't always get along, but their arguments are always short-lived and then they are back to being buddies. I wish life were always that easy! :)

They have gotten so big!
Both Jenson and Ryan are in Tae Kwon Do (at separate places). Here they are showing off their "high block" skills.

Look out, girls!

So menacing! This was their "football player pose."

Today we had a 2-hour delay because of snow, so for the first time this year, the a.m. kids got to go to school in the p.m. Ryan was so excited to be there in the afternoon and be an "afternoon friend." It's kind of nice to have a little downtime, but I have to say that I do miss the little buddies!

Play Ball!

Reid recently found something that he loves just as much as peek-a-boo...playing ball! He is fun to watch and has a great arm!

How could I resist playing ball with this cutie?
Catch!

Ready for this one, Mom?

Comin' at ya!

I could do this all day long...

I think I snapped this right as the ball was coming towards me. Like I said, he has quite an arm! I see Little League in his future... :)

Daddy's Boy

Ask anyone who knew Ryan when he was a baby, and they'll tell you that he was a mama's boy. I didn't mind too much...I loved getting all of his cuddles! I kind of figured Reid would be the exact same way. However, the past week or two I have really noticed that Reid is becoming more and more attached to Joel. He lights up when he walks in the room, and squeals with delight when he comes near. I just love it!

Reid and his daddy
No wonder Reid loves him...he's so much fun!

One night I was holding him, and he started squirming like he wanted down. I set him down on the floor, and he immediately crawled over to Joel. Joel picked him up and he put his head on his shoulder. It was definitely an "Awwwwww" moment!

Thanks for being such a great dad!!!

Reese's Creative Writing Assignment

Reese's teacher showed me a recent writing assignment Reese completed in class. The writing had to have a beginning, middle, and ending. Here is what Reese wrote:
In case you can't read it, it says:
Please, Miss Genos, no more homewwork.
And I really mean it. I do not like homework.
In fact no one does.
Oh please Miss Genos.

Coming from the daughter of a teacher, this makes me laugh even more! Holly was surprised that she would write this, but not me. Reese takes more time complaining about having to do homework than it takes for her to actually do it! She is funny. Fortunately (and unfortunately) the work is easy now, so it doesn't matter. However, we might be in trouble in a few years when the workload increases.

Until then, maybe she'll just keep trying to convince her teacher to ease up on the homework. :)

Snow and Ice, Ice Baby

In December I remember saying that if it's going to be cold, I at least want there to be snow on the ground. I take it back!! ;) We have had our share of snow and ice this winter, so I'm ready for it to be gone.

One of my kids would disagree. Reese seems to come alive in the wintertime. This is shocking to me as she is the one who complains about going outside during the other three seasons of the year. She recently told me why she loves winter: "There are no bugs!" Oh, my...she is my daughter!

She is usually the one begging to go outside and play in the snow. She called her friends to come over and join her one afternoon:

Reese and Carly
Reese, Carly, and Jack

The girls got to work on making snow angels.

Jack plopped down in the snow and joined them.

On February 1st, we were hit with a huge ice storm. Joel stayed home from work for two days, and my school was canceled for three. (Don't get me started about how bummed I am about having to make up those days in June!) We had to use our garden shovel to hack away at the 3 inches of ice on the driveway. But we knew that if we didn't get through the ice, we weren't going to be able to leave home!

After the big ice storm, we got even more snow on top of it. The kids went outside to play a few nights ago and attempted to build a fort. However, I forgot that about 3-4 inches is still ice...which doesn't help when it comes to building forts or snowmen!

The kids posing...not sure what Ryan is doing.

Same thing here. What is he up to?

He climbed the "mountain."

Throwing snowballs at us. Oh, yeah--all of these pictures were taken from inside the house. I was taking care of Reid. :)

Bullseye!

Breaking in the Easy Bake Oven

We broke in Reese's new Easy Bake Oven a few weeks ago. We donned our new aprons and broke out our new cooking and baking supplies she received for Christmas. She chose the sugar cookie mix and got right to work.

I tried to really let Reese do everything on her own since it was her toy, not mine. (I never got to have one when I was little, so I'm living vicariously through her...ha!)

She was so careful with her measurements.
Rolling the dough

The only thing that went wrong is that we left them in for about a minute too long. Well, a minute too long when the cookies are about an inch in diameter is not a good thing at all. The cookies were a little crispy...

...but nothing that icing and sprinkles couldn't cover up! Reese absolutely loved them and can't wait to make something else soon!

Beyond Chopsticks

Reese has been interested in learning how to play the piano for over a year. Grandma Linda taught her how to play "Chopsticks" last fall, and she has wanted to learn even more since that day. Aunt Kelly gave her piano lessons as part of her Christmas present so she could finally have a chance to learn something beyond Chopsticks. ;)

I just happened to be at my parents' house last week during her lesson and snapped this photo of them:
Kelly is a patient teacher, and Reese just adores learning from her!

We've realized we just need to be more disciplined when it comes to practicing. We'll have to figure out a better plan so she can become just as good as her aunt. Thanks, Aunt Kelly!