Julie and my Mom have been saying it for a while, Reed is ALL BOY. He is very physical and adventurous all the time. Now he is adding independence and stubbornness on top of that.

He enjoys hiding now and can often be found in the pantry (for more than one reason), closets, and various small spaces next to appliances around the house. He is also climbing on everything he can pull himself up onto. A common one is the couch, but we are trying to quickly curb the fun of standing on the couch… “On your bottom, Reed” is often used a few times before a firm spank is needed for backup. He is certainly pushing his limits now.

He has 11 teeth now by Julie’s count. About once a week he will wake up in the middle of the night to no other explanation than teething pain. A little Oragel and he is back to sleep. Rarely do we have episodes in the middle of the day.

There are a few stories we have to document as well…

Reed is very aware of shoes these days. He loves having his tennis shoes on, they seem to give him more confidence when running around. But he also likes to pick up our shoes and bring them to us. He will even attempt to put them on our feet if we are not wearing any at the moment. We have learned that if we do not put the shoes on that he has brought to us, there will be a fit to endure!! He tries to put his own on and it frustrates him to no end. Even his Crocs that just slip on. He gets the idea, but doesn’t have the mechanics yet to flip them over or push his foot hard enough to get them on. Most of the time he will bring his shoes to us, then sit down on the ground with his foot up. He will take one shoe and place it on his foot, but then point at it for us to fix it.

We went to an ENT consultation for Reed to get tubes in his ears (separate post on that coming later). While in the waiting room, Reed got angry with us trying to keep him confined and he threw his sippy-cup on the floor. For the first time ever, the top flew off and his water spilled over the carpeted floor. “Uh Oh!!,” Reed said. While we quickly picked up the cup to save the rest of the water, Reed surveyed the situation and then went over to console table where there was a box of tissues just within his reach. He stretched for a tissue and then came over to the wet carpet and spread the tissue out over the wet spot. He began dabbing the wet spot and even wiping it side-to-side! Julie and I just looked at each other in amazement. Then he gathered the wet tissue and took it over to the trash can next to the console table and repeated the whole process about three times! We were amazed and excited because neither of us had taught him that. We can only assume they have done such a thing at daycare, which just solidified that it has been the best decision we have made for him thus far. We are truly happy with his progress in the last few months and there is no doubt he is thriving in a much more structured environment.

-RB