Reed had a VERY eventful 18^th month of life.

Onto the fun stuff!  Ever since he had tubes put in his ears Reed feels good and is SO much happier.  Few things make this child happier than playing in the rain, eating, playing with Kate Pike, eating, and having Randy throw him in the air (I will have to take some video of the throwing.  It really is SO cute)

His favorite word is ‘WOW’.  It must be written in all caps because he only knows how to say it with all the enthusiasm he can manage.  At the river he probably said it 200 times in a row to his dinner one night.  He is going to be a fat kid just like his mommy…he LOVES his food!!  There isn’t really anything he won’t eat, it just depends on who else is eating it.  He loves to eat off of my plate.  I’m sure this is a terrible habit to start, but it encourages him to try new foods.  If I can get him to be a more adventurous eater by sharing my food I am happy with it.

This last week I have been able to watch Reed play with some friends.  One of the hardest things about working full time is that I don’t get to watch him play with other children very often.  One Wednesday night we had a play date with the Swayze kids and I absolutely loved watching him play with other kids.  Then at the river I got to watch him play with Kate for 3 days.  He is such a people-pleaser.  Sometimes he would take something that he knew Kate would want.  Then he would hide behind one of us for a moment while Kate got upset that he was playing with her things.  Then you should have seen the joy on his face when he would proudly walk over to Kate and hand her what she wanted.  I’m sure once we hit the terrible two’s he will act like every other child and not want to share, and hit and throw tantrums.  But for now it was so much fun to watch him play with other children and watch what makes him happy.

Julie

His second big surgery of the month (yes, twice in one month!) was the 5 stitches he got on the 27^th.

Randy was getting ready to hang a shelf in our room while Reed and I sat on our bed and watched. The shelf was on the ground by the bed (standing on its edge) while Randy was mounting the brackets.  My phone rang so I literally ran into the other room and answered it.  As soon as I said hello I heard the scream.  I ran back into the bedroom and Randy and Reed were covered in blood.  Reed had fallen off the bed right on top of the big shelf.  Luckily his wrist caught his fall and his head was the secondary point of contact.  Strangely it was my mom on the phone so I immediately asked her,  “How do I know if he needs stitches??!!”, in a panic.  I love that she lives so close because she offered to run to the house and tell me what to do.  Sure enough, she said we should take him to the Med Clinic for stitches.

You can see the pictures below, but it was the saddest most traumatic thing I have ever been through.  They had to strap him down and he screamed the entire time they were stitching him up.  Luckily as soon as it was over he stopped crying and went right back to eating his grapes.  All moms brag on their babies, but he really is a trooper.  Other than the initial fall and during the stitches he has never cried about it.  Amazingly he doesn’t even mess with the band-aid covering his stitches!!  We go back on Saturday to have the stitches removed and I am absolutely dreading that procedure.  They have to strap him down again 🙁

The other sad thing is that he is afraid of our bed.  In the morning I usually bring him in to wake up Randy.  He climbs on Randy and gives him a big hug and then lays there with him for a few minutes.  Ever since the fall he won’t go near the bed and really doesn’t want to be in our room.  Now, if I try to put him on the bed he just says, ‘no, no, no’.  I hope he will remember the fall, but find a way to wake Randy up in the mornings.  I love that part right before I leave for the day.

Julie

It is clear that our annual river trip to New Braunfels with the Pikes has become the “Reed and Kate” show. Nobody that has ever taken a weekend trip with a toddler will ever argue otherwise. Last year was the first year with kids, but we could still dictate where to put the child down and count on them staying put for the most part. This year was the first sign of things to come… mobile children with a mind of their own!

But I digress, as frustrating as parenting is sometime, the rewards are ten-fold. We absolutely loved watching the interaction of Reed with Kate, and vice-versa.

After eating at the Gristmill on Firday night, we hung out in the picnic/waiting area and let the kids climb on the benches and chase each other around. Kate is 5 months older than Reed and it is still very apparent in her motor skills and physical ability. Kate was up and down on the benches, while Reed would still be struggling to swing a leg up and shift his weight. The ride home was even more entertaining!!

We made one more side trip during the weekend to Landa Park. We rode the train and then had a picnic next to one of the playgrounds. The kids were in heaven. Reed had a great time climbing up and around firetruck play-set that had a double slide. The best part is that he could do the whole thing all by himself! At one point during our picnic lunch, ran over to go climb and go down down the slide one more time… then came back to sit down and eat his sandwich. 🙂

The rest of the weekend, we hung around the condo and the river. The water was WAY too cold for the kids, but we did splash around on the steps where they could easily sit and stick their feet in. One of the best features of this condo is the large grassy area between the river and the condo. It is literally a mini park with sidewalks, numerous picnic tables and a half-dozen BBQ grills. We played out there a lot and even chose to eat our chicken fajita meal down by the water.

It is worth noting that the weather was AWESOME. After the week of rain that San Antonio had the week before, we were concerned about needing some indoor activities as backup. A cool front blew in Saturday night and it made Sunday and Monday mornings so crisp and cool.

Next year’s trip will be even more interesting. Both Julie and Sarah are due in January, so bigger toddlers plus infants should make for a bonafide three-ring circus.

-RB

Reed’s thin, blonde hair has been developing a little curl in the back for the last few months. Julie has intentionally nixed any attempts to trim is up so that the kid can show somewhat of a head of hair, instead of just a bald dome. It is finally thickening so she gave the official thumbs-up to my Mom to bring her scissors when they came over for a family BBQ yesterday.

-RB

The month started off with yet another ear infection after a fun weekend at the lake.  This time I was ready to push for tubes, luckily I didn’t have to.  Dr. Purnell pushed for it before I could get the words out of my mouth.  September 10^th was the day of surgery and he was a champ.  He screamed for about an hour while coming out of the anesthesia, but other than that he was fine.  Before the day was over I could literally tell an improvement in his hearing and in his speech.  I don’t know why it never dawned on me that his hearing was impaired because of all the fluid stuck in his ears.

Julie

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