Reed has successfully changed from a baby to a toddler, almost over night.  He is starting to have opinions and shows us when he is unhappy about something.

Sunday night we were leaving my parents house and when I was putting him in his car seat he looked at me and gave me a pouty face.  Then when I tried to hand him his lion (that he loves) he took his hand and swiped it out of my hand onto the driveway.  The entire drive home he kept the pouty face on.

He did this again when I picked him up from the nanny on Tuesday.  He was playing with Connor and Brody and when it was time to leave he kept walking away from me.  Once again when I put him in his car seat he started to pout and wouldn’t take his car toy.  During the drive home he would scream in short 2 second bursts.  Nothing was wrong, he was just pouting.

This is annoying, but also hilarious.  I’m so excited to see his little personality coming through (even if its bratty at times)

Month 12 has been quite an exciting one with Reed. Walking, curiosity and a short attention span add-up to non-stop entertainment around the house. We swear that he is walking for the sake of walking as he meanders through the house and changes direction sometimes in mid-stride. Those that have dangled cowbells on their toddlers to always know where they are… I can see the logic now… if he is not babbling as he wanders, it’s always a guess if he is standing right behind you.

As for recent changes, we have stopped giving him a pacifier, except when we put him down to bed. We had to team up with the other family that he shares a nanny with so that he wouldn’t have that influence from the other boy either. It turns out it has been quite a success for both boys and we are glad he is not dependent on it.

We have also cut WAY back on bottles. We have not given him a bottle in the morning in several months, but recently stopped relying on them at night to put him down. Instead, a sippy-cup of whole milk and a pacifier, and he is content. He will usually babble for a while in his crib after we have put him down, but give him about 10 minutes and he is out. We’ll go back in to cover him up in whatever funny position he ended up in (usually knees tucked under in the corner, but lately has been using something as a pillow).

He is showing his (mother’s) personality at the dinner table now (hehe). When he does not want something he will scrunch his face and push it away. The same goes for when he is tired of eating a particular food and is ready for something else. Nothing pissed Julie off more than when he  started spitting something out intentionally. He prefers to feed himself (of course), and also knows that Logan will scoop up anything he throws down.

Now for the birthday party…

Most that know Julie, know that she loves hostessing. How much more special of an occasion can you get than your firstborn’s first birthday party?! It’s a right of passage that every new mother gets to plan it, and planning means thinking of the theme MONTHS in advance… or is that just Julie? I’m not sure… Whatever the case, it was very important to her to and she took it on: the cake, the cupcakes, the decor, the goodies, the invitations… all handmade.

The theme: Bath Time (Reed’s favorite part of the day). Rubber duckies everywhere! We had balloons for decor since Reed carries them around whenever possible. We used bubbles as accents, including bubble wrap as place-mats!

We invited all the boys that were born on either side of Reed. Three of the four boys were born within 2 weeks of each other in Dec 2008. It was amazing to see their differences in development, as well as see them all thrown into our playroom to duke it out (for our entertainment of course). I truly hope that these boys stay friends through the years… how cool would it be to see them grow up together!

The party was a success and we have made a full recovery. Julie did a great job and the cake tasted perfect! We are equally excited that it is over now, but it’s bittersweet since it is likely the last party we will throw in this house.

-RB & J

Reed has been taking steps since early January, but as of Feb. 13 he is a walker.  He is of course getting better and better everyday and his balance is improving all the time.  It is so fun to watch how proud he is of himself when he walks from one end of the room to the other.  He (as usual) loves for us to watch him and gets so revved up that sometimes he knocks himself down because of his excitement.

He is babbling even more this month but no discernible words yet.  If he is anything like me it’s probably best if he waits a little longer before he talks.  Between the two of us I think we will drive Randy crazy!!

Reed’s 10th month of life was a big one for all of us.  On January 7th he took his first step.  Yes it was during the national championship, and yes he was stepping AWAY from the tv.  Guess he’s a good Ag after all 🙂

During January is also when he started really babbling up a storm.  Some mornings I wake up to the sound of him talking to himself in his crib.  It is such a wonderful, unobtrusive way to wake up.  I only wish every single morning was like that.

He continues to be an incredibly happy child.  He loves to do anything to make us smile at him, which is pretty much anything he does.  One of his favorite tricks is to squint his eyes and smile.  We always pay off with a laugh so he does it all the time.

He has started to be a more picky eater and sometimes just won’t eat his vegetables.  His favorite foods are yogurt (I literally can’t get the spoon in his mouth fast enough when he’s eating yogurt) , fruit and jumbo rice crispies.  If I let him he would live on those few things and nothing else.  On second thought, add black beans to that list.  I have resorted to hiding vegetables in his yogurt.  He will eat the heck out of his peas and carrots if they are mixed in with his yogurt.  Sneaky mommy…

He still loves bath time more than anyone I’ve ever known.  I love it when we start the tub water because no matter where he is he hears it and crawls as fast as possible to the tub.  Then he stands at the tub and lifts his leg to try and get in the water all by himself.  Cracks me up every time.  He also LOVES rubber duckies.  He has a lion duck whose head he shoves in his mouth every chance he gets.

He still goes to the Davis’ house either 3 or 4 days a week to share the nanny with his best friend Brody.  He loves it there so much that some days I wonder if he would rather stay there with Brody than come home.  I tell you, for a working mom there is nothing more wonderful than knowing your child is well taken care of, and totally happy while you are at work everyday.

As for me I was finally able to lose the last of the baby weight.  I still have more weight to lose because I wasn’t in great shape when I got pregnant…but at least its a start!!

Month 10 was a great one.  I just can’t believe he’s almost 1 already.  It truly has been an awesome year.

December was a whirlwind of a month.  It started off with Reed being sick (from previous post).  It was his first time to be sick, and it was scary for this new mom.  I have said it before, but it bears repeating…my mom is a God-send!  Not only is she a mom of 4 kids (and she was a great one!) but she works for Call A Nurse and knows how to triage anything that comes along.  I am so thankful that I don’t have to rush him to the doctor every time I have a question.

Randy and I were both incredibly busy at work the first 3 weeks of December.  Randy was putting together the new website for his company (www.globalscape.com) and for the first time he was essentially in charge of ensuring the launch was successful with no errors.  I was in the middle of analyzing November actuals and preparing the December – QI 2010 forecast.  My job gets better and better everyday, but as I have only been doing this since October each month is a new challenge and I’m constantly learning the ropes.

With Randy and I so busy at work, it left little time to enjoy the holiday season and not feel overwhelmed by the significance of Reed’s first Christmas!!

On a good note, we have so many of Reed’s friends that were born in December that we were able to spend lots of time at birthday parties celebrating all of these beautiful children!

To top off the month, I got the stomach flu.  Friday the 18th we had our White Elephant gift exchange and party at the Brown’s house.  So many of our friends were there and it was a packed house.  Best white elephant exchange ever and we all had a wonderful time.

The next morning I made the executive decision we were not going to the Tesoro Christmas party and instead going to McKaylee’s first birthday party. (Praise the Lord for that decision!!)  As we were leaving the Nichols house around 6pm I told Randy that I didn’t feel so good.  We picked up the cake for Reed’s baptism (the next day!) from Megan and by the time we got home I couldn’t stand up.  I laid on the couch for the next 2 hours and couldn’t open my eyes or move.  By 8 pm it really hit.  I have to tell you that I have never in my life (yes, never) thrown up from being sick.  A very few times from drinking too much, but never from being sick.  I threw up 12 times in 3 hours and truly thought I was going to die.  Poor Randy was running around the house emptying the trash can and rinsing it out and then running to replace it next to me in the bathroom.  I will spare you the rest of the gory details, but you can imagine all that accompanies the stomach flu.

Finally I could tell the throwing up was over and I laid in bed.  I wasn’t able to settle down enough to sleep so I just tossed an turned all night and eventually ended up on the couch.  The next morning I HAD to pull it together and make it to church.  As we were packing up to head out we started getting messages that everyone from the party on Friday night was sick.  Someone in almost every family at the party was sick.  I’m pretty sure I was the carrier because I had it the worst and because the Davis’ had it too…I’m the only one that had contact with the Davis’.  Plus Diana got it, and I’m the only one that was around her too!

I made it to church and stood through his baptism, but that was it.  Mom took Diana and me to my house where we literally slept the entire day.  My sweet husband was wonderful about taking care of us and also entertaining Reed.

It took me a solid week to get back on my feet.  I was pretty worthless the entire week leading up to Christmas.  Truly, that is the single sickest I have ever been in my life and I am so thankful that 1. it is over and 2. I didn’t pass it to Randy or Reed.

So that’s it.  All the stressful parts of December.  I will save the good parts for a separate post 🙂

J

Lots of women say they “like football”. Many of them even have a favorite team. Julie, however, is in a league that few women could claim.

We went over to a friend’s house earlier this year to watch the UT-Texas Tech game. It was a prime time game, so Reed made it through 3 quarters and was ready for bed. We packed up and headed home to catch the final quarter.

Now, we had been watching the game on a nice 52″ flat screen TV. The picture was crisp and clear, and the field had never looked so green. This was not the case when we got home. It was as if Julie had actually seen a side-by-side comparison, and said, “Our TV sucks!” I, of course, knew this already, but we don’t watch a lot of TV in our house so it was never a priority to us. All that seemed to go out the window in an instant.

We started talking about upgrading and that Christmas was coming up. We had gone this long without it, why not wait just a little bit more? Julie’s response to that was one that I will treasure for a long time (and validated one of the reasons I married her!) Instead of opting for any logical reason to wait, she said…. “I just don’t want the entire football season to go by without a new TV!”

I kissed her immediately. Best… Wife… Ever.

RB

It’s been about 2 weeks since Reed first let go of whatever he was holding onto while he was standing up. Both of us were there to see it happen and we were ecstatic to say the least. It kinda freaked him out like when he gets scared at sporting events when everyone starts screaming, but we calmed him pretty quick and let him know that we were happy about what he did. The kid loves the spotlight, so once he caught on that it got him even MORE attention, he never looked back.

Now, he almost always stands up against something with the intention of letting go… and it’s usually in one fluid motion, no pause. Once he lets go, he holds his hands way out and the smile goes from ear to ear. Then he starts exciting himself and usually looses his balance at that point. He’s certainly not afraid of falling down anymore, as he is getting MUCH braver and taking more risks during transitions. Julie says she saw him take a step, but almost by accident since he came crashing down after it.

We know it’s only a matter of time before those first real steps. I’m actually wondering if it will be before the new year!!

-RB

Reed has been a very healthy child for the first 9 months of his life, but that all came to a screeching halt on Saturday.  He was extra sleepy on Saturday and when he woke up from an extended afternoon nap he felt pretty warm to me.  I thought it was because he had slept so hard and so long so I didn’t worry too much.  10 minutes later I felt him again and he was still hot, and a little sluggish.  We grabbed the thermometer and I was shocked when it said 103.9.  Of course I immediately called my mom (for those of you who don’t know my mom is a nurse and works for Methodist Hospital “Call a Nurse”).  She gave me some steps to take and offered to come over and assess him in person.  In the meantime I gave him Tylenol and put him in a warm bath to try to lower his fever.  Sweet little Reed just played and splashed in his tub.

Long story short we monitored him very closely and alternated Motrin and Tylenol as directed.

Most people think I’m crazy because I didn’t take him to the doctor or the ER, but let me tell you why.  I had professional guidance and I don’t believe in taking a sick infant into a place filled with other sick people just so the doctor can tell me whether its the regular flu or H1N1.  They don’t give Tami-flu to babies under a year.  All that would happen is they would tell me to monitor his temp and make sure he is drinking enough fluids.  I’m off my soapbox now.

Reed has kicked the flu and is back to playing with Brody at the Davis’ house again.  Tending to a sick child was more stressful and taxing for me than when he was a newborn.  I really hope he doesn’t get sick again anytime soon!!!!!!