Books

Reid is really really really into books right now! He will look at them by himself, but usually brings them to us saying "booh booh booh" over and over until we read it to him!

We keep a large stack in the car and both kids read one and then pass (or throw) them back and forth.

I LOVE to look in my rear view mirror and not see any heads, but only the backs of two books. It's precious.

I keep trying to take a picture through my mirror but it's not the safest maneuver and the timing never works

Choo Choo

we found a great place to escape the heat during these triple digit days - cool, fun and FREE!! Barnes and Noble!

they loved hugging the stuffed animals, reading lots of books, and playing with the trains!

Here they're both saying "Choo Choo"

Little Man

He is soooo close to walking on his own but is still afraid to go more than a couple steps.

Here he is watching all the big kids run around and play...

Any day now, LittleMan, any day...

Climbing

He climbs (crawling, not walking) over and under everything...and does it repeatedly again and again for long periods of time. Mostly it's under the kitchen table, chairs and high chair but another favorite is Mommy and Daddy...

He loves to plant his face in the floor and just laughs and laughs. I need to get a video of him playing on the bean bag - he sits up on his knees, lifts his arms straight up in the air and then throws his whole body face first into the bean bag, laughing... over and over and over! He is hilarious!

Letters

Sierra loves letters!!!!!!

She has known all her letters (uppercase) for awhile, learned all of their sounds over a month ago and now knows some of the lowercase ones!

She loves to look at words and sentences and proudly shout out every letter. It's funny that she still doesn't completely get the left to right reading concept, so sometimes she calls out the letters in a random order, but gets all of them right!

My favorite is when I'm driving and she has a book in her hand and from the backseat I hear this sweet voice saying "T-H-E-W-E-A-T-H-E-R".

I have to give a lot of credit to the video "Letter Factory" by Leap Frog. It reinforced the identifying of letters (we had been practicing with magnets) and completely taught her every sound! I did not teach her a single letter sound and now she knows all of them! Pretty amazing! I mean, she did watch it every day for a couple weeks!! (much better than her previous obsession with the Wonder Pets)

Go get it if you can - or borrow it from the library!

Sweet smile

this is one of my favorite pictures :)

Expressions

Reid has some new funny expressions. He has this forced laugh (huh huh huh huh) that is accompanied by an open mouth smile and squinty eyes. It cracks me up! I captured it pretty well in one photo.

He also likes to blink if you blink at him or ask him to. His blinks are exaggerated and long. Pretty cute.

Here he is also pointing to his nose and head - he thinks it's even funnier to point out Mommy's nose, eyes and mouth :)

Braids

I have some practice to do with braids, but it's been fun to try some.

...and how did she get to be so big and grown up already?!?!!

Summer

We have done a lot of fun things outside this summer. After joining a gym with a pool a couple weeks ago, swimming has been at the top of the list! Here's an overview...

Summer "ball"

Reid kept pointing to the counter saying "bawaw" (ball) over and over until I finally put it on the floor for him...

Here is Reid and his "ball"..

Talking like a baby

Sierra has picked up on Reid's words and can understand everything he says. This can be very helpful for me. She'll say "wah wah, oh, you want your water? Ok, ill get your water for you! Here you go!"

She's so observant and literally repeats everything that comes out of my mouth... so poor Reid gets his commands twice - he basically has 2 Mommies!

...But she still likes to act like a baby too. Recently, it looks like this...

* Sierra pushing the toy stroller, pretending to be stuck, saying "tuh tuh" until I go "help" her

* Sierra asking for "wah wah"

* throwing her cup

* wanting us to help feed her

* talking in baby babbles

Some days I have two babies at home...and some days she is VERY adamant at pointing out all the things she can do because she's a big girl and Reid can't because "he doesn't know, he's still a baby"

Here she is reading to him and teaching him animals and their sounds

:)

"brothers"

Sierra put her arm around Reid and said "look Mommy! We're brothers! Aww!"

(... hard concept to explain. They're not sisters. They're not brothers. They're sister and brother - not as easy to grasp.)

Reid is ONE!

I CANNOT believe it! This has been the fastest year of my life! Our sweet baby boy is 1 year old. Wow.

Since I haven't done a great job with the last few monthly updates, I'll just post the photos below. It is so crazy how much they change in just one month.

Here is a word picture of Reid at one year (well, 11months - 12 months):

Reid LOVES:
* balls
* stuffed animals, the bigger the better (big blue puppy is his favorite). he giggles while he crawls to one and then throws his body on top of it - it's precious. he has not attached to any specific one.
* music! he will dance (bounce up and down) as soon as he hears any - and with the biggest smile!
* carrying things around. once he gets something in his hand, he will NOT let it go. he'll crawl around with it for a LONG time...he has quite a tight grip. it's usually a sock or ball but some other common favorites are: plastic turtle bath toy, squeaky duck, foam letters
* this hamster. it's a random Zhu Zhu pet that Uncle Stu and Aunt Cat got Sierra for Christmas and Reid thinks it's hilarious! it moves around by itself, makes little sounds, goes forwards and backwards. as soon as he hears it, he looks around until he finds it, chases it and just laughs and laughs!
* finger food! he will not tolerate being spoon fed for long...and unless we cut him off with finger foods, i think he would eat until his tummy popped! his favorite foods are: peas, puffs, berries, banana, bread
* throwing. around 11 months he got really into throwing. he would find a basket/bin full of toys and very quickly start throwing them over his shoulders. he can empty a basket so fast!...and watch out, don't get anywhere near him or you're sure to get hit!
* being outside
* wrestling. thank goodness, because his big sister loves to body slam him while he's crawling! he belly laughs as he's being flattened! we keep telling her that soon enough he'll be overpowering her! if any of us lays on the ground, Reid is quickly there, laughing and throwing himself up and over us. he loves being rough.
* climbing. this is new for us because Sierra is soooo cautious, she didn't really climb until she was close to 2. Reid loves to crawl under things, squeeze into small spaces and climb over anything he can.

* TALKING!!!!!! I thought that after our first-born being such an early and non-stop talker, our second would be delayed with his words. But no no no, he started saying his first words around 11 months and hasn't stopped! I guess he doesn't want to be left out with all the toddler talking that goes on! He may even be saying more than Sierra was at this age...and that was a lot! I may miss a couple, but here is what he can say by 12 months:
- dada, mama, yah yah (Sierra), and he'll repeat "poppa" and "yah yah" (LaLa)
- boo (as in "book" without the "k", not the ghost sound) for "book"
- baAa ("ball", with a higher pitch for the second syllable. it's really cute. he basically is saying it the way sierra and I do...with a lot of inflection and pitch changes within the same word)
- buh buh (for "baby" and "bubbles" - Sierra said the same for both of those words too)
- buh bye
- hi
- ba ba (bottle, said over and over, very frantically as soon as he sees it)
- wah wah (water, anytime he sees his or sierra's sippy cup)
- nah (snack)
- tuh (stuck, this happens a lot as he pushes around walker toys/strollers or get's his hand stuck)
- nigh nigh (night night)
- uhoh
- mah ("more", said loudly and repeatedly until you give him more)
- goo (for Sierra's "Goo", although he also calls some of her other favorite stuffed animals "goo" also)
- tuh-teh ("turtle", he can find them in pictures but also has a favorite one that's a bath toy but ends up all over the house)
- doh ("down", usually he says it with a smirk on his face as he's trying to stand up in his high chair. basically telling himself to sit down)
- baaa baaa (when he sees sheep or if you say "sheep")
- aaah aaah (when he sees a monkey or if you say "monkey")
- uhh ooo (while raising one arm, when he sees an elephant or if you say "elephant")
- opens and closes his mouth to do a fish sound. this is one of his favorite. he spots a LOT of fish!
- wooh (for a dog)
- duh (when he sees a duck or if you say "duck")
- he has his own way of "moo" for a cow and "choo choo" for a train that I have no idea how to write out
- NAH (for "NO", almost always said in a loud voice, usually back at Sierra or as he's pulling on a cord/plug and looking right at me)
- MAH (for "mine"...can you tell he has an older sister?!)
- mehmo (Elmo)
- eye (he says it perfectly but in 3 syllables, raising pitch in the middle...yes, again, just like sierra and I say it to him)
- "oh" (for "out" of high chair, stroller or carseat)
- "ma" (for "help". It's very obvious that's what he's asking for bc it's when he can't open or close a lid/door or toy but I can't tell if he's calling for me and saying "mama" or saying "mine"? Either way, we all know it means that he needs help with something)

Reid is waving hi and bye, blowing kisses, giving high five, pointing to eyes and noses, goes to the door if you say "outside", blinking on command, communicating with a lot of words and pointing, using a spoon to feed himself yogurt pretty acurately, still taking 2 naps a day (I wake him from his morning nap so that his afternoon one will be longer), tormenting his sister like a younger sibling should (he LOVES to take her blocks and puzzles apart), putting socks and shoes to his feet, always on the lookout for trouble, standing on his own, almost walking on his own, really into books right now!, SO SWEET and cuddly, still only sporting 2 teeth, beginning to test his boundaries and let us know when he's upset but still laid back for the most part... and growing so quickly!!

WE LOVE YOU, SWEET BUBBERS!!! We pray for you often and are so incredibly thankful to God for allowing us to be your parents. It is a joy and privilege. We can't wait to see more and more of who God has made you to be! HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!!

Reid's 11 month shots

12 months - at his birthday party