Reid's first cereal

(I'm catching up on pictures/posts)

When Reid was about 4.5 months old, we tried rice cereal for the first time...

 ...someone in the family can't be left out of anything! ...isn't she a ham?!

this is what he thought about it. i don't blame him...rice cereal??! blah!

wings & a wig

Capts and G.G. gave sierra some fun dress up items for her birthday. she's still not too sure about dressing herself in them, but she has had a blast dressing others...

i'm bummed that i haven't managed to snap a photo of Daddy in the wig! priceless!

happy half birthday baby reid!

december 4th was reid's half birthday...wow! where did those 6 months go?!? i've been delaying this post because he's had a cold for 2 weeks, but unfortunately the cold hasn't gone away  :(  so...i did his 6 month photo shoot mid-cold. poor guy, is so stuffy and just looks sick. he's still a happy baby though!!

updates from his 6th month:
**weighed in at 17lbs 4 oz (50%-75%), height jumped up a bit to  (75%)

** started eating solids - we got more consistent through the month. by the end of november, he was eating solids twice a day - lunch and dinner. rice cereal mixed with a fruit or veggie. he likes: sweet potatoes, prunes, pears and he is not so much a fan of peas. we are now starting to add more variety and trying more new foods. he gets excited when he sees a bowl and spoon! so far it seems like he's going to be a big eater.

** naps: most of the month he kept up with his 1 big 2.5 - 3 hr nap a day, in the afternoon and short 30 minute nap most days in the morning or late afternoon - a lot of times in the car running errands. towards the end of the month he started struggling to fall asleep on his own - still struggling with this and not sure of the cause...separation anxiety? teething?

** oh yes, separation anxiety/stranger danger came out more this month too. mostly when we walk into a noisy house with a lot of people and someone walks up to him right away - that will set him into a terror of terrors. wow, the boy gets mad and has trouble calming down! so sad  :(  especially because most of the time he seems so social and loves to smile when people look or talk to him

** about a week before he turned 6 months he started sitting on his own. but this sitting is still a bit unstable - he likes to unexpectedly fling himself backwards and sometimes still tips to the side. it must be nice to see the world from a different angle!

** some favorites: mirrors, bouncing/jumping, chasing sierra (mommy holding reid and running) in circles around the house and up the stairs, touching faces, his big blue toy car, anything he can chew on, tickling, exersaucer, being held, toys that light up

** he has got to be so close to getting his first tooth because the drooling has intensified (he can soak a bib in minutes), the gnawing/chewing has gotten stronger and his gums are more swollen

** all month he perfected his mobility - scooting backwards, spinning around in all directions on his tummy...and on Thanksgiving weekend, got up on all fours for a long time and rocked back and forth. getting close to crawling!

** reid had his first Thanksgiving - celebrated at Poppa and Lala's house (separate post to come)

** finally stopped his reflux meds the same day as his 6 month well check!!! yay!!!

** reid's eyes started changing colors this month. they seem to be a greenish color with a hint of blue, yellow and maybe some brown? it's hard to tell what they'll end up being at this point but they're not so blue anymore. we'll have to wait and see...maybe they'll be hazel?

Sierra's 2nd Birthday Bash

I'm 2 months behind, but here's the recap of how we celebrated Sierra's 2nd Birthday...

I first have to note that I had been telling Sierra for a couple of weeks that she was about to turn 2. I guess I never said 2 years old, but just kept saying "2". Well, once her birthday came, I asked her "how old are you now?!", fully expecting to hear her reply "2", like I had been coaching her...and very proudly she said "2 more minutes!". hahahahaha. I give her time warnings all the time - "5 more minutes before we have to leave, 2 more minutes", etc. So apparently in her mind, "2" meant 2 more minutes. I let it go for a couple of weeks becuase it was so hilarious. Now if you ask how old she is, she confidently replies "I 2 years old!" :)

on her actual birthday, a Saturday, we went with Papa, Lala, Uncle Matt, Auntie Meli, and cousin Peyton to a local food festival - complete with petting zoo and jumpy castles!

 she LOVED the miniature pigs and the bunnies

 and this is how she felt about the goats, ponies and donkey. for weeks afterwards, she kept saying "i don't like the goats. i scared. i like the bunnies and piggies!"

 it was SO hot that day. she could not get enough of the jumpy castle and was very brave (but so slow! can you see the line piling up behind her?) to climb the tall stairs all by herself! sadly she got a bad case of hives from exposure to some peanut butter but it did not stop her one bit - we didn't even know until on the way home. benadryl and a good nap cured it all  :)

A week later, we had friends over to our backyard for a Teddy Bear Picnic! It was surprisingly cool and pleasant that morning, with just a little misty drizzle. Lots of family and friends came to help celebrate and a great time was had by all!

 phew, it's tough being 2! relaxing with G.G. as the party was just getting started

 she has always loved playing with the boys

 showing them trains are for girls too

 there was swinging, balls, sand box and tent fun! check out the little Longhorns - there was a big game that afternoon

 i think the birthday girl was entertaining her Papa and Auntie

 getting the picnic started with teddy grahams, raisins and juice boxes

 story time with Lala! she definitely captivated her audience with a great reading of the Teddy Bears' Picnic

 getting ready to sing

 we told everyone to bring their favorite stuffed friend but ironically Sierra didn't want to bring Goo outside because he would get dirty! (this is what i usually tell her, but the ONE time it's not only ok, but it's planned for her to have Goo outside, she sticks to my rule! ha, go figure!)

 all partied out, and thinking "did they seriously just put that thing on my head?!"

 SOOO excited that it's her birthday

 she blew it out on the first try!

 indulging in those yummy cupcakes

 cupcakes are serious business

 these 3 were hilarious. they sat there, so close to one another, for a LONG time. everyone else finished, got up and played around them but they just stayed there ...and kept eating! i couldn't stop laughing, it was precious!

 an overview of the party - we didn't get all the kiddos captured in the pictures. for memory's sake, here's a list of the guests: Daddy, Mommy, Baby Reid, Capt's, G.G., Papa, Lala, Uncle Matt, Auntie Meli, cousin Peyton, Uncle Stu, Aunt Cat, John, Cannon & his Mommy, Isabella and Victoria & their Mommy/Daddy, Nate & baby Taylor and their Mommy, Luke & baby Lila and their Mommy/Daddy, Lilianna and her Mommy, Knox & baby Noah and their Mommy/Daddy, Liberty and her Mommy

the after party - a couple of bookworms raided the bookshelf - so sweet

It was a very special day for a very special little girl! I still can't believe she's 2!!!

in a toddler's mind

how i wish i could get into the mind of our 2 year old!!!

here are some of the funny things she's said recently - in the last day or so...

** i couldn't find a pair of scissors, so sierra says "it's ok mommy. don't cry. it's ok.", while patting my back. and no, i was not crying over the missing scissors.
** while "changing" Goo's diaper: "oh no! Goo going poo poo! Goo has big big poo poo. Ewwwie! Yuck!...oh no, poo poo coming out! I got poo poo on my hands. my hands are diiirty diiirty, I need to wash my hands! Oh no." (haha, i couldn't stop laughing! this exact scenario happened yesterday with reid!)

** "mommy, i need some help. i can't get this silly thing!", while trying to get a paper that was stuck at the bottom of a box. she has started calling many items "this little thing" or "that silly thing", even when she knows what it is, like her cup or a book. i guess "thing" must be a common part of our everyday vocab.

** "no dad! don't sing! iii sing it." and "no! mommy, daddy, stop talking. look at me! stop talking!" - yes, she's getting more bossy and sassy, if you can believe it  :)

** "baby reid!! no ma'am!! no, buddy, not for you! not for you, baby reid! you just a little baby. have to wait til big boy." - because reid had turned around to watch tv. yep, this is what i tell reid (minus the "no ma'am" part!)... and i get to hear it said again through my little parrot  :)

** "daddy go bye byyyye. to watch tv." - haha, as far as i know, he was going to a meeting...maybe she had some other intel!

** S: while walking down the stairs, "remember? sierra fall"
me: "oh no, you fell?"
S: "yeahhh, i fell"
me: "where did you fall?"
S: "down" (haha, of course! so literal)
me: "you fell down?"
S: with a sad voice and sad face "yeahh. at church. poor sierra. poor big sierra. poor big sister!"

** "mommy, you wanna go to sleep? go for it!" (i still have no idea where she got that?! i can't remember ever saying "go for it". so funny)

forward progress

Reid has officially figured out how to move himself forward! It's not technically crawling yet, but it will be any day now. I still can't believe it. He's very efficient at scooting backwards and getting around that way but now will do a combination of extended arms/extended legs (on his tip toes) and hands/knees crawling position and switching between the two, he can move himself forwards and get to the toy on the other side of the rug. Thankfully it's still very slow at this point!

Watch out, Sierra...it's a whole new ball game once he's on the move!

this week - almost crawling, Christmas, emphasis

I am so ridiculously far behind on posts, mostly because my computer won't work with blogger anymore -ugh. Anyway, here's just a quick overview of the past few days...

* Reid is almost crawling! I CANNOT believe it! It's way too early for that and he still seems like such a baby to me - how could he be almost crawling already?! I'm not ready for this. But apparently he is. For the past week, he's been getting up on all fours and then dropping down after a few seconds. Last night, he stayed up on all fours for awhile and just kept rocking back and forth, ending up lunging himself forward. Today he did it every time I put him down on the floor or in his crib. He must be anxious to keep up with his sister who literally runs circles around him all day!

* Friday evening we went out with my parents to see the big Christmas tree and Santa at the shopping area by their house. As soon as Sierra saw the tree, she got SOOOO excited and kept saying "YOOK (look)! Christmas! YAY!!" over and over. She stood at the bottom of the tree and just looked up, amazed at how big it was. Then she had fun looking at her reflection in all of the giant ornament balls, pointing out each color. Santa was on a break, so we waited a little bit (short line and free, by the way!). She was very excited to see Santa...until she actually saw Santa...and then wanted nothing to do with him. So I had to hold her in the pictures. She stopped crying when he gave her a candy cane, but still would not even touch him. We considered it a practice run since it was spontaneous and the kids were wearing a pink butterfly dress and a blue striped shirt - not quite the Christmas outfits that go in the typical Santa picture. So we'll try again later. Maybe she can be bribed, knowing there's a candy cane at the end of the deal...  :)

* We put up our Christmas tree at home last night and some other decorations and Sierra loves it all. I LOVE seeing the joy spread across her face every time she sees it. Priceless. She calls all of it "Christmas". She points to the tree and says "Yook! It's Christmas! Can I touch it?". She pointed to the lights outside our neighbors' house today and said "WoW! Yook, Mommy! It's Christmas!". So. Precious.

* Sierra is so expressive and has her own way of emphasizing certain things that she's excited about when she talks. Here are a few examples from the last couple of days:
"That's a PURPLE PURPLE balloon!"
"No, Mommy. We are NOT NOT NOT going home!"
"Goo going to sit RIGHT RIGHT there."