Reid-{22 months old}

Reid-{21 months old}

Reid-{20 months old}

Dear Reid,

WOW! I cannot believe that you are 20 months old and that Daddy and I are parents to an almost 2 year old. There is something so special and wonderful about you at your current age. You are talking A LOT and try to say every word you hear. You are so fun and kind and loving to people around you, even strangers. 

I appreciate your desire to learn and your desire to communicate. It is so amazing to ask you a question and actually get a reply...well most of the time. :)

You are very much into firetrucks, animals, Papa, Mormor, Daddy and books. You are still fluctuating between having one nap in the afternoon and having a morning and afternoon nap. You have started pretending to put yourself to bed during the day, you look so sweet all covered up and ready to sleep...then you laugh and rip the covers off and nearly do a summersault off of the bed. You ask to go in the car a lot. I think we have a BIG case of cabin fever around here.

You are a risk taker when it comes to climbing....but that isn’t anything new, it’s just becoming more frequent that you risk your life. :) I love you Reid, and I’m so glad that God gave us you. Daddy and I enjoy your giggles and games. Most nights after we put you to bed, we miss you and talk about what makes us love you. :)

Love always,

Mama

Reid-{19 months old}

Dear Reid,

Oh where do I begin? You are becoming such a little boy. I love the way you communicate with us, the way you enjoy life and the way you see the world.

This is really an 18 & 9 month letter, since Mommy didn’t have time to write last month.

You are becoming imaginative and goofy, and we love it! You do things now, knowing that you are being funny or cute. 

You LOVE LOVE LOVE to read. It doesn’t matter what kind of book it is, you will want to pick it up and read it. A lot of times you don’t even want Daddy or I to read to you. I guess you are making up your own stories and reading them out loud to us and yourself. Maisy Mouse, Clifford and any book about fire trucks or trucks are your favorites. You love going to the library every Friday to get MORE BOOKS!

You are our tall skinny child. You still take 2 naps most of the time. You are starting to try new foods. You cross your legs when you sit on the couch and sit indian style on the floor. You lay on your belly to read books. You love to unload the dishwasher with Mama and say thank you (kank koo) after you pass each item to me. You like to hide behind and under things, even clothes racks at Target. You are a monkey

You are talking a lot more and mimic or try to mimic words we ask you to say. You know a few colors and can say a few numbers.Yucky (cucky) is your favorite word. You say I love you, which we all love to hear. 

You are growing and learning so much. I love seeing you absorb the world and enjoy life. You are a sweet, serious, sometimes goofy, curious and awesome little boy. Most nights Daddy and I go to bed and say, “ We just love that boy, he is so awesome.” In other words, WE LOVE YOU A LOT and we are THANKFUL for you! 

Love always,

Mama

We had a lot of fun taking pictures today!

Thanks for the help Mormor!

Reid-{18 months old}

Reid-{17 months old}

November 26, 2011

Dear Reid,

You are now almost 1 1/2 years old. This past month your eagerness to learn has exploded! You are learning so many new words that I can’t even remember all of the words you are saying. You love your brother and try to get him to dance, sing or play the piano with you. I love to see you learn and want to understand everything. I think you may be an engineer or a musician. :)

Your favorite thing this month was reading books, with assistance, or on your own. You like it when Mommy or Daddy point to different things on the page and tell you what they are and if we stop too early, you will pick our hands back up to point again.

You are so full of life, love and joy. After you are in bed for the night, Daddy and I will often say that we miss you. There is a certain air of happiness and joy when you are running around the house.

Discipline has been needed more as you are getting smarter and a little bit stubborn. You understand quickly and most of the time, don’t do the offending crime again.

We can’t believe how big you have grown and we LOVE YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH!

Love from,

Mommy

Reid-{16 months old}

Dear Reid,

Today you are 16 months old! This month you have become quite the chatterbox. You “talk” a lot when you play and I can see your imagination growing as you play. 

You really like trucks, fire trucks, cars, and your brother. I love watching you interact with him and then watching him respond to you. He loves you and smiles at you a lot. You are very busy and curious about the world. You want to know how everything works and study things intently.

We have gone to a couple of new playgrounds and you love to explore them. I can see how God created a spirit of adventure in you and it makes me smile. I want to explore and go on adventures with you, even if that means something as simple as looking a leaves, or drawing or looking at our eye lashes.

You learned how to say, truck (kuck) coffee (caakeee), Maisy (nee nee),Papa, Your name and Baby.  You love to make fire truck sounds.

I think you would live outside if we allowed you to. You love to play in the leaves and bring us the rake to make the pile bigger, after we rake it bigger, you run through and squeal with joy. We found a cozy coupe on the side of the road and picked it up for you. Little did we know, that you would ADORE that little yellow and red piece of plastic. You would also live in that car if we allowed you to. ;)

Other random things about you this month:

You got a faux hawk hair cut

You weigh 23lbs

You learned how to give butterfly kisses

You are starting to want to snuggle with me before bed ( Unheard of from my Daddy’s boy)

You had your first lollipop, and second and third....

YOU LOVE BOOKS! It is so fun to watch you take in the stories and pictures

You point at diapers (clean or dirty) and say Yucky or make a funny noise )thpppp

You say, “uh oh” or “Uh uh uh uh oooo”

You say Daaaa-Deeeee a lot and you are starting to say Mama or Mommy more

Sing to yourself when we are playing or in the car or while you are eating. It’s so cute.

Most of all you love flap books. Papa G taught you to knock on the door to see what is behind it. You would read for HOURS....and sometimes it would be the same book, over and over and over again. But I would read it to you over and over and over again just to get the chance to snuggle you and see you learn.

I love you Reid.

Mommy

This picture captures a few

of Reid's loves.

Books, tractors and being nearly naked. :)

Reid-{15 months old}

Dear Reid,

Happy 15 month birthday! You are soooo much fun to be with and you are learning new things every day. I love watching you want to understand things and how to do things. Here are highlights of what you are like right now.

Words you can say:

Key=keys or car or anything that moves

Eek= Peek-a-boo

brrrrrr=car, plane, bus etc.

Daddeeeeeeeee

Dada

Mama (when he feels like it)

Hot

Hi

Uh oh

Oh no

Eve=Steve

E-I=Eli

Eeeeeeeeee=Eli when very excited

Signs you use:

Milk

More

Please

Up

Thank you (sometimes)

Cheerio

Drink

Eat

No

Oh no

All done

You Understand:

Out...even if we spell it

Hot

Shoes

Putting things away

Bringing something to us if asked

Drive

Go

Play a song

sit

stand

turn aroud

You like:

Planes and anything that moves

being outside

Riding his bike

Swinging 

Running

Laughing

Getting shoulder rides or back rides

Music

Dancing

The piano

Singing

Playing the guitar and drums

Daddy’s wind up tractor toy

Splashing in the bath

Eating cereal at Mormor and Papa G’s house

Skills:

Turning the light switch on and off

Throwing trash away

blowing nose

Banging your chest like Tarzan

Singing

Putting a necklace on and off

Getting on and off of the couch

Sitting at the table for dinner

Don’t like:

Dirt or sticky things on your hands

A lot of food including bananas

staying inside

being left in the nursery at Moms group (but we’re working on that)

We love you sooooooo very much Reid and we love to see you grow and learn. You are such a gift and bring smiles to the faces of the people who konw you and even ones who don’t...like people at the grocery store. Keep being curious Reid, keep wanting to learn, keep being you.

You are a joy!

Love you,

Mama

Reid-{14 months old}

Dear Reid,

Happy 14 month birthday! We have seen this grow in you when we brought Eli home. The way you love your brother is pretty fantastic. You want to kiss and hug him and look at all his different parts. You make the cutest noises when you hear or see him. You love to make him wave hi and bye. You are an awesome little boy to be around. Your personality is so sweet and loving. 

This past month in bullets:

• You learned to sign “more”
• You learned to sign “please” (sometimes)
• You regularly sign “all done” now
• You moved into a new car seat and you get to sit forwards now, you love this.
• You are pretty much running now instead of walking
• You “read” books. Usually it sounds like this, “duckaduckaducka, tick i tick i, brrrr”
• You love to play at the playground. We go to the Eastern Prom playground a lot.
• You suck your thumb and play with your belly button when you are tired.
• You now have 12 teeth. The top molars made their appearance this month
• You can almost pull yourself up onto the couch
• You don’t really want to eat much. We are told it’s normal...but I can’t wait until you’ll eat what I make for dinner. :)
• You are seriously addicted to crackers.

Oh, and how could I forget!?! You had your first trip to the ER! We were at camp for the weekend and you burned your hand on the grill. I am proud of how well you handled being at the ER, the first hour at camp was awful. You didn't stop crying until we were driving to the ER...then you fell asleep. I hope we don't go through that again for a very long time.

I love being your Mama and I am getting used to taking care of you and Eli, at the same time. :)

Love,

Mama

Reid-{13 months old}

Dear Reid,

You are 13 months old today. Mama went to the hospital today to have your little brother. You stayed with Mormor and Papa G at our house while we were at the hospital. You’re a brother now and I’m sure you’ll love Eli with the same big heart that you love us with.

This past month has been really fun and really hard. I have been really sore and tired as your brother has started to take up more room in my belly. I think you know that I am not feeling normal so you have been really clingy to Dada and Mormor. I have cried quite a few times, wishing that I could wrestle with you and Dada or that you could lay on my belly for a snuggle. I can’t wait until that day comes!!  You also cut your 2 bottom 1 year molars. That was the most uncomfortable I have ever seen you, molars are not nice! The top 2 1 year molars are working there way down now and you are just as uncomfortable again. The top 2 started to come about a week before Eli was coming. 

Now for the fun stuff. You are walking! We are so proud of you, little man! You were pretty cautious at first, but now you are almost running around the house. You learned how to walk over the threshold between the living room and kitchen without falling, how to climb the stairs (with supervision of course) and your balance is improving with each passing day. You love to pick up “heavy” toys and carry them across the room, while you do this you grunt and say “ohhh” to let us know it’s heavy. It is really fun to watch you explore the world from a different viewpoint. 

You are also a lot more aware of what you want and don’t want. You can understand a lot of things that we say, but just don’t know the words to say in response yet. It is really fun to watch you grow and learn new things. You say “hi” a lot, to your toys, to Mama and Dada and even to strangers in the store. You are becoming more social and want to play with kids that we pass in the store or at the park. You really love kids your same age and say a very loud and excited hi whenever we see them. :)

You love to help Mama unload the dishwasher. You’ll stand and take out the silverware one at a time and pass them to me to put away. You tilt your head to your shoulder with each item you take out and look up at me with your sweet puppy dog eyes. It doesn’t matter that it takes longer to get the job done...you are so precious.

Your favorite spot to play is in the space between the kitchen cabinets and the rolling cart that we have the coffee pot on. You slide your way in that small space and play with the lunch boxes or a favorite toy. It’s so cute to see your little body squished in there, you are so small compared to the kitchen. You also love to play with the pots and pans in the drawer under the stove. You take out the lids and try to hang them up with the hand towels and then put them back in the drawer only to start over again. 

You love to wrestle with Dada in the playroom and on the bed. He hides his face and you go over and lift his head up by his hair, then Dada chases you across the room or bed and flips you over and tickles you or gives you raspberries. You have the best belly laugh when you rough house with Dada. When we hang out on our bed, you throw yourself around, flopping back onto pillows and blankets. We cherish mornings spent playing with you on the bed. It’s your form of quality time and we couldn’t be happier to give it to you. 

Your world changed today, on your 13 month birthday...you have a brother now and I can’t wait to see you grow into that role in the next month.

I love you Reid and I am SO glad to be your Mama.

Love,

Mama

Day 365-{12 months old}

Letter to follow...Momma's tired. :)

Day 334-{11 months old}

Dear Reid,

You are 11 months old today. I can not believe that in just one short month you will be 1 year old! You have developed quite the sense of humor this month. The strangest things make you laugh, but we are so glad that this month was filled with so much joy and laughter. You are so awesome!! 

For some reason, we started spitting ice at you one night after dinner and you thought it was the funniest thing! The belly laugh you laughed was such a sweet sound. You also laugh at yourself now...or will start your fake laugh whenever we laugh at something. You think most strange or new noises are funny and will laugh for real or with your “fake” laugh.

You have started to stand unsupported, but the second that you realize what you are doing, you sit right back down. Silly boy. You also have grown quite fond of Bob the monkey. I still think it’s so funny that you named him Bob. :) There have been a few nights that Bob has joined you in your crib and you hug him really closely to your side and fall asleep, it’s adorable. When we are playing in the play room sometimes we will ask where Bob is and you’ll find him, bring him to us and snuggle with us and Bob. 

You have started to sign no and all done, which are the same motions. You shake your head no and wave your arm back and forth...or just make a spitting noise. Sometimes even before I scold you, you tell yourself no by shaking your whole head or body no. It’s so fun to watch you.

From the development of signing no, you have started to dance. You love music, whether it’s a CD in the car, the ipod in the playroom or Daddy playing the piano or drums, you just love it and love to move. 

Your 7th tooth finally broke through your gums this morning. It has been bothering you quite a bit. I always hate to see you in pain, so I am glad the tooth is there and not hurting your little mouth anymore. :)


You make kissing noises now when we blow kisses to you. And just today you started to make fishy lips. :)

We made you a toddler bed this month and you will be moving into that soon. We are a little nervous that you won’t stay in bed and that you won’t sleep, but it’s time. Eli is coming soon and he’ll need a crib to sleep in. 

Oh and let’s not forget that you are becoming more verbal too. You say hi, Mama, Dada and various different noises. You started sticking your tongue in and out against your top lip to make a noise like this,”bliber bliber bliber” and various other loud high pitched noises thrown in for fun.

So basically this month you have been laughing, we have been laughing and you’ve been making the people we bump into smile. You are a joy!

Love,

Momma

Day 304-{10 months old}

Dear Reid,

Happy 10 month birthday! I can’t believe that you age has two digits. I know I’m being sappy, but you are growing up so quickly! I love all of the stages you have been through and I look forward to what is to come. Daddy and I really enjoyed you this past month. You are so fun and interactive and make us laugh A LOT!

This past month in bullets:

• You learned to say, “Hey”
• You put your hand on your head when we say, “ Oh no!”
• You can click your tongue
• You drum your lips with you fingers to make a noise that is hard to type.
• You started to furniture walk
• You are starting to be more social and try to have conversations with us.
• At your 9 month check up you weighed 18lbs and were 28.5 inches tall
• You are a little timid around new people, especially if the are loud talkers
• When we help you walk around, you get so excited and almost “run”
• You gained another too this month and #6 is on it’s way
• You crawl quickly towards noises
• From about 3PM to when Daddy gets home, if you hear any noise in the kitchen you do a little jump and crawl as fast as you can to the kitchen saying Dada the whole way.
• We ask you where your belly button is and you pull you belly back so you can see it.
• You climb all the way to the top of the couch (with supervision of course)
• You are eating a lot of what we eat now and you enjoy it!
• You laugh when we say, “ ZZZZZ-ipper”

You are a joy little boy!

Love,

Mama

Day 273-{39 weeks & 9 months old}

Dear Reid,

You are 9 months old today. You have learned so many new things this month! When I was making a list, I ran out of room! You are so fun to be with and Daddy and I love your new noises and “words”.  Here is a list of things you did or learned to do this month:

• You got your first BIG bruise, right on your forehead because you decided to crawl off of the bed faster than Mommy could move to catch you.
• You started crawling the day after you turned 8 months old and are SO fast now.
• You pull up on everything and have no fear of falling.
• You found the stairs, now we need a gate.
• You experiment with the tone of your voice, a lot of times it sounds like you are yodeling.
• You can say, Bob (who is that?) Hey, Hi, Mama, Dada, Baba, Nahnah and Dat
• I don’t know how tall you are, but your clothes are getting too short
• You LOVE to watch Daddy fly his model airplanes and kick your feet in excitement the whole time.
• You are going to be a big brother to a little brother. Eli will be lucky to have you around.
• You now have 4 teeth. They came in in this order, Lower left, Lower Right, Upper left and then the upper right.
• You love to splash in the bathtub
• You love motion
• You LOVE jumping
• You cruise all over the house and love to lead us to the playroom.
• Your neck, back, legs and tummy are SUPER ticklish.
• You like getting shoulder rides from Daddy, Mormor and Papa G.
• Since your top teeth came in you love making an underbite. You look so cute when you stick your jaw out.
• You still love looking out of the windows.
• You learned how to wave and mostly wave at inanimate objects like, lights, the airplane above your crib and exit signs or ceiling fans.
• You want to talk on the phone, but when we put the phone to your ear or on speaker you just smile or wave.
• You love to look in mirrors.
• You can open and close books
• You can turn the stereo off and then back on again.
• You love to look through the floor grate upstairs.

But most of all you love to EAT! You eat, meatballs, chicken soup, lentil soup, strawberrie/banana/pineapple puree, pineapples, pears, pasta, grilled cheese, pizza, milk, raisins, cheese, CHEERIOS, sweet potatos, prune/apple puree and you are starting to want what we are eating. 

We love that God gave us you. We look forward to what this month will bring and all the new things you will learn, you are amazing Reid.

Love always,

Mommy

Day 245-{8 months old and 35 weeks old}

Dear Reid,

You are 8 months old today.  You are getting so big and have learned so much lately. You are a sweetheart! You enjoy snuggling with me in the morning now and will crawl over to me right before nap time and want to sit on my lap and snuggle. I love those moments and cherish each moment.

In the last month you have learned to crawl!! You started out just doing the army “crawl” and pulled yourself all over the place. Today (your 8 month birthday) you decided to give real crawling a try and you did it! It was a little difficult since you were wearing corduroy overalls on a carpet, but you did it! You also learned to say Mama & Dada. We both love that you call us by name now, it’s a sweet sound. You now have 3.5 teeth, two on the bottom and almost 2 on the top. You are all boy and love to crawl over things and through things and have gotten a few bumps because of your curiosity. You also are learning to pull up on chairs, and the cedar chest by the back door, that makes Mommy SO scared, but you are so proud of yourself every time you do it.

You are growing quite well. There are quite a few pairs of pants and onesies I had to put away because you are getting taller and taller, but you seem to be just like Daddy, as you are  not getting fatter. You are long and lean crawling, jumping, dancing, wiggling machine! :o)

You love looking out the window at whatever activity is going on in the world, which is probably why you love going for adventures in the car, since the scene is always changing. You are a good natured, sweet little boy and Daddy and I couldn’t be happier that God chose to entrust you to us.

I love you more than you know,

Mommy

Day 214-{7 months old}

7 month letter to follow soon. Mommy's brain is too cloudy/tired to write a proper letter. ;o)

And just because I love your eyes....

Day 183-{6 months old}

Dear Reid,

Today you are 6 months old, that is half of a year!! You have grown into a little man and have learned so many things. You now sit on your own and most of the time you don’t fall over. Sometimes if you get distracted or look up too high you fall over, but you just roll over onto your belly and pretend that nothing happened. You are doing MUCH better at eating solid food now. At first you didn’t quite know how to swallow correctly and would spit most of it out. It took a LONG time to feed you but now you gobble up what is served to you pretty quickly. You love sweet potatoes the best so far, which is funny because Daddy and I don’t really like them. You also like applesauce and bananas.

Mormor taught you how to splash in the bathtub so now you do that to everything, even if you are not in the tub. When you are in your jump-a-roo you hit the toys with both hands to make them spin, when you are excited you hit the highchair or lap that you are sitting in and you even hit Mommy’s face, but not on purpose. :o) 

You are teething and have been grumpy for a few days, which is not your normal temperament. I can’t wait for that tooth to come in so you can have some relief from the pain and Mommy and Daddy can have some relief from the grumpies. I shouldn’t complain though, you really are still a very happy, chill little boy, even though your curiosity and noise levels are increasing daily.

You don’t understand yet, but you are going to be a big brother in July! Mommy and Daddy found out at the beginning of the month that you will have a little brother or sister to play with. We are very excited even though Mommy is VERY tired. :)

We love being your parents and are very grateful that God entrusted you to us. 

I love you more with each day that passes,

Mommy 

Day 153- {5 month letter}

Dear Reid,

You are 5 months old today. It is so awesome to watch you learn and grow each month. I can’t believe all of the things you can do now. 

• You can sit with your hands supporting you (sometimes you are daring and sit up tall)
•  You can arch your back and turn your head around to see someone you hear talking.
• Laugh at something we do.
•  Eat your feet
• Change your own schedule when you are tired. 
• You want to do whatever we are doing. 
• Scream really loudly. 
• Try to get our attention in other ways than crying.
• Turn your self around on the floor.
• Make many faces to express your mood.

You really like the “manamana” song and the "yodeling song" from the sound of music.  When I played you those songs for you on Youtube, you laughed a lot. Your personality is developing more and more each day. You seem to have a preference to move, to make noise and watch things outside. I have a feeling that you won’t want a desk job when you grow up.

It seems like you have grown an inch or so in the last 2 weeks. Your pants are looser  around your waist now, and they aren’t as long on you.  You are getting so tall little man! I can’t believe that you are almost 1/2 a year old! Daddy and I have enjoyed these last 5 months with you. We are so thankful that God gave us you!!

Love from,

Your Mommy

Day 122-{4 month letter}

Dear Reid,

You are 4 months old today. You are getting so big and curious about the world around you. I can’t believe that not so long ago you didn’t know how to laugh, or smile or “talk” to Daddy and I. You are such a sweet little boy. You make us laugh and smile at your antics. We even laugh when you poop, since your timing is usually during dinner, when you are being introduced to someone new or when someone is praying. 

Mommy’s instincts were correct and the day after you turned 3 months, you learned how to roll over from your back to your belly. A couple of weeks later you learned to flip the other way too. You will sometimes sit with your hands in front of you for a few seconds, but you don’t really like it yet. By far your favorite activity is jumping in the jump-a-roo, you are so content in there and even fell asleep one time after jumping. Your other fascination is fire, we started using the pellet stove and you really like to look at the fire dance. You regularly stick your tongue out and make funny faces.  You have lots of different voices too, you have figured out that you can be LOUD and quiet and change between the two quite often. I love it when you talk quietly, your little voice is so gentle, but I also love your LOUD voice because it is usually filled with joy. 

You are working on getting your first tooth so you are drooling like a waterfall and chewing on anything you can fit in your mouth. It’s pretty funny to watch. You haven’t seemed to be super uncomfortable yet, definitely cranky at points, but not screaming. You also got your first cold this month. It wasn’t a bad one, but it was really hard for you to breath at night, so you didn’t sleep as well as normal. We had to suction out your nose, and boy do you hate that! I feel so bad, but I know it’s what you need. I have a feeling that things like that are going to happen more and more throughout your life, so I should get used to it. Mormor and Papa watched you overnight so Daddy and I could celebrate our anniversary, it was strange to leave you, but you had a good time with them even though you refused to eat from a bottle much, it must be the Dane in you. :o)

Just thinking about how quickly you have grown brings tears to my eyes, but like Daddy told me the other day, “ Time does go by faster and faster as we get older, but the memories get richer and richer.” It’s true our memories with you are getting richer because you are becoming a little person who knows how he feels, what he likes and does not like and who is stealing a larger and larger part of my heart with each month.

I love you more than you know,

 Mommy

Day 92-{3 month letter)

Dear Reid,

Today you are 3 months old. Your greatest accomplishment this month was learning how to laugh. Daddy and I can’t get enough of that sound. The funny part is the only way we can get you to laugh really hard, is to hold you upside down and wiggle you. You only giggle when we tickle your feet or thighs. Speaking of thighs, I think you have gained some more weight since last month just by looking at your legs! It’s amazing how grown up you are getting. I know I have said that every month so far, but it really is quite amazing. You are so precious! You also learned how to prop yourself up on your arms when you are laying on your belly. You look so proud every time you do that and I have a feeling that you are going to learn to roll over very soon.

You love to play now and have learned how to bring a toy to exactly where you want it to be. The other day you were playing on your activity mat and laughed at what you saw in the mirror above your head, which of course was you. I was cooking and it was so fun to hear you from the other room laughing without being provoked by anyone. 

You are still very relaxed and you are starting to snuggle in when you want to be held. It is so cool to see you hold onto Daddy's shirt and nuzzle into his chest....you do the same thing with Mormor too. 

Lately you really want to explore your surroundings and how everything feels. You will often reach to touch our faces, which makes me smile. You are such a sweet little man. When we go on walks you are constantly moving your head to see everything that is passing by (unless you are sleepy), and have become more "talkative" about what you see. It is so fun to see you want to learn and Daddy and I can’t wait to teach you all about anything that you want to know.

I love you more than you know,

Mommy