6 Months, Reid Version

I'm just going to apologize now, Reid. You will never have anything of your own. Your sister is, shall we say, very "involved." She loves you... 

 ...sometimes a little too much. You aren't shy about letting her know how you feel about her being so close to you all the time, though. 

6/6/13

Mister Reid - 

6 months! How time flies! You were a sick little dude this month. What a trooper you were. It broke my heart to have you so sick, but I’m so glad that you are finally doing better. Here’s what your 5th month brought:

You are sitting up! Forget rolling, you hate it. You want to be up, either in the Bumbo, standing in your exersaucer, or sitting on the floor. You just want to be able to see all the action, and watch your sister fly around the room. 

You started solids. You tried them about a month ago, but you weren’t ready yet (as was evidenced by the pooping in the middle of the night), so we waited a few more weeks. Sometimes you love it, sometimes you don’t, but you’re getting used to the idea. Sweet potatoes, squash, and applesauce are your favorites. 

This month began with a visit to the ER. We went to church and you threw up 3 times within 2 hours, the last time being green. It was scary! You were pale and clammy and just not yourself. So, I called the pediatrician and they said to take you to the ER to rule out a bowel obstruction. Fortunately they checked you out and said you were just fine and it was most likely just a virus, but it was a scary couple of hours for your parents! And then to top it all off, you came down with a bad cold just a week later. It was an ugly few weeks. 

Prior to getting sick, you were starting to sleep so well. You were finally doing a long morning nap, not being swaddled for naps, and sleeping all night in your bed (even though you were waking up 2-3 times a night). This does not sound like much, but it was progress! Then you got sick. And it all went down the tubes. I’m hoping we will get back to that soon!

You are quite the little flirt with the women. You will smile at just about any lady you see with that big toothless grin and those baby blues. Sweetest thing ever. 

You weighed in at 18 lbs at your 6 month check. You’re exactly one pound heavier and one inch longer than your sister was at 6 months, with a much smaller head circumference. I feel like you’re finally filling out and chunking up. I love those leg rolls! 

You’re starting to get a little attached to Mama. You cry when I’m not in your direct line of sight. You whimper when someone else tries to hold you. It’s not as bad as it was with your sister, but it makes me a little nervous for the future! (But thanks for loving me, little guy...I love you too!)

That’s about it, Mister. You’re getting so big, so fast. Slow down, ok???

Love,
Mama and Dada 

5 Months of Reid

 Because Big Sister can't stand it when she's not in the picture.

 Handsome boy and his baby blues.

5 months old!

5/6/12

Dear Reid,

(Sorry about skipping your 4 month pictures, but we were on vacation and then by the time we got back it was almost your 5 month picture time. But I love you!!!)

Oh sweet boy. Your smile is the most contagious thing I’ve ever seen. And when you are awake and sufficiently fed, you are a happy boy. Thank you for being a pleasant and easy going little dude. 

Here’s what you have been up to in your 3rd and 4th months:

You finally decided to roll over again. I say again, because you started rolling over when you were 2 months old, did that for a week, and then quit. You still don’t do it a ton, but more than you have in the last two months. 

You will pretty much go to anyone at anytime. This makes Mama happy, because your sister was pretty attached, even at your age. So on the days where Mama teaches piano and my piano moms have to watch you, you are a gem, and I don’t have to worry!

You started laughing. Well, it’s more of a giggle. And you do it all the time! You’re way easier to make laugh than your sister. It’s such a cute little sound, that giggle of yours. 

You seriously love your Dada. You light up when you see him. You give him your biggest giggles. 

You are very alert and aware of your surroundings. You are a people watcher.

You are a terrible, no good, very bad sleeper. Awful, I tell you! You nap for max 45 minutes in your crib. You sleep lousy at night, up to eat at least twice, and more for a paci. You sleep like an angel if you sleep with me, however, so for now that’s what we do. I am sort of at a loss for what to do with you. You still sleep swaddled, but sometimes you hate it, but you can’t sleep without it. It’s all kind of a nightmare, and I’m just praying that someday you will grow out of it.

You went on your very first plane ride and you were such a good babe! You made sure to flirt with all the flight attendants and female travelers. You slept easily on the flights and didn’t seem to be bothered by the pressure change. You did pretty well on vacation too, meeting all sorts of new people and getting your schedule all messed up. 

Overall you are a pretty pleasant, easy-going babe, sleeping issues aside. 

Love you, Monster!

Please Shine Down On Me

This girl of mine, she is a singer. I think we must spend at least 50% of our day running through our list of favorite songs, or learning new ones. She's a quick one, too. After just a few times of singing a song, she's almost got all the words down.

Here are two of our current favorites:

Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun
100 0032 from Rebekah Byron on Vimeo.

I Am a Child of God
100 0035 from Rebekah Byron on Vimeo.

My Week

This was my week in a nutshell. 

Reid in Bumbo.

Addi on potty.

We had attempted potty training before. A few times actually. But, Addi just wasn't getting it, and it was making me crazy, so we postponed for a while. Then, on Monday, she decided she wanted to wear panties. The first day was horrendous, and I was about ready to quit. The only thing that kept me going was that she had gone in the potty several times that day and was so excited about it. During the day Tuesday wasn't much better. And then that night both Chad and I had to be at the church, which meant both the kiddos had to come with us. (Usually I just have to be there, but Chad had to go this week too, go figure). I was going to put a diaper on her, because she hadn't really made a ton of progress that day and it would have just been easier. Chad, however, wanted to keep her in panties. Chad won out, and I'm so glad. It was the breakthrough we needed. She stayed dry the whole night, came home and went on the potty. The next morning she woke up and actually told me she needed to go potty. She had one accident the rest of the week. I am so pleased. I thought for sure she was going to be 3 before we got there. Way to go, Addi!

3 Months of Reid

3/6/2013

Mr. Reid,

Ok, so my sweet little mister is making his reappearance. Last month was rough, dude. I’m so glad that you’re becoming a little easier to handle this month. I was getting worried. =)

During your third month:

You started rolling over from tummy to back. Whaa??? Why do my children insist on growing up so fast? Your sister did the same thing. Luckily, you rolled over a ton for a few days and then stopped for a while. Thank goodness. I’m not ready for a rolling baby. 

You smiled all the time! Your sweet, cheeky grin is my favorite.

You discovered just how fun Dad can be. You started smiling so big at Dada this month. You still prefer Mama, but you like to play with Dad. 

You still do not nap well in your crib. I’m talking 30-45 minutes max. You really just want to be held for your naps, but you will be forced into sleeping in the swing if necessary. Mama needs to start working on this with you, or else you’ll have to be held for naps until you’re 2! You are sleeping about the same at night, 5-6 hours, then 3 hours, and then 2ish more hours. I’m so looking forward to the days where you will only wake up one time in the night!

You blink like crazy when your sister comes close. She’s a little aggressive at times, and mostly just wants to love you too much, but it freaks you out. You are not afraid to let her know how you feel. You still love to watch her, and your little neck will stretch like crazy just to follow her across the room.

You started cooing. Oh that deep little voice is so cute. You also do a high pitched squealing thing when you’re frustrated or excited, which I’m sure will become less than pleasant but for now is pretty adorable. 

You really love to be sitting up, so we’ve started putting you in the Bumbo more and in the exersaucer. You’ll sit in both of those for quite a while. You'll also swing for a while, too, which is something your sister never did. You are proving to be a little more mild-mannered than Addi, but I do see a lot of similarities in your personalities. I hope that doesn't mean we're in for trouble! =)

Love you little man!

Mama & Dada

Reid Month 2

2/6/13 - 

Reid, 

Boy did you have us fooled last month. Our sweet-tempered, easy-peasy baby turned into a difficult-to-soothe, only-naps-when-held, prefers-to-be-walked-around-infant. Don’t get me wrong, you are definitely still a super sweet boy. You are still so smiley, and mostly content but some of your temperament is starting to shine through and you have more of your sister in you than we previously thought. It’s ok though, because we love babies with some spunk. We can do that around here. =)

Here’s what you were up to in your second month:

You love your Mama. You give her some of your biggest, sweetest grins.

You are also fascinated with your sister. You watch her, talk to her, smile at her, and coo along with her when she sings to you. Makes us happy parents!

You are super smiley for the 30 minutes after you are fed. 

You started sleeping between 4-5 hours at night, eating, and then going back down for a few more. You will sleep the whole night in your bassinet in our closet. Hallelujah. 

You are not an evening person. From about 4 o’clock on, you’re just kind of fussy. You want to be up moving around, and you’re no longer content to lay on the floor. 5-6 is definitely your witching hour, right when I’m trying to make dinner!

You started filling out! You have some pretty cute, chubby cheeks and a big Buddha belly. The rest of you is kind of scrawny, though. Little chicken legs and arms. Just looking at you, nobody would guess you are in the 80th percentile for height and weight. It’s all in that belly!

You will fall asleep on your own in your crib for naps, but will wake up after 45 minutes, even though you’re not done napping. Then you just want to finish your nap in Mama’s arms. Silly boy. I keep telling myself to enjoy this phase of life, because there will come a time where I will miss you letting me hold you while you sleep. 

You are getting super strong! You prefer to be “up” and looking around. You like tummy time way more than your sister ever did, and you push your chest off the ground like a pro.

You can be so chill sometimes. You will sit in your bouncy seat or lay on your playmat or the floor for quite a while if you are content. 

We sure do love you, little dude! You’re growing up so fast...want to slow down a little bit? =)

Love, 

Mama & Dada

2 Years of Addi

*This should have gone up two months ago, but like in all things lately, I am behind. =)*

12/8/2012 - 

Addi Bug,

You, my dear, are so so big. I think I realized it when you came to visit us in the hospital after your baby brother was born. It was like, all of a sudden you knew you were going to have to grow up a little bit faster so that you could be a big helper at home. And you have been exactly that! You fetch diapers and burp rags (or raggers, as you refer to them). You help me to burp Reid. You are on paci patrol, always making sure he has his paci and giving it to him when he needs it, and sometimes when he doesn’t. You are almost like his little Mama. If you could feed him, I think you would! When he is waking from a nap in his room, you will hear him at the same time as I do and say to me, “Me go get him, I be riiiiiight back.” =) It has been one of my greatest joys in life to watch you and your brother together--and I think the fun is just beginning!

At 2 years old:

You are seriously so funny. You just say some of the craziest, funniest things. Your favorite YouTube video for a while was the “Charlie Bit My Finger” video and you would go around saying, “Charlie, that really hurt!” in various voices.

You are quite sassy. You have learned the phrase, “That’s mine!” And you use it frequently. Mostly when referencing Mama and Dada’s phones or iPad. You have started throwing tantrums, but you are generally pretty easy to talk down off the ledge or distract.  

You put yourself in time-out. Obviously time out is not working very well, because when you do something naughty you ask to go to time out. What to do with you...

You are an excellent talker, and you talk all day long. We can understand most of what you say, but there are times you fill in the words we know with words we don’t, and it sounds a lot like gibberish to us! 

You are addicted to the iPhone/iPad and you can find your way to any app or video you want to see. You also find your way to videos we don't want you to see. Trouble, trouble! It’s crazy how quickly you have picked up on technology.

You love to sing songs. We spend a good chunk of our day singing songs together. Your current favorites are “Twinkle, Twinkle,” “I Am a Child of God,” and “Ring Around the Rosie.” You know most of the words, too! 

You will not sit still for very long. I keep hoping your attention span will lengthen so that we can actually sit down and read a whole story together. But for now, you are just too busy. You are always on the go, moving from one activity to the next, often trying to do two things at once!

You are also an awesome eater. You fit right in in this house. You are a food lover! Tomatoes, you love ‘em! Guacamole, you’ll scarf it down! Onions, you’ll eat ‘em whole! I think we are pretty lucky that you don’t fight us too much on the meal front. I hope you are always an adventurous eater. 

You have a pretty good handle on your ABC’s, 123’s, shapes, and colors. For the longest time you were neglecting number 9. I don’t know what it was. Finally it clicked, and 9 is no longer forgotten. 

You are a social butterfly. You love nursery, playgroup, lunch bunch...any place where you can go and interact with others. You know all the kids and leaders names in nursery. You love to people watch.  

Some things you don’t like:

The doctor. Holy smokes. You scream almost the whole time we’re there. Even when she’s just asking us questions! 

Getting your hair washed. You love baths, but hate getting your hair wet. 

When someone tells you “no” or to be told you are too little for something. You want to do EVERYTHING yourself. =) Typical two year old!

Going to the store without a snack. Heaven help us if we forget one.

Talking about throwing your pacifiers away. You still get them when you’re in your crib, and only when you’re in your crib...but boy do you love those things. We start talking about taking them away and you almost have a meltdown.

The vacuum. Although, your Dada has been working with you on this one and you are getting much better. There was a time where we would mention the word vacuum and you would get tears in your eyes. 

Bug, we love you. Our house wouldn’t be complete without your energetic, sassy, full of it, self!

Love, 

Mama and Dada