Reid's 3rd Birthday

So I realized the other day that I haven't blogged about Reid's 3rd birthday yet that was on OCTOBER 7!!!! Yikes!  So here is my valiant attempt to catch up some. . .

Door birthday banner

 Reid will not get out of bed until we go in there to get him so Daddy had to open his door that morning and coax him to come out haha!

Everyone needs a birthday chair!

Presents from Mommy and Daddy

A helmet and a scooter!!!

 Mark and I got him a scooter for Christmas!  However, you can't turn the handle, which I'm sure is really great for younger kids but not too great for our going boy.  Luckily the day before my grandmother had found a child's scooter at a garage sale for only $2 that you can turn the handle so he has been riding that one ever since.

Birthday Pancakes

I had to take Owen to the doctor on Reid's birthday because he had been tugging at his ears. . .

Owen ended up with a double ear infection so Reid spent the morning with my grandparents 

He got the Armor of God!

This is Reid's "aunt" (my cousin) Kyndall who shares her birthday with him

I just love this kid!

I cannot really believe my first baby boy is 3!  I so enjoy him and couldn't imagine doing anything else!  Seriously he brings us so much joy!  He is all boy and I love every bit of it.  Every ball thrown, every car driven, every baseball hit, everything.  He is so smart, learning so many new things (like the seasons) every day and talks non stop.  I can't wait to watch him continue to grow!

Read about Reid: 17 Months

Ok so it has been quite a while since we did one of these, but that is ok, because now you will see how much he has learned.

Just so y'all know, I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the toddler stage!  I honestly didn't think I would at all, but it really has been a joy.  He is doing so much more, is able to understand most of what I am saying (though I cannot say the same for him, he is babbling stuff like crazy, but I have NO IDEA what any of it is), can follow simple commands, plays with toys, loves to read, the list goes on and on.  So without further ado, here is what Reid can do at the moment

1. The boy can throw and ball and throw it well.  He throws it hard and is pretty accurate.  Mark nor I taught him that, but he has a natural follow through, which I think is pretty legit.
2. He is GREAT at kicking a ball.  He kicks left footed always and once again kicks it HARD.  I think he takes after his daddy.  Mark never taught him how to kick, but says he "approaches it" (I think, he isn't here so I can't ask) which means he basically walks up and kicks through his stride (does that make sense), doesn't stop then swing his leg.  Apparently that is a pretty good skill.
3. He can shoot a ball too! He got one of those little Tyke basketball goals for Christmas from my grandparents, a gift that was supposed to go to their house as soon as it was opened, but alas, he received it and played with it for 3 SOLID HOURS!  People that is a record for anything to hold his attention, especially 3 hours worth!  Needless to say it came to our house and is still here.  We play with it everyday at least once, if not 5 times.  
4. He is getting MOLARS.  Oh they are the devil, seriously, I hate them SSSOOO much.  They hurt his little mouth and his gums get SSSOOO swollen it is ridiculous.  I feel bad for him because on those days he is just super cranky (though he sleeps great at nap which is a plus).
5. Speaking of naps, we have been down to just one afternoon nap for a while.  He usually goes down about 1 or so and gets up around 3ish.  Nap time is nice, always.
6. He loves books and definitely has his favorites.  His absolute favorite is "Where's Spot?" a lift the flap book.  He can read that over and over and begs for it (and we hide it. . . often. . . there is only so much finding of Spot we can take).   Another favorite is "I Love You Through and Through" which has a little boy with a teddy bear (bee-oor), but this one he likes to read with "Babby" otherwise known as Abby.  She is one of our youth that is over regularly and he adores her!  Adores her so much he said "Babby" before he said "Mama" or "Grammy".  Anyway, it is no big deal to go and find him sitting by his bookshelf pulling out countless books, and reading them to himself.  So cute!
7. He has recently started to like T.V. some.  To him the T.V. is called "Memo" because he watches "Elmo" aka Sesame Street while he eats breakfast in the morning. He doesn't ever make it the whole hour, just maybe the first 20 minutes (if that) but he likes it.  Another favorite is Barney.  We bought a portable DVD player that hooks to the back your headrest for the car and seriously that sucker is worth it's weight in GOLD.  Makes long drives so much easier.  Lydia, Jenni, Meagan, seriously you should invest, you will thank me later!
8. He likes to dance.  Seriously, he has some moves.
9. We started talking about colors today.  He can say "Blue" (bwoo) and "Green" (geen).  
10. He knows where is eye, ear, nose, mouth, chin, cheek, hair, tounge, knee, belly button, fingers, toes, and foot are on his body and can point to them accordingly.
11. He knows so many words and learns new ones everyday (hence the word "geen" today).  A few things he says new are: bear, rock-rock (ock, ock), Scott (cott), dog (da), bird (bawr, kinda sounds like ball, but it's bird), banana (na-na), Nina (Mark's mom), Gi (my mom), Papaw (my dad and grandfather), Pops, Poppy, Noni, and Ballou (ba-oo, my grandmother), juice (he somhow rolls his J and is sounds something like broosh, but in a weird way), bath (bah), shoe (kinda sounds like juice), and a few more I am sure I don't remember.
12. He can blow his nose when I ask him too (great skill to have!)
13. He can also blow hot food.
14. He can use a fork and spoon and will not let us feed him anymore for the most part. 
15. He loves to sing and makes up his own tunes and words.  

Well there you have it.  I know I haven't put everything on here, but I just wanted to commemorate where we were at this point in life.  It is a sweet precious time, one I wouldn't trade for the world!

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Read about Reid: 1 Year

Right Now I should be doing plenty more things other than sitting down to blog.  However, when the boy is asleep I take the chance I have and run with it.  I cannot believe almost a whole year has gone by since he has been born.  It really feels like just yesterday he was placed in my arms after 9 long months of waiting!  The things we have been through in a whole year have been amazing too, some that I wish I could go back and relive, and others I do not care to go back and do over.  Here are some things about Reid that I want to never forget.

1.  The boy loves balls!  They are his toy of choice and it was the first word he said after "dada".  He can find one any where and wants to play with it instantly.  I love watching him be entertained by something so simple and to see his delight in it.

2.  He is now sleeping through the night quite comfortably.  We have finally reached the full 12 hour a night mark instead of 10 and for that I am SUPER grateful!  It is so nice!

3.  Reid can put away some food.  He likes most anything (berries are not his favorite.  We will work on that).  It amazes me how much he eats, it is way more than I eat that is for sure!  Some of his favorite foods are scrambled eggs, pancakes, bananas, grilled ham and cheese sandwhich, potatoes, green beans, taco meat, bread of any kind, spaghetti,  the list goes on and on!

4.  I love his little laugh.  He loves to be tickled and will giggle and squeal to let you know he is enjoying himself.  We have this silly came we play where I sit him in my lap and say "I" (while pointing to my eyes) "love" (cross my arms over my chest to make the love sign), and then I squeal "YOU!" and tickle him!  He goes crazy!

5.  There could never be a little boy who is loved more.  He has so many people around him that just want to eat him up it is crazy.  We are blessed.

6.  He is now toddling everywhere.  That just started last week!  It is crazy how one day they just decide they can do it, and go for it!

7.  He is also a strong little guy, he has muscles like you wouldn't believe.

8.  He loves to drive anything!  Going riding at noni's with poppy is one of his favorite past times.

9.  Swinging is also a blast.  There is a whole swingset set up just for him at Nana and Pops' house ready to be used whenever we are there.

10.  He is the best baby in the world!  I love how happy and joyful he is.  He brings so much to our lives, I know we will never be the same!  I pray that he loves deeply always, and follows hard after the Lord.  He is wonderful and I have been blessed by him this past year

Read about Reid

Yep it is that time again!

1.  He is the cutest little boy in the world.  Figured I would start with a given;-)

2.  He is incredibly mild mannered, given the parents he has lol.  He really doesn't throw that many fits, though he has his moments on certain days.  I don't like those days and I don't think he does either.  Generally he is pretty chill and goes with the flow pretty well.

3.  He loves to smile!  My aunt says that when he smiles, it just goes all over him and he smiles ALL OVER! Seriously it takes up his whole face he smiles so big!  It makes your heart melt!

4.  He loves to smile at the baby in the mirror of his play mat!  He thinks that is the best playmate.

5.  He doesn't like tummy time at all!  I think this is because we put him to sleep on his belly (shh don't tell) and he associates it with bed time.  

6.  He is starting to suck on his hands, trying to suck his thumb!  I do NOT want this to happen at all!  I would rather him take to a paci because you can throw that away easier then you can throw away a thumb!

7.  He is sleeping through the night now.  If he does wake up I let him cry it out, and usually after 2-4 minutes he is back asleep again.  Sometimes he will flip himself over and that makes him really mad!  

8.  He likes to sleep right next to you.  The other day at Mark's parents house it was cold so we put him in between us (not something that will become routine, my bed is exactly that, MY BED!) and then again last night when our programming on the heater messed up and I woke up to the house at 60 degrees, we did the same thing.  Well both times he ended up moving close to me, and got it to where I only had about my body's width of room. . . on a king sized bed!  

9.  We now have a bedtime routine, consisting of a bath, a book, and eating, where he will hopefully fall asleep nursing (the only session he is allowed to do this on).  It has made a lot of difference in how he sleeps throughout the night.  Mark and I take turns with nightly baths and lotioning.  We use the Johnson bedtime bath and lotion, which smells just so dern good!

10.  He is starting to become more interested in watching things.  I am starting to show him some baby einstein videos, which will hopefully let me get some housework done, while he might learn a bit.  

Welp, there you have it.