The one where Reed goes to the zoo

Last Thursday Reed took his first trip to the zoo! I'm not completely sure that he noticed any of the animals but he sure enjoys being able to sit facing forward in his stroller. That's right, he's big enough now that we don't have to put his infant car seat on the stroller anymore. He sits in there so big. This is great because he enjoys going for walks so much more now.

We met up with Kelly and Sophie, who introduced us to their friends Jen and Asher. They left after about an hour and then April and Hannah joined us and Reed and I ended up staying for about 3 hours. I'd hadn't yet been to the Oklahoma City zoo, so I enjoyed doing something new as well. I decided that its a pretty nice place to be able to go and take Reed for walks so I bought an annual membership. We should be seeing a lot more of that place in the next year!

Over the weekend Mike's parents came to visit. It's always so great to have them around. I know it's hard for them to have Reed growing up so far away, but we're just lucky that they are able to come visit fairly regularly. Of course with babies, "fairly often" is never often enough because they change so much in such a short amount of time.

Mike and I took advantage and were able to sneak in a date night while they were here. We had a wonderful dinner at Boulevard Steakhouse and then saw "Just Go with It". I love all the family time we get, which is why I don't go around seeking baby sitters so Mike and I can go out. However, when it is just the two of us, I realize how much I love to look in his eyes, and the simplicity of the evening; having my hands free to do with them as I wish, enjoying uninterrupted conversation and going from place to place with much less baggage.

One of the goals we had for the weekend was to choose our Hawaiian accommodations. We have it narrowed down to three rentals, which I applaud. I mean, it's Hawaii, everything looks great! So, narrowing it down to three is a pretty big accomplishment.

The weather has been pretty ideal and Reed has been able to spend some time outside. He really digs the swings at the playground just down the street from our house. It's very convenient! We have to tuck a towel around his waist because the bucket seat is too large for his little body, but once in there he's strong enough to control himself during the back and forth motion. Its cute to see him doing big boy things! Speaking of... last week he also figured out how to crawl! He was up on all fours and going forward, so I'm calling it crawling. It amazes me, because just two days prior, he was grabbing the carpet and dragging himself towards my mom on the laptop! Things happen so quickly with babies.

He now has a growing menu including rice cereal, carrots and peas. Up next will be acorn squash!

I've been cooking his baby food rather than buying it in jars, and before you start with any praise, I have to admit so far it hasn't really been anything that special. Heating and pureeing. I

wish I could say that with all this "big boy" stuff going on, he'd be sleeping well at night. But, I must report that is incorrect. He'll throw in a couple of good nights every now and then but generally he's had some night time issues. I'm sure it has something to do with his tiny digestive system and the chaos that comes with formula and veggies. It's got to iron out soon.

Today I took him with me while Allissa and I got pedicures. He was an angel! In my minds eye I had pictured us passing him back and forth, entertaining him while we tried to get express pedicures.

It turned out that he fell asleep on the way there and slept the majority of it in his car seat. In the end he woke up and I played with him on my lap for a bit. I feel blessed when Reed joins me in doing the things I want to do. Its much better than being at home, pouting because I need a pedicure but wondering when I'll sneak it in. He still makes me wonder and I'm never quite sure how it will turn out, but I give it a go anyway and just see what happens. He is precious and sweet.

The one where Reed Swings

I know it's terrible quality... just wait till I get my iphone activated!

The One Where Reed Said Happy Valentine's Day!

The One Where I thought we were on a break...

Sorry about the break! Life has been so busy and blogging hit the back burner. On top of that, the computer went on the frits! But, we have it back now so I have to take a quick sec out of my day to throw down some words.

Reed has had a lot going on lately with the addition of solids, be

ing sick, and supplementing with formula. Its breaks my heart, but my production is way down so we've had to start giving Reed formula. I have learned that formula has its benefits! I can take a bottle with powder in it and a separate bottle of water to mix while I'm out and about and actually feed him comfortably in public! No wardrobe malfunction risks, no frozen packets, and most importantly no running out in the middle of a feeding and frustrating a hungry little man!

I'm still hanging in there and feeding him when I can, about twice a day, because the benefits of breastmilk are still important to me. Plus, I just enjoy snuggling with Reed and there is a whole emotional aspect that goes along with it.

Reed discovered Cautia! I wanted to blog about this when we first noticed that he was watching her, but it has been almost two weeks now. Mike looked at me and said, "Look! He's watching her!" Which was really cool, because we knew that he didn't yet know that we had a cat! So a

couple days pass and the next thing you know, he's sitting on my lap and Cautia comes strolling up. His tiny hand reaches out and his fingers wave through her fur. I grabbed my phone to take a video so I could send it to Mike. He was petting Cautia! I have to tell you, no one was more excited than Cautia! I think she's been waiting months for this little guy to get big enough to be able to show her some love. Ever since that turning point, they have become friends and spend a lot of time hanging out together. Cautia loves to drop by to see if Reed is in the mood to show her some attention.

Another big event was on Tuesday, we took Reed to the small playground at the end of our street. It was his first time on the swings and he had a blast! It was adorable! I got some not-so-great pictures on my wonderful 1.3 megapixal blackberry camera, but I'll be taking him again this afternoon and get some good photos. That evening we webcam'd with my mom and he inched towards her! He usually just steam rolls all over the house but he's been working on some forward motion while on his belly, which is exiting to see.

We added carrots to his diet that day as well. I'm playing chef and making his baby food, because lets face it, baby food is not appetizing. However, pureed carrots and other veggies or fruits are just normal food in an altered and baby friendly form!

The One Where We Were Snowed in

They laughed when the weatherman said we would get "snow". They laughed when when he said it would be 6", then later 10+".

Now that I'm staring at a 4 foot snow drift on my back patio, who's laughing now? The blizzard of 2011 has befallen us. Saturday was 75 degrees and I had Reed naked on the patio. Today its 11 degrees at noon and I don't even want him to be naked in the house! Mike's offices officially closed for two days while my boss and about half my group has made it in. Here is my dilemma, we have two vehicles- a car and an SUV. The SUV with all wheel drive being the obvious choice for driving in this type of weather. On the other hand, it's a Porshe, which makes it also the worst choice for driving in this type of weather! I can't win!

Reed says, "what is all this white stuff? It has swallowed up our table and chairs!"

So we are all staying in, Mike, Reed and me. What have we been doing with our time? Well, I can tell you we haven't been as productive as we probably should be! Yesterday was Mike's birthday so it was nice that he could stay home so we could all spend his birthday together. He opened birthday presents and we made granola bars (his favorite and preferred over cake, anytime).

Other highlights include multiple rides on the trainer, a couple movies and a whole lot of playing!

We've been simulating crawling for Reed. One of us hold his ankles and one holds his hands as we inch him across the floor. This may look a little bit like dragging our child back and forth, but do not be fooled. This is a developmental exercise. I promise.

Another project that has occupied some of my time is a poster I promised to create for Emily. It's for Hounds of the Heartland, a group that saves retired racing greyhounds and adopts them out. Here is the poster so far... I'm still working on it, but I'm pretty excited about how it's coming along.

There are some things that I hope I never forget about Reed. I hope I always remember how soft his cheek is against mine. When he's sleepy and he's sitting on my one arm, his body melted against me and his cheek resting on mine because he doesn't have the energy to hold his head on his own. I hope I never forget his smell. When I walk into his room to get him from his crib, the sweet baby smell is all around me. A note here to other parents, no we don't keep any dirty diapers in his room (i.e. diaper genie) so that's not what it smells like! *wink*

It's the smell of his little body, his sweat I suppose. I always want to remember the sound of his baby voice and specifically, his laugh.

Reed is a tummy sleeper but sometimes we have to put him down on his back because he can't sleep on his tummy at school, its against the rules. So we try to sneak in a couple of on the back naps here and there to make it easier on his teachers. I thought this was a cute one from yesterday.

I got my first college B and I'm very distraught, it was on my math test Monday. This can't happen again- I missed 3 questions on a test of 25. This B breaks my streak! I guess I could blame it on being a new mom, I mean, I knew something was going to have to give. But in math, it only gets harder, right? So, that's just a really bad sign!

Okay, it's time I admit- I'm not really in the mood to blog. Blame it on being a snowday, but I thought to myself, "I have nothing better to do, I should be blogging." The thing about snow days, however, is that its the day you should be doing a bunch of things that you feel obligated to do, but don't feel the least bit interested in doing them. I could be mopping, catching up on laundry, deep cleaning, posting things I need to sell on ebay, etc. See, I was just sitting here and all those things popped into my head. The fact of the matter is, snowday is more likely to be a movie marathon day coupled with pajama day. Don't judge me.