The one about strong & smart

Reed is so smart and so strong!

At his 18 month appointment we told his pediatrician about all the milestones and abilities of our toddler. He was so impressed that he half joked that he should be asking the 3 year old appointment questions!!

Reed has so many words now, that there's no point in trying to count. Plus, he will learn a new one any chance you give him. I just have to tell him what it is and ask him to repeat it back.  The next day, I can ask him again and he'll remember it. He can identify all 26 letters of the alphabet, you can point to words on signs, t-shirts, books... he knows all the capital letters.  He has an alphabet puzzle that he started working on at 16 months.  He knows that saying "please" will guarantee that he'll get what he wants, and takes advantage of that all the time.  His ability to learn just blows me away.  Anything we want to teach him, or anything he wants to teach himself.  At church last week, he methodically removed the pens from the holes in the wooden pews and re-inserted them over and over and over. When he started it was hard to make the target, because he was holding the pen at the very end- then he got better and better. 

When it was mastered, he moved on. Watching him play with his race track is the same thing. He focuses so hard that it seems our house could come falling down around him and he would probably move the bricks away so he could continue dropping cars down the ramps. That is some impressive concentration. He must have got it from his dad, because I can only get in that zone when I'm painting :o)

His strength is another thing to applaud.  He watched his dad do pull ups a couple of months ago and insisted to be given the opportunity to try the same thing.  Reed started hanging from the pull up bar and was able to hang longer and longer. Now he grabs onto the beams at the playground and even lifts his legs and swings himself back and forth. He cracks himself up!

I can't say he's lacking in any area. Verbally he's brilliant. Intellectually he’s a genius. Physically he's Hercules. Socially he’s charming and suave. Emotionally he’s compassionate and aware.

Not only is his ability to learn impressive, but his desire to do so is sensational. 

  

So far, Bryce is on the same track.  Mike and I are so involved with our boys, Reed’s teacher told us to keep “doing what we’re doing” and his pediatrician said “continue doing whatever it is you’re doing, because it’s working”.  I don’t really see how people could not do what we’re doing. I don’t feel like its work. I don’t feel like I’m sacrificing anything that I’d rather be doing, to spend time reading books to Reed and singing songs to Bryce.  I don’t feel like it’s a “daily grind” while my children are learning and soaking it all up.  Its fun and I enjoy spending time with my babies.  I enjoy being away from them, too! Don’t get me wrong. That’s why I love being part time. I think it makes the time that I spend with them a much better quality time. The challenge is to stay ahead of Reed and not let his learning stall. To keep pushing that gas pedal and throw new things at him every day. The applause is what keeps him going. He loves to please!

Bryce is easy to get a smile out of. Sometimes he'll just be sitting there by himself smiling at nothing- I'd like to take credit for it, but sometimes it's just not in response to anything I did!  But if I do want to make him smile, I just tap his nose or his cheeks.  His eyes light up and his grin widens into a joyous smile!

He's starting to sleep better, he still wants a bottle every 3 hours, but sometimes he'll sleep for 3 to 4 hours. He is in the office next to our room for now. We want to wait until he starts sleeping through the night before we move him in with Reed. 

I can't complain much. Mike's been helping me out in a big way, staying up later when Bryce won't fall asleep when we're ready and letting me go to bed early.  He also takes one of the night wakes, we divide them into First Shift and Second Shift.  Plus, he's the one who gets up in the mornings when the boys are ready to start the day. Sometimes that's 5am. I love him for knowing how much I love my sleep and giving me extra time in bed here and there.  We both know that he functions a lot better on lack of sleep than I do.  I did it for a while, but I don't have the endurance to keep going.  Things begin to fall apart.  My memory, then my patience, followed by my logic and my coordination. 

The one about copy-cat & Bryce starting MDO

Reed does the funniest things.  Yesterday I took him to the playground down the street (Bryce was asleep in the stroller) and he was just so happy and having so much fun playing.  He has a couple of tasks he must complete while at the playground these days.  The first is the pinecone journey.  I’m not even sure how to spell his word for pinecone. It’s sort of like “by-bow”.

Step 1. Find two pinecones

Step 2.  Climb up the ramp with both pinecones. (Sometimes when he’s getting clumsy, he’ll let me take them and place them at the top so he won’t fall)

Step 3.  Climb the step to the top level and throw both pinecones down the spiral tunnel slide.

Step 4. Turn around and ask, “Go?” (short for “where did they go?”

Step 5.  Slide down the straight slide

Step 6.  Retrieve pinecones.

Step 7.  Start over.

We can get through ten or more rounds of this before he starts adding variations or finds something new to do. Up next? The hill.

There’s a couple of small sloping “hills” surrounding the playground. Reed loves to run down them. There is a thrill in it that is purely adventurous to a toddler. First he trudges up the hill, while I narrate. “Uuuup the hill!” I draw out, while he grins on his way up.  “Stop.  Turn around,” I instruct.  “Down the hill!” I chime as he throws his feet, one in front of the other- his little body bouncing and bumbling down the hill.  His hand flapping in front of his bent arms. He squeals in delight as he turns around to trudge back up the hill and do it again.  If he falls, he hops up and brushes his hands together saying, “dirty” or “oh no!”

He also likes to copy me.  He looked so handsome standing in the grass in his brown shirt and blue jeans with the trees as a back drop, so I got on my knees to take a picture.  He smiled and got on his knees, too.  The look on his face was expectant, like- Okay mom, now that we’re down here, what are we going to do?  I laughed at his imitation of me and then he started fake laughing, too! I guess that completed his impression.  

A couple of days ago, he copied me as I was sneezing- I felt it coming and I bent at the knees and waist in anticipation. He smiled so big, watching me, and copied my posture. Then I sneezed and he said, “CHOO!”  Mike and I were both cracking up!

Bryce had his first day of school a week ago (last Monday, when I went back to work). He was 8 weeks old that day.  I was ready, and I think he was, too. He’s pretty laid back most of the time and it’s not hard to make him happy or comfortable.  I dropped them off at Mother’s Day Out and for the first hour, Reed and Bryce are in the same room, for early care.  They said Reed was pretty happy about Bryce still being there and kept going over to check on him.  However, when Bryce’s teacher came to get him at 9:30 and take him to his own class, Reed lost it! He screamed “BICE! BICE!” for 20 minutes, he cried for his brother! Reed almost had his teachers in tears, they were so sad for him!  They took Reed down the hall to explain to him that Bryce was safe and happy in his own class room.  

Bryce in the Moby carrier at the airport

The next school day, they let Reed “take” Bryce to his class and he seemed to be much happier with that arrangement.  It was only when they were changing Bryce’s diaper (he’s in the adjoining room) and Reed could hear him crying, that Reed started to worry and cry for Bryce again.  They had to lift him up to look through the window and show him that Bryce was okay.  He’s breaking all their hearts with his concern for his brother! Such a sweet little man! 

The one about a mother's hands

I have my mom’s hands.  They are identical to hers when she was around my age.  If I held them up to hers now, of course you would see the differences, but when I look at my hands, I see my mom’s hands. I don’t know when it hit me the first time, but I think of it so much more often now that I have kids.  It comes from the way I touch my babies. I lay my palm on Bryce’s cheek and run my thumb back and forth over his eyebrow.  When Reed’s hands are cold I put them inside both of mine to warm them up.  To make Bryce smile I tap my finger on his nose.  When I’m holding Reed in a hug I put my fingers in his hair or when I look at his face I’m constantly running my fingertips through his hair to sweep it to the side.

This sometimes gives me a feeling of nostalgia and makes me miss my mom and the way she touches me. The way she warms my hands in hers, the way she arranges my hair when it’s gone awry. The way she runs her thumb over my knuckles when she holds my hand in church.  Sometimes leads to the rope fraying and I begin to miss my mom and the way she mothers me.  The way she’s always on my side when I’m upset and venting to her.  The way she finds the simplest things I do or say side-splintering-hilarious. The way she sky rockets my self-confidence with her praise and encouragement, be it about my art, my writing, my grades, my singing, or my ideas.  The way she involves herself as much as possible to make me feel special.  
She shows genuine excitement, like when she came to watch me race in the RedMan Triathlon. She displays sincere interest, like when she would take off from work in the middle of the day to see me when my sophomore drama class was performing short plays at the elementary school.

Yes, I have my mom’s hands. I watched the way they changed from the hands of a daughter to the hands of a wife and now the hands of a mommy. They are gentle, animated, and protective.  The hands don’t make the mother, but I hope I learned enough from my mom to be a great one.