Yummy Yummy!

Reese had his first taste of fudgesicle today.

And creamsicle.
He found both to be quite tasty. He actually bit the tips off and ate the chunks without letting any spill out of his usually drooling mouth.

Then later when he was fighting sleep I went in to discover a standing boy!! So far he has only pulled himself all the way up to standing when he's pulling up on Mommy or Daddy. Well this is the first time that we actually witnessed the accomplishment anyway. He is suddenly getting to be Mr. Coordination!

the tooth struggle

After quite an ordeal and many, many wasted photos (thank goodness for digital) this is the best shot of the TWO teeth that I can get.
Yesterday after a 3 hour nap I asked Kyle to poke his head in to make sure the boy was in fact alive. He said come quick! They boy was laughing, on his knees, holding the railing working on standing up...time to lower the mattress again? I actually won't be able to reach him unless he sits up if we lower it further.
His new favorite game is to bang on the heating vents. The one in the kitchen is on the floor immediately next to the cat's food, so tipping the water bowl is another fun game. I've moved the cat stuff to the bathroom so he can go in there without us shrieking at him. We're quite sick off mopping up full bowls of cat water. Eating coupons has also become a favorite past time.
So my whole mommies' group (except me) is expecting or adopting. We have an April due date that we've known about forever it seems. Last week we found out we have a July due date and yesterday we found out we have a May due date. The only mom that already had 2 kids is in the thick of the adoption process and we're waiting with bated breath...a February "due date" perhaps. I must admit I am not just a little bit jealous. I do not actually want a 2007 baby followed by a 2008 baby, but I would like a 2009 baby. For nursing school purposes we decided to wait until I graduated which would make it Summer 2010 at the earliest. All my mommy friends will be on their third by then!! They will be tired and stressed with one year olds and infants so perhaps they'll let me hold their new babies enough to get my fill.

FYI

Sorry, no photo. Just writing to let you know we moments from death from this crappy flu. And no I did not get the flu shot, but Reese did as did the only sick person I've encountered in the previous week. SO, we have a strain not covered in the shot and let me just say it totally sucks. I went to the doctor Friday and got the new flu meds and took my first dose about 20 hours after the tightness in my chest began. Kyle went the next day and started his first dose about 8 hours after his chest tightness began. I am dying and he feels basically normal. SO the moral of this story is don't piddle around. If you feel tight, wheezy (actually I think the wheezy part came a little later), headache or fever go to the doctor asap and get the flu meds. You have a small window from onset in which they can even prescribe the meds, but clearly the quicker you get it going the better. I had a 101 fever for most of Saturday, but today I woke up fever free....yippee! But also basically no voice. Reese is sneezing gigantic amounts of snot. It is super gross. Kyle thinks it's worthy of the guiness book of records almost every time. Luckily the flu meds worked for Kyle so my poor baby had some parental supervision! Friday night I got up with him from 3 am -3:45am, but Kyle got up at 5am AND 7am. That is the first time for Kyle to get up before 9am with the baby by himself. Today I got up at 7am (back in bed by 7:30am) but when I opened my eyes about 11:30am the bedroom door was closed and Kyle was gone, so I have no idea what time he got up with the boy. Kyle even had to give Reese a syringe of antibiotics ( another first) for his ear infection. So I just thought I'd let you know we weren't out doing some great fun stuff that would result in fabulous family photos on Monday. I am so disappointed I'm missing my book club today.

So don't forget to get to the doctor asap if you feel any flu symptoms! If you wait you get no meds!

Suzy Homemaker

Here is my Home Management Binder. This will be our "master plan" for how things will be organized in our home. My friend, Anya, introduced me to the concept and I think it could work to keep us on track. So this is my groovy cover....you may of course choose a binder with a clear pouch cover so you can slip your own decorated page in, but I had this binder on hand for school.

My first section is calendars. I printed out monthly calendars starting last October so we could note appointments made far in advance and vacation and such. We have a white board single month calendar on the fridge, but I did this to have a place to keep the info for things not of THIS month. Obviously, you would make your calendars as suits your activities. I imagine someday I'll need weekly calendars for each child to note their activities. For now Reese's social engagements are essentially my social engagements, so monthly has been working quite well for us since October. I also have a single page listing everyone's birthdays.

My section 2 is Chores. Note the joyous attitude to greet us when we delve into our chores.

I created a page for each day except Friday and Saturday. Every other Friday is Payday and we'll do the basement for sure plus anything else we add on payday. The non-payday Friday is a piddle around day as will be EVERY single Saturday. So we decided what we wanted to do and then assigned it a day. Load and Empty dishwasher is on every day, as is clean counter tops.

My next section is meal planning. This area will have a pocket for coupons that I have not added yet. I'm also keeping a list of favorite recipes' ingredients. The name of the recipe followed by a list of non-staple ingredients. I will not be rigid about it. What we've been doing in 2008 is kind of deciding what we want to eat this pay period and then deciding on the day which thing it will be as opposed to rigidly saying "we will eat meal x on monday the 1st". I will also note any new recipes I really want to try so when we do our plan we won't forget to include it in our plan.

Our last section (for now) is home repairs and organization. This is where we'll keep our brainstorming lists for stuff we want to do with the house. We also have our priorities list, so when we get some money we remember what we wanted to do first. We'll keep names and phone numbers of recommended worker bees. We'll also keep estimates we get for big projects we'll need professionals for.

So...this is our organizational plan, obviously your needs may be different and you would plan your sections accordingly. You probably want photos of your own kids or pets or whatever to depict each section. Just be prepared to accept they won't be as cute as our Reesie photos!!

Hmm....what's this slimyness?

I talked with my friend, Anna, in Connecticut whose son was born in May (Reese's due date). She gives her son cut up bananas and sweet potato, etc. Since her baby is Reese's corrected age I guess I've been too cautious with food. But baby food and purees are so much easier---there is no retching and gagging and projectile vomiting. So anyway, today we tried banana just cut into small pieces. It was a bit slimy for him to get a grip on it so Kyle offered up a spoonful.He's not too sure about it. He spit out several bites, not sure if he ingested any at all really. He also had a few gerber star shaped puffs (Also recommended by Anna) He liked those well enough. He got to try out his new high chair tray. We had planned to just push him up to the table, but with that set up there is only a lap belt and no sides to hold him in. Candy Gram did not approve of my bathrobe belt as the only thing between her grandson and splatting on the floor so she ordered the tray which also has a between the legs brace, so he's very secure now.

Reese has had a fever since yesterday. The highest was 102. I would've taken him to the pediatrician for that, but since it was night that wasn't an option. I didn't think it warranted an ER visit. SO.........he has whined and whimpered and been generally needy. I held him today the entire time Kyle was at work except once for a potty break and the 20 minutes I tried to make him sleep in his crib while I debated the political candidates on the phone with my friend. Shannon. Apparently we have a caucus on Saturday but our ballots aren't due until the 19th, so I'm very confused....I suspect our primary votes will mean zilch and I'm pretty offended. I mean really, what's so special about New Hampshire-ians? It's sort of overwhelming with so many candidates, but I am kind of excited that we still have so many choices. I feel like last election was already narrowed to the ticket runners by this time.
So anyway, I did nothing but hold Reese all day, so my wonderful hubby is out braving the snowy roads to procure us some highly fattening sustenance.

A Tooth!

Why no, you can't see my tooth!Well, maybe if you look SUPER hard you can see it.

Reese's first tooth is coming in on the bottom. It is just barely cut, mostly you have to feel it. He is standing holding on to the chair in these photos, which he loves to do, though he's not really trying to pull himself up yet. He is crawling like lightening though!

comments

I changed the comment setting so you don't have to have a google account to add a comment...didn't realize that was the case before. I am only mildly computer literate and thus far I haven't delved too deeply into what this blog site can do. But the March of Dimes sent me a link to their media stuff to add their logo to sign up for the March Walk. I can't figure it out, but I did figure out how to let everyone comment if they want. I was wondering if people were still reading since really only my mommy group posts comments, so I got this site meter thing. BUT it only tells you what internet provider and city people are in. ooo super helpful. Who lives in the Schenectady, NY area? And someone in Thousand Oaks, CA just logged on today. Also there's all these WA cities where I don't know people. I am so nosy I want to know. So post a comment next time you visit so I know where you're reading from. This is me and my Poppop, the first Reese

MONEY MONEY MONEY

We filed our taxes today! WOO Hoo! We're all done!! Very exciting! Except apparently congress piddled around and didn't finish making tax legislation until 2008 for the 2007 taxes so the IRS has to change some programming. They estimate they will be ready to process forms on February 11th. It's very annoying because we want our money NOW!!! But 2 of the changes affect us. 1st - that crazy expensive door we got on the basement nets us a $174 tax CREDIT (deducted from the total tax we pay) for energy efficiency. 2nd - some additional rulings on the $1000 child tax credit. I'm not sure if that actually reduces the adjusted gross income or if it's deducted from the taxes we pay. Either way it's more money in our hot little hands. We used turbo tax. It's super duper easy. It's starts by asking what changed this year? We had a baby and sold a home. On and so and it asks you if everything pertains to you. If you say no then you get to skip it. If you say yes it says gather these forms and fill in these blanks. Easy peasy! OH and they have a new thing where you put all your charitable donations in and it searches ebay and the like to find a fair market value for your stuff that you give to goodwill. Then you just click yes to import the data. Love it!
The other day when the interest rates dropped our mortgage gal called us to see if we want to try to refinance for a lesser interest rate. So we did and we signed today. We dropped 1 interest percentage on our mortgage and 3.5 percentage points on our home equity loan and now they are combined into one loan with only 5.3 percent interest. AND we get to skip February and March payments, except we already paid February so that will just decrease our payoff balance and therefore loan total. AND we'll get a reimbursement check from the title company for prepaid stuff that no longer applies AND we'll get some escrow back. Yippee! We did find out that our taxes went up. Apparently our side of the Warren Ave bridge went up significantly and the other side decreased...lucky ducks! It's $80...I forgot to ask is that per 6 months since we pay every 6 months. It can't be every month! So we're just assuming every 6 months otherwise we'd be livid! I think the Health Department guy did at least $80 worth of work on our behalf for the RSV shot fiasco so I'm okay with the tax increase.
Hopefully the economic stimulus package goes through so we get $600 each plus $300 for one baby. We decided if we get the $1500 we will use it as it was intended to stimulant the economy by BUYING STUFF!!! If they give us less we'll put it into our Orange savings and earn interest to spite their stingy butts!

Little Man, Big Man?

Reese turned on the sound systme/dvd player today...see the orangey-red button? Just like his Dad, we don't even have our morning coffee/tea and the tv is already on.

Enjoying the Sunday ads. Hmm....so how is the little man different from a full grown one?

Diapers!!

Reese is almost one year old and way back in May or so I shadow boxed his first diaper and beanie and wrist band. We finally got it on the wall! Since there's really nothing to give you any perspective on the size I took a photo of the first diaper, micro preemie pampers, next to the regular preemie pampers you can buy at Babies R Us and then next to his current size 3 Huggies we get in bulk at Costco. I failed to save a size 1 or 2 as memorabilia.

Reese said GAGAGAGA for the very first time today. So now he says dadadada and gagaga. Hey that's enough to sing "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" with Sting and The Police.

ROCKSTAR

Reese enjoys jammin' with his maracas as in this photo. He also loves his little tykes piano and his english/spanish alphabet drum. We expect a record deal any time now.
As of last week he weighed 16 pounds 11 ounces. He is really crawling a lot now. Yesterday he crawled into the kitchen and spent a good spell smacking the sunlight on the floor. The cats are also a great source of entertainment for him. Tara just has to flick her tail about a bit and he laughs hysterically.

Hog Pluck

This is my hog pluck. It is the trachea, heart and lungs of a hog. We used it to identify all the heart parts. Surprisingly it was not as grotesque as you may imagine. Aside from the retched smell I actually sort of enjoyed it because now I will remember the parts! We have one of those go getter really into types as every class must, I'm sure. She was more than happy to put a tube (that I wasn't confident was clean enough) down the trachea and blow to inflate the lungs. Super cool to see, though I was not about to do it myself. Anyway, first exam is next Thursday--so not ready. I find it way more difficult to focus than I did before Reese was born.

Heath Ledger dies at 28

We're pretty bummed. We really like Heath Ledger and are looking forward to seeing him play the Joker in "The Dark Knight" the sequel to "Batman Begins." Hopefully that movie is done filming and he won't have to be recast. You can read about it on yahoo. Though I'm sure by the time you read my blog you'll already know all the details. His daughter, Matilda, is only 2 years old I think.

Over the River and Through the Woods

off to Great-Grandma and Grandpa's we go....Here's Reese trying out his new big boy carseat for the very first time. He is too tall for the infant carrier, so we've moved up to the regular seat and he likes it so much better. He can look out the window and it's got a much cushier butt cushion.

We hit the road about 11:30 am Sunday to head down to Vancouver, WA...about 160 miles south of our house. Reese met his Daddy's aunt and uncle and cousins for the first time. He was such a good boy! He let everyone hold him without crying. Here he is with Great Grandpa laughing at Daddy.

Kyle, Reese, Great Grandma, Great Grandpa

We headed back home about 6:30pm the next day so we got to the new Cabella's in Lacy about 15 minutes before closing. Just enough time to check out the gigantic catfish in the aquarium. Daddy is over the moon with excitement about the new store and it's only 59 minutes to our house. Grand opening Jan 25- Feb 5...woo hoo!

The last 59 minutes home Reese rocked out ---his favorites were the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Queen and here he's stiking a pose to vintage Madonna.

Once we got home Reese practiced standing by climbing up Daddy. Right after this photo the camera's memory stick was full AND he made it to a standing upright position then laughed hysterically at his new skill! We had a busy last 35 hours!!

Reese is 11 months old!

Reese likes to play with his ball popper, but mostly to eat the balls. To get them he has to pull on the popper which sends the balls all flying , so they only get to pop once and it's over. He may get the hang of it soon. Wednesday he was 11 months old. Thursday Daddy got to stay home with Reese while I went to school. I had an advising appointment with the nursing program as well. We have officially decided I'll do the nursing program this fall. And we bought a big boy car seat for Reese because he's too tall for his baby car seat now. I found one that lasts through 100 pounds and 52 inches, so we won't have to buy a seperate booster seat...woo hoo!!

We watched Rush Hour 3 on DVD and we both thought it was pretty funny. I looked it up on imdb and discovered Chris Tucker made $25 million and Jackie Chan only made $15 million. Seems like an unfair deal, but if you watch the outtakes it seems that Jackie Chan does not really have a command of the English language, so perhaps that's the discrepancy. Anyway, we liked it.

On Friday Reesie went to Candy Gram's and Mimi and I went to see JUNO. I really liked it. It had actors I really like. It was a little quirky and funny. I recommend it. Sunday we're off to visit Kyle's grandparents in Vancouver. We'll try out the new car seat for the first time. Hopefully Reese will tolerate the long drive nicely. He did well last summer going to Lake Chelan, but he was a lot littler then...He's a bit more attidute-y now.

Also I added The Moldy Peaches and Sonic Youth songs to the play list. Both are from the movie Juno. I can't figure out how to make them play randomly instead of always in order so you'll have to click on the song to hear it if you don't want to wait out The White Stripes.

Goddess of Rock

We did not bother to bathe or even get dressed Monday. We did do some organizational chores and I cooked a time consuming meal, but most importantly we BEAT GUITAR HERO 3. My score is not incredibly impressive, but as a non-gamer I find it fabulous!

Also cool is think questionnaire to help match you with a presidential candidate.

Paparazzi

Reese found a new fascinating toy while Mommy put his clothes away. This laundry basket provided a good 15 minutes of entertainment and even held his attention when both cats came by to check things out. Pretty impressive since the cats are his ultimate favorite for giggle producing fun.

He did eventually look up from his laundry basket about 20 photos into this session to allow me a good face shot.

But by then he'd had enough flash and demanded the paparazzi give up the camera.

Big Boy Bath Time

WooHoo! Finally big enough to sit in the sink for a bath. So much better on the back than leaning over the tub and the spray nozzle works pretty nicely for rinsing. School was supposed to start on the 8th for me, but we had a wee bit of snow so my first day of school was a snow day. Of course the traffic seemed to be fine so I didn't go online and check. I found out after I lugged the boy and all his gear to Candy Gram's house. So I started on Thursday. I was thinking this is a part 2 class so I won't know anyone and they will have already paired up for lab, but a girl from my Chemistry classes in 2006 is in this class with me. Yeah! We are not dissecting cats anymore since we have a new building with more room. We get to use the human cadaver....ugh! Friday Kyle went to work early so Reesie and I spent the day running errands with Mimi. Reese had a good time trying out the bongos and drum sets at Guitar Center then when Kyle got home early from work we spent about 4 hours playing guitar hero 3! I beat 15 songs and won the Tom Morrel battle and thought I was pretty hot stuff until Kyle blew me out of the water. However, I still feel I did exceptionally well since I am a non-video game player....my eye balls hurt and my fingers, wrist and bicep ached. Also my brain felt drained and fuzzy. I think it explains a lot about teenagers.
Saturday began with great excitement. We went Starbucks where the guy in front of us paid for us. Very nice. The girl did not ask Kyle if he wished to do the same and Ebenezer did not offer. He is always at work during the evening and nightly news (and we sleep through the morning news) so he actually had not heard about all the paying for the car behind you that was going on...the shipyard keeps them under a rock I think. Then Reese and Kyle watched the playoffs until Kyle had to leave for work, but the Seahawks had a rather disappointing finish. No Superbowl for us. Do you think that means we don't have to watch football anymore?

Books to Read in 2008

My friend, Anya, inspired me to set a goal of what books I'd like to read in 2008. I meet with a monthly book club and the host gets to choose so I will read the chosen books for book club AND:

Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig

The Wonder of Boys by Michale Gurian

Raising a Son by Don and Jeanne Elium

Baby Laughs by Jenny McCarthy

Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell

T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Alright I should probably stop there. I would like to read more than these and I will if time allows, but these 6 plus the 12 for book club may be all there is time for since I will be in school 3 quarters this year.

He Can See!!

We picked up Reese's glasses Friday. He had periods where he wore them and periods where he ripped them off. He seemed not too sure what to think. I think he can see better, though it's hard to tell for sure. He really likes playing ball.

But a lot of the time he seems a bit grumpy about wearing them.

High Chair

Reese's high chair, that Candy Gram ordered in November, finally arrived today (Thursday). We put it together and tried it out. Reese seemed to like eating at the table. It does not have a tray (optional extra add-on), you just push it up to the table. This is the only chair I could find that was high enough for our counter top height kitchen table. It adjusts for all table heights and also has an adjustable foot rest so his feet can be firmly planted. The chair can hold up to 150 pounds, so once he's big enough for a regular kitchen table chair this will become his desk chair. We had a hard time choosing the color. I think we went with white because our kitchen table is black and our dining room table is a dark brown wood color, so this way it wouldn't look like we tried to match and missed. You can also choose the pad color..we went with bright orange.

After my emailing rant about the RSV shots the health department contacted me. I finally called the doctor there today (I thought it best to cool off a bit) and he is trying a few avenues to get the RSV shots for less than the $1000 they quoted us. Hopefully the manufacturer will donate the drug to the health department and we can just pay for the supplies and injection. His next shot isn't until January 18, so we have some time to work on it.
Also today we got the call from the optical shop--the glasses have arrived. We are going to pick them up tomorrow...UGH!

The year in review:

I had intended to put a newsletter in my Christmas cards, but I couldn't find paper I liked. Then I figured if anyone is interested they'll log on to the blog, so I may as well post it here for free!

2007 with the Benzas

January: The year began with Kyle still working 12 hour days at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. He was working 4 pm – 4am. Heather’s work schedule altered for school down to 10 hour weeks, then to 8 hour weeks because of new shift bids. We had tons of snow. I stayed up watching Grey’s Anatomy Season ONE on DVD most nights waiting for Kyle to get home. Heather started English and Anatomy & Physiology…the last pre-requisites for the nursing program. We sold the townhouse (FINALLY!) and closed on January 30. January 31 I had my 27 week appointment with my obstetrician who found I had super high blood pressure and protein in my urine.

February: On February 1^st Thomas and Kyle and I headed over to the University of Washington Medical Center where I was admitted for pre-eclampsia. My inpatient saga is chronicled at www.carepages.com page name: benzababy. Kyle missed a lot of work. Reese Eliot Benza was born February 16 at 29 weeks gestational age weighing 2 pounds 2 ounces. Heather came home from the hospital reluctantly on February 23. Reese stayed in the NICU at UWMC.

March: Heather traveled every other day or so to the hospital to visit Reese and slept most of the in between days while struggling with the side effects of high blood pressure meds…UGH! Diet and exercise people!! Kyle visited every Sunday and returned to working full time. Baby shower on the 31^st!!

April: Reese traveled via ambulance on the ferry to Harrison Hospital in Silverdale to “feed and grow” on April 3. Mommy got sick and could not visit for a week. Reese came home April 16, which was the last day of my maternity leave so I got to quit my job. Woo Hoo! Kyle took 2 weeks vacation. Reese’s first outing other than to the pediatrician was to Lowe’s and Fred Meyer, where mommy smashed his head into the roof of the car lifting him up to sniff his butt to check for poo. Daddy reminded mommy of that often when she corrected his baby handling skills.

May: Grandpa came to visit from Virginia. The public health nurse came to the house for weight checks. Kyle worked and Heather sat on the couch holding Reese. Kyle turned 29 whopping years old and Heather had half of a peach martini—the first alcohol since August.

June: Reese moved into his own bedroom. He had his final ophthalmologist appointment for Retinopathy of Prematurity and was declared visually healthy. We did shop hop!!!!! On day one Reese and I went with my friend, Laura and her daughter Delaney. The next 4 days Kyle came with us. We traveled to about 48 quilt shops along the I-5 corridor. It was the most fun! We bought a Dodge Nitro and downsized to the one vehicle since Kyle walks to work.

July: Reese went swimming at the YMCA and we joined a mommies group. We vacationed in Lake Chelan, WA with Mimi and Poppop and Uncle Travis and Uncle Dylan, where Kyle discovered Guitar Hero and an obsession was born. Reese rolled from his tummy to his back. We got our basement floor rhino coated and now it’s actual living space.

August: Kyle got sent to work in Everett, WA. So Reese and I went along and hung out at the hotel….a daily maid…blissful! Reese successfully used his exersaucer and started laughing at himself in the mirror.

September: Still in Everett. Reese had his 4 month corrected age appointment with the physical therapist at UWMC. She tests his abilities and expects him to perform like a full term 4 month old would since he should be 4 months old now. He passed with flying colors. Reese started eating rice cereal and sweet potatoes and peas!! Kyle’s Uncle Mark and Aunt Gloria visited from Connecticut. We went to Seattle to Pike Place Market one day and then to Reese’s first professional baseball game. The Mariners lost. I abandoned the hospital blog and began our new blog www.benzabulletin.blogspot.com. I joined a book club. We became infatuated with at home Karaoke.

October: Kyle started working 12 hour shifts at Bangor, so he has to drive. Basically Reese and I did nothing all month because we had no car. Kyle’s normal shift is 3pm-midnight so we go do our errands at 3pm, but with a 12 hour shift he leaves at 5 pm, so we need to visit with him from 2pm-5pm while he’s awake, but Reese and I can’t get moving early enough to leave the house. Reese and I went with Mimi to Uncle Travis’ college for parents’ weekend at Whitworth University in Spokane. Kyle got Madden ’08 for the Xbox 360 and Reese LOVES to watch him play.

November: We hosted Thanksgiving at our house. Grandpa from Virginia visited. Great Grandparents from Vancouver also visited. Reese had his first cold and ear infection. We finished all of our Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving! Heather is super excited that our yard waste collection can now allows us to add compost stuff (fruits, veggies, coffee grounds!)

December: We had record breaking amounts of rain and flooding. We found out Reese needs glasses and $1000 per month shots for 5 months. Reese crawls, chatters and sits…oh yeah he also shrieks a hideous high pitched squeal when he is annoyed or frustrated or you do not jump fast enough or high enough to suit his fancy. We decided we’re the parents now we get to make the rules, so Kyle and I opened our gifts to/from each other on December 15!!! Ha, you guys weren’t even done shopping were you?

2007 was shockingly fast. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m swiftly approaching ancient or because having a new baby makes everything a whirlwind. Either way our 2008 resolution is to capture more time for fun, family things. We plan to stay on top of organizational task so we can work more efficiently. We’ll plan more thoroughly to cut down on wasted trips to save time and also gas. Hopefully that will free up more time so 2008 doesn’t feel like a flash.

Happy New Year!

Amazing Feats!

Reese had a lot of tricks on Saturday. I put him on his belly on the living room floor in front of his toys to play while I went into the kitchen. About 30 seconds later Kyle walked by and said "look at him sitting all by himself"
Me: What?! I put him on his belly!
Kyle: Well, he's sitting
and lo and behold he was in fact sitting...he got from his belly to his bum unassisted.Later in the afternoon he awoke from his nap with a hideous, shrill shriek. I ran in to discover him laying in the bed trapped in this mermaid position!

Glasses

Kitsap Optical ordered some frames for us to try. We settled on these Tigger glasses in a brownish color. The blue is just so in your face. These seem a little less offensive. So they should be ready for pick up the end of next week. We'll see if he keeps them on. We were concerned about him growing out of them fast, thinking maybe we should get a bigger size so he has room to grow. My dentist's daughter has glasses (got my teeth cleaned Friday-no cavities) and my dentist assured me he would break or lose them way before he outgrows them. She said they get 2 or 3 pairs each year. So next open enrollment we have got to get better vision insurance!

Snowy Christmas!!

We bundled Reese up in Uncle Dylan's snow suit..12 months, so only a little big, and headed out into the Christmas snow.

He didn't like it. Well, maybe just a nibble.

It started snowing while we opened presents and just kept on coming. I was a little worried that we'd run out of formula. I brought close to a whole can, but I thought we may be stuck if it didn't stop. But by night the roads were fine.