Simple Communication

It's become evident in the past few weeks/months that Reed is getting very good at communicating. He can both tell us what he wants, and follow simple instruction. The tricky part is if either of us obey the command... For example: 'dootie' (cookie) doesn't mean I'll actually give him one or 'don't throw that Reed' doesn't mean he doesn't throw it. But I'm confident that he knows what I'm talking about and what I'm asking of him. And at this point, I think that we understand everything he is trying to tell us (with the exception of a word he uses often that we still haven't figured out, it sounds like 'da-dush?', with an emphasis on the question part of it). Here are some stories of our very intelligent young man.

As I was packing up on Friday morning to drive him to daycare and then myself to work, I asked him to go put London in his room and close the door. I started pouring my coffee and he ran off. He came back and said "doggy. door." I went to check and sure enough, London was in his room with the door closed!

I asked Reed to go get a diaper cause I could smell his poops. He came back to me a few minutes later (I was in the kitchen) and I look over to the living room and the wipes and diaper were so nicely displayed in the middle of the room for me to go change him.

We skyped with Auntie April Sunday morning. Reed was in a very good mood. I asked him to bring over the tractor to show April - he did. I asked him to blow her a kiss, he did. Then several times, he would bend over and give her a kiss on her lips - well her lips on the screen. The communication I got from that was that he really does love her and remember her.

He was sucking his thumb while trying to put his cars down the ramp on his play garage. I told him that he didn't have to suck his thumb all the time, that he could take it out of his mouth to play. The scowl that he gave me was priceless, much like his father's scowl, and pretty easy to understand what he was trying to communicate to me.

Want pancakes for breakfast Reed? Both hands high in the air - "YAY!". Easy one.

Tired after skiing? Couldn't tell by the way he was slumped over on me in about 5 minutes.

Don't want your food? "NO!". Empty plate passed to me "more?" he asks. Read another book "book more".

You get the point. I dressed Reed up to try to get a fun picture of him in an old man look complete with tie. He didn't so much like that. Let's look at the progression of pictures below.

Take the tie off!

No, you will not take my picture, I refuse!

Fine, I'll lounge but I'm not taking my thumb out of my mouth!

Are you done, I want to get up now.

Fine, I'll stand for one, but I'm not going to smile!

Seriously mom?

Now I must resort to tears mom, take it off!

Well, if that isn't communication, I don't know what is!

Cheers~

Baby, you can drive my car

Follow-up to last post: I took Reed out on some errands. We went to Old Navy, I found a few cute clearance items (a sweater, a pair of socks and a baseball hat all for $9). Then we went to Toys'R'Us and played a little. I didn't buy anything, but as you can see above, Reed really enjoyed the red Mustang. He climbed in it, played for a long time, then got out to check something else, but right back to the Mustang. I know his Grandma Fogg will be proud.

We also visited Target and got a potty. He dragged it around when we got home and we practiced sitting on it. I also got him a cute pair of boat shoes. Sure was nice to have a day off to just relax and spend some quality time with my little man.

We had a little superbowl party on Sunday. And by little I mean, our little family plus our friends Matt and Stacy and their two little ones - Luke (5) and Brooke (4 days older than Reed). It was a little crazy with the kiddos running around but Reed sure did love following Luke around and doing everything Luke did.

I wanted to get a picture of Reed and London sporting their Steeler's gear. Reed had his eyes closed, didn't like the flash. And London wasn't looking.

Second try, he decided he would ham it up a little. And London decided to look this time too.

Here is the decorated living room. Pretty sure everything was made by or purchased by my in-laws and sent to us over the years. We had 4 terrible towels (one toddler terrible towel), a homemade blanket, a terrible towel homemade pillow (as seen above), championship hats, superbowl collectible football from 2008, newspapers sent from Pittsburgh and more.

And part of my food spread. I made yellow cupcakes with black frosting (and they were delicious). Also made some sausage, which was a hit, gauc and pizza.

Too bad the Steeler's didn't pull off another win, it's been a little sullen around our house but we are coping. Cupcakes help a broken Steeler heart... Hope my extended family in the 'burgh are doing alright.

Reed chipped a tooth in the tub last night, chalk another injury on the list. It's a really minor chip but I'm going to swing by the dentist this week just to make sure (for my own peace of mind, Reed only cried for 30 seconds and was fine). Sure makes a mommy feel bad.

Reed has a few new words he's learned. Elbow and knee. I love teaching him new words and quizzing him on it. Also if I haven't mentioned it yet, (and this is more for my own records) he calls his blanky's "dee-dee" or "thee-thee". It's sort of a mix between the two of those. He made that up all on his own, we always called it blanky. When he is given something he wants, there is either a "thank you!" or the word for it said in celebratory tone. Pretty funny.

Well, that's all I got for now, cheers~

Stuff about Meg

I remember writing something about not making this blog all about my baby when I was pregnant. Ha! Now the main picture is Reed, the posts are about Reed, the pictures are all of Reed. A coworker of mine asked what the most surprising thing about being a parent has been and my response is that I'm so cliche. I never wanted to be the parent to share insignificant stories about my kid with people who don't really care. I never wanted to be the parent who plasters their personal space with pictures of their kid. I never wanted to be the parent who stares at my kid smiling all the time. I never wanted to be the parent that thinks my kid is the cutest and could do no wrong. Oh, and this is the parent that I am. So much joy comes from my little Reed. So that's why lots of my posts are about him.

So I'll switch it up this post and talk about what's happening for me. Today, I'm tired and burnt out. Actually, I've been tired and burnt out for a about a week, so I'm taking the day off. Well, day off from work at Backcountry.com. Two weeks ago, we were in the middle of Outdoor Retailer. A twice a year trade show held in Salt Lake City where we look at lots of skis, boots, avalanche equipment and stuff like that. Luckily that's close to home so I can sleep in my own bed and still see my family at night. Then two days back in the office and I was headed out of town for SIA (snowsports industry of America) trade show in Denver. I was gone for 4 days and it was hard to be away from the family. I did learn quite a bit and have some good conversations so it wasn't a total bummer. But it sure does make one tired to walk all day, talk all day, then talk all night. I've been tired all week just trying to recuperate. I finished lots of my work for the week and felt like not driving up to Park City again and dropping Reed off again, so I took the day off.

So right now, Reed and I are just chilling in the play room, both of us still in our PJ's and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I'm trying to decide what to do for the rest of the day. Along with some household stuff I have to do (put laundry away, pay some bills, pick up the kitchen) I'd like to do something fun with Reed. Thinking of running some fun errands like toys r' us, even though I don't have anything to get there, I just know he would enjoy it, and maybe Target for some groceries. Fogg and I were discussing getting a potty for Reed to start him thinking about it. Maybe I'll go find one today and make a big deal about how mommy took him to get a special gift...

The Superbowl is on Sunday, as we all know, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are playing. Fogg is quite excited. We are going to have a few people over, make Pittsburgh foods and let the kids play together. I got a cookbook with Pittsburgh dishes a few years ago, so we are making horseradish guacamole, kielbasi casserole, pierogies and a homemade pizza (that's more for the kids). I gotta think of a dessert to do too. Maybe I'll make Steeler cupcakes or something...

I'm feeling very motivated to get some household projects done soon. Fogg's parents are coming over Reed's birthday time, so that is a good goal time to have some things accomplished. Usually, when Dick and Fran visit, we have a huge list of projects for them to work on, but this time, we are going to take a trip down south to Moab with them. I'm really looking forward to that. So we are going to have some stuff done before they get here. Here is my list for now: paint the master bedroom and bathroom, maybe paint the spare bedroom and upstairs hallway, get the carpets cleaned, get family photos taken, finish the backyard patio area and set up the furniture. Also, I need to figure out the plan for Reed's birthday. I don't think that I'm going to do a big party, just small family thing I think. I'd like to start putting together Reed's next step room. There is no rush to move him to a new room, but I'd like to start putting it together for when he is ready to move to a toddler bed. I'm making it a car themed room. Fran is making a steering wheel pillow and a street window bench cushion for me. I got a car bed sheet set on clearance already with matching lamp. I'm going to repaint the dresser to look like a toolchest, barn red with sleek drawer pulls. I also have some great ideas for wall art. I think he'll like it.

Before all that happens, it's my 30th birthday in April. Crazy. I'm totally ok with it actually, I feel like it makes me a real adult (as if owning a house, having a career, a 7 year marriage and a kid doesn't make it real...). I feel like it doesn't change much for me, it almost feels like - finally. I'm looking forward to building it up though, doing a big thing for it. I think I'd like to have a super nice dinner and maybe a night down in Salt Lake at a hotel. Dress up and everything.

Well, that's what was on my mind this morning. Typical planner personality thoughts - what's coming up next. Now off to get some stuff done. Have a great day!

Ski-Reed

I'll spare you the details of the past few weeks (mostly consists of a crazy busy schedule, tradeshows, visiting friends, Meg going out of town for biz). Before I left for Denver for a tradeshow, Reed and I were hanging out. He was watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Just makes me laugh the way he is sitting in his chair.

Took Reed skiing yesterday. See video of skiing below.

Got his serious ski face on here.

My new fav pic. Reed does have some shifty eyes going on though.

Post ski recovery. He earned his fruit snacks!

Reed goes skiing

We took Reed skiing again yesterday. This video pretty much sums up how he feels about it.

20

Well, I seem to do this. I don't think anything is happening, then it's been a little bit since I update and there turns out to be lots of stuff to tell you about!

It's been a very busy 2011 so far. Hard to believe it's already the 18th! In two days, Reed will be 20 MONTHS OLD! I can't even believe it. Everyone told me it would go fast and to really enjoy every moment, so I'm glad I have been! It's truly amazing how quickly 20 months will go and how much different he is. Everything he knows, he has learned in only 20 months. Talking, walking, running, decision making, eating, acting. I'm truly amazed by how much he picks up and everything he learns to do. It is really a true joy to watch your child learn.

Because I like to do things in chronological order always, we'll start with a week or so ago. I requested a day off from teaching skiing and my boss up there at Snowbasin is a BIG Steeler's fan. I had to promise to send him a picture of Reed in his Steeler's outfit in order to get the day off.



I visited the Treehouse Children's Museum in Ogden with my friend Bree and her two boys, Ashton and Carden. It was the first time I had been there and I was dragging the boys all around instead of the other way around. Anyway, Reed found a few exhibits interesting to him - the parachuter (sorry no pic of that) and the farm display. He loved the animals and activities in it.

On the firetruck

The future president?

Checking out fish with Carden and Ashton (and Bree)

My mom gave me a few sweaters that her grandmother, Meg, made way back. I'm guessing early 1900's? Anyway, I cleaned them up and had Reed wear one to the museum. I also tried the cowboy one on him for fun. Not sure he'll wear it in public but I think it's awesome with the fringe and pictures on it. I've got two more that I'll try to get on him for a picture soon.


We finally bit the bullet and decided to get Reed off his bottle. We've only been giving him milk in the bottle a couple times a day (when he woke up in the morning and right before bed) but he sure was attached to it. We have given a half-hearted try of getting rid of it before but we made the decision to just be done with it this past weekend. We put them all up and out of his sight and gave him milk in a sippy (with a soft top so it was sort of like the bottle). He sure didn't like that. He ran to the middle of the room on Friday night - the first milk time switch - and threw himself on the floor crying. He then went to the big chair and just cried and cried. Fogg was trying to comfort him, but Reed didn't want any of it unless Fogg was willing to cave. Eventually, I picked him up and we went upstairs to read some books. He still wanted a ba-ba but was willing to sit through two long books cover to cover. He went to bed no problem. Next morning, same deal, wanted ba-ba, we offered the sippy. He did the same fit, this time we distracted him with pancakes. That night for bed, he asked for ba-ba, I offered the sippy but he didn't cry. He actually took 2 sips. Sunday morning he actually drank a little more with breakfast. So no more fits but he still isn't happy about it. He'll drink more and more every day, today he had almost what he would have had in his bottle. Interesting parenting moments for us, trying to explain to him. I felt sooo bad about hurting his feelings and not giving him what he wanted but after just a day or so without the bottle, he began to eat better, act better. I think that he was drinking way too much milk and it was messing with his digestion, making him a little grumpy and unwilling to sit through a meal. He's been a champ and we are so very proud of him.

We took Reed skiing on Saturday morning! We are so proud of him for hanging in there for 6 whole runs! And by run, I mean the 100 feet long mini bunny slope. But over Christmas he wasn't into it at all, so this was a HUGE improvement. He was happy to get into the gear and said "weeee" on the way down. He loved going up the magic carpet. He really enjoyed watching the groomer, which he called "tractor". By the last run, he went from top to bottom, by himself (meaning I wasn't pulling him, catching him, turning him) without falling. He started himself by pushing his feet forward and stopped naturally at the end. LOVED it, I smiled for days because of how good he did.

Magic carpet ride with Daddy! Boy do I love those two guys.

One of the first runs, I was just giving him a little tug with my pole to get him going but then let him just go on his own.

Whoops! Sometimes this would happen but he never cried. I think it's a sort of cute fall.

Headed down by himself!

Checking out the groomer

See? Going down all by himself

Yay!

And more about Reed. He is saying so many words. There is no way that I can tell you all of them, but some new ones are PJ's, juice, cookie, digger, night-night, good boy, bad boy. He is repeating a lot of what we say and very interested in what things are called. He is also getting so good with people, getting easier to drop him off at daycare (well him, not me) and being ok staying with people he doesn't know. LOVES dogs. Started calling me Mommy and Fogg Daddy (instead of mama and dada). Kid loves books too. I was driving him to Nana Branch's house this morning and he started practicing words he knows and it went something like this: mommy, mommy, daddy, daddy, laaalaaa, lala, lala, boy, boy, tractor, tractor, nana, nana, nana. He is also making up songs, most of the words I don't know but he throws in words we do know. Last night's song was about daddy, the doggy, and a boy.

Now on to the other people in the family that you all don't care about as much - which is just fine with us! Fogg is doing ski patrol this season and starting to really enjoy it. If we can figure out how to edit his video, we can show you a very cool cornice that broke off when they bombed it a few weeks ago. I've been super duper busy with work at backcountry.com, teaching skiing on the weekends and then just trying to keep everything else accomplished like laundry, food, and oh yeah, raising a toddler. I head out of town next week for a trade show so Fogg is single working dad while I'm gone. He'll do great though.

Alright, I think I'm caught up. Sorry for the super long post, if you've made it this far, then you have earned a gold star today!

Cheers~

2010

Well, here we are, the beginning of 2011. I remembered writing a fairly cathartic post about a year ago and decided that I'd like to do it again. As usual, the year wrapped up with a variety of video, picture and news montages to help us remember things that happened within the past 12 months. It's amazing how quickly we forget. I also read my The 00's post, which was great to reflect upon.

The year kicked off with a massive, devastating earthquake in Haiti, which claimed the lives of an estimated 170,000-230,000 people. Not only did that take the wind out of the country's sails, now Haiti is fighting malaria that has given that country another blow. I still pray for that country and wish there was something more I could do for those people. There was a massive drilling rig that exploded, killing 11 people, then leaking oil into the Gulf of Mexico for over 3 months, spilling about 4.9 million barrels of oil. The impact on the people still recovering from Katrina will be felt for years. Tiger Woods' "golden boy" image was shattered and a country rallied around his wife as she had to cope so publicly with something so embarrassing. Our political winds shifted in November, which will hopefully get this country moving forward and out of this recession.

On a brighter note, we watched as 33 Chilian miners were rescued after spending 69 days underground. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a dry eye in the world when that last man emerged. Though there are reports to support many different theories, it seems our recession might be approaching the end. Though there are many still jobless, lots are spending money and getting employed again. My husband being one of them. We are thankful that Fogg was able to secure a job in March of this year.

Personally, 2010 has been challenging yet rewarding. I'm thankful that I still hold a job, that my husband got one, we have stayed in good health, Reed has grown a ton and we are doing well for ourselves. We feel fortunate of our many blessings. Though we have suffered through some family death and struggle, we emerge the other side more thankful of the great things in our life.

My goals from last year still continue, to be a nicer person, a better friend, a happier wife, daughter, mother, sister and aunt, and generally be a pleasant individual to be around. I've also got the cliche additions this year of spend less money, lose a little weight and do more fun stuff. I'm going to make it my priority to spend as much time as possible with my husband and child, go on vacation, let go of the details a little and work harder.

I take so much joy in my son, he has become my little addiction. I can't wait to see his eyes when he learns new things, discovers new adventures, gets a bit better motor skills, or sees something new. He has learned tons of new words lately and has started to make up his own games. He plays with others so well and is friendly to everyone. I want nothing more than to see him grow, learn, love and live. My wish for him is to stay healthy so he can continue to be happy.

Happy New Years everyone, may 2011 be happy, healthy, and you accomplish everything you set out to do. Cheers~