I'M A PARTY ANIMAL!!

Hey, look at me--I'm Reidie the Red Nosed Reindeer! I have been partying up a storm all thru this holiday week and boy am I worn out. There has been someone to visit or someone visiting me every day. My sleep schedule is WAY out of wack. But its all worth it because Santa has been very good to me. You can see that Santa came to visit and I told him everything I wanted for Christmas. A few days later, he brought me this cool new clubhouse to play in. I must have been a very good boy this year. Dad even let me play with his XBox 360--well not really. I'm just pushin' buttons, but I LOVE buttons! I've also been really turning on the charm with all my friends and family, showing them I can be even cuter than normal.

By the way, I went to the doctor last week. At a little over nine months old, I am 20 lbs. 12oz. and 28 1/2 inches long. That puts me at 60th percentile for both height and weight. The doctor told me I was handsome (blush) and doing all the things I'm supposed to be doing at this age.

I hope you all got a visit from Santa, too. Sending you lots of kisses and hoping you have a blessed new year!

Love,
Reid

MERRY CHRISTMAS--CAN'T WAIT TO MEET SANTA!

Oh, I have been so good this year...well at least since I've been born earlier this year...I just KNOW Santa will bring me some goodies.

In the coming week, there will be so much excitement. There will be a Christmas party at Miss Julie's tomorrow and the jolly guy himself is supposed to show up. Then on Friday all Mommy's family is coming to MY house for dinner and presents. As you can see from the picture, though, I find that the boxes the presents come in are probably more fun! Then all my aunts and uncles and cousins from Daddy's family will be coming to visit--some of them live pretty far away, so I don't get to see them much. And there will be more parties with more family all the way into next weekend. So...I wonder how screwed up my routine will be by the time I go back to Miss Julie's in the new year...?

I get to go to the Dr. for my 9 month checkup this Friday. I expect she'll tell me I'm perfect yet again. I will show her how I can clap, crawl and stand up (with only a little help), and I'll show her the two new teeth I'm getting up top (that will make four up top and two on bottom). I may even show her what those teeth can do. Did you know that teeth can BITE?? I taught mom that lesson just the other night when she was trying to trim my nails. I hate it when she trims my nails. I may just bite her every time she does that in the future...

Anyway, its past my bedtime now. I actually stay up til 7:30 sometimes now. Just want to send a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my family. I hope to hear from you all in the new year.

Love,
Reid

GO STEELERS!! (Well, do the best you can...)


ALMOST 9 MONTHS OLD--LOOK OUT WORLD!!

Thank goodness, whatever problems with pictures this site had, they are over now, cause I've been doing lots of neat things and you guys have been missing out!

On Tuesday, I turn nine months old (already??). In honor of this occasion, I have learned to army crawl and you should see me go. Mom and Dad have got to keep EVERYTHING off the floor that's not a toy, because I'm pretty quick. There are no hands and knees involved in this kind of crawling--its a special maneuver with my shoulders, hips and toes that looks like hard work, but gets me where I need to go.

I've also got FOUR whole teeth in my mouth, but most finger foods still kindof ick me out. I can do the puffs but so far, everything else (real green beans and cheerios, for example) are harder for me to figure out. We're also working on standing up while holding on to furniture, but I'm not so sure why I really have to hold on...

Love you all! Hope you're having a great holiday and I'll see you soon!

Reid

Okay, so I'm frustrated! I've been trying to post my Thankgiving blog, and have not been able to successfully post all my new and wonderful pictures!! I know my fans are waiting...please be patient while I try to figure it all out.

In the meantime, please know that I have been busy growing new teeth--I have two coming in up top! :)

Love, Reid

CAN YOU SAY "CUTE?"
Here's a couple of the most recent pictures mom and dad have taken of me. I'm really gonna hate that nakey one a few years from now...but at least they made sure that all my "naughty bits" are covered.

Gosh, this week I am taking off with my rolling around and occasionally make some army crawl movements if there's something I really want to get to. Sometimes it is so frustrating to try and get at my toys, though, and Mom and Dad aren't much help. Dad always tells Mom that I'll never learn if she keeps helping me out and pushing the toys closer...anyway, hopefully I'll be crawling before Christmas, cause there's gonna be lots of stuff I'm gonna want to see and get into, and if I'm still going at this rate, it'll take forever!

Today I had a really busy day. First, Mom and me went to church, and saw my Great Grandma K and Great Aunt Joanne from Gatlinburg. That was during nap time, so when we got home, mom tried to lay me down, but after about a half hour I was up and at 'em. Not too long after that, Uncle Denny and Aunt Judy dropped by to visit and hug, but we couldn't stay long, because we had to leave again to go to Great Granmda's surprise birthday party (she's 85!). There were so many people and so much excitement, that no one was able to get me to take a nap or eat a bottle. There were so many people there who hadn't seen me in so long, that I got LOTS of hugs and lovin, but eventually it was just too much. Mom had only driven a few miles down the road before I was konked out completely. I'm such a trooper--even though I was sooo tired, I didn't get grouchy or anything.

Tomorrow, its back to Julie and the kids to get back into my regular routine.

A NOTE TO Nikki: I was so happy to see that you popped in to see the site and hope you visit often! I didn't post your comment since it had first and last name--didn't know if you wanted that posted or not. Let me know! I'll send some pics soon. Look forward to hearing more from you!--Em

HAPPY 7th MONTH BIRTHDAY, BABY ROO!! (A Mommy Hijacks her Baby's Blog)

Hi Friends and Family! Today I thought I'd take over a give the baby a break. There's so many of you I haven't talked to in awhile. We're all doing fine and me and Bryan are loving being parents. Days are busy, and there is definitely not enough time to spend all together, but we do as much as we can in the mornings, the evenings and weekends. Our home has become a display area for all the contraptions (Jumparoo, high chair, exersaucer, to name a few), toys and books we use every day, and when I say "display area," I really mean disaster area. Boy, are our lives different now than seven months ago--but way more fun!

Last week Bryan got an opportunity to really do some Daddy/Baby bonding for a few days. I was in St. Louis Thursday through Saturday, so he was on his own in Babyland for the first long period of time. He did such a good job following the routine, adding a few of his own, and making sure our Woobie got fed, clean, changed and put to bed each night without a problem. Bryan's so good about playing with him and teaching him things--I see the possibility that Reid'll be an athlete and a scholar by the time he's three.

(My cousin Rick Bland who lives in Atlanta, called while I was updating the blog just now--he say's "hi" to everyone in Evansville. Baby number two for Ricky is due in about two months :) It's good to have family that keeps connections going, dontcha think?)

Reid's two little bottom teeth continue to grow. The one on the left is popped through a little bit and the other rests just under the surface. He really hasn't complained much about pain, but we keep the teething tablets and orajel on hand just in case. As soon as he agrees to open his little mouth, I'll try to get a picture of them.

We had another success this week--baby is consenting to eat sweet peas! At least there's one green food he'll tolerate to offset all those yellow and orange ones he loves so much.

Little Roo's new sound of the month: Rooaaaaaaahhhhh! (a grunty, growly roar, deep in his throat.) We think he might be part bear.

New word of the week: DADAdadaDADadadaDa Da dee!! (what am I, chopped liver??)

Love and hope to see you all soon,
Emily

You have new Picture Mail!

You have new Picture Mail!

Hi everyone!

Since my last post, I got to go to the doctor and get some shots. It kinda hurts my feelings, but since I'm such a tough guy, I don't let it bother me too much. While I was at the doctor's office, the nurse weighed me and measured me. I am 18 lbs. 10 oz. and 27 inches long now. That puts me at 75th percentile for other little guys my age. This week, though, I think something big might happen--it feels like I might be getting a bottom front tooth. This will be my first one ever, so I hope it doesn't hurt very much...I'll let you know if it does!

Check out the pictures Mom took on her cell phone! The one is me cheezin' in some sunglasses after church, and the other is me sitting up like such a big boy in the WalMart cart for the first time! I know I'm cute, you don't have to tell me that!

Six months and four days ago, I was born. My firstmom had been in labor all day and night and finally, early on a Sunday morning, I came into the world. She was so tired, and I had to go into an oxygen chamber for most of the day. It wasn't until about 7 that night that I got to meet everyone up close for the first time: my first mom, "Mama N" got to hold me first, then her dad, "Grampa G," then Daddy and Mommy. They thought I looked really big, but when they held me they realized how small I really was. Who knew I'd have so many people there to love me that day! On the day I was born, I weighed 8 lbs., 11 oz.

Now that I'm a big boy, I'm close to 20 lbs!! We'll find out for sure next week when I go to the doctor. I'll have to get shots, though--I hope they don't hurt as bad as last time!

Recently, I've been doing lots of new and exciting things:

1. I have been taking baths in the big boy bathtub! I have a nifty chair that sits in the tub so I can sit up and play. I haven't figured out how much fun it is to splash yet. When I do, I'm sure I'll get Mommy really wet!
2. I can roll over at will! I used to only be able to turn from my front to my back, but now--I can get anywhere I want because I can flip from back to front. Mommy says she's going to make an outfit out of Swiffer sheets so I can help clean the house, but I think she's kidding.
3. I don't have to be rocked to sleep--I whine a little so Mom and Daddy know its bedtime and all they have to do is put me in my crib and I go right to sleep. For the most part, I sleep all night. Sometimes I need a little snack and diaper change around 10, but nobody seems to mind. I think they like to get some extra snuggles in since I go to bed so early.
4. I eat all kinds of baby food now. My favorites are all yellow and orange food: squash, sweet potatoes, applesauce, carrots and pears. Green beans and peas make me gag. Hopefully, my parents will quit wasting their money on those.
5. I see the cat, I want the cat, I grab the cat...the cat runs away. I don't get it.

Next time I promise to post more pictures and let you know how my doctor's appointment went.

I hope to see you all soon!

Love, Reid

Hi, Everyone! Thanks for coming to see me. Whenever Mom and Dad let me use the computer, I will dazzle you with stories about all the neat new things I'm learning, how fast I'm growing, and occasionally, a story about Mom and Dad. There are so many of you I don't get to see each week, but don't think I'm not thinking about you!

Next week I will be six months old! I will tell the story of how I came to be a part of this family and a little about my first family, too. I'll post some pictures so you can see how much I've grown in such a short time. In the meantime, I'm going to learn a little bit more about blogging, take a few naps and play with my toys...

love you!

Baby Reid