Reid Time

I took Reid in for his nine month well child check up yesterday, so the urge to post his stats and his milestone updates has overwhelmed me in the last 24 hours.  I also think I could write a great post about how I accidentally threw water all over myself in the waiting room.  How does one accidentally throw water on them self? Well, with the level of coordination I have anything is possible.  Or, I could post about the apparent sign on my backside that says "Hey old men, are you lonely?  I'll be your friend!"  I guess I'll save those last two for another day and just bombard you with Reid trivia.

He weights 23 lbs and 14.4 ounces, bringing him back into the 90th percentile.
He is 30 and 3/4 inches long, keeping him in the 98th+ percentile.

His two bottom teeth came in shortly after his 6 month mark.  The middle top two have been puffy and swollen since the end of our July 4th vacay.  They cracked through about a week ago and are finally making their way down.  I swear those two teeth are slower than cold tar! They are so slow they've actually waited long enough to come in with neighbors. Yup, yesterday I noticed two more teeth are making their way down.  I can't believe he is going to have four front teeth any day now.  

Crawling marked the beginning of the mischievous stage. Learning to crawl was quite the process.  First he'd just get up on all fours and rock back and forth, trying to master balance. Then he started pushing down on his hands while pushing off with his feet. The result was a backwards crawl, funny for us, frustrating for him. Finally, he figured out the army crawl. I don't really blame him for coping out.  It'd be hard to lift a belly that big! The weekend my parents came to stay with us was the weekend he really started taking steps on all four. Since then there has been no stopping him!

Reid loves climbing. He doesn't cruise yet; he just spends all his energy pulling himself up. Once up, he  wants to keep moving up! I don't even think he has realized he could move from side to side. Up, up, and up is all he is interested in.  

In these photos he was after that ball. Once he realized he was stuck under the chair he decided to just make the best of it. Instead of getting too scared or fussy he just practiced his pull ups! What an optimistic boy.

He definitely doesn't feel like a baby anymore. I take him to the park almost everyday. He loves the baby swing, and there is a little rocking toy he can sit in as well. Mostly, he loves watching the other little boys play (we've only once seen a girl, and she was leaving as we arrived).

Swim lessons are a hit! He didn't love the pool while we were on vacation over the fourth, so we were really surprised by how much he loved swimming in his Y class. He splashes through most of the class, and he loves "swimming" after toys. He's not at all afraid to float (supported) on his belly. His back makes him a little more tense, but he still does it without a whimper.
  
We're in the middle of a big heat wave so today's activity was the library. He LOVED the puppets. I think I may have to invest in some. He also enjoyed exploring the little kid area. I understand why they don't have read aloud's or other library sponsored activities for kids under 2, but I really wish they did! I'm all about getting Reid (and mostly myself) in those habits early on. For now tho, playing with just me will have to do.

He is NOT a picky eater. Most the food I offer him is homemade. Homemade baby food is so EASY and so CHEAP! I can't image doing it any other way. We turned a handful of raisins, two apples, a butternut squash and a sprinkle of cinnamon into 15 days of lunch. He loves it. We've started a lot more finger foods. Which he also loves. Cherrios are the only way I get the dishes done in the morning.  He's so content to just fist those into his mouth while I clean the kitchen up. Did I mention the dishwasher is his favorite thing in our house? No lie. If he is anywhere on the floor when I open that thing up he'll just start shrilling and in a matter of seconds he's loading himself onto the bottom rack. I'm not sure how it caught his eye, but they have a pretty deep love. He also loves to watch the laundry spin around when the (front load) washer first starts.

Ben's getting pretty excited to see what sort of little boy things he gets into. Animals? Dinosaurs? Cars?  All of it?  Ben was also sweet enough to go through a list of names kids will use to make fun of him.  Reidtarded has floated around here ever since. Oh, the things Ben does when I'm not supervising him.

Well, that update ought to satisfy the Grandparents.  Hopefully we'll see Ben's parents in the next couple of weeks. Thanks to all the airplanes that come to Oshkosh next week, we know we'll at least see Grandpa. Then in August Riedtar... (nope, I won't do it) and I are going to UT for Phil's wedding. We can't wait! I hope he's as good a traveler as he's proven in the past!