North Stars

Last week my best friend from college, Lisa Munger, wrote a blog post about her North Stars - the women in her life who have helped shape and guide her into the person she is today.  She encouraged readers to reach out NOW to the people you love, to tell them NOW that you love them and appreciate all they are and have shared with you.  I was inspired.  I have always felt unbelievably lucky to have amazing women in my life who have loved and supported me through my life journey thus far.  While I'm grateful to all of my female friends, there are, of course, some who are MY North Stars.  They are the ones on speed dial.  The ones I instinctively turn to, for different reasons, in times of joy, times of sorrow, times of uncertainty.  I love you, ladies!

Lisa - thank you for teaching me that conflict is not only okay, but healing, cathartic, and ultimately restorative.  Thank you for your authenticity and for your constant quest for self-improvement and self-love.  Thank you for proving to me that soul mates never truly leave each other.

Beth - thank you for providing the inspiration for a beautiful relationship and marriage.  Thank you for your idealism.  Thank you for your empathy and uncanny ability to always say just the right thing at the right time.  B'sherit.

Allyson - thank you for your huge heart, the biggest of anyone I know.  Thank you for your constant love, support, and forgiveness, no matter what I might do or say. 

Maureen - thank you for your thoughtfulness.  Thank you for your quiet, yet constant support, for which there is never a question.  You teach me loyalty and faithfulness.

Rebekah - thank you for your unerring pragmatism.  Thank you for the truth - always the truth - and for listening without judgement.

Aunt Candy - thank you for your passion, and for sharing your passion with me.  Thank you for listening and remembering.  Thank you for always letting me be a part of your life. 

Brie - thank you for your grace, humor, empathy, and kindness.  Thank you for being my role model.  Thank you for loving me and being the sister I always dreamed of.

Aunt Karen - thank you for your prayers (you know the ones!).  Thank you for laughter. Thank you for listening and poring over every detail.  You are my reminder of the depths of love.

And Mom - thank you.  Thank you for being my daily inspiration to be the best woman and mother I can be.  Thank you for the PURE and unconditional love you have given me every day of my life.  You teach me compassion and generosity.  You are my heart and soul. 

Thank you to my North Stars.  You are my constants.  I love you!

SO LATE - Holidays 2011

I am unbelievably late with this blog post, but I wanted to make sure I had record of our wonderful trip to California for the holidays.  We were lucky this year - Hanukkah and Christmas overlapped, so we were able to celebrate both holidays while we were home.  We lit candles every night (thanks Sherwins, for participating so willingly!), and also had a lovely Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Other highlights included a day trip to Malibu and a fun family photo shoot, but the best part for me was watching my family interact and play with Reed.  It breaks my heart that it can't be a more regular occurrence, but I'll take what we can get! 

Here are some of my favorite memories of the trip.

Reed is already a Corvette lover at 8 1/2 months!

Chelsea loved Reed!

Our sweet boy on his first Xmas Eve

Xmas Morning with Uncle Robby

Reed was uncertain about the Santa hat, but he looked so cute!

Special version of Good Night Moon, narrated by Grammy.

Dancing with Grandpa

He couldn't be any cuter!

Enjoying Hanukkah candles with Aunt Brie

Family day in Malibu - the Adamson House

Lunch in Paradise Cove

Proof!

Reed's first trip to the beach!

Kisses for Nana

Papa's little dude

Last night of Hanukkah

Reed is Nine Months Old

Two weeks into 2012 and our sweet Reed is now nine months old!  He's made some big strides this month, and we think some even bigger milestones are just around the corner.  Reed continues to amaze us with his easy-going nature (he didn't even make a peep when getting his 9-month shot!), and we see more and more of his personality every day.  He is still thoughtful and serious in new situations - he needs to study and take everything in before letting loose with smiles and laughter.  But Reed is not stranger shy - he'll let anyone hold him - and when he feels comfortable, Reed loves to giggle and play.  He can be quite strong-willed (especially when it comes to food!) and wants to touch everything he sees, but he is also able to focus quickly and for long periods of time.  We fall more in love with this kid every day!

Here are all the things we want to remember about Reed at nine months:

• At 20 pounds, 12 ounces and 29 inches long, Reed is in the 50-75 percentile for both weight and height.  He's wearing mostly 12-month clothing, although he still has a few pairs of 9-month knit pants and sleepers.
• Speaking of sleep, Reed continues to be a great sleeper.  He takes two naps a day: the first from around 9 - 10 a.m. and the second from 1:45ish to 3:30/3:45.  We put him down for bed around 7 or 7:15 and he sleeps until 6:45 or 7 a.m.  
• Reed is still only taking breastmilk for liquids and has approximately 32 ounces a day, with three 7-8 ounce bottles at daycare, around 8 ounces in the morning from Mom, and only 2-3 ounces before bed (if any).  
• He's gotten really good at holding his own bottle, although we do have to keep our hands nearby in case of accidents.  The bottle/nursing sessions are more challenging now, since Reed is so much more distracted.  He wants to be looking around and doing other things, so it takes quite a bit of perseverance to get him to finish a full bottle.
• Solids went a lot better this month, although we started having a few problems again in the last week or so.  He eats a carton of food, plus half a sandwich thin and piece of cheese for lunch, Mum Mums as a snack, and a carton of food, carton of yogurt, bread or puffs, and sometimes an egg for dinner.  
• Reed's favorite foods are yogurt, fruit/grain mixes, bread, and cheese.  He's hit or miss on eggs and cottage cheese.  The big development here is that he LOVES to feed himself and is starting to rebel a bit against spoon-feeding, which is making it a challenge on some of his old favorites, like yogurt.  We also found out at his doctor's appointment that his iron count is a bit low, so we need to do a better job of giving him meat and cereal.  The challenge will be finding new and interesting finger foods for him, especially since . . .
• He doesn't have any teeth yet!  Since I'm still nursing, I'm not really complaining!  Plus, I just love his gummy grin.
• Reed has gotten much better at pulling up and has gotten himself to a full stand several times, although most of the time he seems to get stuck at his knees.
• He got to a sit on his own in his crib once, but we haven't seen him do it since.  He seems so close, but most of the time we still have to help him get to a sitting position.
• Reed is so close to crawling!  He can scootch forward and sometimes does a semblance of an army crawl.  He can also get into a pike position and get to his knees, but he can't figure out how to move from there.  We feel like the big moment could happen any day and we're just hoping it's when we're home to see it.
• He continues to be fascinated by Ari P., who wants even less to do with Reed than she did before!  She's definitely going to be in trouble once Reed is mobile.  Watch out, Ari!
• While we were in California for Christmas, Reed's favorite "word" was "ba ba", but ever since we got back, it's been "ma ma".  He says it all the time, and sometimes he even seems to intend it for me!  When I took him to his 9-month appointment, out of nowhere he said, "Ma ma", and when I looked back at him, he was grinning at me in the mirror.  Who knows - maybe that will be his first real word!
• Speaking of mama, Reed has gotten very attached to me this month.  Perhaps because I was with him so much in CA, but he often wants to be held by me or near me in some way.  No complaints here!
• On Christmas Eve, Reed waved and clapped for the first time.  His first wave was to Nana, which was very special.  It's a little inconsistent - he doesn't do it all the time - but he really loves to wave at himself in the mirror every morning.
• Reed loves to hang upside down and often will launch himself backward in our laps, which keeps us on our toes!
• He also loves being tickled, both on his tummy and under his chin.
• Reed's favorite toys are his monkey toy (he was so excited to see it when we got back from CA!), his V-Tech music ball from Nana and Papa, his drum from Gram and Grandpa, his dog from Uncle Rob and Aunt Brie, and elephant ball popper from Aunt Rachel.  
• After months of reading with no response, Reed is finally showing an interest in some books!  His favorites are All of Baby, Nose to Toes (thanks Marilyn and Bob Riffle!), The Going to Bed Book (thanks Melissa Reichley!), and Good Night Moon, as narrated by Grammy.  By far, All of Baby is his favorite.  He gets excited before we even open the first page!
• He has gotten very into peek-a-boo, and he really loves it when I jump out from around a door or corner, then creep up to "get him".  Loads of giggles!
• Reed got very into smacking his lips this month, and still enjoys blowing raspberries.  
• Last but not least, just like I did when I was little, when he gets excited, he tenses his whole body up, especially his arms.  Grammy freaked out a little when she saw Reed do it - a little deja vu!

Here are some pictures of our favorite 9 month-old!

Love our boy!

Still a little sleepy-eyed at 8 a.m.

So flexible!

On the move!

Giggles for Mommy

Tasting Daddy's apple

Sweet sleeper

Love this face.

Reed is Eight Months Old!

December 11th creeped up on us - Reed is now eight months old!  It's been a big month for little Reed.  He's enjoying a new room in our new apartment (temporary while we look for our new home) and has developed all kinds of new tricks.  This month he's also had two consecutive ear infections and one cold after another, but you'd never know it from his demeanor.  Reed remains such a sweet, mellow baby.  Jeff and I feel so lucky!  Without further ado, here are all the things we want to remember about our buddy at eight months:

• Weighing at 20 lbs and measuring 28 inches long, Reed is in the 50th percentile for weight and 52nd for height.  Again, I think the percentile charts I reference have GOT to be wrong.  Just wait til you see his delicious rolls in the pics below!
• He still wears some 9-month clothes, but he's mostly in the 12-month sizes.
• Reed still takes five liquid feedings (breastmilk only) a day - 6:30 a.m. (nursing), 10 a.m., 1:15 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 7:00 p.m. (nursing).  His three bottles at daycare are all 8 ounces, and I think he takes 8 ounces in the morning and about 3 - 4 ounces at night.
• Speaking of nursing, Reed went on strike toward the middle of the month.  I was terrified and thought that maybe he was self-weaning (even though this is really rare), but we weathered through! I think Reed was feeding off of my stress from the move and sale of our house, plus he was getting frustrated with a slower let-down at night.  He's nursing again and I'm very relieved.  Not ready to give up the sweetness of our nursing sessions yet!
• Although we got off to a rough start with solids, Reed is now eating like a champ!  He eats one small jar or half a large carton of food at daycare, and then a whole carton of yogurt and either 1/2 or a whole jar of food at dinner.  He also enjoys one or two Mum Mum crackers in the late afternoon, and some Gerber Puffs with dinner.
• Some of his favorite foods are yogurt, fruit (bananas, peaches, apples, pears), and hummus (which he tried for the first time at shul!)
• Early on this month, Reed began picking up the puffs on his own from his high chair tray and is now quite adept at getting them in his mouth.
• Reed LOVES "drinking" out of Mommy's water bottle.  I take a sip and he starts grinning and laughing before opening his mouth for me to pour some in.  Most of the time I put the cap on and then let him put his mouth on it to "drink", but more often now I'll let him take a sip and the water always surprises him!
• He continues to sleep through the night, from about 7 p.m. to 6:30 or 6:45 a.m.  He takes 1 -2 naps a day, usually from 8:45 - 9:50-ish, and then from 1:30 - 3 p.m.
• Reed loves to talk.  At the beginning of the month, his favorite sound was "ma ma", and now it's "da da."  While he often talks at full volume, we really love it when he starts talking almost under his breath.  It's hard to describe, but it's almost like a whisper.  So cute!
• He nearly always raises his arms up to be picked up.  He still loves to be held, which is heaven for his mommy!
• Reed loves giving us kisses and he recently discovered his cute twin in the mirror and likes giving him kisses too!
• While not his favorite game, Reed has gotten much better at peek-a-boo and every now and then enjoys a quick round or two.
• He is fascinated by Ari!  She catches his eye any time she walks by and he just wishes she would be more accommodating when he grabs at her fur.
• Reed's favorite toys continue to be musical ones - his monkey, Vtech music book, and a new piano courtesy of Jack Spiegel - but he also likes his baseball, bath toys, and Mommy and Daddy's remote control.
• Speaking of baths, we started bathing him in the "big" tub this month.  He loves it!  The floating toys are endlessly entertaining and he likes slashing as well.
• Reed also started pulling up this month!  While he can't get to a full stand, he pulled to his knees for the first time in the tub (and has since done so on his new piano toy too).
• While he's not crawling yet, Reed often rocks forward from a sitting position to the tops of his knees, then his tummy in his quest to reach something out of reach in front of him.  I still think it's possible he might skip crawling, but maybe not!
• Reed can stand for brief periods of time on his own while leaning on something, without support from us.  Of course, he can't get to a stand on his own, but if we help him get there and let him rest his hands on something, he can hang on his own for a bit.
• He loves being tickled under his neck and still thinks the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" is hilarious.
• A few times this month, when I asked Reed, "Where's Daddy?", he turned and touched Jeff's arm!  Fluke?  Maybe.  But I think it's just an early sign of genius.  :)

Here are a few pictures and video of our favorite eight month-old!!

Look at my sign!

Still has those cheeks . . .

Happy boy

Goodness . . .

He knows that remote is off limits, but it kept him away from the eight month sign!

Loves his puffs!

Yummy!

Enjoying his big boy bath

Thanksgiving 2011

This is a little late, but we had a lovely Thanksgiving celebration with the Langs in New Jersey.  We had a much bigger table this year, with Reed, Rachael's boyfriend Alex, and Jeff's uncle Floyd and his wife Darcy.  So very much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving - a beautiful, healthy baby boy, amazing family members who see us as much as possible given the long distance, wonderful friends, the sale of our townhouse, and each other, of course. 

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day!

Playing with Auntie Rachael

Reed loves his Daddy!

Sweet boy

Reed admires Uncle Floyd's 'stache; Uncle Floyd admires Reed's cheeks

Lang men

Rachael and Alex

Reed and his Zaide

Reed and Aunt Darcy - just before Reed conked out on her!

Swings!

Standing on his own!