Cheese!

While Reed's gotten much better at smiling for the camera since late April, his early attempts to say "Cheese!" and smile were some of the most horrifically funny things we'd ever seen.  Thank goodness he's evolved a bit since then!

And We're Back!

After taking an 81/2 month blog hiatus, I'm back and determined to continue recording our family adventures in a much more regular fashion!  So far, 2013 has been a bit of a challenge, with myriad health issues (luckily, just Jeff and me, not Reed!) and typically busy schedules taking precedence.  But Reed continues to grow and change so fast and I hate that I missed documenting every step of the way. While there's no way I can really get all of the 8 months, I'll at least provide a few snippets, starting with the spring and Reed's 2nd birthday.  Here we go!

With Reed's continued infatuation with everything music-related, we went with a music theme for his party and invited the music teacher from the JCC, Miss Michelle, to come to the house and give the kids a 45-minute music class.  Reed and his friends had an absolute blast.  We also lucked out with beautiful spring weather, so everyone got some play time outside, followed by pizza and an amazing cake.  After Reed's nap, we opened presents and had a family dinner with Grammy, Bubbe, Zaide, Aunt Rachael, Alex, and Uncle Floyd.  We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!

Happy 2nd birthday, Reed!

Reed meets Miss Michelle

  

Reed rocked the sticks

Grabbing hold of the friendship rope

Outdoor play time

Justin and Graham with Dustin

Blow out that candle, big boy!

Enjoying cake with Aunt Rachael

Present time!  Reed loved his new guitar and microphone.

Proud Uncle Floyd

Reed loved his singing Elmo card from Bubbe and Zaide

Kisses for soon-to-be Uncle Alex

Blast Off!

Reed loves his new Radio Flyer Flying Saucer from Uncle Rob and Aunt B!

Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel

Who knew a falling dreidel could be so funny? 

Thankful

Thanksgiving has never been my favorite holiday.  Yes, the food is yummy, but it's always had the feeling of the "also ran" holiday for me - a few weeks before Christmas/Hanukkah, a four day break instead of two weeks, no gifts (and let's be honest - I've always LOVED the gifts, both giving and receiving!) . . .  I've been much more apt to look at it as the precursor to my beloved winter celebrations.  I've definitely been guilty of not really honoring the spirit of the day, not really taking time to be thankful for all of the blessings in my life.

But this year was different.  It was a Thanksgiving of firsts for me.  It was the first time Jeff and I hosted Thanksgiving.  It was the first holiday celebration in our new house.  It was the first time Rob and Brie visited our new home.  It was the first holiday we've spent with both our Sherwin and Lang families.  And it was our first holiday with a full-blown toddler!  There was so much to thankful for - a beautiful home, stable jobs, a precocious, adorable, healthy child, our four and a half year marriage, and most of all, our family.  While we missed all of our family members who couldn't travel out to MD for the long weekend, Jeff and I felt so grateful for the ones who did and treasured every moment they were here.  We loved watching Reed play with both sets of grandparents and his aunt and uncle.  We savored every meal, every laugh.  While technology that allows Skype and Facetime is fantastic, it's not a substitute for the real thing.  Living far away from family is hard, and this Thanksgiving, we were thankful to have ours here, in the flesh. 

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the weekend, along with a fun video of Reed calling the Redskins game with the fam.

Reed teaches Uncle Robby and Aunt Brie a thing or two about Angry Birds

Pre-Thanksgiving Thai

Reed's favorite uncle Robby

Our little basketball star

Thanksgiving tablescape

My sweet buddy

Rob and Brie

My helper in the kitchen!

The chef with his first bird

Thanksgiving dinner

Putting up the Hanukkah lights!

Reed helps Mommy with abs

Fall Fun

Fall is in full force here in MD.  In fact, the cold temperatures this weekend make it feel closer to winter!  In late October (the weekend just before Hurricane Sandy swept the East Coast), we enjoyed a trip out to Homestead Farm, where we picked out pumpkins and Reed enjoyed petting all the farm animals.  Later that weekend, all three of us helped rake the massive amount of leaves strewn about our front yard.  We love the front of our house, but the two huge trees that make it so pretty also drop A LOT of leaves!  After a few weeks of letting them fall, we finally succombed to the raking.  Reed adored sitting in the huge piles, and was Daddy's little helper with the rake towards the end. 

Of course, we also celebrated Reed's 2nd Halloween with a stroll around our neighborhood.  Reed, aka Gerald the Giraffe, charmed all of our neighbors and asked to "knock" on all the doors.  While couldn't quite master "Trick or Treat" or "Halloween", he had "Happy" down really well!  He also enjoyed his very first piece of candy: a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup.  I think he died and went to heaven. 

I've also tagged on a little bonus video at the end: Reed "singing" "Apples and Bananas."  He's got a ways to go, but we're counting this as his first song!

Peeking through the pumpkin photo op at Homestead Farm

Playing in the leaves

Lovin' it!

Earning his keep!

The only shot we could get of him with the giraffe head on!

Much happier sans hat

Enjoying that candy!

A little fruit pack before bed

Found a Peanut

As I've mentioned in recent posts, Reed LOVES music.  One of his favorite CDs the last couple of months is this Lisa Loeb children's album (Jeff is also a huge fan, given that Lisa Loeb was his pre-teen crush!), and he has memorized all of the songs on it.  While he can't yet actually sing all the lyrics, he can fill in the last words of every line.  See Exhibit A below, in which he helps me sing "Found a Peanut".  I particularly like how he busies himself around the room as we sing, chiming in with the appropriate word when necessary.  He kills me.

**Disclosure: this song -- and video -- is a bit on the long side.  You were warned!