Almost

Nothing major is going on around here right now. There are a lot of "almosts". Reed is staying up on his knees when we lift him up. He rocks a little and then falls over, he thinks it is pretty funny. He is almost getting there on his own and I am sure he will be crawling soon. He also almost has a tooth. I have been prepared for it each day for a week now but it is just not coming through. I guess when I stop watching, it will be there. It is almost time to sign up for school for next year and I am back and forth between keeping Millie where she is or switching her to a private school that I may send her to for Kindergarten. I just can not decide what we should do. It is a very tough choice. If I were back home, I would know without a doubt, but I just don't know much about the different schools around here. I have heard TN schools are not good but is paying $5000 a year really going to get me much more, I just don't know. This is just another thing that will be on my mind for the next year that keeps me from sleeping at night.

Valentine Day Special

My blogs are crossing over here but I wanted to let you all know that a wonderful friend of mine and I are offering a special Valentine Day gift of a heart shaped box of 11 delicious handmade truffles along with a handmade Valentine card. I can customize the card anyway you like. Just e-mail me and let me know if you are interested. I will be in Indiana the first weekend in February and can deliver there as well.

A Snow Day and a New President

Around East Tennessee, it is hard to tell which was more exciting, the fact that there was actually snow to play in or that we watched the inauguration of our first African American President. We managed to balance both activities well, playing in the snow early, coming in for some hot chocolate then settling in to watch CNN for the inauguration. You have to admit, no matter whom you voted for, it was a very exciting event and I wanted to make sure Millie was part of it. Reed was watching too and actually made the sound Dada and Ma for the first time during the inauguration. I think he was trying to say Obama but I am sure we will never know.

Millie's Big Dance Recital

Millie's dance recital was a big hit. I think she and her friend Isabella did a fantastic job. Mammy, G.G. and my sister Laura all came down from Indiana to see it and I don't think they left disappointed. My dad even said he enjoyed it! The squealing happy baby in the background would be Reed, he REALLY enjoyed watching those girls dance around. I also want to point out that this is a class for 3, 4 and I think 5 year olds. Of the 4 girls actually dancing, Millie and Isabella are 3, and I think the the other 2 are 4 and 5 years old so I think our 2 little ones did a really great job.

Tap


Ballet


Free Movement? (Reed is expressing his freedom of speech during this one)


Millie and Isabella getting their medals. Notice how Millie jumps up on the top like a wild woman and Isabella delicately steps up to accept hers like a true ballerina. I think Millie is more suited for gymnastics which we are continuing next week.

Reed is 6 Months

Reed had his 6 month check up today. He is 19 pounds, 27 1/2 inches and his head is 46 1/2 cm. This is 75%, 75% and 95% respectively. So, his length is catching up to his weight and his brains are still pretty big. He is still sleeping well at night, between 10 and 12 hours usually. He is eating squash, sweet potatoes, carrots and green beans in addition to his rice cereal and formula. He loves it all! He kicks like a crazy person between bites but when the spoon gets close, he gets very still and sometimes lets out a squeal. The Doctor told us we can introduce him to fruit now so watch out, that will really get his legs kicking! He still likes to stand at the train table and watch Millie play. Although he can roll over, he has not figured out that it can get him places so he still gets frustrated when he sees something he wants and can not get to it. I have been rolling him across the floor to reach something trying to teach him but he just doesn't seem to either care or understand.

Train Monster

Today was the day where Millie began to be concerned about Reed's ability to mess up her stuff. Up to this point, Reed has minded his own business and really not inconvenienced Millie at all. So, she has loved on him when the mood presented itself and other than that, he did not concern her...until this happened!

For those of you who do not know Millie well, her trains are her life. She plays with them probably 80% of her playing hours. She talks about them all the time and she is very particular about how anyone else plays with them and who goes where and who can pull who, it is very intense.

Reed discovered the battery powered trains and is a BIG fan of watching them go around and around. He kept falling down when Lady would get close and he would let go with one hand to try to grab her. He finally decided it was not worth it and just watched instead of letting go. He did get brave about 5 minutes later and carefully let go with one hand and stayed up for awhile.

Millie was watching him closely and noticed that he was really not bothering anything so she let him stay. However, I am sure the first time he grabs a piece of track and messes it up, WWIII will begin in our play room.

Baby Giggles

We had a very nice day today so we made sure we made it outside. Millie proved she had not forgotten to ride her bike as she zipped up and down the street. Reed enjoyed the fresh air and the stroller ride. He probably does not remember the last time he was out in the stroller and he just kicked his little feet the entire time and was very content. I had to put him in the umbrella stroller because we left our big stroller in Indiana over Christmas. I wasn't sure if he was big enough but he did just fine in it. This is nice to know because the umbrella stroller is a lot easier to deal with than the big stroller.

Twitter

I now have a new feature to the right of my posts. It is called "Millie's Sillies". These are funny things that Millie says though out the day that keeps me smiling. Sometimes you may just have to be there but I hope you enjoy! I sure do!

Christmas - Better Late Than Never

Reed's first Christmas was pretty busy. He was happy that we brought his bouncer along and that kept him fairly content. We travel a lot for every Holiday but Christmas is even more crazy trying to visit every Great Grandparent and Grandparent at the times that the rest of the family are there. Counting Church, we had 7 places to go on Christmas Eve spanning 2 time zones. Christmas day was a little less crazy with only one place to go but Reed could tell he was not on his normal schedule and was not a real happy camper. When we headed back to visit my parents, my sister mentioned that mom was sick and we may want to come to her house instead. Millie was not happy about not seeing Mammy but was excited to have a sleep over with J.J. Well, she ended up getting strep and we just came back to TN a few days early. We had planned to go to the Colts game on Sunday but with Millie sick, we just came home early which made Reed and Millie happy (and me too!) and saved us 4 more hours of driving on top of the 10 we already had to do.

Millie was fortunate to get lots of great toys but I think her favorite was the Spiderman Costume we got her. She has worn it ever since but we make her take it off to eat, sleep and go outside so that it does not get dirty. She was also very happy with her Computer Cool School Uncle Pat got her and the light up Spiderman shirt Mammy got her.

We were blessed with a visit from Aunt Chris and Uncle Randy with their new baby...Anastasia. She is a day younger than Reed but they live in UAE and this is the first time we have seen them since Millie's second birthday a year and a half ago. Although Reed thought it was a good opportunity to practice his left jab, Anastasia is tough and did not seem to mind as long as she was allowed to play with his toys!