Get to know Reid @ 5 Months

Our little dude is five months old today!  The past few weeks have been big for him developmentally.  Here’s a quick catch up:

He had rice cereal for the first time.  It was so funny to watch him eat!  He knew just what to do and he loved it!  Check out this video to see more.  :)

Next we introduced oatmeal and he hated that.   He made a terrible face, refused another bite, and then cried!  We tried again the next night, then the following night went back to rice cereal.  Now, he won’t eat anything on a spoon!  So we are back to only milk for a few days and we’ll try again sometime soon.   :)

Eating cereal is a messy endeavor so we started giving Reid baths in his new bath chair.  He loves it!Reid has been giggling for a while now, but he’s recently started belly laughing and it is AWESOME.   Tell me if you can watch this and not smile or laugh out loud: 

And just last week he started sitting up while holding his hands in front of him (like a tripod).  Today he was sitting up with no problem at all!  He’s a little wobbly, and can’t yet get into a sit without a little help, but really likes his new latitude!He is teething but nothing has popped through yet.  So these days he is sometimes in pain, and always a drool machine.  For the most part, the pain and the drool don’t bother him! Likes:  Reid loves to play with his own hands and ours, too.  He watches Sadie Belle and he just started reaching out to touch her.  He holds on to our neck or arms while we carry him, which I like to think of as “hugging” us.  :)  He coos and “talks” a lot and seems to be testing out his vocal cords even more lately with happy screams.

Dislikes:  sleeping through the night.  Oatmeal.

Nicknames:  “Baby Dude” (Jer) “Mr. Mister” (Jenny)  “Mr. Meatball” (everyone!)

Reid in a Few Words:  Happy, drool-y and choochie (which is a Holly-made-up-word for big, squishy baby!)

Sleep…Or Lack of It

Last week was a false alarm. 

Reid’s sleeping is still sporadic, and many nights he wakes up at least once and is seriously ticked-off.  We are doing our best to help him learn to self-soothe and go back to sleep.  It is rough on everyone, even Sadie!  Sometimes he’ll sleep through the night and then we’ll try to recreate the exact circumstances to try and have it happen again.  As in…

“…we went out for ice cream and he fell asleep in the car and then slept through the night.  From now on, we will have ice cream every night.”   This theory was proven wrong the next night.  At least we got more ice cream!

And then a couple days ago Jer said, “he wore PJs without feet two nights and then slept through the night both nights!  I think he thermoregulates through his feet like I do.  From now on, no PJs with feet.”  (Yes.  My husband said this.  And I love him.)  The third night proved that Reid does not like to thermoregulate after all.

Yes, I realize we are grasping at straws here!! 

Here’s the thing:  our little dude is 1/2 Jeremy (or maybe slightly more than one half, if you ask me!).  Jer does NOT like to go to bed.  Why should we expect the Little Dude to want to go to bed?!

So for now we are trying to just take it one night at a time and hope that it gets better.  He’s sleeping now.  Let’s hope he stays that way.

Goodnight noises every where!

New Cousin Alex Remington Kubaney!

Reid has a new baby cousin! 

Alex Remington Kubaney was born on August 14.  By all reports, Holly and baby Alex are doing well, Jeff is getting back into newborn mode, and the three big brothers are all having to take turns holding their new baby brother.

Since we don’t have any pictures of Alex to post (HINT! HINT! :) we’ll post a cute one of Reid. We’ll be up in Cleveland in a few weeks to meet Baby Alex and let Reid meet all his family up there.  We can’t wait!  We last saw the whole family over Christmas vacation when I had a big belly and Holly was newly preggo. 

(By the way, this was another onesie that one of my girlfriends made at our baby shower.  I’m not sure who made this one, but my guess is Beverly.  Am I right? :)

Ahh…That’s More Like It!

Nearly three weeks ago Reid started waking between four and six times a night, and he was MAD each time. 

Since then we’ve been trying to help him learn to roll himself from his tummy to his back, which is his primary frustration in the night.  (Sidenote:  it is not easy to teach someone to roll over.  Or, at least, not our someone.  He’s been working on it since early July!)  We’ve also started a bedtime routine that includes a bath, massage, PJs and then we read a few books and put him in his crib before he is asleep.  And just last week, we introduced rice cereal in the evenings.  (There are future posts and LOTS of pictures coming of Reid enjoying a meal!)Last night our sweet little one finally slept through the night again.  Nine hours!  Pinch me!! And even better than the long night’s sleep, he woke up happy!  He had scooted himself down to his mobile and kicked the button to turn it on and was laughing at it.  Jer and I woke up to the pleasant sound of a happy, cooing baby.

And now, as I write this blog post, he is snoozing away during his mid-morning nap.

We hope this is the start of something good…

Reid Met Baby Ruby!

Today at Momma & Baby yoga we had a wonderful treat:  my friend Holly was there with her little Ruby! 

I’ve been following Ruby’s amazing journey and reading what her parents went through for their little baby girl.  There were many nights when I would be exhausted, feeding Reid late at night and I would read the latest on Ruby.  Sometimes I would cry, trying to imagine what Holly must be going through.  Often, I would marvel at how quickly you become an expert at something when your child needs you to be.  And every time, I would hug Reid tight, tell him I love him and tell him that one day he’d meet baby Ruby.

Today was that day.

Ruby has proven she is quite a little fighter!  And in yoga today, she seemed very zen.  I’m sure she’s glad to be home.

I didn’t snap any photos, but I’ll try to remember for next time…

Welcome home Holly, Chris & Ruby!!  Thank you for sharing your story with us.

Carly Allaire Flores is Here!

On August 6, Stephanie and James welcomed Carly Allaire Flores into this world.  She is an absolutely beautiful baby who will grow up with more love than she knows what to do with!Stephanie has many more pics than I do, so click here to check out her blog and many more photos.

At 7 pounds, 14 ounces and 19 inches, she is little, by my family’s standard with BIG babies.  Although my sister-in-law Holly reminded me that is an average size of a baby.  Huh.  Imagine that?!  :) Big Sister Avery loves her newbaby sister, and her "Bay-bee Reeeid." Welcome Carly!  And congratulations James, Stephanie and Avery!  We are so very happy for you!  Love, love, love to your beautiful family!

Reading with Reid

Reid squeaks all the time.  He is especially squeaky when we are reading to him!  He must have a guess about how the stories will end.  :) 

I just came across this picture from when he was seven weeks old.  So serious!  (And so little!!)And here he is this week (at four months) grabbing for the book as we read, Snuggle Puppy.  Another one of his favorite books is a photo book that Ammy & Papa made for him with pictures of our family in Cleveland.  We’ll see them in one month!  Yay!

Do You Mind?!

…I’m trying to get a bath here?!

Busy July! Let’s Play Catch-up…

We’ve had a fun and busy July.  So I’ll follow my sister’s lead and do one big wrap-up of the month so I can get caught up!  :)First July 4th Holiday!    Our very good friends George & Mariana came to visit us for the July 4th weekend.  They hadn’t yet met Reid so it was extra special for us to introduce them. We hung out at home, went to The Salt Lick, drove out to Lake LBJ dreaming of our someday-lakehouse and watched the fireworks in Georgetown.  It was Mariana’s first July' 4th, too!

Weekend in Dallas Preparing for Newbaby Flores.    Reid and I drove up with Kellie & Ethan to spend the weekend with my family for my sister’s baby shower.  It was a lot of fun to honor Stephanie as she waits for Carly to arrive.  I didn’t snap many photos this weekend so check out Stephanie’s blog for more.   

Fun with the Martinis   We’ve been lucky to spend a lot of time with the Martini family this summer!  Here are some pics from a few different visits…

Sarah & Rodney Visit Austin   We had a nice couple days with Sarah & Rodney during their vacation in Austin.  Reid got to show off his “cube” that the Beckel girls got for him.

The Frenchies Visit Austin   And last but certainly not least, we had a fantastic weekend with my best friend Elizabeth (or “Booty” as she is known around our house), her husband Patrick and their two-year-old son, Benjamin (or “Mr. B”).

It was wonderful to have my best friend here and to have them get to know our little Reid.  We went to the Austin Children’s Museum, ate some Tex-Mex, had a crepe breakfast and dinner courtesy of Patrick, and most importantly, we spent time together with our two little boys!

Somehow, we don’t have ANY pictures of Booty and me together.  How did that happen?!  Luckily, Beverly came over and took some family portraits of the Frenchies, and some of us girls, too.  We can’t wait to see how they turned out!  Booty & Patrick are expecting their second baby in January.   Her baby bump might be the cutest damn thing you’ve ever seen.  Well, that is until another curly haired blond Franco-American arrives! :) We can’t wait to meet the newest member of their family.  Mr.B was so sweet and curious about baby Reid.  He is going to be a great big brother! 

We had a great July!