On Saturday Grandma Bailey came up to Austin to babysit so that mommy and daddy could attend the UT v UTEP game. (Thanks Kate and Richard for the tickets!)
Reese had a busy afternoon with Grandma. They played in the house and Reese got to show Grandma how she uses all of her toys. Some highlights of the visit included: playing hide and seek with the dining room curtains (an everyday favorite--even though they're sheer), helping bake pumpkin muffins, and playing outside on the deck.
When she's really tired or gets hurt, Reese still wants her mommy, but she is increasingly becoming a daddy's girl. When Kevin gets home in the evenings, she runs to the door, looks out the window next to it, and jumps up and down yelling "Dada! Dada!" If she doesn't make it to the door before he does, she runs down the hall and nearly jumps into his arms. It's a pretty heart-warming and adorable sight. Here are some picture of their recent cuddle-times.
As mentioned in previous entries, Reese's hair is getting long pretty quick. It has, unfortunately, reached an awkward stage where it's constantly in her eyes but it still to short to do much with. Two weeks ago, I made an attempt at pig tails. The first trick was getting Reese to sit still for the procedure. My solution was to put her in her high chair with some crayons. She wasn't exactly still and cooperative, but at least she couldn't run away from me. After a few squirms and some major effort on my part, I had completed two semi-aligned pig tails. In reality, her pig tails are pseudo-mullet pig tails: from the front they look presentable, but from the rear you can see that the hair on the nape of her neck isn't long enough so it hangs down in between. Oh well. We've made the pigtails a part of our hair routine now and she's sported them at least once a week since. Some days they make it through the day, on others she pulls them out at the first chance she gets. (Then she REALLY has hair issues since the previously pinned up hair stays stuck up on either side of her head. I'll have to get a picture sometime.) Until our next hair experiment, enjoy the photos of Reese with her new do.
As promised, here's the photos of Reese's other UT outfit. The photos come courtesy of a friend, neighbor, and good babysitter who recently invited us over to watch the first UT game. He snapped some shots of Reese in action during the game.
Below are some pictures I've been meaning to post for a while.
Grandpa Righter took these during a visit to the park the morning of Reese's birthday party.
Here's one of Reese's UT get-ups for the season. (She also has a cheer leading outfit that we'll get pictures of soon--it's a little big, but we're hoping for a season that stretches into January anyway!)
I now spend most of my days following Reese around the house. It's exhausting--and part of me wonders how she isn't more worn out, because I know I certainly am.
Walking around the house is no longer enough of a challenge for Reese. Now, she tries her hand at short spurts of running. She also picks up items around the house and carries them with her. This morning, she insisted on carrying both her elephant AND one of Annie's toys at the same time. (Notice that she moved the elephant into her mouth so both hands were free for Annie's toy.) Her new found coordination has also lead to some adventures in climbing. For a while now, Reese has enjoyed flopping around on the couch and love seat as well as trying to scale the footstool in her room. On Thursday afternoon, while I was putting some of her clothes away, I turned around and had a near-coronary when I saw Reese standing on top of the footstool for her rocking chair. (I had purposely moved it into the middle of the room so she couldn't use it to climb onto her rocking chair.) Not only was she standing on the footstool, but when she saw me, she smiled and then tried to jump off. (Guess all the jumping into the pool this summer got her thinking.) I ran to her and rescued her just before she went airborne. My dramatic rescue, though, made climbing on the footstool the most exciting moment of her day and she proceeded to do it again. Suffice to say, I've moved the footstool out of her room and into hiding for now. In addition, Reese is now trying to climb into and out of her playpen. She can't quite get in or out by herself, but she definitely makes an effort. Today at the gym one of the child-care workers told me that they caught her climbing on a push cart. When they told her not to, she looked at them, waved her finger back and forth and staunchly said, "No!" She then, of course, went right back to trying to climb on it. (Which reminds me--she's added another word to her vocabulary. The one we've been dreading.) I'm anxiously awaiting some cooler and drier weather so we can put this climbing and moving around to good use at the playground, and NOT inside our house.
I haven't blogged in a while because I've been busy following our little one around the house. As Aunt Kim likes to joke, Reese's favorite thing to do (besides eat blueberries and pet our dog) is to make a fool out of me. And, once again, she did. The day after I posted the last blog entry, Reese decided to start walking--really walking.
On Labor Day weekend, I gave my parents a call, and while I was on the phone I could hear Kevin cheering in the living room. When I got off the phone, he told me that Reese had walked an impressive distance on her own. The next day, I got to see it for myself.
In the last week she's gone from unsure stumbles to jaunts of running down our hall. The first few days, walking was more of a game for her: she'd carry something to me, or walk in order to play "chase," but crawling was still her main form of transportation--especially if she wanted to get somewhere fast.
Over the next few days, though, she spent more and more time upright. She began by walking in circuits around the living room and kitchen--following the same path every time. She'd walk a few steps and then fall forward, then get back up and walk some more.
It was interesting to notice that in the mornings, she was hesitant about walking (as if she had gotten out of practice overnight), but by the afternoons she was confident and moving on her own.
Now she's everywhere. In a second, she can disappear around a corner and be half way down the hall getting into trouble. She's also figured out how to open the double doors throughout the house. This helps her make trips from room to room by herself.
Below are some videos of her first steps. They begin in order with the "oldest" footage first.
This weekend Reese got a little more brave with her walking. At one point, she even walked from the end of the couch (closest to the kitchen) to the backdoor by herself without falling or crawling. (A much more impressive feat if you're familiar with the layout of our house.) We watched and cheered for her and we could tell that she was very proud. When we tried to catch some steps on video, though, she was less interested and suddenly less coordinated. You can watch the results in the video below.
I'm not sure why, but my notion of the timing and quality of a child's first steps seems a little misconstrued. The way I've heard people talk (as well as some videos I've seen of other children), makes it seem like one day a child gets up and just starts walking around--wobbly, yes, but walking none-the-less. Stories make it sound like it's a quick transition from crawling to walking, and maybe for some kids it is. Maybe for some kids, they get the hang of it, throw caution to the wind and don't look back. For Reese, though, it's definitely been a more gradual process. I think that she thinks a little too much about things and gets unsure. Countless times now, I've watched her stand up, look at something, take one step toward it, then pause and decide to crawl instead. She's definitely on her way, which is exciting! I'll try to catch some more video of her in action soon.
Reese and I met up with a friend on Friday afternoon for lunch. Following lunch, Reese received a tea set as a belated birthday present. After her nap, we spent most of the afternoon having tea in the living room. The set came with a teapot, four teacups, four saucers, four spoons, a creamer, and a sugar dish. Reese loves watching the "tea" pour out of the teapot as well as using the spoons to scoop the pretend sugar and stir the tea in the cups. After awhile she got the hang of pouring from the teapot and couldn't be stopped. The lids for the teapot and sugar dish are great because she can handle them easily as well as take them on and off by herself. Next time you visit, maybe she'll serve up a cup for you!
Some updates on Reese and a few of her new birthday toys:
Mailbox: At first she enjoyed opening and closing the front of the mailbox and watching mommy and daddy put the letters in the slot. As of a few days ago, she now insists on putting the letters in herself--with mixed results (see previous post).
Blocks: Blocks aren't for building, they're for knocking down! I think Mommy and Daddy have enjoyed using Reese's new collection of building materials to create things more than Reese has. She watches us build houses or towers and then proceeds to knock them down immediately.
Dollhouse: Reese really enjoys her dollhouse. She loves it when Mommy makes people come to the front door and ring the doorbell. After ringing, Reese opens the door and lets the people come in. Their stay is usually short, though, because once they hit the living room or kitchen, she launches them out a window or back out the door so they can come in again.
Rocking Horse: We've named the rocking horse "Pony." If you ask Reese where her Pony is or if she wants to go to her Pony she will crawl over to it. She likes to pet Pony's face and grab it's crinkly ears. She's getting the hang of riding on him, but still only does so for short spurts. We think that as she gets better with the rocking rhythm she'll get more into it.
Golf Clubs: The next LPGA star? Maybe. Reese is working mostly on her short game as well as exploring the house by banging on things with her clubs. She's managed to make contact a few times and understands that the clubs are for striking--it's just that the striking isn't limited to the golf balls yet. God help us when she can walk around and bang things up high!
1. Sleep: Well, I said there was going to be no-stoppin' us once we got down to one nap a day, and I was wrong. We're now back up to two a day. The sleeping until 7 and functioning on one nap a day was short lived. On one hand, I don't mind going back to a short morning nap and an afternoon nap because it gives me a chance to shower in the mornings (I was trying to shower at the gym or with Reese in her playpen--neither option was ideal). It does, however, limit our out of house time. Don't get me wrong: if the end result is a happier baby, I'm all about it. We'll just see how long this lasts.
2. Walking: Reese continues to take a few steps here or there around the house. When using her push-car or when walking with an adult she's practically at a run, but when she's on her own she is VERY tentative and shaky. She usually only makes it two or three steps before sitting down and going into a crawl. I've been trying to let go of her hands once she gets into the groove (kind of like a parent lets go of the back of a bicycle when the rider is still learning to ride without training wheels), but the second I let go, she stops, turns around and re-grabs my hand, leg, or clothing before proceeding.
3. Frustration: I feel like Reese may be in a transition period--both with her motor skills as well as her communication skills. (Or at least that's what I'm hoping.) She has been extremely frustrated lately--and she does a great job of showing it. When she plays she now tries to manipulate her toys in a more refined way: she tries to take apart the Easter eggs and put them back together, she tries to put her letters in the mailbox's slot etc. After one or two calm attempts to accomplish these tasks (or other similar ones), if she fails she begins to tantrum. She knocks over or throws what she's playing with grunts and growls. She also begins to tantrum if someone tries to intervene and help her with her task. (At least when mommy tries to.) She's very independent and knows what she wants to do and wants to do it herself--or so it seems. It's the same with her communication skills--she definitely has something specific she wants in mind but when I can't figure it out, or if I figure it out and it's not appropriate (like playing with the light sockets or sticking her fingers in vents), the tantrums begin again. Is this the terrible twos early or am I just blessed with a stubborn and independent child?
4. Outside addict: Reese wants to spend ALL day outside. If it were up to her, we'd be at the park, in the front yard, or in the backyard every waking moment. This would be GREAT if it weren't a million degrees outside. She loves to take her push car out in front of the house and walk up and down the sidewalk collecting acorns, leaves, and sticks. Because she insists on keeping every item she finds, I attached a Tupperware container to her car so she can "store" her treasures as we go. Her eye sight must be pretty good because I swear she can spot a tiny acorn a mile away. On several occasions she's bent down and dug in a crack or picked through the grass (in a spot where I saw nothing) and come up with a tiny acorn for her collection. When Reese wants to go outside, she goes to the front or back door and bangs on it. If I don't get the hint quickly, she stands on her tippy toes and reaches for the door knob. If she were taller this would be a problem, but for now we're ok. I can't wait until the weather cools off and then I'll be happy to spend all day outside and at the park!
5. Communication: While a few weeks ago, every question you asked Reese garnered a head shake, she now also nods and says "yeah." It's a nice turn around from the negative responses we were getting to everything--she now can answer most questions with a head shake or with a nod and "yeah." Reese also likes saying "bye bye" to everyone and everything she sees. In the morning (if she's not eating breakfast), she goes outside and waves goodbye to Dada as he leaves for work. Anytime she's told we're leaving she waves goodbye to everyone around.
6. Hair: Reese's hair is getting out of control. The front is long enough it's starting to obscure her vision. I try to put bows in it to keep it out of her face, but most of the time (unless she's really distracted), she take the bows out. She does, after taking the bow out, try to put it back in her hair, but placing it on top of her head doesn't exactly re-secure it. It's not quite long enough for pig tails or a pony tail (although I can only imagine how much she'll LOVE me trying to put them in), so we're in a strange place. I'm not sure if a haircut is necessary or required at this point. Reese has learned what a brush is for and she can use it to brush through her hair. Sometimes the brush is backwards, but she definitely gets the gist.
7. Eating: And to think that six months ago this child would eat almost anything. We're into the dreaded Tan Toddler diet. Reese is getting pickier by the day. Vegetables are nearly non existent (I've successfully snuck them in muffins twice and I fooled her with spaghetti squash once) and if it's not a chicken nugget, fruit, or some form of bread you're out of luck. If she were a chunky girl I wouldn't worry, but she's anything but. Her pickiness is made even more "fun" by the fact that (as mentioned earlier) she now knows EXACTLY what she wants to eat and unless you hit upon it, you're in for a storm of protest. I now cross my fingers and try to take deep breaths before each meal. I've ordered a toddler cook book with some ideas on how to sneak good stuff into a toddler's diet. I'll keep offering the "good stuff" to her in it's true form so that eventually (maybe five years from n0w) she'll like it, but I've gotta get the vitamins in her somehow.
8. Dancing: Reese still loves music and to dance. During the last few weeks, we've been listening to the digital music stations on the TV during play time (Toddler Tunes, Kidz Only etc). It works out great since we spend a lot of time playing in the living room and kitchen which is near our TV. Now when Reese sees the remote control laying around, she moves over to it, points it at the TV and starts dancing. That's my cue to strike up the music. Reese also knows that the CD/Radio in her bedroom plays music. So if she wants to dance in her room, she goes over to the shelf near the radio, points at it, and starts dancing. Tonight before bath time, Reese requested some dance time, some of her new moves are captured below.
