Decemeber Fun

We're taking gigglish-delight in our "type A," independent girl lately. She's been up to her usual tricks trying do "big people" activities by herself. Below are some moments we captured in the last few weeks. They include: putting on hats, putting on safety glasses (Daddy and Grandpa would be proud), and trying to jump. She's determined to do every activity herself.

Reese has also added a few words to her vocabulary: help, hat, and more.


PS--We have a HILARIOUS video of Reese discovering dizziness. Completely unprompted one night, she began spinning in circles and then trying to run down the hall. I'm sure you can imagine the outcome...The "experiment" went on for almost ten minutes. It was all Kevin could to do watch her without getting queasy. ("She is not her father's child in this respect," he said...I told him Reese and mommy could ride the teacups together at Disney someday while he watched.) We would post the video online, but the incident happened before bath time and she's naked as a jay-birdy. We'd be happy to show friends and family when they visit if you remember to ask. It really is America's Funniest Home Video quality...lame analogy, but true.

Squeaky Shoes

Last weekend, Mommy, Grandma Bailey, and Aunt Kate went up to Dallas to visit the Canton Flea Market. While we were there, Grandma picked up a pair of squeaky shoes for Reese. When Reese put them on she was thrilled with her new ability to squeak around the house. She wants to wear them constantly. I have to admit, our dog is a little confused...
Here's some video of Reese enjoying her squeaky shoes.
(And yes, the squeaker can easily be removed, but what's the fun in that?)

Decemeber Rememberings

I recently bought Reese a hat at Target. I found it in their $1 section and figured that $1 was all I wanted to invest in outer wear for her head since the likelihood of her wearing it for more than a few seconds was slim (see Halloween for back story). Our first few tries with the hat did not go well, but after a cold snap last week she will keep it on her head if it's cold outside. If it's not chilly or raining, there's no hope, but she at least has a little sense when it comes to protecting her noggin'.Before leaving on a trip to Dallas, Reese found my gloves laying on the floor and decided to put them on.
Reese is obsessed with snowmen. I had a small board book left over from my teaching days about snow men and she requests to read it no less than 5 times a day. I feel terrible admitting that it was in my classroom library, because after reading it, I have determined it is quite possibly the worst book ever written.
Reese is also interested in flags. When we get in the car she points them out where ever we go. Sometimes she'll attempt to say flag and end up with a "/f/-ah" kind of sound.

Reese has decided she wants to (and is ready to) use a fork for her meals. This revelation came during a particularly miserable dinner time last week. I had made her a plate of spaghetti, veggies, and fruit for dinner but she was less than interested in any of it (she continues to be one of the world's pickiest eaters). Since Kevin was at work for a conference call, I sat across from her and ate my dinner while she picked at and played with hers. While I was eating, she began pointing at my fork, and a tired and frustrated mommy gave it to her (a full-metal-adult sized fork). Without any instruction or prompting, she put it in her right hand, turned the tines over and used it to successfully scoop heaps of spaghetti into her mouth. I was amazed. I've since invested in some smaller Gerber forks so that she can use them regularly. Last night she couldn't spear her peas (even though she didn't want to eat them, she enjoyed poking them), so she picked the peas up with her fingers and pierced them with the fork tines until she had a fork full of peas. Pictures to come soon.

Christmas Card '09

Bailey Christmas Photo '07
Pregnant with Reese, but just barely.

Every year we torture ourselves by creating a Christmas card with a family photo on it. If it weren't for the insistence that we take the photo ourselves (using the timer feature on the camera and the tripod) maybe things would go better. When it was just me, Kevin, and the animals, we thought we had it rough getting the animals together and staging something, but now with Reese around, the animals have gotten cut from the photo and it's still no piece of cake.

Last year, we were fortunate enough to have an AMAZING photographer friend take our photo in his studio and let us use it on our cards.

Bailey Christmas photo '08
courtesy of Will Van Overbeek

This year, I nixed the use of the tripod and timer from the get-go and tried to employ Aunt Kim to take the family photo for us. I will keep the story short but mention that many tools and positions were used in order to get a photo of everyone looking mildly happy... Enjoy the outtakes.

Visit with Santa

Reese and Santa Christmas '08

(~4 mos. old)

Last year when Reese went to visit Santa in the mall, it was a fairly uneventful holiday milestone. She sat in Santa's lap, looked vaguely toward the camera, and stared blankly at all the hub-bub that me, Aunt Kim, and the camera people were making in order to get her to smile. When I picked her up off of Santa's lap, he warned me, "Don't worry, next year things will be really exciting." Watching the line of screaming kids who had graced his lap in the minutes before Reese's turn, I knew exactly what he meant. Despite his admonition, though, we braved a visit to Santa last week.

This year before our visit we walked by and inspected Santa on two separate trips to the mall. My thinking was that watching other kids sit on his lap and getting the gist of the experience would lessen Reese's anxiety. That was all well and good in my mind, but it didn't work out quite the way I had hoped.

Last Wednesday morning, I got Reese all dressed up in her special holiday dress complete with her fancy red shoes. (A pair of red patent leathers with HUGE red silk bows--she adores them and insists on wearing them as often as possible.) We braved the cold and made it to the mall shortly after Santa's "workshop" had opened (trying to avoid the crowds). Reese watched two kids calmly take their turns before her, and she oohed-and-ahhed at the giant candy canes, snow men, and Christmas trees that adorned Santa's set.

When it was Reese's turn, I picked her up and walked slowly toward Santa. Since there wasn't anyone waiting in line behind us, I walked over to Santa with her and we talked with him and waved a few times. When I told her I was going to put her on Santa's lap, she immediately shook her head no and grabbed me around the neck. I should have known what was going to happen from there....but, after a few assurances, I plopped her down on his lap and stood by the photographer. What ensued was a screaming fit that I'm sure has been unrivaled this holiday season at the mall. The photographer snapped a few photos as quick as she could and I chose the one that was the least red faced and scary looking.

Reese and Santa Christmas '09
(~15 mos. old)

As soon as I scooped her up from Santa's lap she was immediately fine. Luckily, Santa didn't seem too frazzled--I guess it comes with the territory. He gave Reese a jingle bell necklace and a candy cane for all her troubles and we were on our way.

When we got home I opened the candy cane and watched Reese devour it. I wasn't sure she would like the strong flavor of peppermint, but I was completely wrong. Her outfit ended up in the washing machine as soon as she was finished and she now points out candy canes everywhere we go. The jury is still out on a visit to Santa next year.

Christmas Fun

Following two Thanksgiving celebrations, we got our house in gear for Christmas. Luckily, Reese had a successful morning nap a few weekends ago and we were able to use the time to begin assembling our artificial tree. By the time Reese woke up, it was time for primping the tree, lights, garland, and ornaments.

The look on Reese's face when she saw the tree in our living room was priceless. She ran over to it and started her "happy walk"--which is more like a quick march in place that occurs only when she's absolutely overwhelmed with excitement. She started pointing and immediately wanted to help with all the tree activities. We gave her a small portion of the tree to decorate with unbreakable ornaments. She loved putting the ornaments on and taking them off repeatedly. (And still does daily.) To our surprise, she's been very careful with the glass ornaments and knows not to touch them or move them around.

*I know this is a short entry, so stay tuned for stories and pictures from our visit with Santa, as well as video of her new amazing squeaky shoes.