Probably a first and last

Driving down I-55 on our way to Edwardsville, what should appear on the side of the road? A spaceship, of course! As we drove past Reed exclaimed, "I-WANT-TO-SEE-THE-SPACESHIP-ONE-MORE-TIME!" We had been driving for nearly 5 hours without stopping so we turned off the interstate and jumped on the frontage road back to the Livingston Antique Mall. Yes, Reed was begging to go to an ANTIQUE shop!

Take me to your leader.

Not only was there a spaceship, there was also an ice cream stand, an elephant, and a giant shirtless man eating an ice cream cone. Woo hoo!

We did go inside but it seems like the best stuff was outside.

Christmas Day

We finished up our holiday celebration with a party at Bob's brother's house. The food was delicious and the company was great. We are truly blessed to have such great family.

The Mihelich Grandkids

Cora in typical form, tongue out and in push-up position

Here is a video that is pretty representative of how Cora has been moving lately. In the last two days she has started spending more time on her knees. Her mostly backward mobility is advancing a bit to inching forward too.

Christmas morning!

Christmas morning we woke up in our own beds. Reed came in to wake us up and we headed downstairs. Reed opened one present from Santa before we got dressed and ready for church. He kind of looks like he's still waking up.

Favorite present: Mini-skateboard

After church, we came home, leisurely opened gifts, and munched on cinnamon rolls. Reed even took an early nap before the Mihelich Christmas. A great morning!

Tool set

Capes for the Superhero

More capes for the Superhero
(Four actually, one for each family member)

As typical with many first Christmas experiences, Cora didn't really get too worked up. The wrapping paper was the highlight for her, but she is enjoying her new dolls, teether, and glow worm.

Bob and the kids

Christmas with my family

You can never celebrate too much so we had another Reed Christmas with my immediate family before we left Greenville. It was great to spend a relaxing morning at home with everyone. As always, the kids enjoying playing too. Oh and did I mention they opened presents too?

My parents and siblings

Aunt Andrea and Cora

Owen and Reed

Willa and Strawberry Shortcake

Family time!

Sunday, December 19th was the family Christmas extravaganza for us. We celebrated with both the Maher and Reed extended families. We met for lunch at my Aunt Rita's and then for dinner at the Reed Farm. We had a blast but it was a VERY long day!

The Maher Family

The Reed Great-Grandchildren

The cousins Reed M. and Reed T.
2 1/2 yrs. and almost 4 yrs. old

After dinner serenade

In case you haven't gotten your fix of Christmas music yet, here is Reed's rendition of Jingle Bells. It's followed by a Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star remix. Enjoy!

6 month checkup

Yesterday was Cora's 6 month checkup. I think it was also a Mommy test...How well do you know your baby? Okay, it's more like a list of things they ask you (Does your baby turn his/her head when he/she hears a loud noise or your voice, When your baby stands does he/she stand flat on his/her feet, etc.) and then you have to check yes, sometimes, not yet. Most of these questions are very easy to answer, but then I would get stuck on one. Hmm, I'm not sure if she does pass a small object from one hand to the other. Let the guilt sink in. Who watches this baby all day long?! I mean, she's 6 months now. She mostly takes care of herself. (Yes, that was an attempt at a joke.) Frantically, I tried to hand her something. It, of course, went straight into the mouth, great. I'm not sure if I answered "sometimes" or "no." I figure err on the side of caution.

Well, turns out she's doing just great. When I asked the doctor if I should be worried that she isn't sitting independently yet, he directed me to sit her on the table. As she sat there, he asked, 'so what's she doing now?' I told him she has a tendency to fall over. He said she is strong, has good balance, and her problem was likely that she didn't know how to control moving from one position to another. Another worrywart mother...

Here are the stats: 15 lbs, 6 ozs. and 27 inches. The nurse said she's just under the 50th percentile in weight and at 90% for height. I'm still wondering why I get countless remarks about how "petite" she is. I am going to start taking it as referring to her features rather than her stature.

Overall, she is still a very happy girl. Her eating (baby food) is improving as is her sleeping. She's sleeping about 6-8 hours in one stretch. I know that's not a dream, but it's getting better. We're also still waiting for those first teeth to peek through. I sense a lot of changes on the horizon. As exciting as that is, sometimes I'd just like to bottle her up, just as she is.
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UPDATE: As of this afternoon, she's up on her knees. The belly pivoting may be on its way to crawling. Yikes!

SECOND UPDATE: By evening she had mastered the "plank" pose, basically the straight arm pushup.

THIRD UPDATE: I am now confident that she can pass an object from one hand to the other. Phew!

An early birthday party

Last Saturday night we celebrated my big 3-2 a little early with Bob's family. We are headed down to southern Illinois this weekend so we won't be around. Or we might be around on my birthday and be frantically wrapping gifts and packing. Nonetheless, here we are. We had pizza and cake and afterward Grandma and Grandpa M. took Reed, Mason, and Porter on the Polar Express. The train museum in South Elgin does a great activity where they give train rides, read The Polar Express, feed them cookies and hot cocoa, and they get to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus. Sounds like Reed had a blast. If I get some photos from Grandma and Grandpa, I will post them soon.

Reed, very happy to get cake, and Cora, very happy to chew on a plate

Kids say the darndst things.

Reed is getting to be more of a talker every day. I marvel at all the things that he comes up with. Sometimes my heart melts, sometimes I just shake my head. I am already starting to forget them so I thought I’d just document a few.

The sweet:

Reed: “I LOOOVE this, Mommy. It is VERRRY GOOD!” (referring to dinner)

Reed: (hugs me) “We are BEST FRIENDS!”

The defiant:

Me: “Stop that right now!”
Reed: “That IS appropriate.” (referring to his actions)
Me: “No Reed, that is NOT appropriate.”

The inquisitive:

Reed: “What are those ducks doing over there?”
Me: (driving) “What ducks?”
Reed: “Over there, in the duck swimming pool.” (pond)

Reed: “Baby Jesus will share his birthday cake with me?”

The reinterpretative:

Me: “That's a pillow case.”
Reed: “That's a pillow quesadilla."

Me: “Reed, I need space.”
Reed: “I need a spaceship."

Here comes Santa Claus!

Last Saturday we had a nice lunch with Santa at Oma's assisted living facility. We enjoyed a nice lunch and then Reed, Cora, Mason, and Porter got their chance to put in their Christmas wishes to Mr. Claus himself. This was Cora's first sit down with Santa Claus and the first year that Reed really has cared about it.

No tears!

Heart to heart conversation

Santa and Reed had a nice little talk. Reed sat like a little gentleman and listened intently, studying Santa very closely. We thought Santa stumped Reed with the question of who pulls Santa's sleigh, but Reed finally came through with "reindeer!" When Santa asked what he wants for Christmas, Reed responded, "toys." No special requests, just toys. I wish every year that he will be so accommodating.

After they got off Santa's lap, they got a goody bag and a candy cane. Reed loved both. He has discovered, in his words...."Candy canes are GOOOOD! I LOOOVE candy canes!" I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised when he was asked by a relative what he wanted for Christmas from Santa and his new response was "a candy cane." Sometimes you forget the small things are big things to little people. I am hoping we can push off the want, want, want mentality for as long as possible. It really makes the holidays more enjoyable to delight in the simple pleasures.

Smiles from Cora and Grandma

A feast, a reunion, a tree, family and a feast

We had a really great Thanksgiving this year. We started with a feast and ended with a feast. What could be better?!

We spent Thanksgiving day in Elgin at Bob's parents' house and shared a fabulous meal with his parents and Oma. The next morning we hit the road for a weekend in Greenville. Friday night we ordered Mario's pizza and watched football. Mmm, Mario's.

Sara with Benson and Bryant, Me with Reed and Cora, Jen with Hadley

Saturday morning we met up with my high school girls and their kiddos. It was great but went too fast. Reed had a blast with Bryant and Benson. Hadley was as cute as every picture that I had seen. Cora liked Hadley but the active boys were a little more exciting for Ms. Hadley. From the looks of the photo it seems like Cora liked her shoes too. Hope I don't have a thief on my hands (or a shoe horse like her Aunt Andrea.) I can't wait until we get together again. Sara is expecting her third child in the Spring so we'll have another new one to meet. How exciting! (Here's how's we've changed in the last 7 months--http://erinandbob.blogspot.com/2010/04/easter-fun-in-greenville.html)

Later that day we made the annual trip to Daniken Tree Farm to track down and cut down our Christmas tree. Afterwards, the Stotts came over and the kids played like crazy. Reed enjoyed having his cousins around. Sunday we got to introduce Cora to the extended Maher and Reed families at our Thanksgiving feast.

What a fun and exhausting weekend. If I come across more photos, I will post them as I get them. Wow, another year with so much to be thankful for!