Adding to the family...

We took Reid to Longfellows Greenhouse to take pictures with the poinsettias. He was not as cooperative as we had hoped but it was fun. He loved "hiding" in them.


We set up our tree the day before Thanksgiving so we could really enjoy it. It never seems to be up long enough. Reid has had a lot of fun playing under it and rearranging his ornaments on the first 3 feet of branches. We now have a beautiful tree skirt, made by Grandma so we will update with a picture soon. It is amazing!

We had our 20 week ultrasound today. The baby is very healthy and measuring great in all areas. He/she was moving around like crazy so the technician had to keep moving around to get pictures. SO active!

The 3D images are just amazing! We can actually SEE the baby! Love it!

The first snow of the 2009-10 season

Here's Reid walking out onto the deck during the afternoon of our first snow.

He was very excited about making and throwing snowballs!

Reid also liked to lick the snow. Thank goodness it wasn't yellow!

Halloween Night

Our little scarecrow


The scarecrow on the porch


As you can see, Reid had quite a few things in his pumpkin before trick or treating even started!


Reid was very happy to see his Great Memere!




Reid was part of a huge bunch of trick or teaters at Uncle Matt and Aunt Selena's house.



Reid did a great job saying 'trick or treat' and then saying 'thanks' after receiving his candy.

Baby D's First Picture

Baby D's first picture was taken today. He/She was waving and moving all around. We had the ultrasound to "date" the pregnancy. We weren't sure when the baby was conceived so we wanted to know how far along we are. We are officially 13 weeks and 5 days pregnant. The new due date is May 7th. A little earlier than we thought but GREAT!

For those of you who are not proficient in ultrasound reading, the baby's head is to the right, laying on the back, with the right arm raised up. If you look just right, you can see the fingers! Heart rate was 156 beats per minute.

October fun

We have had a very busy October! Here are a few highlights of what Reid has been up to.

Picking apples at the local orchard.

Getting pumpkins.

Carving pumpkins

Going on a hayride at a greenhouse with an area called pumpkinville.

There was a big culvert slide.

A small petting zoo with chickens,

goats and bunnies.

and a way to take pictures of ghosties.

A Brief September Update

Reid's Latest:
* He can count to 14! He was counting trees as we drove along.
* He can differentiate between numbers and letters but can't name them all.
* Overheard: "I can't do it, Daddy. I am too busy!"
* He spells his name, mostly, in the correct order.
* He points out the letter "E". If it is on an ice machine outside a store he says, "That E is cold!"
* He talks about the baby coming. He wants the baby to come out and play. When I say we have to wait until the baby is big enough he says, "I want to go in your belly!" I have to tell him there just isn't enough room.
* His current favorite game is baseball. Quickly followed by soccer and basketball.
* He LOVES his trains!

Reid had his first driving lesson on Pepere's tractor. They worked on filling in a hole at camp. Reid got to dump the bucket all by himself and felt quite proud!


Hannah and Reid helped Pepere blow out his birthday candles.

Good News

Time for an update...

We headed to Michigan as soon as school let out. Reid had a wonderful visit and showed off his latest physical and verbal accomplishments. Grandma and Grandpa DeJongh were glad to see him.


We went to John Ball Zoo to show Reid all the different animals. He loved the goats (go figure) and this one even let him give him a hug. They were so cute!

We spent a lot of time at the house, playing in the yard and spending time together. We put out a pool for Reidy to splash around. He spent more time pouring the water on our feet. He quickly figured out how to play croquet and was quite good for a two year old.

Auntie Kathy loved to see Reid lounging in a lawnchair, reading the latest Longeberger magazine. He was pretty serious about it, too!

We had wonderful weather during our entire stay. On the hottest day we headed to the lake to enjoy the water. Reid had a great time digging in the dirt and splashing in the water. It was another wonderful trip back home.

Black Flies Strike Again!

Here is a picture of Reid this morning. He got bit on the eyelid by a black fly. It was swollen but not too badly. I gave him some Benedryl and we headed out to work/daycare for the day.

This is Reid at dinner, after a trip to the dr. office to make sure his eye wouldn't pop out...It was really swollen.

This is "Ol' One Eye" eating dinner. He is making a silly face but you can see that the right eye is swollen. He can open it but only about a 1/4" slit. He isn't bothered by it at all, except that it itches. The doc said we can use an antibiotic drop if it starts to look infected but other than that, just cold compresses to keep the swelling down. Cold compress on a 2 year old....you try it!

Memorial Day Fun

Reid and Hannah enjoy a picnic lunch out on the deck at camp on May 31st. We visited Grampa and wanted to spend a little time at the camp before the week began. They didn't want to leave.

The entire Breton clan spent Memorial Day weekend at the family camp. Reid worked on building things with his tools on the bench Uncle Kevin and Pepere made. This was a fun game until the other kids woke up, too. Next time, we will bring more tools.

Reid relaxes in his camp chair at the fire with Nolan. They enjoyed a snack and chatted back and forth. Very cute!

This is Reid's face on a typical day outside...he is ALL BOY! There is rarely a clean spot on this kid. I can give him a bath, put him in bed, and he will wake up dirty....who knows.

With the Month of May Comes a Birthday!

Five cousins party in the grass at Reid's second birthday party.

Grandpa and Grandma DeJongh came from Michigan to spend Reid's birthday with us. Reid had a great time playing with them and showing off his "big boy-ness". They loved seeing him. We were sad to see them go and wanted them to stay for a while longer...forever would be nice.

This is Reid's new playground, a gift from Mommy and Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa. He loves to swing and we put it low enough so he can get on and off by himself.

I tried my hand at decorating a cake with Mom D. in town. She is a cake decorating expert. She helped me out but I did a good deal of it myself and I was proud of how well it came out. Homemade cakes from here on out!

Catching Up on May

We took the kids to Wolf Neck State Park to play on the shore and enjoy the outdoors. This photo was taken seconds before Reid shoved Hannah into the water with a quiet, "puuush". She cried and cried. Poor kid!

Here are the 5 cousins sitting together on Mother's Day. Hannah, Reid, Collin, Nolan, and Alyssa. They have a great time together.

We took a trip to Durham one sunny day so Reid could play with his adopted sisters, Julia and Amber. They all climbed inside this ball....quite silly! He always has a good time with them.

Pictures of Outdor fun

Here's Reid helping Mommy in that garden. He really likes the watering can because he can get so wet.



Reid's at the lake playing one of his favorite games: throw sticks into the water. As you can see he's getting so good at it he can handle multiple sticks.

Reid's learning to pick out his own clothes.



Reid and Jeff were playing elephant with the water noodles. It looks even better now that Reid's winter hat on backwards.

Breakthroughs...

Sorry that we don't have any new pictures with this post. I need to upload what is on the camera.

Successes:
Reid is now in his "big boy" bed. It is a small, toddler bed that fits his crib mattress. He loves it and has transitioned without a problem. He never asked to go back in his crib and didn't seem to care.
HOWEVER...Reid seems to fall out of bed all the time now. We knew he moved a lot in his sleep but, WOW, what a wiggler! The first night I found him under his bed, saying "stuck, I stuck" while trying to get up. He had fallen out and wriggled his way under. The next night he fell out twice! He doesn't wake up at all when he falls out but I still feel bad. Poor kid! In the morning when he gets up or when he gets up from a nap he stays in his bed and yells for us. It is pretty funny. I guess he isn't ready to actually get up from the bed on his own (aside from falling out, of course).
Reid can now chew gum and not swallow it!

Potty Success!
Reid had his first potty success today. He pooped on the potty and was quite proud of himself. We aren't pushing the training too hard right now because we were going to wait until this summer when we had more time to commit to it but he may be ready to start now. We will continue to work with him and see where it goes. We were quite proud of him!

Reid the Story-Teller
We had been on spring vacation this past week and have been able to see a lot of growth in Reid's speech development and comprehension. He has begun to tell stories, true or not and is making us laugh continuously.
"Matt stuck truck in snow in there" - translation: Uncle Matt got his truck stuck in the snow in the yard in January.
"Hannah Daddy eat the chips Daddy chips" - translation: Hannah ate all of Daddy's chips (this never happened)
"Hannah bite Parker sad Parker cry" - translation: Hannah bit Parker and made him cry (Hannah and Parker have never met)
"Parker WhyWhy ate chips and Toko head!" - translation: Parker and Wyatt ate the chips and dumped them on Toko's head (these are his friends from daycare and Toko is the dog. Reid actually found the chips and dumped them in the dog kennel)

Even more Reasons to Closely Watch our Kid:
Reid drinks out of the bird bath
Reid drinks out of the dog bowl at daycare
Reid drink out of puddles and streams of spring run-off
Reid eats dirt/rocks/everything

We will update photos soon!

Happy Easter!

Here are some pictures to enjoy while we brag about Reid's ever growing vocabulary.

The latest in verbal development:

He now understands and uses words like; higher, tall, bright (the sun in his eyes), dark, loud, faster, soft, hot, cold, hurt, happy and sad.

He can recognize and mimic the sounds of a tuba...who knows

He says "good morning" to Lisa when he gets to day care, without prompting.

I am mixing yogurt in his morning milk and he asks for "wogurt miwk". It is very cute. He also talks on the phone quite well and will often engage in conversation. He says "yeah" in response to most questions...regardless of the question.

We are enjoying the new things he is doing and he amazes us every day. Sometimes we are in awe of his smarts, others in how dirty he can get outside.

How much spring run-off can a 2 year old drink before it makes them ill?

We Visited Reid's Park March 6th

The weather was nice and the sun was shining so we took advantage of the conditions and went to Reid State Park for a bit. Reid had a great time playing in the sand and running from the waves.


After visiting the ocean we went to Aunty Selena's to play with Hannah...Yes, this is our son trying to drink the street run-off "like a puppy". I did stop him after I took the picture. Needless to say, those two were soaked but had a great time playing together.