Reid is 3 and a half!!!

Meanwhile, Reid is going to be 4 years old in 4 months!! That floors me, 4 is officially nowhere near babyhood anymore:(





Reid is VERY interested in trains right now. We of course have the train table, which he LOVES and plays with everyday. In addition, anytime we go anywhere that has a train table we have to go play there too. He still watches a show called Extreme Trains a few times a week which is a documentary about different kinds of trains. So we know all about steam trains, freight trains, refrigerator trains, etc. We have also taken to putting on You Tube and we look for different train videos. Consequently, Reid knows how to use a mouse with the computer, which terrifies me!!





He is still rocking out on his guitar. We got him a guitar after Christmas that simulates real playing, he doesn't get that yet, but LOVES to pretend he is playing and he has some moves!! He also loves singing. Probably, my favorite thing right now is hearing him belt out "Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit, he took the midnight train going any where" although the version from Glee. It makes me happy:)





We have had a nice summer off of school. In fact Reid didn't mention the lack of school until a couple of weeks ago when he said "Mommy, we haven't been to school in like forever". He is not very excited about getting a different teacher and different classroom next year, but I know he will get over it immediately. This summer we have been doing a lot of Gymboree and Playgroups. Reid does Sports class on Monday mornings, then School Skills which is a 2 hour class on Tuesday. This class has been helping him learn to write his letters, and introduces some science, and reading as well. The added bonus is that 2 of his buddies are in there with him.



We have been trying to reinforce Reid learning to write his letters and his name. We bought some work books which do some repetitve tracing of the letters. We also got him a Leap Frog toy that has a little writing thing on the bottom. It uses lights to teach the kids how to write the letters and also teaches some tracing skills. He is getting pretty darn good. He hasn't written his name all together yet, but can now write each letter independently. It is fun to watch. We have also introduced a bribe for him. When he writes his name he gets a new Thomas train. Along the same lines, at night when we read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom as has become our routine, I am now signing the letters to him, and he has gotten pretty good at trying to do them too.



As I mentioned in Ryan's update, we have been dealing with some sibling issues between Reid and Ryan. Reid spends a lot of time in his room in time out since he can't seem to restrain himself from inflicting harm on his brother (actually very rarely does he actually hurt him, but the potential is there). I think this is an impulse control thing and probably a 3 year old thing, but I have a zero tolerance policy.





Reid just recently started standing up to pee, I didn't realize he was tall enough until we were met with a toilet I didn't want him to sit on. He thought he was pretty cool. So far it isn't too messy. If their bathroom starts smelling like urine we may have to reconsider:)

Reid's new thing also is arguing with us, or more accurately trying to compel us to come around to his point of view:) If we tell him he is going to bed, he will get really loud and say "NO I AM NOT GOING TO BED, OKAY?" It always has an Okay at the end which is amusing on the tail of a definitive statement.

He continues to say things to us that are hilarious on a daily basis. Like today when we were in the bathroom at the mall he said "Mommy your pee is stinky but mine is not". He is so sweet:)

He is starting to act out scenarios, use his imagination, and talk for his toys. He has a high-pitched voice that he uses to do that.

His eating habits are interesting. He eats a HUGE breakfast. A bowl of cereal in addition to an egg, sausage, and a cup of OJ. This morning he added some pineapple to that. Lunch is usually okay, he has finally developed the standard issue crust phobia, only he has taken it to the next level by eating only the inside of a wedge of fruit and leaving the peel. It is not that he doesn't like it or won't eat it if I tell him to, he just avoids it. By dinner time it is like pulling teeth to get him to eat in a timely manner. We have tried different approaches, usually the desert thing will get him, but even then sometimes, we are all long done with our meals and Reid is still there. I am continuing to try and refine methods that won't eventually give him an eating disorder.

I guess that is a pretty thorough snap shot of a day with Reid. I am really enjoying him, when he is not trying my patience:) He is a very kind and gentle child, we have been blessed with him.

Ryan is 18 months old!!

Somehow 6 months has gone by and Ryan is 18 months old!!! I have NO idea how that happened.

He is such a funny boy, and it is so very interesting to watch how his personality develops especially under Reids influence, which is scary sometimes!! He and Reid spend a lot of time playing, well actuallythey start playing and end screaming because one or the other steals a toy. Lately, Ryan has been retaliating with some biting (mostly threatened, but still not cool). I have tried to explain to Reid that if he keeps pushing Ryan's buttons eventually he will retaliate.

Ryan is a very sweet and snuggly boy though, which I love. He is still nursing mostly before naps or bedtime, but occasionally he will nurse when he wakes up. He doesn't really sign to nurse, I usually just ask him and a laugh is a yes, or he will shake his head for no (this is exactly what Reid did too). A couple of times though he has sort of tugged on my shirt very gently and respectfully and then used the sign for please, which is probably the cutest thing I have ever seen.

He is a very opinionated and dramatic child as well and knows how to make loud sounds!! He can throw a temper tantrum. We have been using Love and Logic with Ryan and he already knows that when he hears "Uh Oh" he better stop what he is doing or he will go to time out. I have also been ignoring the temper tantrums with good results. He is a great independent player and will play for quite a long time by himself, which is different from Reid. He is already pretending like his big brother. For instance he pretends he is eating or drinking like Reid, or that he is handing us something. He is really close to being able to jump, and actually caught some air today and yesterday. He is now eating with a fork pretty successfully and switched him from the high chair to the booster seat. Ry loves playing in our sand table and will do that for quite a long time. He gets very focused on some activities such as trying to slide the credit card through the toy cash register or trying to get the toy lawn mower through the door. He is very patient in these instances and never loses his temper even though it appears frustrating. He definitely does not suffer from ADD. I hope the focus and patience carries through to his adult life.

At his most recent doctor's appointment, he weighed 24. 6 lbs, which is pretty much the same as 3 months ago, so he has really slowed down. He was in the 30th% for weight, 50th for Height, and 70th for head. He now has 8 teeth, the two top middle, the two bottom middle, and the first 4 molars. We can see the rest of the front teeth in the front of his gums, but they are taking their sweet time. I was surprised he got his molars before the other 4 front teeth. Ryan just got one shot at his visit. I was having anxiety about the MMR because of all the things I have read and researched about Autism. Dr. Miles agreed that it wasn't a terrible idea to wait a bit longer to make sure his speech continues to develop appropriately before we do it. Although, she also said we shouldn't wait too long since Measles has been going around again, and apparently it isn't fun.

We talked about giving it 3 more months and going in for the shot. Ryan's toenail finally fell off while we were on our vacation, I was very relieved because it was a pain to try to keep it on. It actually doesn't look bad at all.

So Ryan does this "funny" thing where he makes himself pee sometimes when I take his diaper off. We recently got him a new potty (which he wants nothing to do with), but I thought maybe we could get him to go since he can obviously make himself go. I put him on both the little potty and the toilet with a kiddie seat, and he wanted off almost immediately. Yesterday though, he pointed at the toilet and I asked him if he wanted to go pee pee on the potty. He said yes (his little laugh), so I put him on. Well, that little guy squeezed out about 4 drops of pee!! I was so excited. We did the same thing today though, and he then peed on the floor about 1 minute after going on the potty (4 drops again). SO I know we aren't anywhere near potty training, but it is fun to get him started this way.

I feel like I officially got inducted into parenting. I was putting clothes in the dryer the other day and Ryan grabbed the lint trap out of it. The next thing I know I heard a clunk which happened to be a matchbox car falling down the skinny little hole to the bottom of the dryer. What ensued was probably the most frustrating 25 minutes of my life. I had to dismantle my swiffer to use the handle to try to guide the car up a ramp type thing. On about my 10th try I got it up half way only to realize there was some sort of projection keeping my stick from continuing it's journey. So then I had to do it again, this time with a hockey stick in my other hand to catch the car and try to guide it the rest of the way up high enough for me to grab it as I couldn't get my hand in there. At one point I lost it after Reid bumped me when I almost had it and yelled really loud and told the boys to get out. Reid gave me the wide eyed/quivering lip move which made me feel horrible, so I immediately stopped and told him I was sorry. I finally succeeded in the end and had Reid grab it for me since I didn't have anymore hands. Yikes!! I think from now on, Ryan is not allowed in the laundry room with me:)

I think that is the gist of the update, to end I will post the words he is doing. He isn't saying a lot, but he understands EVERYTHING. That always amazes me about toddlers. They are miraculous!

Words

Boo
Up

DaDa

Mama

Doggy

Cheese

Tree

Reid = Dee

Star

Signs

More

Eat

All Done

Bye Bye

Doggy

Shh