The Reedster

The happy guy is almost 18 months old and he could not be any more fun.  He is SO happy all the time I just can't stand it!  I know the days of "no" and "let my lay down on the floor and have a tantrum" are coming so I'm trying to soak in as much of the current Reedster as I can.

Pretty sure he thinks his name is Reedster.  Which is actually better than Baby Reed which is what both Stafford and I have called him for most of his life.  He can't be the baby forever!

His language acquisition has been fun to watch.  He has been saying Mama forever but didn't say anything else for the longest time.  When we went to Colorado earlier this month I told Peter I thought he was getting ready to start saying some words.  I'm not sure what made me think that.  But while we were there he started saying "hi" and waving.  He said "bye".  He also meows like a cat and looks for cats everywhere he goes.  After we pray he will yell out his version of "amen" and just last week started saying "uh oh".  He will also do the hand motion for "all done" and will sometimes say something that sounds like "ah dee."

My favorite thing that he does though is sing.  He LOVES Old McDonald and you will catch him singing "eieio" all through the day.  He also tried to sing along to the ABC song.  It is so cute!

He is very expressive and still smiles for pictures.  He often says "cheese" and will also say this when he carried around a play camera.

He is always on the go.  Never stops.  I can't get him to sit still to read...watch TV...cuddle.  Nothing.  He just wants to be going all of the time.  It is fun to watch him play.  He is very independent and I've noticed that he started actually playing with toys long before Stafford did....I'm sure because he had someone to watch!  He will occasionally sit down himself to "read" a book but usually it's because he is looking for a cat!

He climbs everything and seems generally fearless.  He loves the swing and going down the slide.  A few weeks ago we were at a new playground and the slide was really tall.  A few feet taller than me for sure.  I looked up and there he was headed down!  He always goes backwards on his belly.

He will eat most anything but gets excited for bananas and cheese.  I can tell he has started to put on some weight lately so I can't wait to see how much he weighs at his 18 month appointment.  He has 3 teeth in the front on top and 2 molars on top.  The gap in between in hilarious.  Then he has 3 teeth on the bottom.

In generally he is an absolute joy to be around.  He is independent and doesn't need a ton of attention but loves it when you give it to him.  He loves to give hugs and kisses.  He will occasionally blow you a kiss.  He has also started copying many of the things that Stafford does.  My favorite is a fake sneeze.  He must have "sneezed" 25 times today in the car on the way home from base.  

He helps me dress him and is super excited about shoes and socks.  I bought him a pair of cowboy boots and he loves those.  He also knows to take his shoes and put them by the door when he takes them off.  He isn't super verbal but he is very good at following directions and clearly understands what we are asking.  You can often see his little mind working.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things but these are the biggest things going on right now.  We sure love our little Reedster!!