A real little boy

This evening, I felt a molar growing out of Reed’s mouth (which is a little odd given that he only has 7 of his incisors). It got me thinking about how quick he’s growing up these days. He’s 14 months old! I feel like every time I blink, I find that he’s grown so much. These days, he’s always doing something that surprises me in its grown-up-ness, from eating a food most little kids wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole to saying a two-word sentence. He’s really a little boy now. And while that comes with its share of stubbornness and temper tantrums, it also comes with a lot of fun. He’s so active, curious and full-of-life!

It’s been a while since I’ve updated the blog on how Reed’s been doing. Here are the basics:

Height: Somewhere in the neighborhood of 31 inches.

Weight: 23 pounds.

Words he says: No, yeah, that, car (for anything with wheels, probably his favorite word), dog, uh oh, cup, take that, all done, cup, apple (for apples, peaches, plums, etc.), hi (which he says to people), hello (which he says when he picks up a phone or anything that he can pretend is a phone), ball, mama, and dada. There are a lot of other words he’s said just once, but these are the things he says fairly regularly.

The boy loves to eat!

Foods he loves: meatballs, peaches, plums, graham crackers with cream cheese, yogurt, pizza (especially the crust), pastina and cottage cheese, bananas, ginger cookies, cheerios, apple sauce, ham and cheese croissant, and sweet potatoes. He’s pretty adventurous — he’s eaten goat cheese, a bacon cheddar scone, sesame noodles, and Asian tofu broccoli stirfry.

Favorite toys: His loveys (owl, sheep and elephant), trucks and cars, the dog that talks and sings songs, hand bells, two monkey stuffed animals, phones, popcorn popper, wagon, and John Deere ride-on toy.

Favorite books: That’s Not My Monster, That’s Not My Dinosaur, I Like Snow, I Like Sticks, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Happy Baby 1, 2, 3, Happy Baby Faces, and My First Body Book.

We’ve started to watch a very limited amount of TV — usually just once or twice a week for an hour at most. The only shows he seems to be at all interested in are “Dogs 101″ and “30 Rock.” Don’t ask me why he likes “30 Rock” so much, but it always keeps him in rapt attention.

As far as what Reed likes to do, that would be pretty much everything. He loves the water, whether it’s taking a shower, floating in a pool, or running full-speed into a lake (which he did yesterday). He’s crazy about going on his ride on toys and using his pull-push toys outside, though he’s still not a fan of the sun, so we try to keep him in the shade. He loves animals, dogs especially, but he seems to like every kind he’s met so far. He met three rather fearless ducks at Lake Groton yesterday, and he had a lot of fun chasing them around. Most of all, he just likes to play with and roughhouse with us. He’s always jumping on us, diving into our laps, feeding us, etc.

A happy family

Reed went to Florida 2 1/2 weeks ago to visit his grandparents and great-grandmother and had a really great time. There’s a fun playground for little ones in my parents’ neighborhood and a big pool. My parents also babyproofed their house and basically turned it into a toddler playland, so he was in hog heaven. I’d wanted to do more with him (zoo, etc.), but he was getting over a nasty bout of pneumonia, so we tried to take it pretty easy. It was a good place for him to recuperate and get spoiled. He’s healthy as an ox once again. I don’t think I mentioned it in a previous post, but Reed had surgery on his ears in late May (he got tubes put in) so at least he won’t have painful ear infections or ear pressure any more. It was just after the surgery that he suddenly started saying a lot of new words, so I’m very happy we decided to go ahead it.

We don’t have too much else planned for the rest of the summer. I hope to find some opportunities to take Reed to see live music, since it’s probably his all-time favorite thing, visit some more of the great lake beaches in our area, and take Reed hiking. Summer in Vermont is such a gift and I hope Reed will enjoy visiting new places and discovering nature. It’s fun to watch him encounter new things and grow!

Our sweet baby