McKinstry Moments: A year and a half already?

And, it's time for another update on Mr. Reid!

A year and a half. Shew. Though the days seem long sometimes, those months sure are flying by.

Reid has pretty much caught up with Hadley as far as weight goes. I think he's about 29 lbs at this point and she weighs just a couple more. Hadley is taller, but this winter they were wearing about the same size clothes, which was a blessing at times when one or the other messed up their outfit or I didn't get to all the laundry - they could use each other's pjs or t-shirts.

Right now, Reid is solidly in 24 month and 2T stuff. Since Caleb's just recently outgrew a lot of his 3T clothing, I'm not sure if it is even worth the effort to pack it away or just shift it to the basement closet for now. I bet his little brother will be donning those in no time. Sometimes when I lay out clothes for them to put on, Caleb even gets confused and puts on Reid's.

He was so frustrated one day when, after getting himself dressed for school, I told him he'd picked up the wrong ones and would have to get changed again. Poor boy!

Reid is not growing quite as fast as he was at first and has slimmed down some as well. He isn't quite that roly poly thing he was as an infant. Actually some of his pants that were too tight before seem to be fitting better now.

His feet aren't slowing down though, Hadley is going into size 7s so I bought Reid a pair of 6s for the summer thinking he was just a little behind her. Shockingly, his little feet are so chubby I can hardly get his feet into them. I tried a few others I'd saved from when Caleb was a baby, but most of those are too tight on those Flintstone feet as well. And, would you believe it? Some of the little Chucks Mom bought Caleb years ago, I'm now able to use on BOTH Hadley and Reid even though they are 18 months apart...It makes me giggle.

Though he outgrew these nb-size 3 ones a LOOOONG time ago, it wasn't until January that I finally packed them away. Looking at these types of things just makes you want to have another one!

In January, I spent a big chunk of time trying to clear out all the things Reid had grown out of so quickly. Many of the items were lingering because I didn't have the heart to pack them away, hopeful he could still get into them one more time. All this cleaning also helped me keep the boys' clothes separated better because sometimes putting away their clothes can get a bit confusing as I try to figure out whose is whose. I have to look twice myself!

Though I forgot to mention it in the 15 month post, all that organizing was prompted by a major change in our house - Reid moved out of our room and in with his big brother. Caleb wasn't thrilled with the whole switcharoo, but we really needed our own space again and thought it may help with those night time feedings that we were having trouble breaking Reid from...It didn't work. He's still nursing like an infant at night despite all we've tried and somehow in the midst of our exhaustion often he even ends up in our bed! They're only babies once though, right?

While we are on the subject of nursing, here's the scoop. Several times now I have tried to wean my growing toddler but he has definitely been the hardest of my three to do this with. Caleb stopped at 6 months due to my Lupus/Fibro issues and had no problem transitioning to a bottle, and Hadley had to give it up at about 14-15 months because being pregnant with Reid I just couldn't keep up caloriewise and was very sore. With Reid though, he's never had a bottle nor shown much interest in pacifiers. It's been Mommy alone as his comfort item.

Though I hate to take away something he loves so much, with the terrible shoulder, neck, and back issues I have, at this point, my body just needs a break, and he is plenty old enough to drink milk from a sippy cup. What's the problem then, right? Well, every time we make a little progress, something comes up to set us back. For example, a few times he's gotten sick and needed comfort; I didn't know what else to do but give in and help my boy. Other times for one reason or another he wouldn't sleep without it (even though I know he can and does often). In just trying to get everyone down and get some rest myself, I relented....I think there's a bit of a guilt factor there for me as well. In addition, some of our backsliding is for convenience sake as I'm trying to just make it through the day with minimal battles, and part of the problem is I just hate to think of breaking that bond (after all, he may be the last baby I ever nurse).

Reid can be a little sneaky too! If I am on the phone or something, he'll come sit in my lap, and the next thing I know I look down and realize he's been nursing for five minutes. I'm so used to it, I don't even notice. We'll get there though! (Soon I hope!)

As far as milestones go, his vocabulary has really expanded and he can communicate pretty well even to extended family members and nursery workers at church. Even three word phrases like, "I want...," are popping up. He still runs the words together some, but we can make it out. "Yes" and "no" are the favorites right now, and he uses them both frequently.

Secondly, we've been moving from finger foods...

...to learning how to use a spoon. I wasn't quite ready for the jump, but he wanted to do it himself and is often adamant that we relinquish the spoon to him, so we've been letting him try. Sometimes he does better than others, but he's learning. It's just one of those skills you've got to let them make a little mess to gain.

I guess one of the other major milestones is getting his first haircut. Caleb had his first one at ten months old and a second before his first birthday, but Reid's hair just didn't grow as fast. When those curls did come in, I could hardly stand to cut them off. I knew that once those scissors make the first snips, they lose that baby look and Mommy was just not ready for that. I didn't want him to look scraggly though, and finally Dave brought me to my senses. It was time!

The pictures just don't do justice to how cute his hair was.

My cousin Willie's wife Cindy always gives my kids their first cuts, so we knew right where to go. It wasn't as painful as I thought it might be actually - for me or him. He sat pretty still for her, and in the end, I still think he looks like a baby.

The worst part was that I locked the keys in the car and Dave had to borrow Cindy's Jeep to go home to get another set.

The next milestone - if I can even call it that - is his new found climbing ability.

Eighteen months ago I was posting pictures of a helpless little newborn and now we have a mover and a shaker who constantly keeps us on our toes. He is always climbing or getting into something. I looked back at one of the posts I wrote about Caleb when he was little, and I just had to laugh at myself because I didn't know how good I had it! Though I love Reid with all I've got and he really is a good boy most of the time, he's also a RASCAL!

Usually, he's not really trying to get into trouble; my boy is just an explorer and likes a challenge. My other two climbed some (Hadley more than Caleb), but nothing like Reid does. All day long he's trying to get on top of one thing or another. At this point, I even had to move all the kitchen chairs into the dining room so that he can't use them to scale the baby gate or climb on top the table or counter.

He's a very sure footed little thing too and really figures out how to get where he's going without injury. For two or three months he's even been going up and down the steps by himself holding the rail. I'll stand there and spot him just in case, of course, but usually he doesn't want me to touch him. Independent!

One of his favorite things to do is climbing over the back of the couch, rolling onto the cushions, and then running around to do it again.

For an extra boost, he decided this drum works perfectly as a step stool.

There he goes...

Look at those skills.

Time to do it again.

The trick is one leg at a time.

"I got this."

Hold on!

He's pretty creative about his explorations too. He uses anything he can find to help give him a few extra inches. Whether it's a drum, the ride-on toys, etc., he makes good use of whatever resources are available. One night when the kids were upstairs playing, he even used the stool from Hadley's vanity to try to climb over the baby gate. Thankfully, Dave was watching and caught him doing it. Since we have a very open floor plan with a railing and spindles that overlook the downstairs, this terrified us knowing that the railing wasn't much higher than the baby gate. Needless to say, it didn't take us long to scour the upstairs, removing everything and anything he'd be able to move and use to step up on. Toys we once thought of as safe in the playroom, now had to be evaluated to see if we needed to put them elsewhere to prevent more climbing! Additionally, Dave's got to work bolting the dressers to the wall. We can't over look anything with this kid around.

Even with all those safety measures. Sometimes he still manages to sneak by us and get into some type of trouble - and boy is he fast! One day, a couple weeks ago, I was standing in the kitchen with the boys and looked down for just a minute to fill in a t-ball form for Caleb. I heard the kids scooting some chairs around and when I looked up, there was Reid - in the sink with the sprayer in hand! How in the world he got in there that quickly I have no idea. Thankfully, Caleb, being a good big brother, was helping to spot him once he realized what was happening, but goodness gracious!

In the car is no exception. As soon as the carseat straps come off, there he goes, climbing the seats as if I just introduced him to his own personal jungle gym.

"Stuck, stuck," he fussed at Caleb's t-ball practice when he couldn't quite get over that front seat. Little booger!

Needless to say, it's getting a little hard to take him out places. From the bleachers at the ballpark to the furniture at the houses of our friends and family, if it's available, he's going to try it. Granny's found a way to keep him still though...ice cream!

While I'm not a fan of a lot of sweets...but gotta do whatcha gotta do sometimes. :)

And, speaking of going to other people's houses, Reid got to have a friend come over to his house one day recently too. Any time we have company it is usually someone Caleb or Hadley's age or older, but on this special visit, Reid got to meet Jesse - a little fella who was just about to turn two. Though there was about five months difference in the boys, they were close to the same size. At this age they played more beside each other than with each other, but they did interact some too and I think it was a good idea to get them together. Jesse was such a sweetheart; a couple times Reid got upset and cried about something and along came Jesse to pat his new friend on the back to help him feel better.

Reid was pleased as punch to have a friend over.

Jesse was "feeding" Reid with a toy spoon out of the kids' dust pan that he must have thought was a plate.

They really had fun playing hide-and-seek in the closet.

Uh-oh...What happened to your sister, Reid?

What else does Reid like to do for fun? Well Peek-a-boo is still a favorite...

...and sometimes even his belly button plays too.

He poked it so much it was red by the end.

Reid loves any opportunity to "clean" too. No matter whose house we're at, he's going to find the vacuum...or the broom...or the duster...maybe all three...and get to work. Keep an eye on him though. Sometimes he tries to use the handle to knock the remote off the top of the TV or get something off the counter.

While he isn't attached to any particular stuffed animal, he loves hugging any he finds. That sweet boy squeezes them so tight against his little face and body, just lovin' on his teddy bears and cuddly friends. Definitely heart melting moments for those watching him.

He likes to play with lots of other toys too. He doesn't stay very long at any one thing, and often aggravates his siblings as he's knocking down their stuff or getting in the way. Sometimes he does it on purpose, but most of the time that little innocent fella has no idea what they are getting so worked up about. A lot of times he doesn't even realize they are mad at him, just goes on about his business oblivious.

At Granny's

While he used to really love to sit in our laps as we read, lately he's not been into sitting still much and just wants to move around the room while he listens. Reid loves having a book in his own hands though, especially if it has paper pages. (Caution: He's been known to tear a few.) One morning last month, almost as soon as he hopped out of bed, he pulled a New Testament out of Dave's night stand, crawled up in the recliner, and set to "reading." I had to get the camera!