13 months and busy lives

[Reed and Mama hanging out at my 2nd favorite lake in the world Lake Harriet
(Crooked Lake is #1)]

Oh my have we been busy but there is so much to tell you all about our sweet little boy. I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post....

The summer was filled with visits to see family and friends both in Portland (see previous post) and Minneapolis. While in Mpls we saw my mom and dad's side of the family including a visits with: the Tukeys (both Minn and Calf Tukeys), Sr. Margurite & Sr. Joanne, the Starrs, the Waltons (including quality time at the Crooked Lake cabin), K's best high school & college friends, K's friend Kate and her two little boys. We spent time doing all the things that make MN so great in the summer...hanging out at the lakes (especially one of K's favorites: Lake Harriet), boat riding, water skiing, sitting outside drinking good wine in a tank top until 11pm, eating corn on the cob practically every night, catching a thunder storm, and much more (many more pictures here)

[K's Nana and Bompa with the four great-grand children (L to R - Teagan, Ethan, Reed, Cal)

[Eating at the cabin]

[First time trying corn ON the cob]

[Wonderful time with Srs. Margurite and Joanne]

While in MN Reed decided to wean which was great timing for both of us and not at all difficult or painful. Although I sometimes miss our early morning nursing, for the most part I love that he drinks cow's milk and that both bed time and morning time can happen with either parent.

Other new developments...
Reed is walking along furniture with much more confidence. He doesn't seem too interested in letting go or trying to balance on his own yet, but he is very interested in standing against something. His scoot across the floor is efficient and gets him where he wants to go in no time.

He is talking a lot more, saying (we think) bam ba (Samba), ma ma (Mama), mih (milk) and da da for B. Another sound he is making is something like a combination of a baby terradactyl and a lion growl. He uses it when he is frustrated or bored and he seems to save it special for B or I. This may be in part, because he is showing more signs of being shy around others. He is still pretty social, flirting with anyone while in the safety of one of our arms, but if he doesn't know you, he may take a while to warm up these days.

His demeanor is still calm, patient, and easy going, for which we continue to thank our stars! He and Maya are very sweet together and they now see each other 4 days/ week in the care of our sweet nanny Carmen. Maya is starting to walk and talk a lot more and you can tell that Reed is watching her like a hawk, but still mostly observing.

His favorite activities these days are banging things together and making musical sounds. He loves drums, guitars, and wooden hammers on the table, dancing to music in our arms (we have almost nightly dance parties), eating by himself, playing hide-and-seek and peek-a-boo. He is not so interested in reading yet, but we assume this will come, he's just too busy and distracted to slow down and look through a book. Our reading sessions usually look like, I read, he crawls around and checks in with me about every 2-3 pages. As for books, his favorite thing seems to be slam the book shut, try to grab it and throw it. Speaking of throwing, he is really into balls and throwing right now too.

Here are a few recent shots of Reed, Maya and our wonderful nanny Carmen at our house.