A lot happening around here....

There is so much happening in our lives these days. Reed is exploding in his language and humor and determination. I have been meaning to write a post for well over 3 months but have not made it happen until now. I have been back at work part-time for two weeks and West has been with B and with Carmen (Reed's former nanny) for two days. In another week the boys will both be at the same daycare until Sept 6 when Reed goes to preschool! This post will certainly not capture everything, but I will try to give high points...

Starting with Westy:West and momma in the cabin hammock

He is almost 4 months and still proves to be an easy, laid back and cuddly little guy. He rarely cries, and when he does it is obvious what he needs. He responds immediately to our voices - especially Reed's- and he can track us with his eyes from across the room now. Some of my favorite things about West so far....
- his smile, it is sweet and he wears it often
- how he rolls with the day and seems happy as long as he is with us
- when he sits side saddle in the ergo with his little smiley head popping out the top
- his sweet alert time and our cozy morning slumbers (for a few minutes before Reed wakes up)

Now onto Reed:In Minnesota on one of my favorite lakes

Skuut bike birthday party! More pics here

He sure is a three year old, feisty, funny, and always curious. He is adjusting wonderfully to being an older brother and seems to take pride in the role. His morning routine is (1) get out of bed and come into our room (2) check to see if baby West is awake (3) rouse me from bed asking for cereal or if he spots my phone charging, he is usually a little fixated on that (4) hold West (5) eat breakfast and (6) hold West again and read stories with me (7) if I need to shower he watches a Kipper or Sesame Street on my computer, this is often the time I find to feed Westy too (8) I coax him into getting dressed usually through tickling (9) we hop in the car or stroller or skuut bike and head to Kika's house daycare. Some mornings are tougher than others, but we are catching or stride.
Some of my favorite things about Reed these days
- his big wet mouth kisses
- asking to do everything (ex. "could I drive the car?" or "could I bring the sheep home?") and he asks this in a way that he thinks you might actually say yes
- his genuine love of all things outdoors - no matter the weather, this kid loves being outside (sound familiar?)
- his willingness to try anything that grows in our garden
- his sweet nature with Westy
- his fearlessness around rock climbing
- wanting to know how everything works - he is wonderfully curious about everything these days
- his request for dance parties with rockin music and scarves every night after dinner

Reed is social while still being reserved and cautious of new people. A good combination if you ask me. After a long and worrisome time, we are now 100% confident that he will be going to a wonderful preschool. In fact his teacher is coming for a visit to our home on Monday.