Red shoes

We took Reed to Lake Tahoe for the first time to hang out with good friends and cheer on Kirsten as she finished the Tahoe marathon (her 5th!). There are many more pictures of our wonderful weekend at our smugmug site.

On Saturday night Reed showed us all his dancing and walking moves with the help of his snazzy handmade gore-tex red booties (made by our dear friend Steve). Reed walked several steps and seemed to be enjoying himself - unbenounced to him, he and his red shoes were the center of attention and made everyone laugh. Thanks Steve-O!

On a roll...

This morning I finally captured Reed rolling over. He did it 4 times in a row and until the last time -when he was clearly done with his morning achievements- he seemed quite proud of himself and happy to try again.

Reed's first OUCH!

After a wonderful last few days with the boy, we decided to try to go to a friend's party for their daughter's 2nd birthday. The party was in Shelter Cove in Pacifica, CA a quaint little paradise of seventeen cottages on the beach. We climbed down something like 200 steep stairs leading to the beach from the top of a hill using a rope railing and watching every step carefully. After we arrived I took a seat on the couch and started to nurse. 10 minutes later I had Reed in my lap smiling at me and all of a sudden I heard and felt a big BANG. It turns out one of the many toddlers and kids in the room had thrown a plastic tambourine our way and it hit Reed smack in the back of his head, really hard. We were both in shock at first. I kept saying Oh My God..Oh My God... and holding him close. He got silent for a few seconds (in shock I think) and then began to cry. I assessed the damage, and there was nothing permanent, a little redness but nothing to truly worry about.

Mama bear came back in full force, let me tell you. My initial instinct was to push which ever kid threw it right out the second story window and take Reed back to our cave. This being the first time I had ever experienced him hurt in any way, he cried and I cried but in the end we were both fine. I was happy that it didn't send him off into a tailspin, instead he buried his face in my chest and snuggled me while he cried. I know this is the first of many bumps and bruises for my little boy but the first one is the definitely the hardest.

8 weeks- I can't possibly capture everything but....

[Reed at 8 weeks]

It's been a few weeks since I've written an update and I'm not sure I remember it all, which is a good reminder of how fast life is flying by. Yes, Reed is still a little baby, but he seems like a new person from the time we brought him home from the hospital. He is much less fragile (and we are much more confident in our handling him), he is smiling all the time, he coos and purrs and "talks" when he is responded to. He likes standing and flying in the air, which also shows his new found head control. He seems more aware of everything around him and slightly more sensitive to being over stimulated. He turns his head away and closes his eyes and "fussy talks" or cries a little. However, if we recognize it and help him find a place with less stimulation he calms down and often can recenter himself.

As for activities in his life, there have been many in the past few weeks. We had our first big house party for friends and family to celebrate Reed (and all the other babies in our lives) and to wish me a happy 31st birthday. It was a gorgeous hot Berkeley day and the yard turned into a playful scene. We ordered a dozen pizzas and Billy and friends made salads and wonderful homemade pies - including my favorite lemon meringue . Reed was a superstar all afternoon sleeping, nursing, and charming people all around.

[Fabulous pies for my birthday party]

The following week we had family in town including my dad John and my grandparents as well as Billy's grandparents. Four generations on both sides of the family! Everyone came to meet Reed of course, and we appreciated the chance to hear old and new stories and spend some quality time with our elders. Reed and his grandpa had a few days to get to know each other and by the second day it appeared that Reed may have recognized him and seemed happy to see him again. Neither John nor I expected to see how quickly and strongly the bond formed between them, it was pretty sweet.

[Bonding with grandpa John]

I have always been very close to my Nana and Bompa Walton so to have them come out from Minnesota to meet Reed at 2 months old meant the world to me.

[Charming his great-grand Nana]

Reed also had some great quality time with Grandma Darlene and Grandpa Bill on Billy's side of the family. Reed slept on his great-grandparents' laps while they told fun old stories of life growing up in Illinois. We feel so lucky to have two sets of grandparents not only still with us, but able to travel and share in this time with us.

[Four generations in our living room!]
Back left: John Walton, Scotty (Nana), Sherry, Grandma Darlene, Paul
Front left: John Sr. (Bompa), Me & Reed, Billy, Grandpa Bill

The power of genes

Billy and I have been having a lot of fun looking at our old baby pictures lately and comparing them to Reed. We have noticed some pretty striking similarities, can you spot them too?

[Reed at 6 weeks]

[Kris at somewhere around 6 weeks]

[Billy w/ Jenna and Jon at somewhere around 8 weeks]

More on how life is going coming soon....

6 week peak

People told us that once you make it past 6 weeks (the 6 week peak) you've gotten through the hardest part and so far we believe that (for the most part). Reed is now just over 7 weeks and over the last few days I have noticed he is smiling a ton and becoming much more interactive with his hands, limbs and expressions. It's as if he is finally realizing that he is not going back in the womb and just now starting to feel ok with that and perhaps even happy about his new world.

He is responding to our voices and the other day when Billy got home from work he gave him a HUGE smile as if to say "Hey, I know you!" All of this, plus the fact that he seems to be catching a stride with daytime naps vs awake time teaches us that it truly does get easier and easier as you get to know them more. We're still not in any kind of schedule, but we are starting a semi-regular routine at least in the evenings that seems to work for him and help him understand it's time for a longer sleep.

As for more "firsts" of this week....
Reed had his first three times away from either of us and it went pretty well. On Tuesday Helen (our sister-in-law) watched him at her house while I went to a podiatrist appointment (more on that in a later post) and when I walked in after an hour and a half or so, he was sound asleep on her chest. So despite her wondering, all her what-to-do-with-an-infant instincts came rushing back and I was so grateful. The second (and third) babysitting adventures happened with John and Molly. First they generously offered to care for him as Billy took me out to a wonderful dinner for my b-day on Thursday. Second, they watched him for 5 hours on Friday as I attended a training and meeting for my upcoming job in November. Both times they said he was a champ and did not take too much effort to calm down, feed or get to sleep. I did alright too, of course I missed my boy bu tit felt good to think about my future work and to be reminded how supportive my colleagues are of having a family.

In addition, Reed had his first bath in the bath tub. On one of the hot Berkeley evenings the three of us squeezed into the tub with warm (not hot) water and took a family bath. Reed LOVED it and so did we. Today is my birthday celebration and we're having a bunch of family and friends over to see Reed and eat pizzas, pies....should be a lot of fun (pictures to come).

Awake!

Today Reed stayed awake and alert for the longest amount of time ever - almost 3 hours. He had had a pretty good night sleep (nursing x2) and a short nap in the morning (8:30 -9 ish). Around 10, we figured he must be tired because he has never lasted much past 30 minutes awake time so we put him in the swinging car seat chair and waited for him to doze off. Instead, he stayed awake - calm and alert without complaining or falling asleep, just chilling out. After an hour or so of that he finally started fussing -- we thought, he finally must be ready to sleep right? Nope, it was just a blow-out poopy diaper. I changed him and noticed he was still not asking for a nap, so I took him outside for some naked time. Here he stayed pleased as can be for another hour and a half - a total of 2.5 hours awake! Finally I noticed he was looking sleepy and got him swaddled and rocked him for 2-3 minutes and he conked out. What a day so far!

[Happy naked times on the porch]

[Intent on controlling his head]

So many things have changed in our lives. But for today I am most aware of the fact that we no longer have a schedule to count on. This is both exhilarating and challenging for me (kris)- an eternal scheduler. Before having him, we'd heard from several seasoned parents that your life is completely rocked upsidedown for the first few months and will never be the same, but you don't really believe it until you live it. Each day is totally different from the next which means we are learning to go-with-the-flow more now than ever before and are following Reed's lead most of the time. I find that letting go of my expectations of getting anything done in a day is helpful at this point. Going grocery shopping, walking Samba, cleaning the house, are all bonuses but not absolutes. We are both reading a lot more than ever though as we push his hammock bed, so that's nice.

[This is when you can tell he is in his deep sleep]

[Brilliant solution to holding the pacifier in for nap time]