Big Boy Haircut (for reals, this time!)

Reid got his 3rd haircut yesterday...but this time it's short!!  About the same as Micah's at this age...and he looks so much older to me and less like a baby.  Maybe that's why I've wanted to keep it longer...I just didn't want to face the reality that my baby's growing up.  I was also a tad nervous to cut it (though I did do his 2nd one as well, it was minor compared to this one!) so I was holding out...but after seeing the pictures from the Museum day, I decided to just bite the bullet and go for it.  I'm not a trained hair stylist (not even close!) but have had experience cutting Micah's hair for over 2 years now, thanks to my friend Kate for teaching me the basics.  I don't typically use scissors for much of Micah's hair, however, and knowing that's what Reid required caused the timidness.  Then I reminded myself, it's only hair and it will grow :)  And if I start with just a little off, I can always go shorter.  Thankfully once I got going I gained confidence, and I'm actually pretty proud of how the haircut turned out.  Like I said, he's looking so much older now, but I guess that's life :)

The pics below are from today.  Micah was out running errands with Christian, so Reid took full advantage of playing with big brother's kitchen food...a prized possession in our house, haha.

 

Such big blue eyes (although hard to tell from the black and white, I know).  

Feeding Update

As I was searching the blog tonight to try and determine where Micah was at from a feeding stage, I realized I wasn't as detailed as I should have been...so I wanted to cover a little of Reid thus far so I have perspective moving forward.

At 6 months, Reid was still eating about 2-3 times at night (and draining the life from his mom :)) and another 4 times throughout the day.  We worked hard at dropping 2 of those feedings, which we never had to do with big brother, and currently, at 5 days shy of 8 months (eek!  how is that possible??!?) Reid is eating 1 time at night.  That means a 5:30 am feeding - (although we've had a couple of nights where's he's slept all the way through) as well as an additional 3-4 times during the day.  He is now eating solids 3 times a day, and I'm trying to figure out how to make it 3 nursing sessions during the day, with the additional early morning nursing, making it a total of 4 nursing sessions.  I can't quite remember how I transitioned Micah and dropped that afternoon nursing session, making it a snack instead...but I'll figure it out.

So, that's where we're at right now.  Hopefully soon we'll be at the 3-4 nursing sessions a day...I think we're close but just trying to adjust to a new schedule that I see on the horizon.  Can't believe how much Reid has grown in such a short time frame!

Museum of Science and Industry

Christian's last day of work was Monday this week, so we took advantage day 1 and headed out to the Museum of Science and Industry.  We went right during Micah's nap time, believing he would be able to make it and potentially even nap on the way home, and trusting Reid to nap on the go.  Well, Reid did quite well, falling asleep in the Ergo for 45 minutes...but Micah didn't adjust quite as well.  He really enjoyed parts of the museum, but also had moments of "meltdownness" causing us to look forward to when he's no longer napping at all (though I wouldn't trade that most days :)) to be able to enjoy outings as a family.

Regardless, we had a good time and really enjoyed some of the exhibits at the museum.  We had debated between this museum and the Shedd Aquarium, but seeing that there were Christmas trees galore and a Charlie Brown exhibit, we chose the Museum of Science and Industry instead, and were glad we did.  Micah really enjoyed the piano playing and coloring in that exhibit, as well as the tractor and farming section.  Definitely a place of hands on experiences and a great place to take a kiddo!

Charlie Brown Exhibit!

 

Micah's mood for half of this exhibit, unfortunately.  Thankfully we had the Bob and could switch out him and Reid when needed ;)

 

Since Micah wasn't in the mood for a picture, I got one with Reidees (Micah's nickname for Reid that we have adopted).

 

So sweet :)

 

Pretty cool piano in this exhibit.

 

 Both kids really enjoyed playing on the piano.

 

Micah wanted to get his picture with Snoopy.

 

He really enjoyed coloring here as well.  A lot of cool hands-on experiences for the kids!

 

Reid pulling up on anything available.  We just had to make sure he didn't put the tire in his mouth after, haha.

 

Micah and Christian enjoying some coloring time.  This happens at home quite often too.  Christian is a great artist and Micah enjoys sitting down with him and watching/coloring as well.

 

 Sweet boys.

 

Love that tongue out of his mouth. 

 

Happy boy!

 

We picked up Sophie the Giraffe due to its teething reviews...I don't know if he'll love it or not, but it worked well for us at the museum.

 

We went to a chick exhibit and Micah loved watching the chicks running around!

 

He was drawn even more to the eggs portion that had a very newly hatched chicken.  Pretty cool!

 

My attempt at getting a picture of the two boys.

 

Micah driving the tractor.  He loved this part!

We certainly love having Daddy off of work, and plan on taking full advantage of our time together before the new year starts and his work schedule gets crazy busy again.  Yay for family fun days! :)

Polar Express riding and Santa meeting

You will notice Reid and myself are not in these pictures.  You will also notice that neither is Santa.  To explain, Reid came down with the flu last weekend (which was awful truly, to see your baby with a 102-103 fever and pretty much just laying there miserably whimpering...) so I was with him much of the weekend.  We had planned to go with friends to the Polar Express/Santa venue at Blackberry Farm, and while I really wanted to go with Micah, I felt that Reid needed me more.  It became a Micah/Daddy day (which isn't a bad thing, of course) while Mommy and Reid hung out.  (I had the flu before Reid got it, and thankfully, a week later, Micah and Christian have remained unscathed from the flu.  Knock on wood that means they escaped!)

Now to explain why there's no Santa picture.  Well, plain and simple, Micah was terrified.  He was clutching to Christian as they got closer and closer to Santa and while he did tell Santa he wanted a Mickey Clubhouse Movie (prompted, I believe, by Daddy so as not to be silent when meeting Santa) he refused to let go of Christian and was no where close to getting an actual picture with Santa.  Oh well, clearly not the end of the world :)  He did, however, enjoy his time on the Polar Express as well as his hot chocolate and cookies.  Fun times!  Below are just a few pictures from the day.

 

Stairs or bust.

 

Hey Daddy.  Get ready...I'm about to climb!

 

 Here I go. 

 

Wow, this is one steep set of stairs.

 

Hmm...maybe it's just a little too much for me.

 

Nope, I got this! Watch me go.

Random Pictures

 

I love that my boys can take baths together now!  Although, Reid is quite active and tries to stand way too much :)

 

Sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving!

 

Loving his peas (literally!)  Reid's improved so much from his first taste of solids.

 

My Reindeer cookies for the cookie exchange.  It about killed me, but they turned out cute!

 

Micah loving life at Chick-Fil-A.

 

Happy, happy boy!

 

Micah wanted to take a picture with me on my phone - how can I resist? :)

Standing Update

It's been a long week already, as I came down with the flu Monday night and Christian was out of town.  While it feels nearly impossible to be able to take care of 2 boys while you're sick yourself, I made it...through good naps and movie days while I laid in bed :)  And thankfully Christian came back last night and was able to take the morning off while I rested.  I wish I could say I'm fully recovered, but I seem to have hit a second wave and am just praying tonight is the last night...

The real reason for this post, however, is to update you on Reid's standing.  It took 3 nights of pretty wakeful nights and 2 nights of one-time putting Reid down.  So, 5 nights total and Reid figured out this whole standing in his crib at night thing.  And with that, he's also been sleeping from about 7pm - 4/5am pretty consistently!!  It took awhile to get there...but ptl I think we're there now. :)

Reid has figured out this week how to get down from a standing position pretty comfortably as well as begun dabbling in "walking".  Ah, will he slow down, ever?  It's not much, by any means, and by walking I simply mean going from one side of his crib to the next side (perpendicularly, not parallel).  But it's glimpses of what's to come in the too distant future, I'm afraid.  We also had to "Reid proof" our tree as well, because he's just too mobile and pulling off ornaments.  Just another experience in the growing of little Reid.  Love this little boy so, so much!!