Yeah Reese!

You may remember that we bought Reese a potty a month or two ago. Occasionally he will inspect the potty and sit on it (clothed). We have not pushed potty training yet. I thought that it would be best to get through the holidays first.

Last week Reese had the hand, foot, and mouth virus. Because of this he had blisters on his bottom. Our pediatrician told us to let him go without a diaper when possible so the blisters could heal. With this in mind we sat on the potty quiet a few times.

Saturday, Reese was tugging on his diaper and I asked if he wanted to sit on the potty. He ran to the bathroom and I took the diaper off and let him sit on the potty. I was blown away when I heard the potty start to play a song. Reese peed in the potty!!! We all cheered and did a happy dance. He was not interested in sitting on the potty anymore that day. Last night he started tugging at his diaper again. Yet again, he peed in the potty!

We are so proud of him! As originally planned, we are not going to officially try training until the first of the year, but we will continue giving him opportunities daily.

Potty Time

Reese got something new and exciting this weekend...

He is so excited about the potty! We have been letting him sit on it and he opens the lid, flushes, and closes the lid (I am training him right!). The potty plays a song when he goes in it. I poured a little water in so that he could hear the song and he giggled and danced around.

At this point, we are simply letting him sit on the potty. We have not made him try to use it. It is such a treat for him. He loves it! This morning he got really upset when I was changing his diaper. I told him he could sit on the potty if he would calm down. Immediately he dried it up and as soon as I put him down he ran to the potty.

I am thinking that we will wait until after Christmas to officially start training, but he sure is enjoying the preparation.

Bathing Beauty

My little buddy looks quite handsome in his bath robe!

Vote for Reese

Reese Is Entered in the Gap Casting Call

Gap is holding a nationwide contest to find the next faces of babyGap and GapKids, and Reese is entered into the contest. Check out Reese's entry here:
http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/crystalholder/392778526/

Go to the website above and vote for Reese. The baby with the most votes wins a trip to Disney World. You can vote once a day until November 17th.

Ask everyone you know to vote for Reese!

Pumpkin Time

I have never carved a pumpkin before and wasn't really sure that I wanted to tackle that type of mess with a 16 month old. Instead, we decided to paint Reese's pumpkin. A couple of weeks ago on Bryan's day off, we stripped the little guy down, rolled some paper across the floor, and squirted out some paint. I put some acrylic paint on to Reese's hands while Bryan held him still. Then, Reese put his hand prints on his little pumpkin. The prints aren't perfect (he was a little squirmy), but I think it turned out pretty cute.

Boo in the Zoo

Sunday afternoon we took Reese to Boo in the Zoo at the Greenville Zoo. He was the cutest little monkey ever! Though he did not understand what was going on, he seemed to have a good time and liked a few of his prizes. His Daddy really enjoyed the candy.

Time to eat

Oh the joy of teaching a toddler to feed himself with utensils. Mommy still has to scoop the food onto the spoon, but Reese will feed himself. If Mommy doesn't scoop fast enough, Reese takes matters into his own hands, literally!

Warning: This is gross!

Our week started out on an odd note, one that I couldn't help but laugh at when I probably should have been disgusted. The morning started out with breakfast and then a bath. When I took Reese out of the bath I left him in just a diaper. Around 10 I put him down for a nap. This is the time that I usually get dressed for the day. He was not happy about taking a nap and fussed, but he was left in the bed anyway. I brought the baby monitor into the bathroom and got in the shower. After a few minutes he quited down and went to sleep (so I thought!). As I was getting out of the shower he started fussing again, so I quickly dried off and put on my robe. I went into his room and he was standing in his crib completely naked. He had stripped off his diaper (a common occurrence lately) and thrown it to the side. His pillow had poop on top of it and under it. I picked him up to clean him and saw that some poo was still hanging off his bottom. When he was clean I put him in his pack and play so that I could clean the bed up. When I went to take him out of the pack and play, he was naked yet again! The diaper was on the floor and he was standing there with a big smile on his face. I know it is gross, but of course I took pictures. Maybe one day we will reveal them to the world!

Moving Toy Bin

We have a rolling bin that we keep Reese's small toys and balls in. He recently discovered that he can climb into the bin. He also figured out that he can wiggle and make it move. Enjoy!

He'll make fun out of anything

Reese discovered that his toy bin is just as fun as the toys inside. As a side note... Don't judge me for my bad decorating. The duck tape over the outlets is the only thing that keeps him from playing with them. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do!

A few more

More Football Photos

Attempting to hug his reflection.

Kissing his reflection on the bumper of the bus.

My handsome boy and my attempts to learn to use graphic software.

Football Fun

Reese went to his first high school tailgate tonight. We do several tailgates each year at the different high schools that our students come from. Tonight we were at Easley High School for the Easley/Pickens game. Reese had a GREAT time! By the way, he did have pants on, but he got hot so we took them off.

More pictures to come. (Man dial up is slow!)

Halloween is Coming

We are working on an awesome Halloween costume for Reese. (I won't spoil the surprise!) Just in case it doesn't work out, we got a back up costume this weekend. I must say Reese is the cutest monkey ever!

New Boots!

Last week we bought Reese some rain boots. Every little guy needs a cool pair of rain boots. These are a little big, but that just means he can wear them longer. Check them out!

Reese's Favorite Baseball Player

Reese got the opportunity to watch his favorite baseball player sign his MLB contract on Monday. It was an exciting day! Congratulations Cousin Brooks!

Brooks with his agent and a rep from the Brewers

Reese and his favorite Brewer!

Reese and his buddy cousin Lawson

Lawson taking Reese for a ride. Reese had to check it out and make sure Lawson had everything under control.

Cool Surprise

It has been a while. Sorry! Things have been a little crazy for us. Since I last posted we spent a week in Memphis, spent the next week dealing with Chicken Pox, and now things are calming down a little. I have plenty to share over the next couple of days.

Reese has an Aunt Linda and a Great Aunt Linda. To make it easy, I will refer to them as Reese's Aunt Linda (Bryan's sister) and Bryan's Aunt Linda (Nana's sister). Bryan's Aunt Linda lives just outside of Hershey, PA. Yesterday Reese got some really cool surprises from her. The stuff was so cool that I have to share.

Yes, we spell his name with an s just like the candy. Maybe people will get it right if we keep the t-shirt on him all the time.

Making Progress

We took Reese to the Gastroenterologist today for his year check up. I was excited to hear him say we can add soy to his diet and if all goes well at 18 months we can try real dairy products. My poor baby needs cheese and ice cream!

Little Rascal

Reese has been learning lots of new things lately. He has been demonstrating his new climbing skills for me quite a bit. One of his favorite new toys is his slide. We brought the slide home on a Sunday evening and tried to show him how to climb the two steps. He would have no part of the climbing, but loved for us to sit him on the top and let him slide.

To my surprise on Monday morning I turned around to find him climbing the steps and sitting himself on top of the slide. He loves it!

On an even more dangerous note, he has discovered that he can remove the covers from the electrical outlets. Last week I put a baby gate in front of the outlet that he targets. He quickly decided that he doesn't mind climbing behind the gate or just turning it over to get to the outlet.

Yesterday I put painters tape over the outlet and covers, but he proceeded to pull the tape off and sling it around the house. My next course of action was to move his toy shelf in front of the outlet. A few times he tried to squeeze behind the shelf, but eventually gave up. This morning he had a better idea... why not use those new climbing skills. This is how I caught him...

Oh my little rascal!