Bookworm

We always have a few books on Reese's night stand for easy access. Reese loves to take them off her night stand and place them on her ottoman and read them. She'll entertain herself for 10 minutes turning the pages, looking at the pictures and talking to herself. Before I know it she'll be reading Twilight!

Once a month, I meet up with my Hitachi friends for our Diva Dinner. Reese loves to tag along and everyone always loves seeing her. Here she is with Debbie at BerryHill.

Last Saturday night, Grandma Ruth, Matt, Reese and I went to an early dinner at The Raven Grill. Reese kept herself occupied by putting her Cheerios in her bottle cap. I think she is quite coordinated! Why am I surprised? She loves putting things in and out of other things like the laundry in and out of the basket, her blocks in and out of the pail, etc. She also has learned how to put her round block in the circle hole. I'm telling you, she is one smart cookie.

We splurged for dessert and enjoyed a chocolate bread pudding topped with vanilla ice cream. It was Reese's first time to eat ice cream.

That's cold!

Like most children, Reese is obsessed with my cell phone and Blackberry. She'll even grab my purse off the chair to dig and find them. I think she knows what to do with the phone, what do you think?

Reese discovered how much fun a plain old t-shirt can be. She played peek-a-boo while I folded more laundry.

It has finally started to stay lighter later in the evenings, so Matt and I have been taking Reese out for short walks down the sidewalk. She still needs assistance, but she really moves. Tonight, Reese and I met one of our neighbors who have a 15 month old daughter. I have a feeling Reese and Chloe will become good friends. Reese also got her first boo-boo today while she walking outside. She tripped and skinned her knee. It's not bad at all, and I know it's only the beginning of many bumps, scrapes and owies.

Twilight Saga

Like many, I have become a huge fan of the Twilight Series by author Stephenie Meyer. It all started when my book club selected Twilight for our February meeting. We were being "trendy" so to speak. Boy are we hooked! We all love it and can't put it down. We are even a little obsessed and admitted that we are so into this series that we've dreamed about it. Seriously! I'm glad I'm not the only one. ;)

After reading the first book in the series of four (five if you count Midnight Sun, a version of Twilight from Edward's perspective which can be read online), I was totally hooked and couldn't wait to see the movie. I managed to sneak out of the house for a few hours one Sunday afternoon while Matt and Reese hung out and enjoyed the flick.

I am now on the third book Eclipse and am loving the escape, the romance and the suspense. I forgot how much I love to read! This has been just what I needed to get back into reading again. I'm even letting the DVR recordings pile up because I would rather read in my free time than watch T.V. If you haven't gotten sucked into the saga yet, I highly recommend it. The romantic story of Bella and Edward is worth all of the hype.

You can visit the author's official website at http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/index.html and if you haven't noticed Target has all of the books on sale including: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. Costco was selling the entire series for around $45 at one time.

Happy reading!

Two steps forward . . .

Reese had more "firsts" this week! She ate bar-b-que with Daddy and Grandma Ruth while I was out of town working in Lafayette and on Thursday evening while I was at book club she took two steps towards Matt all by herself! She did it again for me the next morning too.

Since I was out of town Monday night, I had Matt snap a few pictures of Reese for me so I could see what she was up to.

Mmm...Reese's first bite of brisket.

Not too shabby.

Don't care for the potato salad though.

That was delicious! I cleaned my tray.

After taking two or three steps for Matt and me on Thursday night and Friday morning we kept trying to get her to do it again to no avail. She will stand on her own and walk while holding one of our hands, but she hasn't taken off on her own again. No worries, I'm in no particular hurry. She'll be taking flight before we know it, and then we'll have our work cut out for us.

Walk to Mommy Reese. :)

We met Grandma Pat, Grandpa Joe, Uncle Chris and Uncle Scott for breakfast at Empire Cafe this morning. Reese was playing with Super Puppy before we left and of course I had to take a picture of her "outfit". Big surprise!

Reese showed off her walking skills after breakfast.

It was quite chilly (45 degrees) this morning. Burr!

This is a lot of what we did this weekend . . . walking with Reese.

Like I said, we aren't in any hurry per say, but we do like to help her practice.

Matt also taught Reese how to turn the light switch in the dining room and kitchen on and off. He is really good a thinking of new things to teach her.

On a final food note, Reese also ate Salmon for the first time on Saturday evening and she did NOT like it. Too rich, oily and fishy for her taste. I had to laugh when she grabbed a glob that I had pushed aside (knowing she did not care for the fish) and promptly spit it out. It's like she wanted to give it one more try and realized it was a bad idea. I wiped it entirely off her tray after that.

Grandpa Sam is Home!

I am happy to report that Sam came home from the hospital on Saturday and is doing well. He's got lots of rest in store for the next few weeks as well as follow up appointments with all of his doctors.

Here is what Reese has been up to this past week . . .

Multi-tasking last weekend: Playing with Grandma Fredda, Super Puppy and walking with her toy all at the same time.

Come on puppy, let's go!

Walking with one hand on her scooter and one hand dragging her puppy is pretty talented. She might as well be walking on her own. ;)

Look at me go!

Getting dressed up on Sunday with no where to go. Matt was out of town this weekend, and I spent a few hours at the hospital with Mom visiting Sam.

Isn't this the cutest little outfit? My child dresses better than I do, and I have started to envy her leggings. Do they make this in my size? (We are so into the layering thing lately!)

Reese envies my phone most of the time.

Mom, can you stop with the picture taking...I am trying to make a call.

Enjoying Mommy's lasagna for the first time!

Posing with Mommy. I wanted to get a shot of her new pj's. Target has the cutest pj's!

Enjoying her second Valentine's Day. We went to visit Mom and Sam as soon as they got home from the hospital.

Opening her valentine from Grandma Fredda and Grandpa II (as Sam calls himself).

Loving on Daddy and Super Puppy.

While Matt worked a few hours and prepped the Honda for my overnight trip to Lafayette tomorrow, Reese and I went to the park this afternoon. We both needed to get out of the house and away from the chores for a while. As soon as we arrived at the park she started giggling and kicking her feet; she was so excited to be there and she knew we were about to swing. It was neat to see her get excited in anticipation of getting to play at the park.

She was really into watching her shadow and the other kids swinging behind me.

I knew she needed a nap, but she refused to fall asleep in her crib. So about 30 minutes later it was time for her bottle. I gave it to her in her high chair, so I could start dinner and she passed out.

Showing off more new pj's and laughing with Daddy.

Now, give me my bottle please. :)

Other things Reese did this week:

- Playing with her table toy while placing one foot on her piano.

- Placing her foot in and out of the laundry basket.

- Putting her foot on the bottom shelf of the kitchen island while playing with water bottles on the top shelf (I am beginning to see a pattern here, and I think it is always her right foot that she is putting in/out and on/off of things).

- Walking on her knees . . . baby steps to the real thing.

- Getting super hyper after her bath. She wrestles with her towel and crawls and jumps around the bed while I try desperately to catch her long enough to slap on a diaper.

- Becoming more independent each day. She will not let us feed her with a spoon anymore. She wants to feed herself! So much for that 'Yo Baby' yogurt I bought.

- This one is from a few week's back, but sometimes I forget to post things (Mom syndrome): Reese loves to point to a feature on her face and have us tell her what she is pointing at. So now, I go through all of her features from her head to her chin and point them out on my face and then hers.

On the road to recovery!

I am happy to report that Sam is off the ventilator and has a normal white blood count. I went to visit him today at 5:00. Mom and I were able to hang out for over an hour even though he is still in ICU. After observing him tonight, he will be moved into a regular room tomorrow. Sam's sense of humor is intact and he is handing out orders as usual. ;)

We are so thankful he has turned the corner and is on the road to recovery! Thank you all for your prayers and positive thoughts. Keep them coming! We appreciate it more than you know.