Will he ever walk?

We have tries so many different tactics to get this kid to walk, its crazy. But I have just come to the conclusion that he is just too busy finding trouble to take the time to try walking. I will get him started with a step or two, but inevitably he sits down and crawls away. I think he just knows he can get there a lot faster crawling.

I dont know what Im trying to rush it for anyway. I know it will just open up a whole new level of trouble when he does start walking.

That and we will have to find shoes that can fit his fat feet. They are as wide as they are long. I have yet to find shoes that work for him.

You're my guitar hero...

So Nan has got us all addicted to Guitar Hero. All us sisters fight over who gets to come over on the weekend to play. I finally found a second guitar on sale at Best Buy and bought it so at least two of us could play at the same time. Now we are saving up so we can get the Aerosmith edition.

Im sure poor Brian just loves that he never has a weekend without one of us sisters around.

Got Boogers....

Aunt Nan lovingly chose the caption for this picture. "Mommy, let me get that booger for you...."

Actually Reed's new thing is to mimic hand gestures. ( I know what you are thinking and NO we haven't tried it...)

Gone Thriftin...

So this ones for all the thrift store junkies out there. Wednesday our local Goodwill stores had a special going on. If you brought in a donation, you would receive a paper grocery bag that you could fill with clothes for $5. Hell yes. (Now granted, I have never been one for thrifting until Reed came along. Ive never been successful at finding things for me there. But with Reed its a different story. Especially as babies... you can get good stuff cause babies never get to wear their clothes more than a handful of times. So my kid is all decked out in Ralph Lauren, Baby Gap, etc., and I pay very little for it. Shoot, I got his crib for $12.

I went to my Goodwill just before work and filled a bag. $5. I went after work to one nearby and filled a bag $5. Last I went to one by my sisters house. (Its in AJ so I was afraid it would be pretty sparse... and it was for baby clothes but I found me stuff!!!) $5.

In the end, my totals were... FOR REED:

3 jackets, 12 long sleeve button up shirts, 8 prs jammies, 8 pants, 18 short sleeve shirts, 13 long sleeve knit shirts, 7 prs shorts. FOR ME: 1 dress (with tags still on it), 3 shirts (1 with tags still on it) 2 skirts, 1 pr pants.

TOTAL: $15 dollars.

YEAH... I'm awesome. My favorite was when I ran into a lady from our Relief Society presidency. She came up to me and said, "Wow you have such good taste..." I see her there all the time.

Anyway, I was just proud of my catch. But boy was I tired afterward.

Just a quick explanation....

Just an fyi for any concerned reader.... Much of the below tirade was very tongue in cheek. I was typing under the influence of very little sleep and a little too much sass. No reason for concern. Im just hoping the moms out there are laughing along with me. (Except for my wonder woman mom friends... YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.... Judge kindly.)

Blue Hawaii

I am so in love with Reed in his Hawaiian print shirts. He has a ton of them. He has turned into my little Jimmy Buffett.... Minus the margaritas, and the surf boards (not too many of those in landlocked AZ.) But he loves dancing to Jimmy and I'm determined that soon he will be singing the fins song, complete with the actions.

In general he is my little music man. He dances anytime he hears a beat. He loves when sponge bob comes on and he can dance to the theme song. And will wave his hands to the beat in the car, and at church he will lead the music.

So I figure piano and guitar lessons will be in our future. Maybe we can teach him to play the ukelele. (just cause it goes so well with the shirt....

Fathers Day

Three generations of Thompsons on Father's Day.

Oh Barf....

So Reed woke up early this morning so I let him crawl around in bed with me (and have a bottle of juice) while I dozed. This is pretty much our morning ritual as he is always up by 4:30 or 5. He was doing his usual crawl around, then cuddle, pinch my face and pull my hair, crawl around, watch Playhouse Disney... etc. You get the idea. Anyway, as I am getting up to get ready for work I look over to watch him start throwing up all over my bed. And this isn't just baby spit up, that was part of everyday life for so long, I dont flinch over that. I dont go changing his clothes after every spill, or change my bed sheets everytime his bottle leaks.... But I digress. This was a full on BARF. As I didnt get to sleep til late last night so I was sleeping in a little longer than usual, this threw a time crunch into my schedule. So here I am pulling sheets off my bed, hoping Reed doesnt reprise his little performance art on my bare mattress and watching the clock so I get to work on time. My point... I dont know if I have one more than to say. AHHHHHHHH!!
So when my poor kid is barfing, obviously not feeling well... I know I had it two days ago, all I can do is pull sheets of my bed and get him cleaned off enough to get dressed for the day. No time for cuddles and "Oh I'm sorry you feel yucky, baby".
Lately, I have been seeing the effects of "just getting by" or the "path of least resisitance" with Reed. He is a poop. Spoiled and sassy. He usually sleeps with me cause its too hard of a fight to get him to go to sleep on his own in the crib. He usually falls asleep with a bottle in his mouth. A dentists nightmare... Anyway, there is a connection between these two ideas... Hopefully, I can make it make sense. It does in my mind.... But thats not saying much these days.
I guess what Im hoping for is that there are some "Single Mom Angels" to help counter the negative effects of my bad parenting so this kid has a chance of being as amazing as I know he is. Will he ever sleep through the night? Dunno. Wont let him cry himself to sleep to find out. Will he ever stop hitting and biting? (He thinks kisses consist of opening up his mouth putting on your face, arm or elsewhere and biting down.) Or pulling hair? Oh man the list goes on and on. And you know what triggered this train.... The damn pediatrician that said we needed to break him of bottles on his first birthday. COLD TURKEY. I couldnt even let the kid cry through the night for 3 days so he would learn to sleep through the night. Now Im supposed to have a throw the bottles away ceremony and never "find" them again.
Oh, I lost my point again. But anyway here it is. Where is the balance between good parenting and sanity meet? Will I ever sleep again? Will I ever have time to find my female figure again? (it wasnt so smashing before, but damn, I keep thinking my ass cant possibly get any bigger... and then damn it to hell if it does find a way....) And I wonder why I dont date....
But more importantly, how do keep perspective on whats really important and best of Reed, when I am doing it alone? My family helps, and James tries (if not as much as I would like). But in the end, even with a day that starts around 5am and ends about 11pm, nothing ever seems to get done.
So in the mean time, I dream. I dream of winning the lottery that I dont play. I dream of the rich, hansome or at least ok looking guy that wants to take care of me so I can be home and be the Mother of the Year (even if my ass is as mentioned above). I dream of writing the next big novel and making millions in royalties so I can be at home and be the Mother of the Year... Needless to say, I have a vivid imagination and very limited practical application skills. And to Oprah, I call Bullshit to "the Secret" and her "New World" and just say... Its a damn good day, when I can go to bed with the bottles cleaned, a baby bathed, and no barf on my sheets.... (Put that out the universe ya bitch. )

Summertime

Summertime came out of nowhere. We went from high 80s and low 90s to BOOM 110 degrees. IT WAS MISERABLE. Luckily two days later while the whole world was having earthquakes and tornados, we had a freak cold spell and got 2 days of rain and 60 degrees. So we had quite the week. Add to it, my parents air conditioner was out during the 105/11o days, so with the rain came a big sigh of relief.

Aunt Nan's solution was a play pool for Reed. She spoils him and he loves it. She is is absolute favorite. She even trumps me. I have learned not to take it personally. Jeesh, Im just his mom and all. But Nan is all play and fun, and I am just mostly tired all the time. So I suppose I dont mind.

Terrible two's

This is why I think my baby is advanced far beyond his 10 months. Do the Terrible Two's require them to actually be two? I think not. I read they the terrible two's are referring to their second year, so from 1 to 2. Either way, he is ahead of schedule. Even as I type this, I can hear him howling in the other room. What a poop.