Busy Boy

Our baby Reid just doesn't seem like that much of a baby these days. He's two years and three months and is really starting to grow into such a wonderful little boy. The terrible twos seem to be something of the past...for the most part, and diapers are long gone. All of this makes me kind of sad, except that I'm having so much fun watching him transform from a toddler to a preschooler. He's such a BUSY BOY these days! It's a miracle if I can get him to stop and say cheese for the camera because he's just always too busy - wait, he's pretty much always been a little busy body - he's just a lot more mobile than he once was! He can steer his gator now - very well as a matter of fact! He knows when to put it from high to low gear, backs up like a pro, and likes to jump out while he's driving full speed! The other day we were at the lake and he had left his gator up by Grandma Lucy & Papa Glenn's house. He wanted to go get it so I told him I'd walk up the hill with him to their house and we'd drive it back down. He looked at me and said, "No mommy, I get it myself." So I let him. I watched him walk up the hill to their house and about a minute later here he came - full speed ahead - in his bright green gator. 

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There are times as a parent when you feel proud and you feel like you're doing a pretty good job. Every time Reid says, "thank you so much mommy," or "yes please nana," I feel like this. He almost always says please and thank you and that makes me very proud. I always wanted my children to have good manners and I'm so pleased that Reid uses "please" and "thank you" so often. And man, is his vocabulary ever growing! He talks and talks and talks...and I love it! Now he can tell me when his TV in the car isn't on (one time right after he turned one, just the volume was on and he was trying to tell me but I didn't understand what he was trying to say - poor thing!), and when he needs to go to the bathroom, and when he's hungry, and what he wants to eat, and when he wants to lay down. He told me the other day, when I put on his hat, that I looked pretty and I didn't even know that he understood the concept of "pretty" yet. He still has a some problems pronouncing a few things. For example, he says  "done" for phone (not done rhyming with bun, but done rhyming with phone), "mon" for more (rhymes with on), and when he says "milk" it sounds like "mulk". And for some reason tonight he was calling chicken nuggets - "chicken boys!" He even tells stories now - usually about how he got his boo boos - a horse bit him, or a snake, or a big bug. He loves for me, Jeb, or my dad to make up stories to tell him at bedtime - usually about horses, going swimming, playing baseball or basketball, riding the gator/ranger, or riding the waverunner. His current favorite books are the Tickle Monster, Hop on Pop, and the Big Book of Animals (he likes to point to each animal and ask "will that bite me?"). Favorite movies are still Barney, Ice Age - The Meltdown, Wee Sing Train, and A Bug's Life. 

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I'm not just saying this because he's my child, but Reid is REALLY good at sports - especially baseball and basketball. He always has some type of ball in his hands. Playing baseball is probably the one thing that Reid has spent the most time playing this summer.  He doesn't like hitting off of a tee...he wants you to throw him the ball so he can hit it - and he does, most of the time. 

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He's such a good big brother and he just "wuvs" his sissy. He likes to hold her and kiss her...and occasionally he tries to play catch with her, not understanding that she can't quite catch the ball yet. She's had a few Hot Wheels cars thrown towards her head, as well as some blocks and some balls. Fortunately we haven't had any serious injuries! Last week he got out of the bath tub and went over to LilliAnn, who was sitting quietly in her swing. He started rubbing on her head and said to me, "I wuv her mommy." Then he stood up on his tip toes and said, "I pee pee on her mommy!" Luckily, I stopped him just in time! And yesterday I was getting ready and Reid was laying next to LilliAnn on the bed. He kept saying to her, "scoot over sissy baby! scoot over sis!" Then he yelled at me and said, "Mommy, she's touching my butt!"

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I will miss him saying "hold you mommy," when he finally figures out that it's more correct to say, "hold me mommy." And I'll miss singing Barney's "I love you," "Take me out to the Ballgame," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," "Old Gray Mare," and "Boom Boom Ain't it Great to be Crazy," at night when we get ready for bed. So for now I'll try and savor every moment...every "mommy want a bite?" every "wum-meeee! (yummy), I wike it mommy!" every "lay down with me mommy," and every "I wuv you mommy.