15 months (and a little update)

I know that I have been so bad about blogging, in fact I'd be surprised if anyone reads this blog anymore (besides my mom).  This has seriously been such a busy and fun filled summer. We kicked things off with a few trips to Tahoe, and progressed on to Vegas, Santa Cruz, Scottsdale, and even spent a fun filled semi-local weekend in Nevada City at my good friend Lindsey's wedding.  Finishing it all up with a few weekend trips to San Francisco and once again, Lake Tahoe....it has been a whirlwind.  Quite honestly this past weekend was the first weekend we were all home in over 6 weeks.  Life is just nuts in a very wonderful way!!  

In two weeks my sweet sister in law is due to wed her beau, Jon.  Family is flying in from Texas and Aunt Jana and Uncle Brock are even coming in for the weekend to celebrate with the rest of our families, so we are all very excited!!

We made our first of (hopefully) many trips to the pumpkin patch today and this little man enjoyed himself to no end.  He is now 15, almost 16 months and is growing at warp speed (he now weighs 25lbs and is 33" tall).  He is so much fun right now and is turning into quite a little "boy".  He loves playing with his football, baseball bat, and thinks that dirt is so much fun, in fact any mess is really quite amazing to him right now.   He is talking a ton saying things like; mama, dada, please, thank you, dog, ball, papa, gaga, gran, ollie, purple, no-no, bye-bye, hi, shoes, nose and a handful of other things, along with identifying lots of animals.  Not all of his words are easy to understand, however Elmo seems to be the one exception. Sesame Street has now taken the place of Barney in the hierarchy of television shows.  He literally walks around our house saying Elmo and pointing to his Elmo toys, books or the tv.  Everyday is something new and for the most part it is still full of smiles and silly behavior (however we have definitely experienced our share of tantrums).  Life is good, happy and busy - so I guess that means that things are moving along for us in the right direction. :)  I do want to try and update this blog more often and I'm hoping that since things appear to be calming down for us that means that I will stick to my promise...so stay tuned!  

A Sesame Street Birthday - 1 Year

Before I knew it we were at the 1 year mark and it was time to give our little monkey a really fun birthday party to celebrate!

Things I want to remember about Reed at a year:

He LOVES Barney - still...

He was still cruising, not walking.  This had been going on for what seemed like forever (since 8 months).  It wasn't until about 2 weeks after his first birthday that he started to take his first independent steps.

He has mastered turning on and off the iphone, giving us the most surprised expression each time he does it.

He loves to pretend to give us food and then quickly pull his hand back and put it in his own mouth.

He LOVES his hat collection; which also happened to be one of his first words, next to dada, mama, and no-no (which he says to the dogs all the time).

He has seven teeth; four on the top and three on the bottom.

11 Months

Well this little monkey is going to be a year old exactly one month from today.  It's hard to believe that he is that close to this milestone birthday.  I have been feeling a little sentimental about this (and many other things) lately.  It may be the fact that I feel like I blinked and he is almost a year, or it may also be the fact that May & June are big months for our family.  For one, my baby sister who I remember coming home from the hospital on her birthday nearly 22 years ago, is now about ready to graduate from college and is headed to graduate school at ASU.  My dad is turning 65 on Thursday, which is REALLY hard for me to believe, and Paige hits the big 3-0, exactly one month from today.  A lot of celebrating is in order, but I will say that along with that, there is definitely a part of me that is feeling very nostalgic about it all.

As for Reed, 10/11 months is proving to be one of my favorites so far (although I think I say that about every stage).  Reed is like a little sponge right now, learning all sorts of new things, and really interacting with everyone and everything around him.

Here are some of his favorite things at 11 Months Old:
Favorite Word "Hi"
Favorite thing to do Play with his cousin Ollie  
Favorite time of day Bathtime
Favorite TV Show Barney
Favorite Toy Books
Favorite Food Chicken
Other things he is doing include; clapping & pointing (he loves to point and say "ohh").  He loves the water, loves to give "besos", open drawers and pull everything out.  He climbs the stairs, sits, stands, cruises & crawls.  And sleeps about 12 hours a night.  

Beach Part II

 Gosh, I love my family, and boy do we have fun together.

We had the best vacay, where do I even start? Walks on the beach, putzing around town, eating our hearts out, relaxing (that is relative statement with a 9 month old), 3 days of golf for the boys....it was hard to come home.  Carmel is truly heaven on earth for me, there is nowhere else I'd rather be then with my nearest and dearest's, but I must say, Carmel is a nice place to be with them all surrounding me. :)

And, how about Reed...This little monkey just cut his seventh tooth, he is cruising all over the place, jibber-jabbering non stop and making some of the funniest expressions these days. Really, he is pretty darn entertaining with that little personality of his. He loves the book "Where is Baby's Belly Button" - every time he sees a baby he gives them a beso, it is to die for. Oh boy am I obsessed with my boys, they truly are the apple of my eye.

First Trip to the Beach at 9 Months...

Here are a few pics from our first trip the the beach.  We are missing Jeremy, but loving every second of our day at the beach.  It's cold and rainy, but that didn't stop us from smelling the ocean air.  The house in the background is where we are staying.  This will probably be the first and last time that the Jelavich's get a house in Carmel that has ocean views like this one!  

The Many Faces of Reed

Look at those two little teeth.  His top ones are coming in "Okie" style, I can't wait until I can capture a picture of them!

Bad Blogger

I am a horrible blogger these days.  I have no excuse really, just lazy I guess.  I feel bad that I didn't post any pictures of Reed at 7 months, so I decided to go back a bit and post this pic of him and Liv.  Lindsey and I are trying to figure out how to get these two to fall in love, don't they look so cute together?  They already look like a couple....

At 8 months this little man is providing us with quite a lot of entertainment.  He is still such a happy baby, but getting busier by the moment.  He started crawling right after the new year, which has meant that lots of baby proofing has been going on around here.  He loves to clap, squeal, play, crawl, stand, mimic us, and get into things he shouldn't be.  

He is eating a lot of different foods - man is he an eater.  I guess I won't complain, but my wallet might as he continues to grow! :)

And he is certainly developing some independence, he's getting really good at letting us all know when he doesn't like something, wants to be put down or is simply mad because we won't let him play with a certain something (namely, our phones).

He loves it when we read him books and loves to play.  Anything with a button really intrigues him, such as our iphones, the computer, remotes or even just the DVD player.  I try and give him his play cell phone, but believe me he knows the difference and still reaches for mine.

He continues to be a ray of light in our lives, we are loving all of these changes and I am still wishing that time would slow down just a bit.  Each new phase brings on something new and fun for Jer and I to glow over and I know I speak for the both of us when I say that this little man is truly one of the best gifts we could have ever received.

Here he is this morning right after he woke up: