Summer Fun

Just a couple of recent pictures of Reina having Summer Fun:

kicking back at the lake in her ONE piece bathing suit...(Daddy didn't like her bikini)

attempting and succeeding, sort of, in feeding herself bananas...the outfit, chair and child were later hosed off due to her efforts

hanging out with Grandpa, Reina loves his songs with no words!


practicing for the fall OSU football games...I think she's almost got her "H" in O-H-I-O down!

Growing Pains

Sorry you haven't heard from me for a while. Some minor excuses, not the least of which being the arrival and immediate need to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (don't worry, I wouldn't dream of spoiling it for you...but I would definitely like to talk about it so hurry up and finish the book!). Reina has been going through some growing pains over the past week. She has sprouted 2 nubs on her bottom jaw that we believe will eventually turn into teeth. They are sharp little suckers! Her enjoyment in chewing on everything in sight, except food on a spoon, has tripled. They're not full fledged teeth yet, just teeny little guys peeking out of her gums.

Reina has also had some very pleasant nose drooling over the weekend, either she's inherited some familial allergies already or she's picked up a bug from the child care center at the new gym we belong to now. Yeah, against my couch potato leanings, Bill has got us going to the gym several times a week. I do like the pilates classes and generally don't feel too bad about leaving Reina for a little bit. She seems pretty happy in the infant care room and they recognize her and call her by name now. No chance of her eating or sleeping while there, however, way too much fun to watch!

Some more changes; I am not including photos with this post because I'm typing from work. I am finally out of orientation and we have found someone to watch Reina at our house about 1 day a week. We actually lucked out....she's a trained nanny who has the time flexibility to work with our schedules (not easy), affordable, and the sister of a good friend! We are very lucky and so far so good, even despite Reina's recent tooth crabbiness they've gotten along well. It has been a difficult adjustment, at least for me, but if I have to be at work and away from my peanut, this is a great situation rather than some grubby daycare petri-dish or cranky old lady taking care of 7 other kids!

Bill continues to work long hours in the ICU but is usually home for dinner. I can't remember having so much food in the house for a long time, a lot is actually healthy, too! We had a fun weekend with his friends from work both at Reina's first church festival and trip to a lake house. So instead of writing about doing nothing, I've been too busy to write. I'll work on putting some new pictures up soon. In the meantime, help me mourn the end of the Harry Potter stories and find me something new to read!

p.s. somebody at work did one for everybody, try to make your own Simpson's character, funny! http://www.simpsonsmovie.com

We've Created a Monster; or Good Looks and Charm

Everywhere I go I get a lot more attention than I used to. I should say, Reina gets the attention and because I am her "handler" I get a courtesy smile and a "how old is she?" or "look at all that hair!" or "what a big smile!" comment before they go back to talking to her. Not that I mind Reina being such an irresistible force that strangers are compelled to talk to her (not biased or anything about her irresistibility), but I feel that all the attention may be having a negative effect.

My child has turned into a an attention hog. Recently, when I take out the camera, she automatically puts on her best smile and giggle until I put it away again, kind of like Miss Piggy, (did I say hog?). People often exclaim how sociable she is, despite starting the stranger anxiety phase of her life. She just loves being charming. It seems she lets her guard down only for me (and sometimes Bill). When Bill gets home from work, however, even if she was Crabby Patty a moment before with me, she beams at him. I know people like our parents will say "well, Annie, you were a bit of a cheeser when you were little," or "we thought Billy was going to be a politician, he was always talking to somebody," but honestly I'm not convinced our genetics is entirely at fault (perhaps Reina does display a little ADHD, that kid will not concentrate on bottles for anything). I think this is a nurture issue, if someone is told she's cute often enough, she believes it, embodies it, is one with her cuteness.

Wow, this is longer than I intended. Really it's kind of embarrassing writing and talking about how cute my kid is all the time. I'm sorry, it is kind of obnoxious. I'll try to cut back. But for all of our friends out there trying to decide when/whether to have kids and asking to watch Reina to see how it would go, don't. She's bad birth control. She'll inevitably turn on the charm for you and then wham, you'll be blogging about how cute your kid is. Don't get me wrong, feel free to hang out, offer to babysit even, just don't count on her to be a deterrent.

I'll call you when she's teething.

my big girl, in shoes and everything

honestly, she loves the camera, I'm not encouraging this grin

Are you serious? I just got out the camera and ta da! Miss Piggy's head shot for her adoring fans!


Yes, I'm cute, what of it? You still can't make me eat cereal.


No age is immune to her superpower! Even Brady forgot he hates tummy time while gazing at Reina!

Montage

******disclaimer, nude photos in this document******

Reina saw this picture of herself from July 4th and thought she didn't look so good...











So we put her in the tub...

And voila! Self esteem restored!

Odds and Ends

I'm getting harassed because I haven't posted for a few days. I just haven't had inspiration, writer's block you could say. Here are some randoms photos of the past week. Reina continues to smile, giggle and sit up on her own. She moderately enjoys carrots and tolerates oatmeal. She adores her Daddy and keeps trying to get the dogs to talk to her.

Our new nighttime routine....hooray for Fellowship!

Reina and Logan as Pisces or Yin Yang

Reina and Bill at her 2nd Red's game. We saw Barry Bonds strike out and the Reds won!

Reina, Uncle Matt and Aunt-to-be Jen...congratulations on your engagement Matt and Jen!