Sum Up

I am feeling a little neglectful about my posting recently and was going to take the opportunity of my 3 days in a row at "work" to catch you up on our lives, but now that I sit down to write, I realize that although time has passed and we've done stuff, had visitors, etc, not really much is going on.





Finally.



So here is my sum up of the past 2-ish weeks. Not a lot to report. So nice to be bland homebodies for a change!

Bill wrapped up another month of work in the ICU and is glad to have some respite from the pages and phone calls late at night. I, too am glad, we see more of him of the off months. To celebrate, I am spending his weekend off at work while he and Reina are hanging out with Ryan and Ava (as they stop off en route to moving to Texas). It has been fun to have a playmate for Reina this week, Ryan has brought Ava over a few times and despite some territorial issues over toys, they're getting along as well as 2 kids under 2 years old can. Hopefully, they can be buddies as they grow up, too, since they are so close in age (Ava is about 4 months older).

Earlier in the week, we finally got to the landscaping we've been putting off since before Reina was born. Spurred on by the fear of a flooded basement again, (I tried to insert my post on that here...if interested March 23rd "Rain Rain GO AWAY!"), we built up our side yard so the ground actually now slopes away from the house. Duh. We also mulched everything and planted a lovely and coordinated landscape design provided for us by a friend of my parents (free of charge!) Of course we bought the plants and did all the work, but hey, it looks good. Hopefully my brown thumb won't kill everything off before they have time to fill in!

We also installed a ceiling fan in Reina's room and our marriage is still intact.

We had our first family day at the pool yesterday and enjoyed warm but not too hot weather. Surprisingly, the glare from our untanned bodies wasn't too blinding. Reina loved the pool, splashing and putting her face in and giggling. She couldn't quite figure out how to walk in to the zero depth kiddie side, however. She kept coming in at full speed and then wiping out once she entered the water. Never once thought to slow down. I'm sure I'll get grief about going to the gym from Bill, now that the pool is open it mightn't be that bad.

What else...hmmm...Reina's had 2 split lips, one big head bonk and a chipped tooth. Really small chip. On a baby tooth. Her smile still bright as ever. She's fine, just likes to climb, a lot. And is super stealthy! I found her on top of the kitchen table. Which brings me to my next subject, her 2 trips to the corner.

This is a parenting technique I am trying, modeling after Ryan and Kristin whose kids regularly put their noses in the corner. While initially it seemed harsh for an 18 month old, it is far better than solitary confinement or spanking. Plus, Lizzy and Ava are pretty well behaved kiddos to boot. When Reina was in the corner (for all of 20 seconds) she knew she was in trouble. And she was mad at me. If it keeps her from trying to either break herself or try to bite me when I keep her from breaking herself, fine with me. I'd rather deal with bottom lip than stitches!

We've since made up and she still says Mama lots. She's obsessed with airplanes, pointing, giving people their shoes and likes the taste of dirt. She loves her doggies and her dolls and strawberries. She sings and does the finger thing for "Itsy Bitsty Spider". It looks like she may be right handed (sorry Mom and Dad). She smiles constantly. I love her.

Pictures to come soon!

So Big

As Reina grows more and more into a toddler, she is discovering new talents every day. It is amazing to see how she absorbs even the most subtle or simple things, like watching me sweep (once in a blue moon, folks) or pointing to airplanes in the sky, even when she only hears and doesn't see them.

Bill is delighting in her being on the cusp of parrothood, i.e. repeating everything you say without knowledge or understanding of what it is. Bill's favorites are: beer, baseball, and some less than savories I will not repeat here. I'm sure this is going to bite us in the butt, or, more likely me. Since Bill is doing the speech training I'll be the one embarrassed in the grocery store when Reina points out some social unmentionable about the fat lady or the ugly kid.

She does have some good things to say as well, saying hello to the dogs and cats every time they cross her path. Her signing has increased as well, nearly doing all the signs I know (the 20 or so on her DVD). Physically, she couldn't be more pleased with herself, able to climb chairs without help, even while holding objects. She can climb into the tub and turn on the water, while fully dressed. This is my favorite.

Sleeping is back on track it seems despite some disruptions with travel this year. Eating has improved as well, she's almost completely on "people food" including a full bowl of Cheerios each morning and fresh fruit, yes FRUIT!

We still have some communication difficulties, mostly when she isn't getting her way. I'm sure this is a sign of things to come and am holding my breath for the big tantrums in our future as well as trying to understand her. For now tantrums consist of rubber legs, head thrown back and wailing. I'm trying to figure out if she's ready for time-outs yet, especially since our little "taste" of my arm at Aunt Lauren's and Uncle Andrew's when she wasn't getting her way...maybe a trip to the corner?

Overall, Reina's little smiling face is the sunshine of my day. We giggle and sing and read books and point, point, point.

p.s. she finally says Mama, and it is music to my ears!

Reina loves her binky-blanket and baby doll "Fiona"

gloating over summiting the leather chair with sippy cup in hand...note the strawberry stains on shirt

helping Mama clean up dirty socks

waiting for a picky-up after nap time

grocery shopping with Daddy, pointer finger locked and loaded

(no, the go-try has not returned, this picture is a few weeks old)

I may be so big, but I'm still very, very little

Captain Doctor Uncle Rhino

We got home last night from a weekend in our Nation's Capital celebrating the medical school graduation of Bill's brother, Ryan. It was nice to see aunts, uncles and especially cousins again and we were treated to some pomp and circumstance that can only be attributed to our fine military ceremonies. Bill was able to help promote his brother to the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army at a pinning ceremony, followed by parties into the night. The next day was the official graduation with medical big wigs in attendance and some ultra-patriotic music supplied by the Marine Corps band. Reina had little patience for the length of time we spent in our seats but with the help of Katie, Austin, Gina-mom and Michael-dad, not to mention a flying panda puppet, we were able to make it to the end and spend part of a beautiful day walking around Washington, D.C.

This was the longest car trip we have taken with Reina for a while and we were nervous about how she'd do since she's past the baby phase of sleeping anywhere. The trip out was a little rough but once we discovered "The Queen" (Reina's travel persona) would watch Finding Nemo, we were golden. Lack of napping and shorter nights this weekend led to worries that Reina would have a psychotic break on the 8 hour drive home, however, they worked to our advantage since she slept most of the way. Plus, she's no worse for wear today and back on track.

Here's a few shots of the trip. Sorry, I realized when I got home I had neglected to get any pictures of new baby Casey (who I got to cuddle during the pinning) nor any of Ava and few of anybody else. Anyway, better luck next time and congratulations to Ryan as he joins the many MD's in the family!

Littlest Marine Elizabeth

Andrew and Kristin pinning on Ryan's Captain's flair

Gina and Bill adding the medical pins

Billy, Ryan and Andrew

Parking in front of G-Dub's place, on the way to Constitution Hall for the graduation

Milo and Reina in front of the White House and Washington Monument. Look, a plane!

brothers and babies on Ryan's front porch

zonked

If You Give A Girl A Cookie...

She'll want a glass of milk.

And to pull your cookie off the table when you're not looking.

Old Ball Game

Despite Bill's annual optimism, his beloved Reds are lagging behind early in the season...This doesn't prevent us from attending games, however.

I can't believe I'm posting about baseball.

decked out in red, tummies full of stadium food
"why can't I play on the grass?"

potential Christmas card photo? Except we'd immortalize the go-try

getting sleepy

No fireworks at a losing game, maybe she'll actually fall asleep here!

Nope! A fan 'till the bitter end.

In other news...Bill's cousin/God-Daughter Lily made her First Communion. Congrats!

Ego

Just in case anyone was wondering, the rating system at the bottom of each post was NOT placed there by me. Blogger.com in their infinite wisdom seems to have deemed it necessary to ask you, the reader's, opinion. Feel free to ignore it. Meanwhile I'll try to figure out how to make my posts look less like a survey! As if I'd get anything but 5 stars...

Incidently, my last post about Bill's marathon just happened to be my 100th entry! Who'd have thought I had that much to talk about and more besides?

When Pigs Fly

Today Bill ran his 4th Marathon, The Cincinnati Flying Pig. He not only finished but nearly matched his personal best time of 4 hours and 8 minutes with an official time of 4:10:06 today!

He was really nervous before this one, hadn't been able to train as much as he would have liked due to busy work schedules, travel, running buddy injuries and a more lackadaisical attitude toward training because of all the aforementioned reasons. He wasn't sure he'd finish, thought he'd definitely be slower, but I guess low expectations sometimes pay off!

Reina and I were able to watch the race from several locations and were lucky enough to have my mom, Julie and brother, Matt join us as a cheering section. We met up with Bill's mom, Gina and step-dad, Michael at the finish. Weather was sunny but cool, perfect for running (so I hear) and it was a great and exhausting day. We are so proud of our Billy!

0750: Me, Reina and Matt in a primo parking space, ready to root.

0825: Bill smiling and happy at mile 10.8

0912: Mile 16 and still smiling

0914: Still about mile 16, still smiling...is he running so fast because all those girls are chasing him? Or is that why he's smiling?!

1011: Mile 22, not smiling but not frowning. Said "I think I'm going to die" with a smirk. Maybe that's when his toenail started to fall off.

1105: Runners corral after the finish. Can you spot Bill? No? We couldn't either.

We did find Mike and Gina though! We all saw him finish together.

Hey, there he is, smiling again! Lucky to run into him. Reina liked his shiny blanket and pink medal.

1205: passed out on the walk back to the car.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that it was not Evil Bill running but in fact it was his semi-annual go-try at facial hair. He's convinced he's finally achieved a full goatee. Some have dubbed it the go-shouldn't have. He was saving it for his mother to see in person but she had to leave before we found him at the finish. I plan to arrange for them to meet up soon so those crazy whiskers can go back into hibernation. Otherwise, still proud of his other accomplishment today. He frequently says he wants me to run one with him someday. I'll likely refer to the title of this post.