Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone! I am very excited about this Christmas. Last Christmas, I was just a baby and I was too small to open my own presents and play with wrapping paper. But this Christmas I'm a big girl and can open them by myself.

A few weeks ago my parents put up a pine tree in our living room that was covered with lights and decorations, so I knew that Christmas wasn't far away. Then, a few days before Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa showed up all the way from Montana to spend Christmas with us in Boise! On Christmas Eve, we went to Church. My favorite part was the music and singing. I liked the drums and guitar and even danced on Dad's chair part of the time.

Christmas morning was really fun. When I came out into the living room there was a big pile of gifts under our tree and I couldn't wait for anyone else to wake up to start opening them....

...but, I thought that maybe I could catch up on the world news in the newspaper until everyone else was awake (even though I slept in until 7:45!).
Then it was time to start ripping open the presents!!!
One of the best parts of the gifts is ripping the wrapping paper. Once that's over, I'm on to the next gift.

Whew, opening gifts took a lot out of me! I needed a snuggle break in the sun with Grandma.
I received a lot of great books for Christmas. Here I am reading them to Grandma and Grandpa.
That afternoon, we decided to go for a walk and play in the snow.
I also checked for mail in the mailbox.On Sunday, Mom and Dad took advantage of the excellent babysitters (Grandma and Grandpa) and braved the 17 degree temperatures to fit in a mountain bike ride.
Brrrrr!!!!Thank you Santa and thank you everyone for making this such a wonderful second Christmas!

Stir Crazy

Over the past month I've been drinking cow's milk. It took a couple weeks for me to get used to the taste, but now I chug-a-lug and can go through 1/2 gal per week. Fortunately I still get the good stuff when I wake up and before I go to bed. After breakfast I like to run around the house in my diaper and prolong the getting dressed period, my parents love that. It's been cold and wet lately so we're all a little stir crazy in the house. We've been trying to be creative to pass the time. We spend lots of time playing with boxes. Putting things in the box, taking things out, putting things in, taking out, repeat. We also cruise in the box, however, Mom and Dad need to start training because they get worn out playing "cruise" really fast.

My Guys also like to cruise.

One afternoon Mom and I did some avalanche training. She would bury herself under the pillow pile and I would save her by digging her out. The next morning when I was playing in the pillow pile I decided to make my jammies more fashionable. The one shoulder look is quite fetching, don't you think?
I really like to rearrange Mom and Dad's closet. I found these cool riding jersey's, but they are still a bit on the long side.I have also become a very good climber which keeps my parents on their toes! Here's my rock climber move.

Me and My Guys

I have never really been attached to anything such as a blanket or toy, and really, have never shown much interest in dolls in general. However, my Mom thought it would be nice if I had some sort of comfort friend. She thought, "maybe we just don't have the right toys." So a few weeks ago Mom and I went to the toy store together. She pulled out several toys, many of which I showed absolutely no interest, until we came to a set of very cute animals. There was a giraffe, a cow, and a lion. All with cute faces and skinny necks. I liked them all and we toured the store with all three in hand. I looked VERY cute in my stroller clutching the three animals! When it was time to get to the register Mom asked which ONE I wanted to keep and I absolutely couldn't decide. Perhaps it was just that I needed one in each hand.... Since she's a sucker, and she loves me, we came home with TWO animals, the cow and the giraffe. We got home and I went upstairs to show Dad my Guys. Within a day Mom and Dad would ask, "where are your Guys?" and I would go get them. They are a team and both Cow Guy and Giraffe Guy go together. We've become great friends and I now sleep with them and they are the first thing I need after my morning diaper change, or sometimes I can't wait and my parents carefully let me hold them during my diaper change. I love my Guys!

P.S. Look closely and you'll see my two new teeth.

Playing, It's My Job

I've been so busy playing that I haven't been updating my blog. Here I am playing in the fall leaves before they got picked up for the winter. Mom would kick the leaves into a pile and I thought it was sooo funny! Unfortunately no video...
I spend lots of time playing on the stairs. I can even go down the stairs now.
I play at the park every day, even when it is cold outside. My new jacket keeps me toasty and warm.
Sometimes I play at the dinner table. Here I am cleaning the food out of my bib (thanks for the cool bib, Great Gram) and slurping the spaghetti.
And now that it is getting chilly outside we've been pulling out the big mittens at hats. I am Reese "The Lobster" Kindig!

12-Month Milestones

Height: 29.75" (65% percentile)
Weight: 20 pounds 2 ounces (30% percentile)
Head: 47.5 cm (97% percentile)
Teeth: 2 bottom teeth, 2 top teeth are starting to poke through

What She Eats:

• Breakfast: 1/2 cup yogurt, with 1/2 cup of O's cereal & baby oatmeal mixed in.
• Lunch: 1 jar of baby food with 1/2 slice of whole wheat bread pieces & 1 small sweet potato cut into small pieces. 1 mango cut into pieces for dessert.
• Afternoon Snack: Slice of cheese cut into pieces. Started adding whole milk the week after her 1st b-day.
• Dinner: Eats what parents are eating, but cut into smaller pieces. Grilled tofu steak with rice pilaf; eggplant parmigiana with spaghetti; pizza; etc. 1/2 banana for dessert
• Dislikes green beans and cottage cheese.
  

Sleep: 30 minute nap at 10am, 1 hour nap at 1pm (sometimes 1.5 hr at most). Changed to one nap per day at 12.5 months, so far 1-2 hrs but inconsistent. Bath at 6:30 pm and bed at 7 pm. Wakes up at 7 am.

Walking: Walks holding parents fingers, and can stand for a second without holding on. Good balance, but hasn't let go of our fingers to walk on her own yet. Cruises all furniture and pulls up very well (and eases down).

Personality: Reese is a sensitive little girl who is very attached to both her Mom and Dad. She smiles, laughs, and eagerly crawls to both of us. She is shy towards other adults and will bow her head and look up at new people as if she's hiding from them, which is also followed by a bashful grin. She is very interested in other children and likes to watch other kids play.

Miscellaneous things that she does:

• Says "Ma-ma" regularly, and starting to say "Da-da". Will sometimes say, "woof" when you show her a picture of a dog.
• Points at everything. If asked, she'll point to Ma-ma, Da-da, doggie, TV, and many other common things around the house.
• Reese has a very healthy appetite with quantity and spice, but when she's full she's full, and she quickly starts throwing the rest of the food on the floor.
  
• Claps to music
• Can climb all 14 stairs in around 30-40 seconds. Just learned how to go down the stairs backwards by herself (first tried in Hawaii the week before her first b-day; nearly mastered at 12.5 months).
• Tall, so she wears many 18 month clothes which are just a little big on her.
• Likes to "help" with laundry. Takes clothes out of washer and puts them into the dryer.
• Likes to play with the spices in the spice drawer, Tupperware, and "her" cabinet (with her cups, plates, and nalgene bottles).
• Loves anything outside, but especially the local park. Climbs the dinosaur steps, crawls through the plastic pipes, plays in the wood chips, swings, watches all of the kids, watches the dogs fetch balls, and loved playing with the leaves in the Fall. Tries to eat leaves or wood chips at the park.
• Loves bath time and splashes by repeatedly pounding both hands down into the water getting her face and her parents very wet.
  

Birthday Girl

I'm one!
This weekend we had my first birthday party while Grandma Loretta and Grandpa Roy were in town. We had (low sugar) cake with cream cheese frosting. I was very dainty while eating my first cake and hardly got any on my face.
I received many wonderful gifts from my family. I got my first cell phone.....
....a really cool toy for practicing my motor skills.....
.....several books including my favorites "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb", and many pretty outfits! Everyone was so generous. Here I am reading the card before I open gifts. I also received many fun cd's from my family in Austin. Tonight we listened to Raffi and I had so much fun clapping to the music with Mom and Dad.

Family Photo Shoot

The day after my birthday we had a family photo shoot by the Boise River. It was a beautiful Fall day in Boise. Thanks to Sarah Jo for helping us with our family shots.

Happy 1st Birthday

Happy Birthday (& Happy Halloween) Miss Reese! You've brought so much love to our hearts and so much joy to our lives. We love you so much. Love, Mom and Dad

Back from Hawaii

Well I just returned from vacation in Hawaii! I needed a break from my normal Boise routine, so I took my parents to Kailua Beach on the island of Oahu. We woke up very early last Saturday and took a long plane ride across the Pacific ocean. I was very good on the plane there and I didn't even cry but I was excited and didn't want to sit still or take many naps. I liked it best when we took walks up and down the aisles on the plane.

My Mom rented a place that was just 100 yards from the beach! We arrived around 1pm and we headed straight down to the beach to stretch our legs. Kailua Beach is my favorite beach. It's a private beach that is 2.5 miles long and has big enough waves to be fun, but not so big that they are too scary.
After the first day, Dad and I were jet lagged and hot so we took a nap after our beach adventure.
Our cabana pool.

Dad made sand castles every time we went to the beach and I had fun pushing them over and using my measuring cups to scoop sand into my yogurt container.One afternoon we came down to our beach and there was a black lab swimming through the water pulling a pug (named Peanut) and a beagle on a body board! The beagle and the pug would balance on the board and the lab was chasing a frisbee through the waves while pulling his friends.
We also met Boomer who came to visit me every morning along the beach. He would sit and let me pet him.One day we went to Sandy Beach. Sandy Beach is where the surfers go this time of year because the waves are over 15 feet high! We dipped our feet in the water but the signs on the beach said "No Swimming", so we decided to just build castles on the beach instead.
Later in the week we actually went sight seeing instead of going to the beach. The Byodo-In Temple is a replica of a temple in Japan. I saw a gigantic statue of Buddha and rang a large bell before entering the temple.
After visiting the temple we continued up the east coast of Oahu to Kahana Bay Beach. The waves were very gentle, so I explored on my hands and feet. I'm calling this Reese's beach.
I LOVED taking outdoor showers at our Cabana after our beach adventures. I am adding it to Daddy's to-do list for our Boise home.
On our last day, we checked out of our cabana and went up to the North Shore to watch the sunset before our 10pm red-eye flight back home.
I didn't want to leave so I sat in the suitcase at the airport and unpacked our carry-on bag.
Until next time!