Magic at the Mall

Fun cold weather, FREE, activity for parents and tots! Go down to your local shopping mall. You never know what excitment there is until you see it through the eyes of a toddler. Reese enjoys riding the escalator, playing hide-and-seek in the clothing racks and of course dancing on the "magic" floor at the entrance.

In Search of a Smile

For Christmas I am giving all my blog fans a special treat; 10 new pictures of Reese. We have so many this month because it took us several attempts at photo sessions before we could get something suitable to use on our Christmas card. In person Reese is a smiley, happy baby, but in front of the camera she's so serious and getting her to crack a smile is like pulling teeth. However, I do think you'll enjoy some of the pictures below.

First we tried to stage a classy picture in the red leather arm chair. (No smiles!)

Then we thought, maybe if she had a little help from her friends...no dice. This one would have been good (red and green...and a great smile!), but alas, yogurt face.
This one of her enjoying the first snowfall of the season is good, but Grandma bundled her up so well that you can barely see her face!
Here she is playing a "game" she made up where she demands to be surrounded by all her stuffed toys and then pretends to be sleeping. I thought it might make a cute card but I think she actually was tired and thus...no smile.
I can't help but smile whenever I see Reese in her winter hat, but she was not amused.
*SIGH* Eventually I just had to make the best with what I had and piece together a decent card. I know I don't have a job right now but geez, Mama's got stuff to do!

And then...the smile's flowed:

Smiles for the puzzle!

Smiles for the Cinnamon Bear!

Smiles while playing dress up in Grandma's earrings!

So here's what I've learned: Smiles do not always come easily, so appreciate each and every one of them!

Here's wishing you and yours many smiles during this holiday season and in the new year!

Child's Play

Life at 18 months is all about having fun. Play starts before breakfast and carries on until bedtime with a brief interruption for meals and an afternoon nap. (Thankfully Reese still takes a 1 and 1/2 to, sometimes 3 hour hour nap each day).

Here she is playing in the laundry basket while I make her breakfast.

Now that our first Chicago winter is upon us, we do most of our playing indoors and have been attending Tot Lot at the local park district field house. My mother used to take me to Tot Lot when my brother and I were young so it has been a saving grace for parents and tots for over 3o years. Basically they open up the gym for 2 hours each weekday and set out some mats and let the kids run around with balls, hula hoops, Little Tikes cars, tricycles, scooters, basically all the pulling, pushing, walker toys you can imagine.

Reese is not yet interested in interacting with the other kids but it has been good for her to be around them. She is learning a lot about sharing and taking turns.

At home she loves singing and dancing to nursery rhymes, has been getting into coloring and is showing a renewed interest in her toys. Here she is giving her farm animals a bath...

...something we had to do last week when someone tried to feed the cow and the sheep tuna fish, but she had so much fun, we did it again today.

So, that's our main objective as parents right now, provide Reese with as many opportunities to be creative, learn stuff and experience new things in a FUN way. It can be challenging but fortunately there are a lot of resources out there to help us out.

Even getting your 1st hair cut can be fun if you find the right place!

Halloween 2011

We had so much fun this Halloween. It's hard to say if Reese understood what was going on but she definitely enjoyed herself. Grandma and Grandpa hang up lots of decorations and amid the skeletons and pumpkins there were lots of black cats so Reese toddled around the house pointing and "meow-ing". A highlight of this Halloween season was getting to help Grandpa carve the pumpkin. Reese loved scooping out the "guts" and kept shouting "more, more!"
We have had Reese's costume for weeks. Grandma spotted it in a store in late August and we have been anxiously waiting the day when she could wear it . On Saturday morning when I was dressing her, she pointed at it and mooed so, we had a cow walking around the house for the entire holiday weekend.

When we finally went trick-or-treating, it took her a minute to catch on. She would ring the doorbell and then walk away before she could get her candy! By the 5th or 6th house she started to get the hang of it and got really giddy when people gave her handfuls of treats. It will probably be at least another year before she actually finds out what candy is so, in the meantime, Mike and I would like to thank all the Rogers Park neighbors for the delicious treats!

Happy Halloween!

"Fall"ing for Reese

There is no doubt about it, it's Fall in Chicago. After a rainy September, we are enjoyng some warm weather but the changing leaves and the early sunsets are an indication that summer is gone.

We've still been getting out and about with Reese. We just have to bundle her up for the weather. Here she is sporting some cute Fall fashion.

Reese continues to amaze us. She is 17 months and can do so much. Walking turned into running, which has turned into climbing. When we go to the park she ascends the stairs or ladders without hesitation and it is a real exercise in restraint for Mom and Dad not to grab her and bring her back down on solid ground.

She is becoming more coordinated in other ways too. She can twirl around, stomp her feet and even kick a soccer ball. I might have to become a soccer mom sooner than anticipated.

The other really exciting development is Reese's vocabulary and comprehension. She can say about a dozen words. Her favorites: ball, bird, bear and baby. (What is it with the "B" words?)

She can also make lots of animal sounds as you can see in this video:



We are constantly amazed by how much she seems to understand. She can correctly identify her body parts and a number of items in her picture books and if you ask her to give something to Grandma or throw something in the garbage, she will, (if she's so inclined).

The incredible thing is, the more she is capable of, the less sleep she needs. She only takes one nap a day now...whereas some days I still feel like I need two.

Ahhh...Summer!

So the silver lining to being unemployed is that we got to have a summer vacation for the first time in years. We're definitely making the most of it. True we've had some hot-as-hell days and we've had some thunder-stormy days but for most of our time here the weather has actually been great.

Can you believe we've been here 6 weeks already! Time flies when you're having fun....and staying busy. With Reese toddling around we find it best to get her out of the house as much as possible. Here are some highlights from our adventures:

Above you see Reese gazing out at the tall buildings that make up the Chicago skyline along Oak Street Beach and Michigan Avenue.

We also took her to Millenium Park so that Reese could stomp around under the famous Cloud Gate sculpture aka "The Bean". Here she is kissing the pretty baby in The Bean.

We got tired of trying to wrangle a squirmy toddler onto a CTA bus or train so we bought a bike trailer, almost new, on Craigslist. Now we can take Reese all over the city and she gets to sit back and enjoy the view.

She even has her own helmet!

We rode to Lincoln Park Zoo with Grandpa and had a picnic. (NOTE: It's the only free zoo left in the country and I have to say, not too shabby! And we are used to the "World Famous San Diego Zoo" so that's saying a lot.)We've actually been to the zoo twice and Reese is always more intrigued by the other kids and this fascinating water fountain. Watch as she somehow manages to narrowly miss the spurting water, EVERY single time!




There are lot's of fun things to do closer to home too like blowing bubbles in the backyard with mommy.

Chill-axing at the kiddie pool with Daddy.

And of course the beautiful, beaches that are even more lovely now that those rowdy summer camp kids have gone back to school.

She looks right at home doesn't she?

For my darling, silly Reese:

This is a first for the blog, a video that is not for any of you lovely readers. I am posting this one specifically for Reese because she enjoys watching herself on video. For anyone else this would be considered vain but as cute as she is, it just makes good sense.

She was having fun one day teasing Mike by giving all her kisses to me. She thought this was SO funny. See what you think...

The Big Move

The San Diego Sandors (and all their stuff)arrived in one piece! I guess we are now officially "The Chicago Sandors" but for simplicity's sake I won't be changing the URL.

Reese had difficulty adjusting at first. The first 2 nights here she did not want to be left alone in her crib and after I finally did get her to sleep, she woke up in the middle of the night and cried hysterically if I left the room. It was good that I had planned to stay with her a few days before flying back to SD to make the drive with Mike.

By the time I actually did have to leave her, she was comfortable enough that apparently she barely noticed. I think even at her young age she knew she was in good hands. She kept herself busy exploring the big house, bonding with Grandma and Grandpa and playing with our neighbor's grand-kids who are also in town.

(From l-r: Amara; 4, Reese; 15 mos., Liam; 9, Genevieve; 6)

Of course Mike and I missed Reese tremendously too. We made the 32 hour drive in less than 3 days so that we could make it back to her ASAP. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we are all much happier when our little family unit is in tact.

For it's part Chicago welcomed us with a heat wave, luckily my parents live blocks from the lakefront so we have been going to the beach and/or the park just about every day since we arrived. Reese is becoming a real water baby. She equally enjoys splashing around and playing in the sand. We may have to consider some baby swim classes soon.
Stay cool everybody!

P.S. We only just unpacked the charger for our real camera so more pictures and videos are coming.

Idaho Vacation

We took a break from our moving plans for a few days and flew to Idaho to visit Mike's mom and have a family reunion of sorts. Mike has 4 siblings and 3 of them were there with spouses and kids in tow. (Not everyone is pictured here but we took family portraits so I will post those when they are available.) Reese had a great time from the moment we set foot in the airport. She was fascinated with everything on the plane from the seat-back tray to the airplane safety card. She even tried to help with the luggage and when that wouldn't work she settled for carrying my purse around the terminal.

We noticed that in the short time we were there Reese's walking got so much better...and faster! I guess having a bunch of older cousins to chase after is good motivation to pick up the pace.

She also loved chasing after Jere's 2 dogs and cats.

The five days sure did go by fast. We were able to pack a lot in. Most of the activities were kid-centered as you can imagine. But the women managed to get away for an hour for some girl talk and a pedicure while the Dads took them to an indoor play place. Don't worry, the men had some kid-free time too. We let them get away and play 9 holes of golf, which somehow took 4 hours but whatever! Pictured: Reese; 14 months, Alyssa; 6, (twins) Oliver and Caden; 3, (Alyssa's brother's, Tobey; 3 and Isaac 18 months)

Another highlight of the trip was our trip to Roaring Springs Water Park- fun for kids of all ages. Reese and Mommy enjoyed floating the Lazy River and playing in the Leisure Lagoon...

Splashing around with Grandma!

...while Daddy and Uncle Roy tackled the Avalanche!

A good time was had by all. Thank you Grandma Jere and Steve for your hospitality!

June

Hello Blog Fans,

June has been an interesting month. We made the decision to relocate to Chicago and will be doing so next month. We are excited but also a little daunted by all there is to do to prepare for the move and how much more complicated moving cross-country is when you have a 1-year old.
Reese and I will be flying in to Chicago on July 9th. I will stay a few days so she can get used to my parents and their house and then I will return to San Diego and make the 31 hour drive with Mike a few days later.

My parents will have their hands full but I think they will also have a lot of fun. Reese is toddling around and getting to be very independant. She continues to be a happy little girl and her sense of humor is really coming out. I think you can see it in the video below:

That's it for now. I have lot's of planning and packing to do. Love, Bronwen

May

So, our little baby is gone and in her place is a curious, bubbly, energetic toddler. (Technically she's still working on the 'toddling', though she does do some walking everyday and she is starting to look more confident and more stable.) I'm not sure she realizes that it is actually an efficient form of transportation. Right now she thinks it's just a fun game that makes mommy and daddy cheer and clap.

Shortly after Reese's birthday she went to the doctor for her one year physical. It was a tough one. She had to get 5 vaccines and they drew blood. She cried quite a bit this time and I don't blame her. I was close to tears too. We did hear that she is continuing to grow and develop well, but we kind of already knew that.

She is finally off formula and baby food which is a big money saver. Reese continues to eat pretty much anything we give her which is so great because we are able to start healthy eating habits now. She loves all kinds of fruit but particularly strawberries. I was noting today that she has already tried (and likes) Swiss chard and parsnips, 2 things I had never eaten until I was at least 30. We are working on getting her to eat with a spoon but it's slow-going and it's taking a toll on the walls and the rug. Another nice surprise is that Reese seems to love books. We read several times a day because she likes to grab books off the shelf and hand them to you. She already has her distinct favorites. She is really big on the classic, Pat the Bunny and really enjoys two books she got for her birthday, Flip, Flap, Fly and Five Little Ladybugs.

We're really excited about this summer. Reese is at an age where she can really start to appreciate things like going to the beach and the zoo and the park. I can't wait to see what she thinks of 4th of July Fireworks!

Author's Note: Yes, I realize not all of the pictures correspond with the text in this blog post but you try following a 13 month-old around with a camera. We're lucky if we can get more than the back of her head.

Look Who's Walking!!

Reese walking to Daddy!

(now from the front.)

Easter

Celebrating holidays with Reese reminds me of how fun they can be. I don't remember much about Easter last year - I know we had a big earthquake but I don't recall if Mike and I did anything to celebrate. But, I will remember Easter 2011 for a long time.

Reese is too young for jelly beans and Cadbury eggs but she did manage to participate in a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Our community, Tierrasanta, hosts one that even let's kids as young as Reese participate. They set a bunch of plastic eggs out on the lawn and let the kids scramble to pick them up. Given that Reese isn't really walking yet, she needed some help getting to the eggs but then promptly picked two up and put them in her mouth. She got her picture taken with Grandma and Grandpa and a rather scary Easter Bunny but she was unphased. The celebration continued at brunch where Reese got to sample fruit and scrambled eggs and the rest of us enjoyed mimosas and Bloody Mary's! The restaurant was close to the water so even though it was kind of a cloudy day, we all walked down to the shore to snap off some pictures.

I'm glad we did because Reese was in rare form. It's hard for me to pick a favorite picture.

Her personality really comes through in all of these.

Have a lovely Spring everyone!