Such a good mommy...

Reagan is learning all the skills she needs to be a good mommy. She received a dolly and stroller from Grandma Rasmussen for Christmas (early) and has been cuddling and caring for the little babe since day 1. Everything else takes a backseat to her 'baby.'

She knows that baby needs her binky. Oh yes, Reagan knows ALL about that.
Each night, I read Reagan and book and sit in the chair with her. Matt and I were so TICKLED when one night Reagan did it with her baby. It was the cutest thing. She grabbed a book, her baby, and was asking for 'up' in the chair.

By the way, Reagan loves the book in the picture. The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle. I highly recommend it.
Of course, baby needs her fresh air, despite dipping down into freezing California temperatures...like low 60's and stuff. So we bundle up and head outdoors where Reagan makes sure that baby is sitting properly in her seat (LOL) and that she gets plenty of sips of water.
Honestly, I have seen a cuddly, motherly side come out of Reagan since the birth of her baby. It is really exciting to watch her. She gives the baby kisses and gives Matt and I kisses now.

So now I ask the question: does Reagan resemble me (LACY) at all in these photos? To anyone who may be reading our blog, I want your opinion. Be honest!

Household Record

Reagan slept in until almost 8am this morning!! HOLY COW!! That has never happened in the history of the last eighteen months. At her toddler class this morning, I was ecstatic and everyone told me it was probably a growth spurt, especially if she was eating more than normal. The eating thing will never be a clue, since she eats almost as much as Matt and I combined, but she has been growing a ton, so I guess it fits.

Indoor Fun & Gratitude

I remember this time last year so clearly. The weather has started to cool down a bit and although I really can't complain about California temperatures, we have spent a little more time indoors. It rained some over the weekend and Reagan was getting over a cough and cold last week, so I was straining my brain trying to find ways to entertain her. Last week, I was in another room when I her grunting and complaining from the front room. I went and checked on her playing and found that she had climbed into the blanket basket and couldn't get out. This wasn't very nice of me, but I slyly watched for a few minutes from around the corner where she couldn't see me. It was kind of cute to see her trying to get out and I could almost see the wheels in her head turning while she figured out a way to do so.
Bathtime is still fun time for her. Now, when I say "cheese" or "smile" she does it! I love her big cheesy grin. She has this bath book that she likes to read. When she wants me to read it to her, she lets me know by throwing it to me, getting water everywhere.


I am very grateful for my little Reg's. It is fun for me to look back in time and see where I was a year ago, two years ago, etc. Almost exactly three years ago, Matt and I were settling into the Bay area and our new apartment, Matt was a week into his first job out of college and we were enjoying our surroundings. Almost two years ago, while I was nauseated 24 hours a day, we were finding out that our little person was going to be a girl. We had an interesting Thankgiving that year. I couldn't be around food cooking, so Matt settled for a dinner of rolls and green beans. Exactly a year ago, I was watching little Reagan grow up too fast before my eyes. So much can happen in a year and I wonder today...what will be going on in my life a year from now??? Hmmm...

The Purse Curse

When I was in 6th grade, carrying a purse was so cool. That lasted for like 2 months. Ever since then, I hate carrying around purses. Not that I don't like the way they look, but I seriously hate having something slung over my shoulder and I always set it down and forget about it. In high school, my friends teased me because I wore a mini backpack around instead of one. Then I graduated to college and found a canvas thing to sling over me.

Times have changed and I now enjoy purses. Finding the right one is hard. Lori and Nick took us to the Las Cruces ROSS and I found a freakin fantastic purse that I am now in love with. Thanks you guys, you have great taste. We also were laughing because Reagan seemed to catch onto the purse idea rather quickly. I couldn't resist buying this little red purse for her. She now carries it around, slung over her arm and shoulder as pictured. I showed her how she can store things in it and carry them around. She thought that was cool.

Class Time

We enrolled Reagan in a mom and toddler class that goes September through December. It is through the adult ed program here and Reagan absolutely loves it. She pretty much gets to run around and play and be with 11 other kids her age. There are tons of toys in the room and she just goes nuts. The class is from 9-11 in the morning, so she definitely hits a wall right around 10:30 when she officially becomes over-tired. I am with her almost the entire time. They have a snack time, too, which is really cute. The table and chairs are just the kids size and they-unbelievably-sit down and actually eat. It is funny to watch each of the kids reach for every other kids plate instead of their own, even though the same food is in front of them. Reagan loses her shoe a lot and likes to bring it over to me to put back on her foot.

Cell Phones

Attention all cell phone users. We would like to announce that there is officially a new way of talking on the phone. Talking through the mouth is no longer necessary when using the cellular device. You may now speak through the back of the head. Reagan will demonstrate this perfectly in the photos below.

Best Toy Ever

I think Reagan pushed this cart around one night for about two hours. She was obsessed with it. She continued to push it around on and off for about three days. Then we stopped at Aunt Lori's and she had one, then Aunt Melanie had one, too. Score! Reagan got her fill of shopping carts and we will see later today how she enjoys sitting in them and not pushing them!

Scariest Toy Ever

We are very proud of the fact that our child isn't scared of anything. Sometimes, when it is too dark outside and stuff, I take Reagan for protection because that is how tough she is. She will battle anything and everything. She SERIOUSLY does not get that from me...or her Uncle Lorenzo ;)

So we were pretty surprised on this last trip to the land of red vs. blue that Reagan became truly scared of this innocent train toy that my mom has. She freaked out. It chugga-chugga-choo-choos around the house on a battery and has a cute little face painted on the front. Every kids dream toy, especially those with a train fetish.

My rough daredevil of a child--for the first time ever--really let me down. She screamed like a hyena and hid behind the couch, occasionally peeking out at it to make sure it was still there and not an inch closer. I felt bad that we were kinda teasing her over it, but it was hard not to laugh at that one.

Reagan is growing up

For those of you who couldn't view the video, here are some photo stills of Reagan. She is really growing up fast. She loves her little cloth shoes that she wears outside. This morning, the first thing she did after waking up is go right over and get her shoes to bring to me. She loves being outside, as do most kids, I think. She is walking all over the place. She still loves to eat, but should start matching her caloric intake with her activity level. As much as I love my little chub, clothing doesn't fit her well. She is really into Baby Einstein still, but also loves to watch a little Disney playhouse, too. We enjoy tuning into Little Einsteins and Mickey some mornings. She loves her morning walk with Adelaide and Laura a few times a week. In fact, she doesn't really like to ride in the stroller unless Adelaide is riding right next to her. Her favorite song is still Old MacDonald, with Itsy Bitsy Spider and Popcorn Popping close seconds. Reagan really doesn't care to ride in the car much, which will make our trip up north this weekend a little interesting. And she loves to walk around Target. She runs circles around all the clothing aisles. She loves to look at herself in the mirror and play with the cell phone and remotes. She loves to drink milk and she loves her daddy like I have never seen. Yeppers, all is well in the world of Reagan.

Trykes, Becks, and Spaghetti

Almost exactly a year ago, Matt I bought our television and took down my prized "Prayer at Valley Forge" which hung in the spot above our television. It just didn't look right and ever since then, we have had a blank wall. For a year, we thought much about what we could put up that would look right. A while ago, we decided to try a black and white montage of photos. We have been slowly collecting photos and frames over the last few months. The DREAM is a purchase I made last December while in Utah. I went a little crazy at Hobby Lobby. I also bought some of the frames there. The two scenic pictures, ones that neither Matt nor I took, are professional ones we bought for cheap a long time ago when Prints Plus went out of business at the Sun Valley mall. One is an Ansel Adams beach scene and another is a board of a tree with the sun filtering through. We actually bought another Ansel Adams one that didn't quite make it on the wall--it is Redwoods and will find another spot in our home someday. The rest of the photos are ones we took and had printed in black and white--including one of my all-time fav's of Matt and Regs at Baker Beach. The upper right one is Matt and I in Puerto Rico this last June. On Saturday, we watched some of our friends children, as well as the Galaxy play their star player for the first time ever. This photo below is not of us anxiously watching Becks, though. That would be us watching The Wiggles.
Reagan is starting her attempts at walking. She is getting stronger and braver with each passing day. She loves right now to go in and out of the sliding glass door. She just steps in, then out, then in, then out. I watched an entire episode of Martha today while she did just that. I can't leave the room because I don't want her eating rocks outside, but watching her do this over and over gets old, so I need to do something else besides (in other words, I do not watch Martha regularly--this would be my first time).

She is the biggest spaghetti fan. I have a low maintenance husband and child, I know--I'm lucky. Today, she could see and hear me heating it up in the microwave, so she came over and tugged at my leg the whole time it cooked and cooled, saying "mamamamamamamama" over and over for about 10 minutes. She was so panicked that I was fixing it and wouldn't feed it to her, I guess. The good part about spaghetti is that she just shovels it in, so I am able to sneak veggies that she wouldn't normally eat into the food and she doesn't even realize she is eating them. a few nights ago, I got her to eat some cauliflour and today she has green beans.
Here is a clip of Reagan enjoying her tricycle. She pushed this thing back and forth on the deck. Matt had a great time with her this weekend. The blew bubbles and pushed the tryke around. I am sure our new neighbors below love us to pieces already.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Well-Baby not so Well

We had Reaganators 12-month check-up today, even though she is 13 months old (June was a busy month). I have decided that my child will probably be the first female linebacker in the NFL. Here is the run-down of her visit:

GOOD NEWS: Reagan is a healthy, whopping 25 lbs and 4 oz. She is in the 93rd percentile for her weight. Her height, almost 31 inches, is 90th percentile. Her head circumference, which the doctor assured me was a large portion of her weight, is humongous. I can't remember the measurements, but she is 96th percentile for that. She has a healthy, growing brain. Not only will my child be the first girl in the NFL, but she will be the first smart person as well.

BAD NEWS: She has a diaper rash-turned infection. I have to go buy some Lotrimil cream to rub on her and that should clear it up. Also, her hemoglobin (iron) levels are low. So, I have to start up her iron drops again, which she HATED after her 9 month check-up. She is not your typical baby that you would look at and say, "hey, that baby looks low in iron." She's a beef-cake. Also, she has been a total raunch for like the past week. She has been so fussy in the afternoons, she literally throws herself on the floor and has fits. Last night, she woke up at 1AM and screamed while Matt tried to calm her for an hour. I asked the doctor if she was getting a tooth and she checked her and after a second said, "yeah it looks like something is bulging through." I couldn't tell if she was being honest or just trying to make me feel better.

My complaining aside, Regs is healthy as can be and I am grateful for that.

Banando en el bano

Here is a bathing update on Reagan: she loves her new toy--a washed out cool whip container. Reagan puts it on her head and mom uses it to rinse off soap. Great idea, taken from Grandma Rasmussen's tub. She crawls all over the tub and has started putting her face in the water to drink it. She comes up sputtering every time, but still does it.

She's a Ham

Reagan is such a ham these days. She loves to grin at us. Look at that mouth full of teeth! She loves taking a bath and when she does, she sucks on the washcloth (prior to a wash, of course) and sucks out all the water. Then she kind of coughs and keeps doing it. Let's see...she also stands up in the tub, but we give her a firm "No!" and she definitely gets the point that that is not okay. All in all, bathtime is fun time. If both Matt and I are home, we put her towel in the dryer during the bath so that it comes out all warm for her. I think she appreciates it :)

She has started to read.

And lift weights--can you spot them in the background??

More grins!! :):)

We were hamming it up with her on sunday.

She was putting the binky in my mouth, then immediately pulling it out and putting it in her own mouth. Then she would immediately take it out and put it in my mouth, and so on. It was a riot.
Here we are, enjoying a warm Saturday in Walnut Creek. Doesn't Matt look happy with me?
Go BYU Cougars!
I didn't get a photo, but Reagan is also standing on her own!! She falls after a few seconds, but I think we have reached a record of like 10 seconds. It's hard to get her to do it for you, she kinda only does it when she feels like it.

Getting into things

My little gal has has reached a new stage. The world is now her playground. She LOVES to get into things! Her favorites: the dishwasher (slamming it shut), our TV stand that holds DVDs, and her favorite of the favorites: the shoes. There is something very fascinating about them, I guess. If she spots them across the room, she is over there is like 3 seconds flat, no joke. They must smell like food or something. Usually, I can tell when she has gotten into them because she gets very quiet. The little devil ;)... She is standing really well these days. Matt and I have noticed the muscles building in her calves. Its really cool. She likes to throw them down (hence my sneaker on the floor).
She is still squinting at the camera. It is like Pavlov's bell ringing/dog salivating experiment: I get the camera out, aim it, and she squints! No flash even needed.
Can you count her arm rolls?
She loves to climb on us. We don't mind :)

Milestones

Reagan has started reaching a few milestones. As evident in these photos, she can stand holding onto something and is starting to pull to stand all by herself. Exciting, huh? I thought so at first, but now she would rather pull up in her crib and move around than sleep in it. It's been a few rough days, but last night was a bit better.
This is funny: she notices that on our camera before it flashes, the light blinks. So once she sees that light, she is already squinting her eyes. I laughed for a while when I saw these. I made veggie pizza last night and she loved it! It was messy, but that is okay!