Self

Reese is adamant about doing things by herself lately and says "No touch - self"! Most of this new independence is great. I love watching her color, play with dolls, try to put her shoes on, etc. But other things are scary, like walking (not crawling) down stairs without holding onto my hand or the railing and climbing up the ladder on the playset. I just about have a heart attack every day.

Cooling Off

It was hot outside today! Reese and Jack decided to relax and cool off in the pool.

Jellies

Reese loves her new jelly shoes. She calls them her "jellies" and want to wear them constantly.

Zoo Mobile

Reese enjoyed the Zoo Mobile in Hannover this evening. She saw hissing cockroaches, an owl, and porcupine. Ok,the porcupine was actually a hedgehog, but Reese got excited and said "pokie" when she saw it, so we just went with it.

K9

We enjoyed an evening at the Police K9 Trials. Our friend Jeremy Halek is a K9 cop in Brooklyn Park, and was part of the demonstration. It was really interesting to see the dogs "work" - they are very smart and well trained. While Reese enjoyed watching and petting the dogs, I think she liked climbing the bleachers even more.

Dress Up

Reese got into Mommy's closet tonight and played dress up. Oh my!

Block Party

We went to our neighborhood block party today. Reese was such a big girl hanging out with her friends and going in the big inflatable jumper. I thought she would be too little to go in the jumper, but she proved me wrong. She not only liked going inside the jumper with Daddy, but she soon ventured out on her own jumping and laughing with the other kids. She jumped like a mad woman and kept her balance really well. We were so proud of her!

Tonight when I was giving her a bath, Reese looked at me and said "I'm a big girl!" Her statement made me a little sad, but it is so true.

Memory

I know I just posted a video about how much Reese loves her blog. But I think this clip is cute too where she describes recent blog posts - Grandma (Cipra), going down the slide, driving the cart, and Grandma (Haag).

You can't tell in this video, but Reese actually has her blog memorized. She anticipates and knows exactly what pictures come next. She has many of her books memorized too where she often describes what's coming on the next page. I'll have to start asking Reese to remember where I put my car keys and cell phone because I don't seem to have her great memory!

Sharing

Reese loves graham crackers, but decided to share with Libby tonight. So sweet! I think these two are going to be great friends.

Welcome Libby

Today we welcomed our new family member, Libby Taya (I think we finally agreed on the name).

We normally would have waited longer than 1 month before getting a new cat, but we took the leap quickly for many reasons. Todd and I are extreme animal lovers and our house somehow felt empty without a furry friend. Reese missed having a pet of her own because she seemed sad and said "Pet" whenever she saw another animal. We had worked really hard with Reese on being gentle with Belle and she did a great job, so we didn't want her to lose her that gentleness. Then, we saw a sign at the Animal Humane Society stating "We are full. Need help with adoptions today" - that sign might have just as well said "Todd and Suzanne" in large blinking lights.

Similar to Belle, Libby seemed to "choose" us the minute we walked in the door. She was very vocal until she got our attention, then was quiet and sweet during the rest of our visit. She liked Reese right away rubbing against her, to which Reese said "Tickle!" and laughed.

We don't know much about Libby's past. She is about 2 years old and wandered onto a farm in Big Lake to deliver her kittens. The farm owner brought Libby to the Humane Society once her kittens were old enough to go to different homes.

We brought Libby home where she immediately seemed comfortable. We discovered that she matches our furniture and color scheme - funny, she fits right in. Libby wandered around a bit, but mostly stayed right by our side. I think she's going to be a great addition to our family.

Our Belle

We are sad to report that our beloved cat Belle is gone. Belle was sick for awhile, and, despite our best efforts to medicate her, it was her time to go. We are obviously devastated to lose such a special member of our family. I think it's the hardest when Reese asks "Kitty Belle?" and we have to explain that Belle is now in heaven and happy.

Belle "chose" Todd 14 years ago in Lodi, California. She was homeless and wondered aroud his apartment complex always making a special effort to be near Todd's door at 5pm when he got home from work for some petting. One night she invited herself inside his apartment. He left his door open a crack for when she wanted to leave that night, but he woke up to find her snoozing away on his bed. She never left and became part of the family.

Belle loved Reese from the moment we brought the baby home. She stayed close by Reese as an infant and would circle around the room when Reese cried - not because she was nervous, but to make sure we heard it and were going to help Reese. As Reese grew, Belle let Reese crawl then walk and chase or almost herd her - never swatting and always tolerating it for awhile before hiding under a table. One of Reese's first words was "Kitty Belle" and she always offered "Kitty Belle Treat". We thank Belle for accepting and being such a great friend to our baby.

We will always miss our sweet little Belle.

Grandmas and Grandpas

Reese loves to look at her own blog. She especially likes the pictures that feature her Grandmas and Grandpas!

Jumping Game

We have been playing a new game lately. We lay a blanket down at the bottom of Reese's slide. Then Reese decides which animal she wants to slide down and jump on. We do this over and over and over again.

Music in the Park

Reese enjoyed her evening at Rockford's Music in the Park. She ate a cookie, fruit snack, and popsicle while lounging on Grandma listening to the band. She leads such a rough life. Later she tried out the "big girl" slide. Some attempts down the slide were successful, while others ended with Daddy crawling down or Mommy crawling up to rescue her.

Shopper Girl

Reese absolutely loves to go shopping.

Her favorite thing to shop for is clothes. Whenever I ask her if she wants to go shopping she says "Clothes?" with great hope and we usually end up in a clothing store even if that is not part of our plan. While shopping she could spend hours looking through all the racks, one item at a time. Occasionally she finds something she likes, says "cute" and carries it around for the rest of the trip. We were in Target the other day and a lady came up to me to say that Reese is the most serious little shopper she has ever seen. I really need to catch this on video because it is adorable.

Her second favorite thing to shop for is groceries. Whenever I say we are going grocery shopping she says "Cookie" because she always get a free chocolate chip cookie at Cub.

Tonight we found that Lowes is another great place to shop because of the cool race car carts. She "drove" all around the store looking at patio furniture and lawnmowers.

More Funnies

Reese is becoming quite the character. Here are some more funny things she has said lately.

When Reese saw the weather girl on TV, she said, "Tammy!" She's right, Tammy does look like Chikage Windler on KSTP!

Reese says "See it" whenever she sees something or simply when looking for something.

"Hold that" is one of Reese's favorite phrases lately. She says it when she hands us a toy, her sippy cup, etc when she's busy moving on to something else.

Reese went and got Grandma's phone the other day, handed it to her, and said, "Call Papa."

When Reese finds one of her hair bows, she hands it to me and says, "Tie a bow."

Reese always looks for the porcupine in her animal book - she calls it "Porkie". When she finds it in the book she says "Poke! Ouch!" and hits herself on the head as if it's poking her.

This happened awhile ago, but we were leaving the doctor appointment after her tetnus shot. We got into the car and Reese said, "Mama, drive!" as if to say get me out of here!

Funny Conversations

We have been having some pretty funny conversations with Reese lately. Here are a few examples.

When going down the stairs on the front porch...
Grandma: "Be careful."
Reese: "Yeah, I know."

While eating dinner in her highchair...
Reese: "Out! Out!"
Daddy: "Are you still hungry?"
R: "No! No! No!"
D: "Do you want some cake?"
R: "No!" (then thought for a second)
R: "Yeah! Yeah! Yeaaaaah! I like it!"

After hanging up the phone with Grandma and Grandpa...
Reese: "Grandma?"
Mommy: "Yes, Grandma is coming tonight to take care of you."
R: "Papa?" (Reese's word for Grandpa)
M: "No, Grandpa isn't coming with this time."
R: "Golf?"
M: "Yes, Grandpa is staying home to golf."
R: "Hit the ball! Biiiiiig bat."
M: "Actually you hit the golf ball with a club."
R: "Yeah! Hit the ball!"

When Reese sat down to watch a video (as seen in this picture, it looks like she's watching in the buff, but actually has a diaper on)...
Reese: "Video!"
Mommy: "What do you want to watch?"
R: "Pets!" (Reese's word for Wonderpets)
R: "Fly! Tiger!" (Bascially taking me through the video's storyline. Then she stood up and started dancing around when the theme song came on.)

Show & Tell

Reese had a show & tell for Grandma & Grandpa Haag today. She wanted to get them caught up on all of her new toys & clothes. She even decided to skip nap time & instead read "all" of her books to Grandma. Little did she know that Mommy was in New Orleans for work & even got to have drinks with the billionaire NFL owner of the Washington Redskins!

Similarities

Reese spent the day with cousin Jack. They found out that they like many of the same things -- seek and find books, cake, and love and attention from Grandma and Grandpa Cipra!

Happy 4th

We spent the 4th of July with Grandma and Grandpa Haag.

First we went to the parade in Annandale. Reese's favorite attraction was not a float or a band, but little red and blue chairs that the kids were sitting on in front of us. Reese was so obsessed with the chairs that we asked to play with them for awhile. Reese drug them around lining and stacking them up for about a half hour. A lady next to us said, "I think she's going to be a little organizer some day!" Little does she know, Reese already loves to organize things.

Later we went to the lake. Reese enjoyed making sand "cakes" and "rivers". We tried to take Reese on the jet ski, but she was not a fan of the noise or life jacket. So jet ski fun was just for Mommy and Daddy this time.

The night ended by watching fireworks over the lake from Grandma and Grandpa's window. It was perfect because it was not noisy and there were no mosquitoes!

Happy 4th of July!

Lime Green

Reese and I went to the park today and found ourselves in a sea of lime green. Galaxy Day Camp was going on and all the kids and staff were wearing lime green shirts. Reese just happened to be wearing that color too, so she fit right in and loved it.