Check out that smile and that new tooth! You can see that the others won’t be far behind either! Teething doesn’t really seem to bother Reid at all. He definitely gets a running nose right before he gets a tooth but that is just about his only symptom!
Reid saw Dr. Wilde this week for his 9 month check up. He is hitting all the developmental milestones for crawling (still mostly army crawling at this point), sitting, transitioning between positions, etc. He’s definitely a happy baby – nearly all the time! His weight gain was pretty low, less than 4 ounces since his 6 month check up which was two and half months ago. I was a bit worried about it, but the doctor didn’t even bring it up. He said he noticed it and that we’ll watch it. He did have an ear infection in that time and was on some medicine. His appetite seems normal though and he’s eating some solid foods too. He weighed 17 pounds 6.4 ounces (13th percentile), was 28″ (36th percentile, up an inch), and his head measured 46 cm (79th percentile). 
Wednesday was Griffin’s Kindergarten screening at Tyler Run. He was a bit nervous but I tried to encourage him and tell him it would be like some fun games. As soon as we got there and he got started he seemed to enjoy it. He waited a bit between the different stations so we hung out some then and at the end when we waited to go over the results of his “games”. He did really well and got an overall 20/20. He was super excited to receive a Tyler Run water bottle (you know mom, like the football players use) and a tiger pencil. After his screening we ran home to take Brutus to the vet to recheck his ear and then we headed to Graeter’s for a special afternoon treat :). 
And here are a few others from our week. A president’s day piece of artwork from preschool, Griffin going to bed with all of his lovies (yikes!), and a night of Brutus being too tired to leave Finn’s room so he slept in there with him for a bit. 
This girl. I went to let her in this afternoon and she was COVERED in dirt! I don’t know what she was doing out there but she ended up with a bath!
And here is Reid at the beginning of this week. By the end his top tooth popped through. 
It was nice enough for us to take a walk after work this evening. He loves riding in his big boy seat in the stroller 🙂
Griffin really loves hanging out and playing with Cole and Cooper. They’ve been playing a lot of driveway hockey and on this night Mr. Brian made dinner for Finn too. So lucky to have great neighbors!
Finn got outside with the nicer weather this week with Debbie during the week also. He sure loves doing anything he can outside – usually sports!
And here are a couple of videos. Brian took the boys playing hockey. And we were grateful that Jim and Pat were able to come up on Saturday to watch Reid while Kevin and I attended the Grace Marriage workshop at NPC. Finn went along with us for the day and played with other friends in the childcare there. During the afternoon they sent us the video of Reid jamming on what used to be his big brothers motorbike. He loves it! And the funny thing is I have a video of Finn jumping and snorting very similar to this when he was 9 1/2 months old!
Check out this cute and messy boy! Reid has been enjoying all kinds of foods. He loves to eat the “pouches” and picks up and plays with and sometimes eats some finger food. It’s the cutest thing when he really loves a flavor – he just hums and moans until you give him the next bite!
Reid is in to any and everything. He can make his way around anywhere and is getting good at getting up into things, getting toys out, finding the door stops, slapping Brutus (we’re trying to teach him to be gentle!), and so on. 
On Valentine’s Day we had a lovely heart-shaped pizza from Flyers :). Kevin gave me a lovely flower bouquet and a fun date night for the next night to go see Tenth Avenue North and Mercy Me. It was an awesome concert and we were in a bit of a hurry to get there, but we did have just enough time to grab a quick dinner at Hot Chicken Takeover in Clintonville. It’s been on our list for a long time! It was delish, as we knew it would be, and we went all out sampling all items on the menu 🙂
We spent some time this week putting together Griffin’s Valentine cards also. I’ve always been reminded of John 3:16, being that Griffin was born on 3/16, that’s always been one of my associations. When I saw this idea I so wanted to do it! Griffin signed his name to all 20 cards and put the chocolate hearts on each one. 
With the Olympics going on, Griffin has really been liking watching all of the winter sports. He’s taken to going down the “ski jump” on his “skis” (parts of our blinds!). I just love his imagination and creativity. 
I love when Finn does this kind of worksheet at school. It’s always fun to see how he answers questions 🙂 
And this day he was so beat after he came in from playing outside in the cold. I had the olympics on and he was watching them. Next time I checked he was laying in a puddle of drool! He never naps anymore (unless he falls asleep on a long car ride) so this was quite a surprise!
After church on Sunday we went to Aab India for a tasty Indian buffet. It was the first time we’d put Reid in a high chair in a restaurant. He did so great and really loved feeding himself mum mums. 
And this guy loved eating a tasty spread of indian food!
Reid is on the move anytime he’s on the ground. Over the last few weeks he has gotten really smooth at mastering his transition from crawling to sitting. New this week he learned how to go up on his knees! I was kind of surprised as he was just crawling around his room and went over to his activity box. Next thing I knew there he was, up on his knees and he stayed that way for a good minute or so.
Griffin needed to make his own valentine box for his school class this year. He could make it any theme (or no theme) that he wanted so he enjoyed painting it and decorating it with stickers. He is also getting to be so fast at writing his name! My friend, Laura, taught the Monkey class about heart health this week and she sent me a couple of pics from the day, including Griffin making his stethoscope and listening to his heart :). 
Little did we know when we went out for Pizza that it was national pizza day! He hit up Dewey’s in Worthington for some tasty zzzaaaa. 
Our cable has been weird for quite some time as you basically can’t watch live tv on any tv other than our bedroom. We were able to get the service tech’s here on Saturday so while Kevin dealt with them Griffin and I hung out in his room (with the dogs, of course) and line his dresser drawers with OSU liner from Grandma and Grandpa. Mind you most of the drawers are full so you can’t see too much of it, but Finn thinks it’s pretty neat!
We enjoyed some time watching the Winter Olympics over the weekend and I thought what better shirt to put on Reid than one with ski jumping! Ha! Snuggle buds. 
This particular meal Reid was trying out plain butternut squash. To say he wasn’t a fan is a pretty fair statement, but Debbie filled me in that by the end and then the next meal he actually seemed to be ok with it! Reid has been trying many new foods, most seem to be fruity – so I’ve made an effort to have more veggie options so he won’t get his Mom’s sweet tooth and only want the sweet stuff, lol. 
I love this. Reid isn’t much of a snuggler these days. When it is time for nap or bed he basically just wants put down in his bed where he babbles for a few minutes and then falls asleep on his own. I’m not complaining – but I do miss the snuggles! This particular morning he was hungry, but otherwise I don’t think he wanted to be awake. He didn’t even get down to play, he just leaned in while sitting upright (which he never does anymore!) and just cuddled. I love that he “tuck tucks” his arms just like Griffin. 
We were enjoying a nice lazy Saturday morning in bed and we each had a snack bar when I realized Reid was getting antsy as he wanted one too! We decided, why not, let’s get one for him. Next thing I knew Kevin walked in with the high chair for Reid! We set him up and he sat there and enjoyed his Mum Mum with the dogs hoping to get a piece. Next thing, wouldn’t you know, he was able to grab my coffee and proceeded to pull it over – which resulted it in breaking on the bed frame and spilling all over the side of the box spring, bed frame, night stand, carpet, and wall. Um, no more lazy Saturday morning. Ugh! Oh well, memories made. Funny thing is he did the same thing at Dewey’s with a beer the night before. This guy has some fast hands (and some slow learning parents apparently!). 
Brutus just loves to be loved. I mean, who doesn’t, really? He is so playful when you get down on the floor and just wrestle with him or pet him and talk to him. He usually ends up biting my arms playfully and eventually getting up and running like crazy through the house. 
Mom and Dad are enjoying a lovely vacation down in Siesta Key. I was super amazed and impressed when they sent this pic of the sand castle they built for the Super Bowl. Wowzer, pretty impressive, eh?
Facebook continues to show me images from the past – check out this one from 9 years ago (9 years, really?) of the dogs. Hailey, Cam, and Lils – what a crew they were together. I miss those girls! I wonder what they would think of Reid and now Griffin as a big kid :).