This picture is a good example of these two lately. Griffin loves to hold Reid and they both are smiley and silly for a few minutes. Then Griffin says “ok, you can take him now” and he’s ready to be done.
We had Reid’s 4 month well-check this week, a little later than it should be since we were on vacation for his 2 month check up so that one was a bit behind and this one follows suit since the vaccinations are spaced out. He is growing really well and is a healthy boy! He weighed in at 15 pounds, 10.4 ounces (45th percentile), 25.5″ tall (51st percentile), and head circumference 44.2 cm (97th percentile). He is definitely getting longer as we can tell his clothes are getting stretched more when his legs are straight and he’s filling out the co-sleeper as you can see! He got two shots and an oral vaccine. He cried after the second one as it stings pretty good they say. But he recovered quickly and we headed home where he was sleepy for the afternoon and part of the next day.
I’m continually amazed at how neat and tidy Griffin insists on being while coloring! And more apple painting this week, at school. He also did some fun painting at home using foil. Check out the concentration face :). 
Our chair arrived this week! Kevin enjoyed relaxing in it while feeding Reid a bottle one afternoon. It’s comfy and it spins around. The floor is a bit slippery for the ottoman though as it moves when you bend your knees and use it as a rest! We’ll have to figure out something to do until we put our rug out when the couch arrives. 
On Saturday we went to Leeds Farm with the Kesslers for a fun afternoon of fall festivities. There is so much for kids to do there and it was a beautiful and sunny fall afternoon, a perfect day really! We went on a wagon ride, Griffin rode pedal karts, jumped on the orange pumpkin floor, went on a barrrel ride (Laura too, lol), and many other things. After we left Leeds we went home and picked up the dogs and headed to Mansfield for a short visit since we hadn’t seen Mom and Dad in awhile. It was a short and sweet visit. 
Reid is super close to turning over. He makes it most of the way and then usually returns to his back. He’s yet to pull his right arm out from underneath himself. He’s so close!
We keep finding Griffin asleep on the floor of his room near the door! It can be challenging to get in his room to move him to his bed!
And here is a video of Griffin singing in the bathtub this week. I love it when I find him singing songs he has learned at school or vbs or church!
And here you can check out Griffin showing off his little bro’s room. This particular evening he had me laughing so hard I was crying. He wanted me to record him so I took several videos, one of which I’ve posted here. He was so excited and being so silly. I’m happy to have it on video. 
Debbie was unexpectedly sick this week so I ended up going in to work late on day and taking Reid with me. Thankfully he is an easy baby and slept or was happy while we were there long enough for me to get some things taken care of. The following day Jim and Pat came up which was a great help!
Griffin continues to enjoy playing with our neighbors Cole and Cooper. They go back and forth playing at each of our houses, inside, outside, it just depends on the day and the weather! We love that he has kiddos to play with in our neighborhood. 
And here he is eating his favorite choice: fish and chips! Although this night he was able to tell the fish wasn’t “cod” and he wasn’t as big of a fan as he typically is. This kid cracks me up. 
This year when we were packing we told Griffin he could fill up a shopping bag with toys or stuffed animals to take. His choices included mostly balls (football, soccer ball, soft baseball) and lovies so he could tell the Jack and the Beanstalk story at bedtime with Daddy and have an animal for each of the characters. This is something they do each night before bedtime!
Mom and Dad bought each of the grandkids a container for their seashell collections this year. On Friday evening they packed up their shells into their containers along with a cool star fish and sand dollar that they gave each grandkid as well. They all thought it was pretty neat!
Reid spent all of his time under the umbrella at the beach and even so got a bit of sun one day on his nose and below his eyes or above his mouth. I’m not sure how, perhaps the walk to the beach or from reflection while we were there. He was otherwise mostly content other than when he became hungry!
This week Reid definitely discovered his hands are connected to his body! Now he regularly puts them in his mouth and sucks on them or slobbers them up! Especially if he wakes up and doesn’t have his pacifier. He seems to be watching his hands a lot more and he makes cute facial expressions as he’s trying to figure out what his hands are doing.His hair is also thinning on both sides as is evident by looking at his crib sheet! Though he’s also gotten a shower and had his hair washed every day this week after we were at the beach. Deluxe treatment here! He was an absolute champ in the car on our travel days, sleeping almost the entire time other than waking to eat or being happily awake once we got back on the road after he was fed. He was also enjoying his crinkle book and kept reaching to touch it. 
On our last day at the beach Griffin and Kevin were out enjoying the low-tide wave pools. They had been out there for awhile and all of a sudden Kevin is walking up the beach carrying Griffin who was really crying. He’s typically a pretty tough kid who doesn’t cry much (other than when he’s having a fit or whining, but not typically when he gets hurt). He was crying and screaming that his leg hurt. As it turns out we think he was stung or swiped by a jelly fish. He had two or three long welts blow up on his ankle. We rinsed it off with bottled water, then rinsed it off back at the ocean with ocean water and he rested for a few minutes. But probably less than 10 minutes from when it happened he wanted to head back for more fun. We’re so thankful it wasn’t severe!
Though it’s hard to tell here, this was my view on our last day at the beach. I’m holding Reid and Kevin and Finn are down near the water building “magic giant lake”. It was so nice to watch them having some good old father and son time just playing together at the beach. 
For our dinner night this year we grilled out hamburgers and hot dogs and had a strawberry-mango salad, and a cold grain salad too. For dessert the kids enjoyed their chocolate dipped and decorated ice cream cones (our activity from earlier in the day) with their choice of ice cream inside. 
When I was changing out Reid’s newborn-3 month clothes for the 3-6 month options I discovered Griffin’s Ocean Isle Beach onesie from four years ago. It fit Reid perfectly on our trip :). 
Getting some good air here at 10 weeks old!
Mom and Dad treated all of us to a couple of deluxe breakfasts complete with pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Yummers!
One afternoon Kevin and Griffin joined the Bethune’s at the local Arcade. They had a great time and even got a sweet treat. No surprise there!
This picture makes me giggle. Reid is sleepy tired and has popped is pacifier out. Dad is working on his computer and reading articles. Just a typical day at the beach house!
For our annual dinner night out we tried out a new restaurant this year. While we were waiting for our food Griffin came over to me and said he wanted to snuggle. A couple of minutes later I realized he wasn’t really moving and sure enough he had fallen asleep! I’m not sure that has ever happened before! The beach clearly does him in as he is constantly on the go. We’ve also given up naps for the most part so he is pretty beat by the end of the day!
Amy was gracious yet again and took our family photos at the beach after family dinner night. It was SUPER windy. So much so that I had to put my hair back and even then it was flying in my face! We’re grateful that she was able to capture our family of four and some cute ones of just Reid at the beach. This was his first time getting his toes in the ocean!
And here are some of my pics and others that Andy took during our photo session, the out takes so to speak!
The kids always enjoy playing with Grandma and Grandpa at the beach. This year they were all good ages to use the surf boards too as they learned to catch a wave and ride it in.
Our road trip back was much longer than our trip down. We had more stops for various reasons but in the end it was a safe trip and for that we are thankful! Reid did well with diaper changes and feedings in the car. 
Sunday morning we slept in and played catch up at home. Kevin mowed the lawn while I did laundry and various other things. Sunday evening we headed to the Sundays on the Scioto concert series in Dublin and watched Six Appeal, an acapella group that is really great. It was fun!
