We’re gearing up for the month of December around here, which is looking to be a pretty busy one. With swim one night and soccer another during the week, the weeknights seem to be shorter than ever. I’m trying to be a better meal planner and eating more at home, rather than our typical grab-on-the-go. Reid insists on having everything that everyone else at the table does. The cup, plate, utensils, all the different foods (even though he doesn’t eat half of them!) he fusses until you figure out what it is he wants! He continues to love all things carbohydrate: bread, rolls, cereal, sometimes pasta, any kind of cracker. He also loves cheese, yogurt, and applesauce. Not currently a fan of any real meat items. He loves to dip everything in anything, but favorites include barbecue sauce and ketchup.
Hannah and Finn made brownie trees this week. She took the boys on an adventure to the main Columbus Metro Library where they have a large train display. The boys had a lot of fun!
Reid’s 18 month check up went really well. His growth is great! He now weighs 26.1 pounds (75th %tile, up from 24 pounds, 7 oz at 15 mos), is 32.5″ (51st % tile – up from 30.75″ at 15 mos), and his head is 49.8 cm (96th %tile, up from 49.5 cm at 15 mos). He’s still only saying about 4-5 words right now (mama, dada, up, dah {for down}). Though he doesn’t say many words, he understands e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. And he usually listens well, unless he’s being stubborn. I asked the doctor about it and he said just to continue to watch his speech and talking and that he’ll likely explode in the next three months, but, if he doesn’t not to wait until the 2 year well check. So, we’ll just continue talking to him all the time.
Griffin was excited we had a little dusting of snow this week. He couldn’t wait to be outside shoveling and playing in the light covering of snow. 
In advance of my college friends from OU coming to our home over the weekend for our Christmas cookie making party, we went on a two night decorating spree to get our tree and house Christmas-pretty. As per usual decorating the tree requires the large extension ladder. Griffin is becoming more and more brave each year, wanting to go higher up the ladder to put ornaments on. He absolutely loves having Christmas music on and decorating the tree and house. 
On Saturday the OU gang gathered for fun times. We hadn’t seen each other in awhile so we enjoyed a fun day of baking cookies, talking, being silly, and catching up. There’s never enough time in the day and as always the day went really fast. We made peanut-butter kiss, molasses, sugar cookie cutouts, oatmeal, and chocolate chip cookies. We had lunch, some drinks, and lots of laughs. 
Reid was his typical shy self when first meeting everyone. Then he turned on his charm and personality :). We were in the middle of making our first batch or two of cookies and Griffin came up from the basement to check in. I immediately saw his face was red and upon looking more closely realized he had hives! He’s never in his life had hives so I was a bit nervous! Thankfully my friend Kim is a pediatrician so she looked him over. He had them on his face and back. We gave him Benadryl and watched him closely, but the hives went down pretty quickly. I started to worry about potential food allergies as he’d had a PBJ for lunch! So she recommended avoiding peanut butter until we get him checked out. That night, I was beat, so I went to bed before Kevin and Finn. Before bed, apparently Finn had a peanut butter kiss cookie – oops! He came into the loft Sunday morning and had hives – again, this time on his legs, knees, and face. Ugh! 
One of my favorite spots to take the boys for a quick dinner is Corner Bakery. They have healthy options for kids (and adults!) and it’s pretty quick. Conveniently there is one near Costco 🙂
Tree decorating time! Griffin was really excited to decorate our tree this year. He kept taking all of his ornaments and stepping up onto the brick fireplace step where he placed most of his ornaments on the tree. It was fun to watch the excitement on his face. Kevin got the top of the tree from the ladder – and he was all the way to the top!
Griffin had several fun adventures and activities this week including crafting and baking Gingerbread men and then trying to find the one that escaped! I had to do some homework outside of work hours one evening so Debbie stayed late and they ventured to the Fantasy of Lights in Galena where you drive through a display of lights and then get to sit and talk with Santa at the end. They had quite a fun night!
Our family adventure took us to Hocking Hills and Ohio University to watch Cameron Howard participate in the OU Honors Band. It was fun to hang with friends and be back on the campus of my Alma Mater. We enjoyed dinner at Jackie O’s Brewery in the heart of uptown Athens and then headed back to their cabin in Hocking Hills where Finn enjoyed helping to decorate their Christmas tree. 
On Sunday we attended the Love Changes Everything Christmas Program at church. This year part of the program included a performance by Holywell, a band that includes several church members. Turns out the kiddos enjoyed dancing around in the “mosh pit” up front. It was cute to watch.
