Just Reagan

Choosing just a smattering of photos of your daughter from the last 9 months of her life is hard. Blogging is a much easier job if you keep up with it, I get it. Nevertheless, this is where we're at and we have to make the best of it. So below is a picture puke of how our little sweetie has been growing and changing, and some of the fun things we've been able to do. Hopefully you can see from them that she's a funny, happy, smart little thing, and we love her to pieces!!

Also, just a quick update on some details about her these days. Reagan's weighing in at somewhere around 22-23 lbs and is about 33 in tall. She's still in size 3 diapers, which is the same size her 5 month old  cousin is wearing. She's dainty, petite, thin, whatever you want to call it, and we love it! She talks a ton, especially in the last 2 weeks. She's starting to say meaningful phrases now, like when she dropped her penny down the gutter drain and said, "money gone". And my favorite thing she says is "Ah oh, happened?", any time anything happens. She's a parrot and it's absolutely adorable. We better be extra careful what we say and watch on TV these days. She can and will climb anything, whether we thought it was climbable or not, and can figure things out like how to get the bottom off the piggy bank to get her "monies" out. Unfortunately, she's still completely attached to her binky, her blankie, and her bottle (for morning and night milk only). These are habits we're hoping to break by age 2, minus the blankie. I think everyone can use a good blankie.

Enjoy 9 condensed months of Reagan's life! (A few of the pictures are out of order, but who cares, right?)

           

Hawaii, baby!

I'm going to pretend that it hasn't been nearly a year since my last post and just jump straight ahead to present day life. I'll have more posts of Reagan and other fun things soon, but for now, Hawaii!! 

A couple of weeks ago we had the fortune of being able to take a trip to Kauai, HI with my sister and her husband and another couple. Neither Josh nor I had ever been there and didn't know when the chance would come again to have a free place to stay, so we absolutely had to go. Besides going to London a few years ago, this was by far the coolest trip we'd ever taken and we were so excited. And Hawaii did not disappoint! The scenery was breathtaking, the air was warm and smelled like flowers or citrus, and there was always something fun to do and delicious to eat. Will we go back? Definitely. Are we now considering dropping everything and moving there? Absolutely. If it weren't for our daughter back at home we never have left. And I was very pleasantly surprised at the lack of bugs. I just assumed there would be gnats and mosquitoes and other unidentified bugs constantly swarming around my head, but no. Ok, I did end up with about 25-30 mosquito bites on my legs and arms by the time we left, but even those didn't really bother me. It was so magical there that even the mosquito bites didn't itch! 

So, I'm not going to write down every detail of my trip on here because it takes too long and I need to go to bed. Just know that it was probably the best vacation of my life and I recommend that everyone visit. I tried to sum it up with a few photos and just a couple videos. If you want to see more I did put a bunch of pics on  FB. 

This is during a hike near the Na Pali coast, which had some of the most beautiful scenery of our whole trip. Also, Josh wishes he were really this tall.

The guys tried surfing for a bit without much success, but at least we got some classic pictures out of it.

Tunnels Beach. We were told to stay out of the water this day due to huge 20 ft swells and extremely strong currents. We discovered that the ocean is not only fun and beautiful, but can be insanely scary and unpredictable.

Sunset at Poipu Beach.

Even in the most beautiful and serene place on earth, we're still just a couple of geeks.

Happy Birthday, little one!

We had a really fun double birthday party a couple of weeks ago to celebrate Reagan's 1st birthday and her cousin Alexis' 3rd birthday. Reagan was...uncertain, to say the least, about her birthday cake and being given free reign of it. She cried and didn't want to touch it, but she eventually warmed up and enjoyed herself aa little bit.

Here are Reagan's one-year stats:

Weight: 18lbs 11oz (12th %)

Height: 29 in (50th %)

She used to be much more average for weight, but I guess she's more interested in cruising around and playing these days than she is in eating. She is so, so close to walking now. She has taken as many as about 10 steps toward me without falling, and she can really book it around the couch. She has even stood up by herself without holding on to anything, she's just not all the way there yet. She waves and says "bye bye", she gives high-fives and kisses, and the girl jabbers on and on endlessly--long strings of what sound like words but maybe in another language. It's so adorable! And her hand gestures really make it seem like she's saying something very deliberate, like "Look at those blinds, dad." And unfortunately, she's been saying a word, or making a sound, rather, that sounds exactly like a certain 4-letter curse word that starts with s. Over and over she makes this sound, and like a couple of 14-year-olds Josh and I laugh at it every time.

See, she looks a little concerned, doesn't she?

Her first little pig tails! Sadly, they didn't last.

A quick look at her standing on her own (and yes, she is carrying around a bunch of batteries, which were quickly taken away).

Reagan and I took a "Mom & Tot" swim class recently and it was a lot of fun. She probably didn't actually learn much at her age, but I think she had fun and was able to feel a little more comfortable in the water. We did get her face in a couple times, and she even blew some bubbles once. But the cutest was when I would set her up on the side and she would slide closer to the edge and then jump in toward me. Trusting little thing. We took the class with a friend of mine who has a baby girl too, so that made it that much better.

Reagan would float on her back while I sang, "Twinkle, twinkle, little star".

This is a common face that she makes all the time, usually with an "oh" sound.