The Snowbirds of Summer

This past Friday we all went up to Snowbird for my dad's work party. Usually work and party are oxymorons. But, in this case, there were plenty of thrills to keep me talking about it for days.

The best part was the Alpine Slide. The picture above is me riding it with mommy.

I also got to ride a ski lift, which was lots of fun.

They also had big inflatable slides and other activities. I wanted to go on the tram, but the weather was starting to get ugly, and mom and dad said we'd have to wait until next time.

Of course, all the fun was pretty much for big kids. So, once again, the only thing Reece could do was watch.

Maybe next year, kiddo.

Say Cheese.

Over the weekend mom and dad took us up to Red Butte Garden to get some "official summer photos" (hence the matching shorts). Colin wasn't being a very cooperative model. But I guess he just knows that--unlike me--he doesn't really have a shot to do this stuff professionally.

Mom was happy, despite the fact that she learned they replaced the Perennial Garden where she and dad got married with a new Rose Garden.

Anyway, here are some of the better pics (even a couple of Colin). If you would like to hire me for professional modeling, please contact my agent.

Reece vs. Colin: 6-Month Edition

I went to the doctor a few weeks back and got a clean bill of health along with my stats. I have no real comment, other than to say Colin is a chubby shrimp.

	Reece		Colin
	Stat	%	Stat	%
Weight	15.3 lb	15th	15.5 lb	25th
Height	26-3/8 in	50th	26 in	45th
Head Circ.	44.2 cm	55th	44.2 cm	55th

Daddy's Day

  

Sunday, of course, was Father's Day. For fun we went up to Oakridge and met my buddy Jack's family for brunch.

The food was good, but the best part was when Jack's dad broke out the golf clubs. I got some good short-game practice in.

	Here I am with a tap-in for par. Jack's helping me line up the putt.
	Then I was able to work on my bunker game for awhile

We took some pictures with dad, but they somehow got corrupted on the camera card.

Oh well, it was still a great day out on the links.

To My 6 mo. Bro!

Just wanted to wish Reece a happy 6-month birthday.

Well, mostly I wanted to make a point. And usually I wouldn't dignify his smack talk with a response. But...

Until you can master the left-handed, upside-down spoonful of Spaghettios with one arm behind your back, I wouldn't be spouting off about about who is trying to pattern their eating style after who.

Not-So-Solid Food

Sorry that it has been so long since any of us have updated the blog. I don't know what excuse Colin has (probably simple buttheadedness) but I've been using my energy trying to learn how to eat solid food.

We kicked things off with rice cereal a couple weeks ago. It wasn't bad. Wasn't good. But it wasn't bad.

Then mom tried some peas. (Blech!)

Then there were carrots. (Meh.)

Sweet potatoes were a few days later. (I could get used to those.)

Then it was peas again. (Seriously, no thank you.)

Tonight we tried squash. (Hmm, interesting. Can I have some milk, please?)

Colin seems to be very interested in all my food, which is odd because, according to mom and dad, he wouldn't eat most of this stuff when he was my age.

Just another example of Colin trying to be more like me.

Well, I don't know how all you grownups eat this stuff. But at least it makes my poop stinkier, which I find rather hilarious.

Springing

The weather outside was finally far from frightful this weekend. So we got to play outside.

Everyone took a trip to the park on Saturday. I swung the swings.

	I slid the slide.
	I pedaled my bike.
	And all Reece could do was watch.

Then, we headed back home so I could spend some quality time with my new favorite toy: My "Choo-choo Track"

Reece vs. Colin (4 month edition)

 

This photo was taken Easter morning. We're wearing the shirts our Grandma Kathy gave us. Thanks Grandma!

You may notice I look a little melancholy in the photo. That's because earlier in the week I went to the doctor for my four month well-baby check up. And, well, here are the results:

Reece @ 4 months		Percentile
Height	24-1/4"	27%
Weight	13 lb 2.5 oz	23%
Head Circumference	16-3/8"	27%
Colin @ 4 months
Height	24-1/2"	35%
Weight	13 lb 2 oz	20%
Head Circumference	16-5/8"	35%

What is going on here?! I've slipped! I've got a little bit of weight on him, but that just has given him ammo for fat jokes.

This is not right. Anyone know where I can pick-up some HGH?

Eggstravaganza

Over the past couple of weeks I've found more than my fair share of eggs. The weekend before last, my buddy Jack had his annual Easter egg hunt where I scored this sweet dump truck egg. It's always a real hoot watching all the kids race for the 400 plus eggs that Jack's mom and dad "hide." Someday I am going to have my parents take me early so Jack and I can scope out all the eggs before those other kids. Tee hee...

Then this past Saturday, my friend Juliet had a few of us over for more egg-tastic fun. I got lots stickers, tattoos and some little plastic farm animals.

As if that wasn't enough, the Easter Bunny stopped by Sunday morning while I was sleeping. Not only did he leave me more eggs with little stickers and toys inside, I also got a cool train set, cookware and books. Then we went up to Grandma & Grandpa Griffin's house for brunch, where there were even more eggs--this time filled with bouncy balls.

My mom is so happy to have all these plastic eggs with all my loot scattered around the house. I am waiting for her to trip on them.

Just you wait, Mom. Easter is just getting started with me and the Reecer man!!

Still Allergic to Peanuts (But Not Brownies)

This past week I went to get my annual allergy checkup. This time they did the RAST blood test as well as the skin test.

The RAST test came back with a 90-level allergy to peanuts. Basically anything above 15 means there's a 95%chance I'd have a reaction when exposed to peanut protiens. So 90 means there's a really, really, really....really, good chance I'd have a reaction to peanuts. The level doesn't necessarily predict severity, though, since I anaphylaxis the first time it's likely I'd have a pretty bad one again.

Long story short. Keep me away from peanuts and anything that's touched or possibly touched peanuts or peanut butter.

The skin test revealed I'm also mildly allergic to cats and possibly allergic to dogs. Luckily I've already learned to say "Go away Guinness!" whenever the dogs come near me. (I still love our cat Zoe though.)

Well, back to my peanut-free chocolate. See you later.

Reece's Pieces (Volume 1, Issue 1)

I don't have any big news to report. Colin and I have been on the antibiotics. He has a sinus infection and I have an ear infection. I'm pretty sure he gave whatever we have to me, so, once again Colin is causing trouble for both of us.

In other news, daycare is going well. I pretty much just hangout, eat, then sleep. And go though that cycle over and over until mommy comes and picks me up.

Last weekend we got a treat. Uncle Bryan was in town on leave from his Naval Officer training. So he and aunt Robyn and our cousins Evan and Jake stayed with us a couple of days.

It was lots of fun. The best part was watching Uncle Bryan tease Colin. We didn't get a good picture of all of us, but here's one with Aunt Robyn, Colin, and Uncle Bryan.

That's all I've got for now. I'm going to my four month well-baby check-up on Monday, so look for that recap next week.

Getting Schooled

So I've been going to daycare for the past couple of weeks and, while I definitely miss hanging out with my mom, it's been good.

The head teacher in the "Rock-A-Bye" class is Joyce. Colin is one of her all time favorite kids (who knows why) so I'm getting some residual extra attention from that. (I guess Colin is good for something.)

Though they keep saying I look just like a dark-haired Colin, which is a little insulting. Well, you decide. Above is a picture of me at 3 months, below is a picture of Colin at three months. I don't know about cuteness, but I'd say one of us definitely looks dumber.

Big Snooze

Over the weekend I started to make the move to sleeping in my "big boy" bed. So far it's been great. I like all the extra pillows and blankets I can have on there. Best of all, when I wake up in the morning I can just climb on down and play with my toys or read a book.

The photo above was taken when my mom sneaked in and snapped the first night.  As you can see, getting a restful sleep on the new mattress has not been a problem.

Happy 94th Great Grandma!

This past weekend we celebrated my Great Grandma Griffin's 94th birthday.We had all the extended Griffin family there, so I got to run around with my second cousins who I haven't seen in awhile.

My Great Grandma Timper was there to celebrate too. Here she is with Grandma Griffin and Reece:

Best of all, I got to eat cake and ice cream! Yum!

By the way, you're all invited to my 94th birthday on January 15, 2101. It'll be the biggest bash of the new century!

Weigh In

So, I've been admonished for my grumpy attitude in my last post. Especially for saying Colin is stupid. So, I apologize. Colin isn't stupid, just sometimes inconsiderate with his virus spreading.

Moving on, my post is about our joint well-baby/toddler visit from a couple weeks back that we forgot to post about.

Aside from the RSV stuff, we're both doing very well. Colin hasn't even had any asthma problems despite the respiratory illness and the bad air we had a few weeks ago.

Anyway, for those keeping track, here are our latest stats. And note the Reece vs. Colin @ 2 month comparison. What a runt.

Colin @ 2 years
		Percentile
Height	35 inches	75%
Weight	23.5 lbs.	5%
Reece @ 2 months
Height	22.75 inches	50%
Weight	11 lb 3 oz	40%
Head Circ.	15-5/8 in	40%
Colin @ 2 months
Height	22.5 inches	35%
Weight	10 lb. 12 oz.	20%
Head Circ.	15-3/5 in.	40%

Respiratory Syncytial Virus

I've received a lot of calls and e-mails lately asking why I haven't been blogging. Well, I'm sick. So give me a break. 

Stupid Colin gave me RSV. Luckily it hasn't meant a trip to the hospital. But the congestion and deep cough have been very annoying.

Now, however, I've passed it along to my dad. Heh, heh, sucker.

I'll resume my regular posting when I feel like it. So there.

Happy V-tine's Day

Since it's Valentine's Day weekend, here's my way of showing you that I love you: an actual blog post.

Obviously the entire family has been delinquent in updating the blog. We make no excuses, just empty assurances that it won't happen again.

Here are a few of the activities of the past weeks:

Chuck E. Cheese's

My friend Zach had his birthday party at the ol' Chuckster's place a couple of weeks ago. It was wild. I couldn't get enough of the pop-a-shot basketball game, skee-ball, and some NFL quarterback challenge. Basically if it involved hurtling balls at some sort of round receptacle, dad had to drag me away screaming.

Dad didn't bring a camera to the festivities, but here's some photo-cop evidence of me leaving the scene.

Kangaroo Zoo

As part of my month-long birthday celebration, a few weeks ago I met my similarly early-year birthdayed friends Milo and Jack at Kangaroo Zoo. It's basically a giant room filled with a variety of inflatable slides and bouncing corrals.

I was a little wary at first, so I started off with the small stuff.

But, after awhile, not even the stampeding eight-year-olds could deter me from the larger slides.

Of course, we replenished ourselves with pizza and Capri Sun.

I've also worked in a couple of trips to Discovery Gateway and other events since my last post. But, I'm not sure you all can handle that much excitement after such a long delay.

Hopefully it won't take another semi-major Hallmark holiday to get me to post again. But, I'll just leave it with a "See You Soon."

The Big Zero Two

Today was a great birthday. Here's a quick rundown of my day:

I went to school today. My friends all made me cards and this cool birthday crown. (We also made binoculars.) Later in the day Mom brought cupcakes to class for a celebration.

When I got home I hung out with mom, dad, and Reece for awhile. Then we got take-out from Paradise Bakery. I had my favorite Fire-Roasted Tomato soup. Yum!

Then mom, dad, and Reece sang happy birthday. I made a wish and blew out the candles on my birthday cupcake (with some help).

Then I ate the cupcake. Double Yum!

Then I opened some presents from mom, dad, and Reece. After Christmas and my birthday, I'm getting pretty good at ripping up the wrapping paper.

This weekend, we'll have more festivities. But today was a lot of fun.