Let the Parenting Begin!

The first year of a child's life is a whirlwind! You desperately try to meet their every need and keep them growing strong and healthy.  Of course that is still the goal as they move into the second year, but a new aspect of nurturing your child enters the picture.  All of the sudden the parenting aspect comes into play. It's not that you don't "parent" the first year, you most certainly do, but all the sudden your job expands from meeting basic survival needs to molding a person.  This dawned on me the other day.  All the sudden Reese figured out that if someone wasn't doing what she wanted that biting made a whole lot of sense. I must confess that the first couple times she tried to do this (to her cousin to be specific), I had to try not to laugh.  There is something comical in this little angelic creature deciding to try and bite her cousin since he took away the toy she was playing with.  Each time she tried to do this I gave her a stern no, and tried to give her another toy or explain sharing (good luck explaining sharing to a 1 year old!).  As she kept doing this behavior it struck me, I was in full blown parent mode.  I had to decide how I was going to direct her behavior and  mold her into a respectful, non biting individual.  It really made me think about all the challenges that are upon us as parents. To spank or not to spank? To address each problematic behavior or pick your battles? How do you set boundaries without sounding like you are the "no" lady?  I am finding that this is a hard line to walk.  For now I am trying to do what feels right.  I try and direct her attention to something else and give her choices. "You can't have this, but you can have that".  "Let's let Luke play with this toy and you can play with this other one".  I know these decisions will get more are more difficult as more parenting comes into play. This is just the tip of the iceberg!  Parenting is such a marathon and I have just finished the first mile. I've got a long way to go with a lot of hills to tackle! It is definitely the most difficult, yet most rewarding job there is!

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.  We went camping with friends and family a few weekends ago and had a great time! Last weekend Chris and I went wine tasting in the Yakima Valley with some great friends! It was a blast and once again we feel so fortunate that we have such wonderful parents who we can fully trust with our daughter.  Reese stayed with her Nana and Papa Holcomb in Spokane and had a great time! We were informed that she didn't cry for us at all. Go figure! Miss Reese is such an independent lady!  She is insisting on spoon feeding herself at dinner now and does not want help.  This girl keeps me on my toes! Enjoy the pics.

Helping daddy drive the boat!

A boat ride is a great time for a nap!

Still asleep!

Reese having fun with her water table!

She is obsessed with floaties!

Relaxing at camp

Colt and Austyn

Xander and Sheena

Sareh helps Darby get her feet wet!

This water was FREEZING! You couldn't tell based on Reese's reaction. She loved it!

Beautiful sunset for a glass of wine!

Chris and Mike

Fidelitas was one of our favorites!

8 wineries later...

Reese found some of my pumps

Of course she wanted to walk in them!

Feeding herself! Please ignore the janitorial staff on the right (aka. Cody)

She LOVES fudgcicles!

Hawaii

Chris and I have been able to take at least one big vacation a year ever since we got married. Last year was the exception.  Just having a new baby, we didn't really feel up to going any where big.  We decided that 1 was a great age for a first trip for Reese so it worked out perfectly to tag along on Chris' brother's graduation celebration trip to Hawaii. We went with Chris' whole family and Leila, Lee and Luke decided to come along as well.  It was such a blast. I was a bit nervous traveling on a 6 hour plane ride for Reese's first trip, but it went great.  It is definitely exhausted keeping a very active toddler entertained for that long, but she did really well.  That whole day she only took about 45 min of naps! As soon as we flew in and got groceries, we headed straight for the beach.  Reese looked right at the water and proclaimed "bath!".  "Yep, Reese, it's a big bath!"  Reese was in heaven playing in the sand and the beach the whole trip.  She would go right into the ocean with help and would have no problem staying in there all day if we let her.  The condo we stayed at also had a great pool with two kid areas that were shallow. Reese would walk around in the water for hours screaming with excitement at the top of her lungs. People would come by and just laugh at her enthusiasm.  She loved the attention!  I was amazed how well she kept her schedule too while we traveled. She transitioned to the time very easily and even kept her two normal nap times.  Thank goodness for the Peapod sleeping tent we bought a few months back! It was so light and easy to pack, and she sleeps so great in it! This is definitely one of my favorite baby finds yet! It was a very laid back vacation for us. We didn't really do a whole lot. A lot of beach and pool, heaven for me!  The hardest thing was keeping Reese shielded from the intense sun. Thank God for rash-guards! That helped so much in keeping her shielded! Even with the continuous applications of SPF 55 and constantly wearing a hat, Reese did end up with her first freckle on her nose!  I couldn't believe it when it appeared mid trip! I guess she is going to take after her mommy and have a nose covered with freckles!  I felt a little guilty about her getting it, but I guess you can't always hide from genetics.   I was very pleasantly surprised how easy it was to travel with Reese and look forward to many more family vacations! I am still in awe how much she is changing daily. Now it is all vocabulary which continues to explode on a daily basis. She repeats everything. During our trip in Hawaii she learned and will repeat what a sheep says "ba", a monkey says "oh oh ah ah" a dog says "woof".  She also repeats her grandparents names "Nana", "Papa", "Mimi" and "Seedo" (which actually just comes out Doe).  She even is repeating Auntie and Uncle. It is amazing!  Everyday I am in awe of her little vocabulary.  People around us were commenting about how much she was talking.  She is constantly jabbering, even if it is not exactly a word.  My response is always the same, "do you see who her father is!".  I almost died of embarrassment when we went out to a nicer restaurant and she decided that the sound of her loudest scream was ever so exciting. She just sat there and screamed until she was red in the face and would squeal with delight about the attention she was getting.  I tried to tell her to use her inside voice, but I guess that doesn't work out that well with a one year old! It is hard now to imagine that a few months ago she wasn't walking regularly. Now she runs and can be hard to keep up with at times.  Chris would just follow her around in the grass in front of the condo and she would go all over the place! She loves to explore!  She has also recently learned how to do a somersault!  She can't get all the way over on her own yet, but I just come up behind her and give her the slightest push and she flips over. I gotta get this kid in gymnastics soon!  I know she is going to love it! Now we are just trying to get life back together after vacation and are looking forward to a few more small trips coming up! Here are some pictures from Hawaii!