Tidbits...

Just a few funny things I wanted to write down:

• Reid passed by our wedding picture on the staircase yesterday, as he does several times a day, except this time he stopped and looked at it. He said, "Mommy, you're a princess!" then we got to have a whole conversation about how he was a Prince and Daddy would be a King (although Reid kept saying "Queen.")
• If you ask Reid where he lives, he consistently answers "Cow Sarolina."
• In flipping through channels the other night, somehow I came across an episode of Alf - remember him? The cat-eating alien from the planet of Melmac? He immediately caught Reid's eye so we stayed on that channel for a while... actually for an entire episode. Reid was completely engrossed in it. He asked who Alf was and I told him he was from outer space, since this really isn't a foreign concept to a 2-year-old. Reid decided Alf is a "space pig." I may have to TiVo another episode to see if the fascination sticks... :)

Operation Christmas Child

I have been meaning to post this for a week or so now, but Reid and I have been fighting off some seasonal yuckiness...

Reid's school participates in Operation Christmas Child every year. For those of you not familiar with the program, click here: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/. (It is a fairly widespread program, especially in the Bible Belt, but I know some folks may not know about it.) I liked the idea of trying to teach Reid that he could help someone that he doesn't know, though it's kind of a hard thing to explain to a 2-year-old.

So, in 2-year-old terms, I told him that there was a boy like him who lived very far away - I used the photo of the kid on the brochure, since I thought a visual might be helpful - and that the boy did not have toys or a cool toothbrush like Reid has. Then I asked him if he would help me pick out some things that the boy might like so we could put them in a box and send them to him. After some more discussion, he thought that sounded like an okay idea.

We took a special trip to the Dollar Tree to pick out things for the box. I decided to make a "boy" box because I thought it would be easier for Reid to select the items. We found cars and play dough, and crayons and a coloring book among other things. I also put in some hygiene items like a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, etc. The very lucky boy also got a book of Dora the Explorer stickers. Now, I realize that wherever this box ends up, the child will likely never have heard of Dora but every kid loves stickers. There were lots of other kinds to choose from but it just HAD to be Dora. Reid figured... I love Dora, so how could the the boy far away not also love her? (Well, to put that in 2-year-old speak... "No! The boy likes Dora! He likes Dora!") You just can't argue with that logic. :)

So, we brought all our goodies home to put them in the box. I had wrapped a shoe box in white paper so Reid could decorate it. We used markers and stickers - it was a mess in the end but he was very proud of it. We filled the box and took it to school the next day. He carried it in so proudly but almost had a meltdown when I told him he had to give it to the teacher. He wanted to give it to the boy himself. I had to remind him that the boy lived far away and that Miss Barb (the school director) would mail it with all the other boxes from the other schoolkids. In the end, he gave up the box willingly.

Just this morning, when we got to school, he looked at the poster in the entryway and pointed at "the boy" I had used as my visual. The poster is now surrounded by a mountain of shoe boxes waiting to be shipped out. He still remembers putting the box together and why we did it, though it's only been a few weeks. Hopefully we can grow upon this experience into something more meaningful as the years go on.

Inspecting the selection of toys to choose from...

Decorating the box.

The completed masterpiece.

Putting all the items in... yes, I had to rearrange. :)

Tagged

(For those of you not familiar with this...this is basically a chain letter in the mommy-blog world. At least it's more entertaining and there are no curses attached! )

I've been tagged to do the following:
1) Choose the 4th picture folder on my computer
2) Choose the 4th picture
3) Explain the picture
4) Tag 4 other people


I wondered what picture it would be, but it's a good one! This is from the Feb 2006 folder on our computer. Me giving Reid his first bath. A you can tell, he was not too pleased!

I'm supposed to tag 4 other people now, but that might be impossible since so many others I know have already been tagged. If you are reading this, haven't already been tagged, and you have a blog- well, consider yourself tagged! :)

A Historic Day

I'm guessing a lot of you know my political leanings. I'm not writing this post to rant or, in this case, gloat, at all.

I would just like to point out that the first President elected in my child's lifetime is also the first African-American President (or any minority, for that matter) in our country's history. This is something that I wasn't sure would happen in my lifetime and now it will be a reality for my child from the very beginning.

The election of Barack Obama - whether you agree or not - is a tremendous turning point for our country and will go down as a truly historic day. Time will tell what his legacy will be, but I am so proud to be a part of it and only wish Reid was a little older so he could understand the significance.

Monkeyin' Around!

We had lots of Halloween fun this year! We got to trick-or-treat (TOT) a few weeks ago at "Boo in the Zoo," which was fun but super crowded - but apparently it always is. It was a good trial run in the costume and served as a good practice for Reid's TOT manners.

Then was Reid's class Halloween party, which was his first 'official' school party. I am co-room mother with another mom from the class that I am also friends with, so it's really more fun than work. We had a party on Thursday and Friday since most kids don't go every day. Reid went Friday. We had cupcakes and fruit salad and another mom made a surprise spider pinata that we shared with the other 2 year old class. So hilarious to watch them go at it, with badminton racket of all things. They also got to TOT to the other classes in the costumes. (You MUST look at the photo below of the baby belly dancers...)

Then, last night, we joined some of our neighbors at their house for some pre-TOT dinner. Since Reid decided he didn't need a nap yesterday, much to my chagrin, our TOT outing with the neighbors lasted maybe 45 minutes and he was done. We came home where he got his second wind, of course, and changed into his fireman raincoat to hand out candy.

We have WAY to much candy to go around... I had to divvy it up and either get rid of it or hide it. Reid has his stash of age-appropriate stuff and the chocolate is around (but not too close at hand). The rest will be banished. :) I know Reid will be devastated wen he figures out that candy corn is a seasonal product... the boy is an addict!

Here are some pictures of all the activities - enjoy!

Don't you love the cute, puffy monkey belly?

The paparazzi just wouldn't leave him alone!

The best shot we could get together- no nap was already kicking in.

Reid's friend Cecilia - she is such a spitfire.

Okay, how cute are these little belly dancers, named Aashi and Khushi. Authentic costumes from India. They had glitter all over their body and hair. Precious!

Party time!

Whacking the pinata with a racket! See the effort in his face... :)

The spider, before she burst.

See the cute little face on top, and the banana in his pocket.

Reid and Joshua at Boo in the Zoo.