I'm gonna soak up the son

No, the title does not contain a typo. It's a pun on Sheryl Crow's song "I'm Gonna Soak Up the Sun". Get it?? :-) As little Bun's arrival nears, I've been feeling the need to soak up as much "mommy and Reed" time as I can. As much as I'm looking forward to the addition to our family, I can't help but feel a twinge of sadness that I will no longer be able to devote myself completely to Reed. So, I'm doing my best to make the most out of this time!!

A week or so ago, I was getting dressed for the day, and Reed asked to nurse. Actually, he may have just been commenting on the fact that he saw mommy's "nursies", but when I asked him if he wanted to nurse, he said yes. So we sat down together, but he immediately squirmed away. But, he returned promptly with two stuffed animals. I asked if he wanted me to nurse the animals and he said yes. Figuring it would be good to let him see me nurse somebody (or I suppose something) else, I proceeded to pretend to nurse the animals. Plus, I thought it was really sweet that he wanted me to nurse his animals. But then he amazed me by bringing me my boppy (nursing pillow) to nurse with!! I was astounded that he remembered that the boppy was for nursing. It's been a long time since Reed nursed consistently and an even longer time since we regularly used the boppy to nurse! Anyway, the fact that he wanted me to nurse his stuffed animals gave me a little hope that this transition won't be as hard on him as I think it will.

And, for your viewing enjoyment, I'm including a couple of pictures from our trip to the Puyallup Fair. Reed's favorite thing was seeing the cows. In fact, we had to make a bee-line for the cow barn when we got there since Reed had been talking about cows for nearly the entire car ride! And of course, always fond of birbies, Reed liked the seeing the chicks.

Lake Chelan

Well, I've been waiting to post about our recent visit to Lake Chelan because I've got a really great video of Reed to post from the week before we went to Chelan. However, I have tried unsuccessfully for several nights to post the video and I'm tired of waiting to post these pics. I'm sure eventually we'll get the video up, but you're just going to have to deal with things not being chronological (I'm sure in reality this bothers absolutely nobody but me!).

We headed over to Lake Chelan the week following Labor Day. It was just Gerry's uncle and cousin and of course, the three of us. Most of the cabins around us were empty and there were very few boats on the water. It made for a very relaxing few days.

We decided to hike up to the top of Stormy Mountain, one of the taller of the local peaks. I believe the summit was about 7000 ft, and we started from about 5500 ft. The hike was less than two miles long (one way) and you gain all the elevation in the first part of the hike, so it made for some steep going. I told myself that I would get as far as I could, and wouldn't push to make to make the top, but I comfortably made it all the way up! I was pretty impressed with myself, and so were Gerry and his family. Reed LOVED the hike. Gerry and I felt bad that we hadn't gotten him out for more hikes this summer. He chattered the whole way up, pointing out the birbies he saw. On the way down, he took a nap in the backpack :-)

Reed made some new friends at the cabin. A teddy we brought from home that he was starting to get attached to became one of the best toys there, and a hippo that usually holds the bathroom door open was his other cabin favorite. Reed was very cute with both of them, feeding them, putting them down for naps in his playpen, making sure they got binkies and that momma covered them up with blankies. The feeding of his toys has continued at home. Teddy bear and one particular ball seem to have especially voracious appetites!!

Reed was brave enough to actually get in the lake this year! He didn't seem to mind the cold of the water, though he did gasp some when I got him deep enough to submerge his chest! I think this picture gives you a good idea how big I am!