Radio Flyer

Given who his mom is, Reed and his first bike deserve a post all to themselves.  Karen came home the other day with this beauty.  And a helmet the next.  I think Reed thinks it is just another thing to climb on and push around.  But he loves those two qualities in a  wheeled object, so I'd say this was a hit.  The day he can reach the pedals and can turn the wheels round and round will be another blog post all to itself.

Please turn your sound off for this one.  I have to learn to keep quiet while videoing.  My voice is just awful.  

Easter Saturday

Lest I be accused some day of not exposing Reed to each holiday kids are supposed to go crazy over, yes, I did take him to an egg hunt.  We kept it small this year; Auntie Lisa and I went to the park up the street and threw Reedy into his first egg hunt.  We'll save Woodland Park for upcoming years.

It was a joke.  Reed did not like the big person in the bunny costume at all.  He stood around and watched kids scoop up the plastic eggs which were just lying in the grass.  I think maybe one time he picked up a plastic frog, which also was just lying in the grass.  He may or may not have shown a bit of interest in a tiny little toy top.....which was lying in the grass.  There wasn't a whole lot of hunting going on.  Karen told me that I couldn't buy an Easter basket for him because they take up too much space to store (DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THAT ONE), so I s'pose it is good that he did not gather lots of loot.  Well, it was a sunny morning, a rite of passage, and fun to hang with Lisa and make fun of all kids and their plastic egg-crazy parents.  Lisa got some pretty cute shots of our boy.

The big bunny was not a hit that day, but the playground sure was.  Just like every other day.

PROKO

Sheesh.  I am a terrible blogger.

Anyhoo, in March, Reed and I were able to go to Spokane to watch Karen race in her first race as a professional downhill mountain biker.  Her new handle is "PROKO."  (you know, PRO for professional, then KO for her initials).  We were really excited to get to see her first race.  We were also really, really excited to see the Ousnamers.  Yep---all five of them!  They came from ID (and Bobi Jo from Portland), and we rented a house together.  It was Reed's second time meeting Sheridan, but really his first time....because the real first time he was only six months or so and he did nothing but roll around on the floor, crosseyed.  (not really.  it just seems like he was a total baby then, and he is not so much baby now).

 The Ousnamers are the family we have because of the adoption situation Karen and I had which did not end up in the adoption of a baby.  Sheridan is the "baby", and she could not have a more wonderful, awesome, funny, fun, loving, and awesome family.  We didn't end up with Sheridan as our child, but we ended up with HER and her FAMILY as family that we suspected were awesome, and really are awesome.  LOVE takes many forms, and this is one of those kind of tweeky, weird, and really lucky forms.  We love them.

Here are some shots from hanging around the rental.  (i know you are dying to see the proko shots, but just wait.  they are forthcoming....)

Playing on the bed; PROKO in background

Turns out, mountain bike racing is not exactly a spectator sport.  For us spectators, there is a whole lot of standing around, squinting to see if the rider barreling towards us is "our" rider, and then, for me, there is typically a lot of disappointment--that I completely missed "my" rider, because I was trying to take an iphone pic as she zoomed passed, and I completely miss her passing, as well as the shot I am desperately trying to catch.   Yep.  You really should feel sorry for me.  It is not easy being married to one of these.  :)

Neil and Karen toting Sheridan around on Karen's rig. Naturally, Karen is convinced Sheridan will end up loving mountain bikes.....

Hanging around in the needles, waiting for Karen to ride by.

Bobi Jo, Mary, and Reed hanging out, waiting for Karen to ride by.

As it turns out, PROKO took second in her first race, which was Saturday, and then went along and took FIRST in her second race of the weekend, on Sunday.  Yahooo!!  She was so excited.  We all were so excited.  I was super proud of her.  Like, I know she is a really great rider, but when hanging around her and watching mountain bike dudes (and plenty of women riders as well) approach her and tell how ballsy and awesome and inspiring she is, well, that makes me super duper proud.  She's pretty amazing.

Tired, tired Reedy.  Waiting for Karen to get up on the podium.

They could not be sweeter, could they?  Such LOVE.

Winner!!

Proud Mum!

The gal on the right is Karen's first official groupie.  She asked for a pic with Karen, asked for her autograph, and then picked up a granola bar wrapper Karen had touched.  She probably taped it inside her journal.

I love this one of Mary holding Sheridan.....  Again-- it is not much of a spectator sport.  And it kind of wears out the kiddos.....

(i meant for this to be a pic, not a video. but i love it anyway!!)

And, as a denouement to the weekend, I share with you a sweet little video of Reed and Sheridan in the bath together.  Yes, this is Reed's first bathmate.  And I could not have chosen a better one myself!!!  Listen carefully to Mary's commentary in the background.  Only time will tell!!!!!!!!!!!

March Madness

In March, Ariel, Johnny, and Cyria came up from Eugene for a visit.  Ariel and Johnny had not seen Reed since October, and Cyria had not seen him since we all left the hospital.  We had a great visit.  Reed kept us entertained, and it was actually this weekend that he really started to walk.  We hung around the house (making paths for him to get around), took a little road trip to Kurt Cobain's old house, had beers at the brewery, and just pretty much took in Everything Reed.  It was great.

Reed could totally tell that Cyria was less than 17.  He loves being around minors.  Seriously.  They can make him crack up like nobody else.  And they typically have the energy to chase him around, endlessly.  And let him try his tricks on them, over and over again.  Haaaa!  I loved watching these two.  I look forward to watching their relationship grow over time.

Johnny was helping Reed with his Home Depot tool box.  They were building something, I think.

Awwww!

Thanks for the visit.  We love you guys.  Can't wait to see you again!

I love this pic.  Reedy looks like a freshly hatched chick.