Is that some more personality that I am seeing?

Ladies and gentleman,

This will be a short post. But Adam and I have concluded that we are in the middle of 'major developmental changes' week.

It all started so innocuously on Sunday. We had been noticing that over the past few days that Douglas was less and less enthralled with his bottle - he didn't want it. We were trying to then figure out how to proceed with that because we were in the beginning stages of trying to wean him from an evening nursing and our transition plan included the bottle. So, while we were deliberating over that, Sunday evening rolled around and Douglas then made his wishes very clear - he didn't want to nurse either. He had nursed Sunday morning, but in the evening you would have thought I was hurting the little guy. It definitely threw us for a loop - no bottle, no nursing? What is a parent to do? It was a long night and I concluded that he must be sick. What else would explain such a drastic change (and also being up for most of the night).

So, Monday morning, to the doctor we went. He checked Douglas' throat, he checked Douglas' ears - nothing. This little guy (who was charming every nurse and patient he saw) was the very picture of health. So, back home we went to see Nanna for the day. He took a bottle that afternoon (though we found out later that he had to hold it himself) and nursed once more for me that evening. Little did I know that that time would be the last . Later that same night, you would have thought I was hurting him again by offering him another nursing opportunity.

Tuesday rolled around and Douglas' went to our babysitter and best friend's house. This time - no bottle, no way! He absolutely refused. (I wasn't even offering to nurse anymore, a mom can only take a screaming reaction when she offers herself so many times.) But this very astute lady noticed that he took his sippy cup okay, and seemed to want to hold the bottle himself. So, we then tried to just give him his sippy cup and he was as happy as a clam!

Apparently he wants to do it all by himself now. So - no bottle, no nursing, just a sippy cup. And yes, he would like to feed himself only as well, and turn the pages of the book by himself. "Please don't help me mom and dad, I want to do it myself" is the message we have received.

So, off to the races of a more independent child - luckily he didn't also decide to walk this week. I don't know if I could have handled all those changes at once.

Happy Thursday!

Summer is ending...

I realize that it has been many weeks since I have last updated this blog. You all have probably been wondering where in the world we had disappeared to. August was a busy month for us Reinhardts. Earlier in the month we went on a hard-core camping trip with my family up in the high peaks region of the Adirondacks. When I say hard-core, I mean tenting it with a 9 month old. To some campers hard-core might mean sleeping in a lean-to in the wild, but try sleeping in a tent with a 9 month old and you will find another level of difficulty. But, I would say that we prevailed, survived and even enjoyed it. Then at the end of the month we returned to the Adirondacks for a wonderful gathering of good friends for a wedding over Labor Day weekend. Luckily this time we were able to stay in a very nice hotel, Lake Pleasant Lodge. It is right on the shores of Lake Pleasant and was quite enjoyable.

[One note I need to insert before I describe our month. Our camera stopped working part way through our camping trip, so these are not all inclusive pictures. ]

These two pictures show our basic set up while camping. We were either down on the beach or we were sitting around our camp fire. The beach was beautiful, had a great view of Rollins Pond, and afforded us many pleasant mornings, afternoons and evenings.

Now the screened in area that you see behind us? In true Adirondack style, 12 hours in the middle of our stay consisted of constant pouring rain. And that screened in porch is where we spent most of our time. It got a bit crowded, especially when you add a pack and play for an active Douglas.

These next few pictures are a play by play of what Douglas was doing. He was crawling all around in the dirt and the sand and the water. He loved it! Now, sleeping in a tent in the cold - not so much did he like. So that made the trip a bit hard because Mom and Dad, while they would have preferred to sleep. But, all in all it was a great trip!