We're Going to Be In a Plane For How Long?

So these are the final RPODs until we return from Egypt. We'll be travelling for several days, and when we get back there will be a wealth of photos of Reid doing all sorts of crazy Egypt stuff. The last time we were there, Reid was just beginning to walk, was testing all sorts of new foods and wasn't talking all that much with words.

Now he has a huge vocabulary, both verbal and culinary. He's a walking, running, jumping, talking dynamo. He's unstoppable. I sure hope these people are prepared for what they're getting.

Actually, tonight at dinner, Reid was particularly rough and tumble. He ate well at dinner, but then he went off the rails while I was trying to eat my soup. We walked laps around the tightly cramped restaurant but the nice people trying to enjoy their dinner weren't exactly thrilled at Reid's table-high browsing eye.

I did some pre-work on the packing, so Reid's diaper bag was woefully underprepared for the challenge we were facing at the restaurant. In the end, it was fun with spoons and napkins. You do what you can.

Stay tuned for Egypt pictures. You can click on that second one to get a bigger version. Take care.

Weather Report

By the way, as we on the east coast look to a soggy weekend ahead and a slow start to spring, for sure, I thought I point out that the best way to describe the next ten days in Cairo is "beautiful."

A New One, and One from the Vault

Things are winding down here stateside as Reid and I prepare to reunite the family in Egypt, with K coming from her undisclosed Asian location to join us in the wilds of old Cairo.

Reid and I hit the Trader Joes for some plane food (better than regular raisins? Oraganic raisins!) and then went over to Target to gather a few last minute supplies. I also picked up some cute books for the little boy.

Last time we went on the plane, we used one of the suitcases that technically qualifies as a carryon, but is obnoxious when other people carry it on, because it's so big. Yeah, that was us. We're going to be doing that again, I fear, if only to store all the things this father will need to entertain Reid on the epic length flight (10 hours nonstop).

Under all discernible international rules of engagement, Reid should sleep much of the trip. We leave in the evening and it will be 5 in the morning "in his head" when we get to Cairo. It seems clear that I'm in a fantasy world if I think he'll sleep, but hey, a dad can dream, right?

Anyhow, at night after Reid goes to bed, I creep around the house like a cat burglar, packing our belongings because packing while he's awake is really just a non-effective activity. "Reid, put this in the suitcase. Reid. Put this in the suitcase. Reid, put down daddy's tie. Reid, don't put that shoe in your mouth, though I guess it's okay because it's never been on your foot. Reid. Put this in the suitcase. Don't throw it. Don't. Reid." Et cetera.

So I stealth pack, which keeps the boy from inhibiting my work too much and keeps the dog from freaking out, certain that what she sees as Reid's long campaign to undermine her position in the family is finally coming to pass, but out of guilt, we're going to let her keep the house. So funny.

Here's a photo from the vault. This one is Reid, crossing the Thames river in a stroller, attempting to snatch the camera out of my hand. It was taken on Reid's first birthday or thereabouts, July 2004 in London. See how much the shape of his face has changed? He was just learning to walk then and was I think a little stockier than he is now, frankly, though about four inches shorter. So many changes in such a short time. (The London pic is full size, but that new one up top can be clicked bigger. It isn't a great shot, but our time at home was shortened by the aforementioned trips to Trader Joes and Target. Sorry.)

I'm Sorry Officer, I Didn't Realize How Fast I Was Going

The big collapsible car was back in effect tonight. Lately, it has been living, assembled, in our living room, which is okay because we only use the living room when we're entertaining. From time to time, Reid runs over and plays with it, often dramatically dragging one of us by the hand over to help/get in/watch him play.

Tonight, Reid struggled to haul the entire works, which I recently collapsed, from the living room into the TV room. All folded up, it is about Reid's height and two feet across. If you grab it like a child would, it begins to re-expand, becoming more of a burden with every step. Reid sounded like he was hauling a wet featherbed up a flight of stairs. He was grunting and panting and his tongue was sticking out and he didn't care. He was getting it over to the TV room.

He couldn't put it together, of course, but he made a heck of a go at it.

Oh, and for everyone who likes pictures of Reid with his head in things, here's another. If you click either one of these photos, there's a gigantic version in the offing for you.

You Talking To Me?

Being an enterprising deliverer of fresh photographic content daily is a lot of work. Because of complex issues involving: 1) Reid's desire to immediately begin playing in the yard and 2) how illegal it is for me to leave him in our unfenced front yard without attention for even a second; I haven't been able to photograph the post-daycare front yard-play. Until now.

I put a camera in the car this morning. Check out the big brain on dad.

Anyhow, Reid loves it out here. We run around, we shake our tiny fists at daddy, we stand here at the edge of the driveway carefully picking up filthy fistfuls of dirt and rock and depositing them in our yard (where I will mow them into oblivion this later this spring).

We run from here to there, we shout wonderfully gleeful exclamations of no sense whatsoever. Today, some former neighbors stopped by and Reid showed off his running back and forth and pointing to Dixie and saying, "go!" Good times.

What Eating Is Like Now

Reid's eating is great fun now, and he is really excellent with the spoons and bowls now. Using plates still devolves into a lot of potential throwing, but the bowls have become Reid's true dining forte. Tonight we had cajun dirty rice. Reid likes the spice foods.

Apparently today at daycare, Reid had chocolate milk. He was bouncing off the walls. It was really something to see. Like a coiled spring. It started with our now-traditional post-daycare time in the front yard. This is some great stuff, but I really need to bring a camera out (Reid won't let me pick him up and take him inside to grab the camera). He decided that today was the today, after a lot of practice, to take every single piece of gravel from the driveway to the yard. This will be great when I start mowing the grass again. Not that I'll be doing that anytime soon.

Here is a shot from Reid's Nonni's camera phone of him on the train at Westmoreland Mall in Greensburg, Pa. He went on once with me (and I almost needed the jaws of life to get out of the thing after the ride was over) and twice more by himself. Then, as I mentioned yesterday, he cried when we had to leave.

RPOD Backlog: A Weekend in Photos

I'll just go ahead and throw this passel of pictures up because it's 11:30. Reid and I visited his Nonni this weekend, and took in the Phipps Conservatory Spring Flower Show, which was great. We had a really nice time all weekend.

Reid also hung out with his cousins during an energetic 90-minute session of complete chaos. (This led to an internal debate about the merits of raising an only child; grandparents should hold their fire because I'm not serious.)

We had a lot of train-related fun. The flower show featured an amazing garden railroad exhibition which prompted a lot of bug-eyed staring and pointing from the R-man. If you click this picture, you can see a larger version and just barely make out the actual train passing my mom and Reid.

Reid also got to visit the source of his favorite fruit, the common edible banana tree. Seconds after this photo was taken, Reid very nearly got us tossed out of the conservatory by reaching out and almost plucking a banana from the bunch behind his head. Fortunately for everyone, I brought a non-protected banana for eating.

Finally, Reid rode on a train at a mall (the Easter train, duh) which he enjoyed so much, he had to be hauled away from the train like a mental patient. We distracted him with a fountain and a balloon. Kids are awesome. Needless to say, the Easter train and the cousin chaos was not captured because your correspondent left his camera at home. Sorry. Nonni took a camera-phone picture of Reid on the train, but I haven't been able to get my hands on it yet. We really did have a good time visiting Nonni, and got to read some new books and play with all the knicknacks and doo-dads in her house. It's nice to sit down for some reading with a grandparent.

Can I Get an E?

So this weekend, Reid and I are going to head over to his Nonni's house for a little pre-Easter get-together. This is mostly because we'll be in Egypt for Easter and will thus will be making Reid miss the opportunity to ingest mass quantities of chocolate.

I'm sure he'll make up for it this weekend.

Anyhow, tonight was pretty quiet. After dining out and visiting the FedEx last night, Reid and I were in the mood for a little leftovers and crazy play before a normal bedtime (the first in a while).

Some interesting updates, though. Reid has really discovered the outside. While we've been trying out things like the playground, etc, we've never just played around outside merely because it was the outside. This is now an option.

Today, after arriving from daycare, we played in the front yard for about a half-hour. It was about 50 degrees today, which is another factor in being able to hang around outside. Reid likes to run around the yard and pick up small stones and hand them to you. This is fun.

He also likes to point in the general direction of our dog, Dixie, and shout something between "dog" and "go" and maybe "ball" if we're feeling particularly chatty. Then he dashes over to the car, and walks around the car, looking to make sure that I'm watching him as he looks for ways to get in trouble (eat the rock, lick the car, find a toy car, eat that). It's a fun game. I feel like a goalie for a human soccer ball.

K and I are very excited about working in the back yard so we can enjoy it this year. Barbecues, little boy wandering around in a fenced space only getting into marginal trouble, good times.

Between K's current trip and our second leg in Egypt, spring should probably have sprung in the mid-Atlantic by the time we get back. Here's hoping.

Dad, I Think I'll Drive

This is really an object lesson in how important it is to keep your child securely locked into his car seat, even when the car isn't moving.

Honestly, Katrena set Reid in the front seat while she made an adjustment in the backseat or something, and Reid immediately hopped behind the wheel (the car was off, keys nowhere near the ignition) and began making car noises and manipulating the wheel. It was riotous and Reid was content to keep driving while we ran to get the camera.

Needless to say, when the time came to actually put him in his boring, steering wheel-less carseat, there was much complaining. This was mostly in the form of his incredible ability (in the civil disobediance tradition of Mohandas K. Gandhi and Dr. King) alternately arch his back wildly to prevent you from securing him and then sliding out of the seat and down to the car floor.

Tonight, Reid and I had a little Arab food in celebration of K's safe arrival in Dubai en route to her final destination. Then we had a strange adventure tracking down some FedEx packages. Nothing quite eventful.

Last night was something else entirely. Reid bumped his nose in the tub (he gets very eager when the prospect of getting out of the tub is raised) which triggered a predictable round of crying. What was unpredictable was the nosebleed.

Reid had no idea what was going on, and was mostly irritated by my efforts to stop the bleeding. Fortunately for us, we have lately been reading the irrepressible "The Holes in Your Nose" by Genichiro Yagyu. Seriously, this book and these other crazy Japanese books about body parts and bodily functions are a riot. But "Holes" includes a passage about how sometimes the holes in our noses bleed. Reid made the connection right away.

Needless to say, there is no photography from the nosebleed incident. I included the link and cover of "Holes in Your Nose" instead.

RPOD March 2005

I can't believe we're launching another dozen days of RPOD. The first RPOD was born in September 2004, when K took her second work-trip since Reid was born. The first one was better left unchonicled. It came immediately after our trip to Egypt and is memorable because Reid and I (with our little cocker spaniel) drove to Pittsburgh for my sister's second wedding event and had a young Pizza Hut patron, um, lose his pie right on our feet while we were waiting for our lunch. It took us 6 hours to travel the normally four hour voyage, and the week K was away was punctuated by powerful bouts of...well, let's not get off on the wrong foot.

Now the RPODs are what grandparents and Reid's silent cadre of admirers love the most about K's long-distance trips. We should all hope for good weather as Reid will surely take to the region's parks and playgrounds if the temperature and precipitation allow, virtually guaranteeing great photography and ruined khaki pants for all.

K will be on travel for about 12 days, and then Reid and I will be meeting her in Egypt (so more pictures) before returning here. This trip will be the first time that Reid will enjoy his own airline seat. Can you imagine flying from NYC to Cairo with Reid on your lap? I couldn't.

Oh, you can click on that cute picture and get a full-sized one.

Um, I Think I Might Need to Have a Little Work Done on the Sleeves

I decided to try titles, because this one just called out for it. Reid got a little tiny suit this week, as we are taking him to one of a series of weddings this month which require extreme cuteness. Reid is, of course, the cute master, as this shot demonstrates. We took his suit to a tailor (also named Reed) and Reid had a little tiny fitting, for which the tailor said he was better than many adult customers at standing still.

We got him some little loafers, too. He's gonna crush at this wedding.

K's going on another trip next week, and then we're going to this wedding right after, meeting her in Egypt. It's going to be one heckuva Spring.