Beach Bum

The weather last Saturday was beautiful so we ended up at the beach, a much better option than shoe shopping which had been plan A.  Fortunately traffic issues kept me from accomplishing this chore so we had no choice but to go play!

Rhys loved being in the water, even when the waves were a little unruly.

How did we end up with a strawberry blond kid?!

I was thrilled to see our sometimes dainty city-boy embracing the sand.

Sweetness

We went strawberry picking last Sunday.  Brian and I had a great time and Rhys seemed to enjoy himself, though we couldn't convince him to eat a strawberry for anything.  We knew to expect that; he'd been rejecting strawberries for a few days (despite the fact that they were sweet and delicious, being fresh from Brian's garden and all).  He eventually ate some that night with dinner and, lo and behold, he loved them!  Turns out Mama and Dada weren't trying to poison you, Rhys!  It was a good reminder for me that you just have to keep offering kids food.  New stuff is weird, you've got to make it not new.

As usual, we're making Rhys do the work.  We've got him convinced that work is fun.  It's awesome.

Hey, Dada, do you want me to keep taking the strawberries out of the box and putting them into the plants?

Oh, sleep! How do I love thee...

I haven't written much about sleep lately, mostly because all is well.  I am getting as much sleep as I need, which happens to be a little less this time of year thanks to all of the daylight.  However, lest anyone worry that I have abandoned one of my true loves, I wanted to relay this story:

Scene:  It's 2am, we're all asleep (of course).  A noise outside...sounds like gunshots.

My first thought:  Huh, what?  Were those gunshots?

Second thought:  Those punks better not wake my baby.

Third thought:  We'll deal with this in the morning.

Fourth thought:  Zzzzzz

That's right, hearing potential gunshots did not motivate me to get out of bed.  Oh, sleep...

This article made me feel really good about my love of sleep.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/17/cheating-ourselves-of-sleep/?_r=1&

The cats love sleep even more than I do (well, I'm not sure they love it more, but they get more of it).  I glanced at the baby monitor the other day and saw this:

I honestly can't remember ever seeing either of them in Rhys' crib, neverind the two of them zonked out.  It was pretty hilarious.  (Note, Rhys was not in there.  He was downstairs with me while I was cooking dinner - that's right, I was cooking dinner.  Maybe this means Rhys is growing on them?!)

Garbage Day

I've mentioned that Rhys really loves picking up trash.  He also loves garbage trucks and hauling around garbage (and recycling and food compost) cans.  Most of the week we have to tell him to leave the cans where they are, so he is super psyched when garbage day comes around and we can haul them out to the curb and back!

Don't hold it back, Dada.  I got this.

Just my size.

Garbage day is the best!

 

Happy Father's Day

Dear Dada,

I really made you earn your stripes this weekend.  I don't know why, but I thought it'd be cool to start a new game where I scream at an incredibly loud volume for no apparently reason.  Fun, huh?!

Anyway, Dada, I had a long and sappy letter that I asked Mama to transcribe for me but apparently she's too worn out to do so.  I don't think she likes my new game that much.

All you really need to know Dada is that 1) I love you so, so much and 2) I won't always be a little caveman with limited verbal skills.   

Happy Father's Day.

Love, Rhys.

   

Jump!

It never really occurred to me that jumping was a learned skill.  I realize now that seems silly...basically everything is a learned skill.  Anyway, thanks to my ignorance, Rhys figuring out how to jump strikes me as extra cute.  Maybe I'm biased...decide for yourself: 

Stud Muffin

I mentioned awhile back that I enjoy reading a blog written by a woman named Katy Bowman.  She's a human physics scientist who focuses on the mechanical causes of disease.  She also happens to be the mom of two very young children, so she often writes about human development.  Awhile back she posted about the importance of upper body strength and how most kids don't have the opportunity to develop it because of our modern lifestyle.  She then posted a video of her 16 month old hanging from some rings they had set up for him.  It was pretty cool, so we decided Rhys needed rings, too.

The video only shows him holding up his feet briefly, but off-camera he held them up longer.  I think his favorite part, though, is clapping for himself afterwards.  We didn't capture that on video, but he quickly got the hang of it once Mama, Dada and the neighbors were all giving him a big round of applause for his efforts.   

 

Is anything more fun than a box?

Rhys thinks not.

Cute Things, Part II

My post about Rhys' "cute things" was missing a couple of things:

Achoo!

When Rhys was a very little baby, we would pretend sneeze at him in order to make him laugh.  Nowadays, he cracks us up by saying "achoo" whenever we sneeze.  It's his version of bless you, I think.

Outgo

Rhys' first word was either "up" or "hot".  He still says both of those (and many others) a lot, but his favorite word is probably "outgo" which is how he says "go outside."  He really loves going outside so we hear outgo quite often.

Hugs

Since Rhys was able to, he's loved to hug cats and dogs.  We learned recently that he also loves to hug other little kids.

Fear not, friend, I am a gentle giant.

I could look at this picture all day long.

Working Girl

As of last Monday, I rejoined the ranks of working moms.  My time off was wonderful.  I started my new job feeling relaxed and refreshed which was great.

And the verdict on the new job?  So far, so good!  The best part so far is that my boss seems great.  I have personally found liking ones boss to contribute about 80% to overall job satisfaction, so I'm psyched that we seem to be on the right track there. 

The second best part (so far) is that I love being a part of an organization with a social mission.  I was in a two-hour leadership meeting on my first day and, literally, I almost cried when one of the women was talking about the work her team was doing at one of Pioneer's adolescent homes.  I have no delusions that we (Pioneer) are going to save the world but it feels really good to at least be trying to help.  A whole lot better than trying to sell people more stuff.

Other cool things?  The commute is great and my boss is fine with a shifted schedule so I'm working 7:30 to 4:30, which means I am home by 5!  Two whole hours before Rhys' bed time.  I have an office...it's small, but still.  There are NO nearby lunch places so I bring lunch which means I am saving money and losing weight.

So, all in all, it's been great so far.  I am excited to keep learning and, hopefully soon, start contributing.