Wee! (Oh, Crap)

The slide was faster than I thought.  At least I caught him, right?
 

(He wasn't scarred.  At the end of the video he's asking for "more, more.")

Three Shifts

For the past month or so, I've been working three shifts.  Shift one - work at office.  Shift two - make dinner, feed dinner, put kid to bed.  Shift three - work at home until bed.  Brian has been working three shifts for a lot longer than a month.  It doesn't seem to bother him too much.  It bothers me a whole lot.  I do not like turning over my life to work.  So, while I have work to do right now, I'm ignoring it because it's been far too long since I've given a Rhys update.

The last few weeks he's definitely been experiencing the "word explosion" that our pediatrician promised at his 18-month check-up.  Hearing new words come out of his mouth every day is so fun.  Admittedly, I'm also excited because I am hopeful that more words will mean less screaming.  (I don't know what I did in a previous life to deserve a car-screamer in this life).

As it has been for awhile now, Rhys' receptive language is amazing.  He absolutely knows what we're talking about 99% of the time.  It is so cool.

Rhys loves imitating everything we do.  From flossing his teeth, to putting away clean laundry to cooking dinner - he wants to do it all.

Not only does he want to do what we do, he wants to do it all by himself.  This kid is Mr. Independent.  He recently started climbing up into his high chair on his own and he is one ticked-off dude if you try and lift him up there instead of just asking him to do it.

He's also getting a little bossy in his old age.  His favorite "command" now is to pat the chair (or ground or whatever) and say "sit, sit."

We often forget how young Rhys really is because he's such a big boy.  At the park this past weekend there was another boy there who was just a couple months younger, but quite a bit smaller.  The two boys hugged each other (which was so freakin' cute) and because he doesn't realize his strength, Rhys' side of the hug turned into a tackle.  Picture two little boys embraced and then they topple over like a tree falling, Rhys on top.  So, so funny.       

Last Friday, Rhys went on his first rides!  My company "picnic" was at the Family Fun Center in Tukwila and boy did we have fun.  Rhys rode the carousel and airplane ride.  He loved them both.

I'd wave, Mama, but somebodys gotta fly this thing.

The weather has been so gorgeous. We've enjoyed lots of walks.  Rhys is usually just go-go-go, but one recent morning he needed a lift from Dada and a little rest time.

Ah, just what I needed.

Speaking of rest time, it's time for me to hit the hay.

 

Haircut #2

Rhys had his second haircut today.  He looks SO CUTE!   He's all ready for lots of visitors the next couple of weekends.

Can you believe I'm not even 2-years old?  I look like such a big boy!

Go O's!

Brian is a big Baltimore Orioles fan and has been since he was a kid.  Uncle Carl is a big Boston Red Sox fan and has been since...2004. 

Recently the O's and Sox faced off and though the O's lost the series we did our best to support them!

 
There was some sort of bet between Uncle Carl and Brian and I believe Brian has to pay up this weekend.  I shall post pics.

Tree Hugger Stud

Rhys climbed a tree today.  Nah, not really.  But Dada lifted him up into a tree and he sat down and made himself comfortable.  Basically the same thing, right?

He could have perched here all day.  He was none too happy when we decided it was time to move on (20 minutes later).

Once we pried Rhys out of the tree we went to play at Bailey Gatzert elementary.  The school is one of the lowest ranked in the city, but it's got a very cool play structure.  Rhys worked out on the rings.  I especially love his dismount. 

Scootin' Along

It was a pretty cool weekend.  We got to see Uncle Carl.  Mama and Dada had an overnight away for their anniversary.  And, the highlight in Rhys' book (no offense, Carl), was seeing a swarm of scooters and then getting to join the gang for a few minutes.  Check it out.

Helmet?  Check.  Sunglasses?  Check. 

Beep!  Beep!  Coming through!

People, what is the problem?!  Let's hit the road already!

Random Cute Pics

As you may have guessed from the title, this blog post will consist of random cute pictures of our sweet boy.

Rhys loves big trucks and construction vehicles, both in real life and in books.  His current favorite books are Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, Trucks Roll and My BIG Dump Truck.

As long as I am strapped in this thing, I may as well do some reading!

"Outgo!"  "Outgo!"  In Rhys' language, this means let's go outside.  We hear "outgo" all the time.  The kid loves being outside. 

I promise to let you keep taking cute pictures of me if you promise to keep up the after dinner walks.

I needed some manly help in my office, so we made a family trip there this weekend.  Yes, I have a huge monitor.  Yes, Rhys loved it.

Mama, now I know why you come here all the time.

We're in the midst of a Seattle heat wave.  No shirts needed.

Dada's reading the paper.  Rhys is reading My Big Boy Potty.

Playing in the sprinkler, making the most of our postage stamp sized yard. 

Later, peeps.