Visitors (part 1)

Rhys likes me and Brian alright.  But, boy, we pale in comparison to other family members.  Rhys gets SO excited if someone is visiting or if we get to go to someone's house. 

This past weekend, he got to spend a bunch of time with Uncle Carl and he had a blast.  We all did, actually. 

Brian and I wanted to get a picture of Uncle Carl to put up on our wall so we got out the good cameras and got some nice shots.

This is Rhys showing off the picture he took of Uncle Carl.  He's pretty darn good at taking pictures.  All of that futzing around with Grampa Tom's and Auntie Aundrey's cameras paid off.

Pilot Rhys at the helm.

Not the best pic of Rhys, but an awful good one of my brother.  Note the matching hats and vests.  Rhys was in hog heaven, looking like Uncle Carl.

The look of adoration of Rhys' face is perfect.  That is exactly how he feels about Uncle Coco.

I don't know if Lorelei adores Carl (yet) but she doesn't give him the pouty face which says A LOT.

The winner for the wall.

Lorelei Milestones

Our little lady turned 8 months yesterday and she is now a woman on the move!  Check it out:

In other exciting Lorelei news, she is now living up to her nickname (Chubbs).  We went in for her weight check last week and she has skyrocketed on the weight growth chart - from 26th percentile at her 6-month check-up to 47th percentile now.  I am so relieved. 

   

Mommy Dearest

I don't know why, but it drives me bonkers when Rhys calls me Mommy.  I prefer Mama, Mom is also fine.  Frankly, I'd rather he call me Cheryl than Mommy.  I don't know why it gets under my skin so much.  Maybe it's the whiny way he says it...

He was doing it a lot this summer and I thought we had nixed it but it cropped up again recently.  I couldn't figure out where it was coming from until I overheard the program we've been letting him watch - Daniel's Neighborhood.  Daniel calls his mother "mommy."  Urgh!  It was tempting to put the kibosh on ol' Daniel but Rhys LOVES it so much and, actually, it's a really great show (other than the mommy thing).

The show is essentially an animated version of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and it teaches some really wonderful lessons that Rhys actually listens to!  Brian and I can say something until we're blue in the face and it often goes nowhere, but if Daniel's parents say it, it's golden.

It's been fascinating watching Rhys "try on" the things he see on the show.  One day he'll watch an episode about jealously and the next day we'll hear him saying he's jealous about something.  Or, the episode will be about what to do when you have to wait/be patient and shortly thereafter he'll be singing a song..."when you wait, you can play or sing or imagine anything....."  I assume we'll have a lot more of this when he starts going to preschool and gets exposed to all kinds of new things.

All in all, if he's going to be obsessed with a TV show, I really couldn't ask for a better one even if it means being called Mommy now and then.

An unrelated pic...but good shot of his recent haircut.