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.

Weighty Issues

I'm a lot less worried about Lorelei's weight than I was a few months ago, but it still nags at me.  Even though I can see how well she's developing and how healthy she looks, it's just hard to ignore the idea that is something is wrong because she's not gaining as much as she's "supposed to."

So far, our pediatrician hasn't recommended any particular course of action.  She has questioned my milk supply which I find highly annoying.  I have worked (and continue to work) really, really hard to breastfeed Lorelei, believing that it is the best for her.  The implication that not only is it not the best for her, but in fact is causing her slow weight gain is hurtful, frankly.  For many reasons, I am confident that my milk supply is not an issue, but it is still hard to be questioned by an "authoritative" figure.

I plan to continue breastfeeding Lorelei but I am very happy to have a little pressure off my shoulders as she is taking really well to solids.  We have to be careful to not let her go overboard as breastmilk needs to be her primary source of nutrition for several more months, but it's just nice to be able to watch her enjoy food.

Speaking of enjoying food...I have been doing far too much of that myself lately.  Between the stress of this situation and my subconscious belief that me eating more will help Lorelei gain weight, I've been eating far too much crap.  So, while Lorelei maintains her petite little self, I am fattening up nicely.

We go back to the doc for a weight check in mid-January.  In the meantime, we just keep on, keeping on.  Feeding and, as importantly, enjoying our little girl.

Dinosaur party

We can't take credit for this idea, but it was fun to execute nonetheless.

Rhys got some cool dinosaur toys for his birthday and one night he just didn't do a good enough job of putting them away.  They took their opening and made a beeline for the kitchen, helping themselves to a midnight snack of cereal.

When Rhys found them in the kitchen the next morning, he LOVED it!  It made for a great start to the day.

Rhys Turns Three!

In the last year we've watched Rhys transition from a toddler to a little boy.  It's amazing how the changes feel minute when you witness them day to day but are huge when you look back at videos/pictures from a year ago.  Three year-old Rhys is very different than two year-old Rhys.  

We were so excited to celebrate Rhys' third birthday in our new house.  It was definitely a challenge to host a big ol' party just three weeks after moving in, but I'm so glad we did.  Rhys had such a fantastic time at his party and Brian and I loved having all of our friends and family over.  It felt so luxurious to have space for everyone! 

Rhys is all boy.  He loves cars and trucks and tools and trains and construction stuff.  Nearly every gift he got was something along those lines so he was in hog heaven.  It was a real challenge the next day figuring out what new toy to play with.  (Tough life, I know).

And, now, on to the pictures!

Before the party, Rhys got to help Dada with some cake prep.

I love this picture of Rhys.  It's perfect for the Christmas card.  However, it doesn't reflect his real personality at all...

...this is a much more accurate representation of the real Rhys.

Rhys was SO good about not digging into the cake before the party.  The same cannot be said for Lorelei.

I probably should've just let her eat some - take some pressure off on the whole weight gain situation.

Rhys is a huge fan of cousin Norah.  Huge.

A rare moment of Rhys interacting with one of his parents during his party.  I thought wanting nothing to do with us didn't happen until the teen years...? 

I think it's safe to say that Rhys absolutely loved it when everyone sang happy birthday to him.  It's somewhat hard to see in the video but he is in awe and is whispering the song to himself.  It choked me up a little watching him.  The near-tears were quickly replaced by laughter was I watched him extinguish his candles with spit rather than air.

The morning after the party, Rhys had a little downtime reading one of his new books with Uncle Coco.

So sweet.

I am not sure who has the goofier grin.

After the Spokane contingent went home it was time to get outside and get some work done with his new tools and tool belt from Uncle Dave.

All in all a fantastic birthday weekend.

This picture has nothing to do with this post.  I just wanted to put it up.  Isn't she beautiful?

Check-ups

Two weeks ago was Rhys' 3-year check-up and today was Lorelei's 6-month check-up.  The long and short of it is that they are both healthy but one is giant and one is tiny. 

I don't have Rhys' stats in front of me, but he is in the 95th-ish percentile for both height and weight.  He weighs about 43 pounds and is wearing 4T, sometimes 5T, clothes.  He is a big boy.

Lorelei weighs 15 pounds.  She has dropped to the 26th percentile for weight but is holding steady at the 87th percentile for height.  She is a petite lady.

It would seem in the nature vs nurture debate, nature is winning on on this one. 

It's probably a very good lesson for me to have the two of them be so different.  They are who they are, regardless of me and my efforts to control the situation. 

Our burly bear cub looking an awful lot like his Uncle Coco.

Maybe she'd gain some more weight if some of the food actually went in her mouth.

What she lacks in stature she makes up for in cuteness.

This girl melts my heart.