12 Months

I have said it every month of his whole life, this boy is growing up So FAST! Rhys is the coolest little kid ever. He doesn't walk places; He runs! He is trying to repeat the words that we say and so far he has verbalized "nanana!" (no no no!) and "yucky." 

Our biggest challenge right now is eating. Every meal is a huge event where we try different techniques to get him to actually swallow his food.. and keep it down. Rhys has a very sensitive gag reflex and now and then he just pukes all over. Like... when I am flying by myself from LAX to SLC. That time it was EVERYWHERE. All three flight attendants descended on us with a cleaning kit. 

A few weeks ago we decided that Rhys finally needed his first haircut. It was looking a little uneven and so I had my friend who does hair come over and cut it. It ended up being a bigger change than I expected and it was a very emotional couple of days. I couldn't believe that my baby's long hair was gone and now he looks like a little boy. 

The last few weeks have been nutso. We spend two days in Houston while Lewis had meetings. We came back late Wednesday night and left for California very early Friday morning. We landed in LA and drove strait to Long Beach to catch the ferry over to Catalina Island. It was amazing spending the day in Two Harbors with Shonee, Justin, and the other racers. The next day was Rhys' birthday! In the morning Justin and Lewis took off and Shonee, Rhys and I waited for our helicopter ride to Avalon. Through a series of events our helicopter was canceled and we had to charter a bus to drive us over the island. I have never seen a greener, more beautiful place! 

We were there to cheer for Lewis and Justin when they crossed the finish line. It was a rough race, and Justin had to be walked to the ocean and looked over by the first aid guy because his legs were shaking so bad. For his first marathon he did so awesome and placed second in his age group! 

We took the ferry back to the mainland and drove to our Newport Beach house. We spend two and a half super relaxing days at the beach and driving around Orange County. On Tuesday Lewis flew to Austin for work and Rhys and I flew to Utah. That weekend we had a birthday party for Rhys with the family in Utah and a week later we had a birthday party with our friends in Austin! This kid has had so much love for his first birthday! I only hope he has gotten all the growing out of his system and now he can stop ;) 

11 months old

I can't believe that in one month Rhys will be a year old! This is such an emotional realization for me. It does not feel like it has been a year at all and I want to stop the clock and make him stay this age forever!

Rhys is the sweetest kid I know. When we are playing with his toys he often walks over to give me a big hug and a wet, slobbery kiss. He leans down so that his face is right in my face and laughs and his eyes get all scrunched up. He is an adventurous little dude. Yesterday at the park Lewis and I decided to not chase him when he wandered away to see when he would come back to us. (We could see him the whole time and knew he wasn't in any danger). He never did. He eventually found a garbage can and we had to run and interfere. He is a great little walker and seems to get along better with toddlers older than him than kids his own age. He loves the challenge of climbing things and has already figured out how to climb up on the couch.

He loves books and being read to. His favorite foods are blueberries and cantaloupe. He is so smart! A few days ago he was trying to wander into our neighbors yard and I kept blocking his way. He turned like he was going to walk back up the drive way but then spun around real fast and tried to get past me! He is starting to obey me when I say no. He loves playing in the gym daycare with the other kids. He loves being outside and starts doing this hysterical little giggle whenever I start to open the front door.

I decided to do a day in the life of Rhys again.. Here's how it went.

Rhys wakes up around 7:30am 

So happy! 

We eat breakfast (Hulk muffins :)

He occasionally spits out a mouthful to keep me on my toes

We say goodbye to daddy

We read some books

And then take a nap! 

No privacy with this kid around. 

Rhys helps me stretch before my run. Yesterday he figured out how to get behind the gate and stuck his hand in the treadmill. He has a huge burn on the back of his hand. 

He climbs all over the bed frame that was just delivered

He plays with toys

And comes back to tackle me/ give me a hug

The remote- the holy grail. And his poor hand :( 

He loves his stuffed animal from Grandma Oswald

He sneaks into the laundry room to get into Dad's light switches

He comes back for another hug before nap

He wakes up from his afternoon nap So sad.

We have a snack of cheese, pbj, and blueberries

We go upstairs so that I can FINALLY take a shower and get dressed

We play outside

His favorite game seems to be sneaking pebbles into his mouth without me seeing, me fishing them out, repeat.

I love this run with his arms strait back! 

Daddy came home, Mom went out to Galentine's Day dinner with friends, and Rhys and Daddy cleaned up the house, flew the drone and eventually went to bed!