Cake!

Thanks Aunt Laura for making this lovely creation. More Birthday posts to come.

A month of Firsts!

Rhys took his first independent step on Dec. 2, and is now toddling around on his own, celebrated his first Christmas and had his first birthday on the 27th!

Let's start with Christmas.

Santa took a beating - but still delivered a stuffed stocking for Rhys to explore. Thanks to his Nana, he now has some cars to push around and chew on, in addition to a myriad of other fun toys for a one year old.

We went to Christmas Eve services at Fourth Pres and Rhys enjoyed himself immensely. We had to sit in the balcony due to arriving right on time - and the ceiling provided minutes of pleasure. The singing and sight seeing kept him occupied for most of the hour - thanks to a friendly usher - eye patch and all!

Christmas Day was just the three of us until about 4 pm when Zhou Zhou and Joanie arrived bearing gifts and good spirits. We had a lovely feast (after the baby was in bed) and general merriment all around.

More to come about the birthday...which really was the highlight of the weekend!

Happy Birthday Jonas!

At Jonas's first birthday party...Rhys's is just around the corner! R had a great time playing with all the kids and trying Goldfish crackers for the first time. He has to wait for cake until the 27th, however.
My mom was in town to celebrate Christmas early with us. We are trying our best to fit everyone in. My dad and his wife, Joan, are due to arrive on Christmas Day and my brother and his girlfriend on Rhys's birthday on 27th. Whew!
Fun times! Maybe one of them is handy with a scissors. Someone needs a haircut, and no it isn't Daddy this time.

On My Way

Newberry Holiday Party

Last night was the Newberry holiday party, and I was on my own with this almost one year old. After driving 40 minutes to pick up Rhys early from the Forsell/Strizak's, I turned around to drive another 30 minutes back to the Newberry for what should be a fun-filled evening of conversation, good food, and maybe wine.
Well, when you are chasing after a crawler, cruiser, and now walker (he is taking a few wobbly steps on his own now), your holiday party is a bit different than it used to be. We retreated after a valiant 45 minutes.
- A side note that may be of interest to no one but Dom and me...last year's holiday party was held on my official due date. Rhys was born a week late. It was rather a full circle to have him with me this year.
(Thanks to our Newberry photographer for both the pic and Rudoloph!)

Our little love

What a goofy boy.
Rhys is almost a year old - a fact that surprises us at every moment.
He keeps getting funnier and more rambunctious. Last night we enjoyed watching him jump up and down in his crib and swing Baby Elephant around by the trunk, before settling down for his nighttime bottle and book with Dom.
I think everyone who hasn't seen him in the last five months is in for a big surprise this holiday season.

On Your Spoon

In the last six months, Rhys has gone from "Green Monster" to wanting to only feed himself. Of course that has meant more food has gone on him than in him.
Enjoy.

When the weather outside is frightful...

Over Thanksgiving we bundled up the not-so-little one and headed to the Garfield Park Conservatory on the West side of Chicago. Walking among the giant ferns, banana trees, and other tropical plants makes the Chicago weather seem not quite so harsh. At the conservatory, there is even a small toddler play area - where Rhys had a great time crawling around. Even better, there is free parking and free admission (donations requested).

The Face

Rhys has picked up quite a "no" face recently. This picture is from Thanksgiving. Please disregard the bruise from falling on his forehead, and one blood-shot eye from perhaps that same fall. Obviously, our Christmas Card photo shoot had to be postponed.

Walking tall

Rhys is enjoying this walker/riding toy that he received more than a year ago from Dom's coworkers at Lehman Bros. Wow, so much has changed in the last 14 months! I think we will need to go into business for ourselves soon.
Back to the boy wonder. I heard that Rhys took five steps (three and then two) with the nanny this week. Dom saw one display. Maybe my turn will come this weekend!

I think this face says it all.