Plastic Ball Silliness

Rutherford LOVES it when Papa stuffs his shirt full of balls. Haha!

Changes

Some big changes have happened in the past couple weeks!

First, R has graduated 100% off the bottle. Neddie had still been giving Rutherford a nice big bottle at bedtime, after his nap. But Dr. G said by our 18-month visit (coming up soon), we had to be done. So instead, R has milk with his dinner and now Papa reads him a story after brushing his teeth. R took it in stride, no fussing or anything. Sometimes you're just ready for a change :)

In other news, R just started gymnastics class and it is SO MUCH FUN. I get a great workout, and I was quite frankly shocked at how game R is to try everything. Today was his second class and he flipped around on the bars (with help, of course), marched on the balance beam, did a somersault and even jumped into the foam pit all by himself. He is such a brave little guy, I just love this class. We're still doing music class, too, and Rutherford has just graduated into the next age group up, 18 mnoths - three years. Our first "big kid" class is this week, I think it will be a lot of fun.

 Watching Mickey in bed post-nap!

 Rutherford loves to run run run at the park!

Wagon

We finally got Rutherford his wagon. It is AMAZING. It's a Radio Flyer, but it has all the bells and whistles - two flip-up seats with seatbelts (love that), four cupholders (hahahaha!) and the handle even tucks under the wagon so I can easily throw it in the back of the car. Might try to take it to the park today for a spin, R thinks it's the best thing ever :)

Christmas!

So - the holidays kicked my butt! I never appreciated how the holiday triumvirate of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas can wear you out hardcore with a little one. There's just so much activity, so much to try and do that we've spent the last week recuperating :)

Christmas was so much fun, though. We hosted my brother's fam and my parents here and it was very laidback. We had a great dinner - although I think the best thing I made was some homemade mozzarella sticks - THEY WERE AMAZEBALLS! Totally making them again, you can even freeze them so you can enjoy them whenever. Tangent, yes, but worth the mention.

Rutherford had a wonderful Christmas. I put a lot of prep into it and it was so worth it. Both his grandparents teamed up to get him an adorable new kitchen for his playroom and he LOVES it! It makes sizzling sounds on the stovetop and he loves making coffee for his guests :)

I have a bit of video from Christmas and some pics from my mom so hopefully get them up soon, but here's some pics I got!

Elmo Has Arrived

Rutherford doesn't watch TV yet. I think he's old enough but we just have the one TV and we haven't really baby-proofed the family room (in progress though!) yet. So in the meantime, we watch short videos online.

In the mornings now we all snuggle in bed together before breakfast. Papa reads the news on his iPad and R and I watch a few videos on my Kindle Fire. His favorites are Mickey Mouse and ELMO. I'm not sure what sort of mystic baby voodoo Elmo enchants kids with, but man - it's real. Within five seconds R was hooked.

The video above is his favorite. I think the ducks are hilarious. I had forgotten how good Sesame Street can be, even if you're an adult. The duckies' subtle body language and faces are so effin funny. Ned and I sing this song a lot now. R loves to quack along.

Aquarium

Yesterday R and I hit the aquarium with PB and Colleen. We had a great time! I can't believe these two have been hanging out since they were just a few months old. They had fun looking at the fishes and especially loved walking around independent-style, sans mama's hand. R even took a ride on the teeter-totter and loved it. Cute little baby friends.

Baby Friends Christmas Party!

R hosted his first playroom party this weekend. We thought it might be fun to celebrate the holidays with a few friends, so Penelope, Ryder and Madison came over to play. We had snacks and cookies, colored, played with the felt Christmas tree (totally bomb by the way) and just had fun. The bubbas played really well together and it was so much fun! I've already starting thinking about a Baby Friends Valentine's Day party next!