Mommy Mimicker?

Most of the week was spent with Daddy gone on a business trip to Houston while I stayed around here with Rhianwen. That didn't get us girls down though! We had a fabulous week including a quick visit from Grandmama and Grandaddy who brought Rhianwen her first birthday gifts ever! When they arrived, they were greeted by a very excited Rhianwen who had been wearing mommy's purse around her neck all day. This activity had conjured up images of Rhianwen getting the purse caught on something and hurting her neck...kind of nerve wracking. But I managed to get some funny pics of her anyway. The funny thing about the gifts were that we told Rhianwen she could dig through the bag (an activity she constantly is doing whether it is mommy's purse or her diaper bag), but she just stared at it. When we showed her how to tear the wrapping paper, she took a while to latch onto that too!

Kitty showing Rhianwen how it's done.

Finally, she started opening her gifts. She got a zany hat that finished the tacky tourist look.

"Is this a Twilight Zone episode?"

Birthday gifts hooray!

She also got a "ride-on" car. When she first got on it, she only was moving backwards, and we all said, "Oh, it'll take her a couple of days before she gets the forward motion." Try a couple of minutes. She was zooming up and down the hall before Grandmama and Grandaddy left. Then I said to myself, "Yeah, but it'll be a long while before she can get off and on by herself." Try one day. She can actually straddle the thing all on her own. Getting off is a little trickier, and she's had plenty of noggin bumps, but she can do that too!

She got so fast that she ran over a cat. See it peeking out from under the car?

Thursday night Rhianwen and I ventured out to Carborro where we ate dinner with some college friends. The majority was men whom Rhianwen had never met before, and I think she was a bit overwhelmed. Joey even took her for a speedster stroller ride, hit the curb, a root, and a rock before getting her back to the car.

By the time daddy came home, I had deposited my purses well out of reach, but Rhianwen managed to fish some stuff out of the laundry basket to put around her neck. I will leave it to your imaginations as to what it was! She greeted daddy with this paraphernalia as he walked in the door! Very funny.

On a sadder note, our poor Clemson team got beaten by GT.

Uz, we lost.

During the loss, we ate supper, and Rhianwen refused to eat her cut-up meat and potatoes. Instead she grabbed my food ate some of it, chewed the rest, and deposited it back on my plate. I expressed my sense of gratitude at this juncture...or something like that. And Wally said, "Well, she just wants to imitate you!". No, I don't chew my food and spit it back on my plate or steal it from other people (unless it's chocolate, then I will steal it, so watch out!). But she just wants to wear mommy's purses, mommy's laundry, and eat mommy's food. I guess I should be flattered and store this in my memory bank for when I and she are older and Rhianwen thinks that mommy is totally uncool and would never dream of wearing those so last-season bags!