That Would Be Truck

Some embarrassing moments this week. Rhianwen has decided that she loves to say Truck. Except, she doesn't exactly pronounce it correctly. No, instead it comes out as that ancient 4 letter with the F. When she sees an 18 wheeler, it's "Big _____!" (you can fill in the blank). She apparently saw one while we were in Goodwill getting some cheap clothes for her babydoll, and pronounced this in no uncertain terms in her cute loud voice. SIGH. When we saw the Pediatrician for our well visit I had to share that story with him since we were talking about her budding vocabulary, and he said that his youngest daughter did the same thing and that she has yet to live it down in the family. So that made me a feel a little better :) She's still maintaining the 97th percentile in height and weight and is one healthy little oo who really hates the doctor (she even went rigid when we placed her on the baby scale and screamed like they were killing her), but at the end of the visit she did say "bye bye!" and "thank you!". She also got to see mommy go to the doctor this week, watched the ultrasound and watched mommy have her blood pressure checked and tummy measured. I thought it would help with her well visit if she saw the same things happening to me, but NO.

After the well visit and a Wile E. Coyote band aid, Rhianwen giving 5 to her babydoll.

A new favorite game for Rhianwen is "Catch" which is really chase, but since we always say, "I'm gonna catch you!", that's what she calls it. She loves to run around the house saying, "Catch! Catch" especially after bath time and before pj's. Fun times. She's been adding more songs to her repertoire too like "Happy birthday", "Ring around the Rosies", "The Wheels on the Bus", "ABC's". This video shows a little bit of what she can do, but she's better at it when she's not distracted.

She was thrilled to have Grandpa and Grandma Nanny Kim spend the night Saturday and to have them there Sunday morning. Usually when Rhianwen gets up in the morning, Daddy goes in to get her down from the bed, then she immediately finds mommy and urges mommy to rise and shine by saying, "Come, come!" (oh how soon these roles will be switched...I just remember my parents trying to get us out of bed and I determined then that I would never: turn the light on and sing "Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory"...probably I will be evil and go back on my promise to myself). Anyway, today, she remembered that Grandma Nanny Kim was here, and I was totally overlooked. Ah, the joy of lounging for a few minutes while I saw the retreating back of Rhianwen going to find "Gandma Nanny Kim".

All ready for church (incidentally, it was probably the only Sunday in CGS history that an Anglican happened to preach there...so my Episcopalian parents were still in their element even if we didn't have the benches and prayer books!).

Since we only went to the early service so my parents could get on the road, Wally, Rhi, and I enjoyed a picnic at Duke Gardens, saw a bunch of geese and ducks and catfish, and tried every bench to see if it would swing (by the end of the venture, Rhianwen had finally given up on the benches...oh the disillusionment). After a nap, she tried out the umbrella in our backyard.

3rd Ultrasound

We had our 3rd ultrasound today. They wanted to check out how Alden's kidneys were doing. They are STILL measuring large, but they are maintaining their proportion to the rest of him, so they said that it probably was not a problem. They said if it really were a problem, his kidneys would be getting progressively larger. They are going to do yet another ultrasound around 33-34 weeks to check yet again. They said usually by that point the range for normal is wider and therefore he might fall into the normal range. If not, then after birth sometime, the Ped would order a kidney ultrasound, and if things look strange (dilation of kidneys etc.) then they would refer him to a urologist to check out if there are any blockages. Hopefully there is nothing to worry about. Some other things we discovered today: Alden is still in the breech position (normal for now, but hopefully he will turn! Rhianwen was head down from at least 20 weeks), he is weighing in at 26th percentile (seems small to me, but the ultrasound tech said that was good), mommy is doing great...low blood pressure, nice weight gain (as my brothers can attest to...they took one look at me and said "Whoa! You're huge!"; funny how the women say I'm tiny. Now, who to believe?), measuring text book, glucola results to come.

Now for a cool 3D profile pic (he wouldn't put that arm down for a mug shot). He looks nothing like Rhianwen! I still think he looks like Wally. And he's fatter now than before, so I guess he really does take after Wally; it's not just b/c he was skinny at first. I think the bridge of the nose doesn't quite look like what's pictured; it's hard to say, but certainly the nose is straight and more aristocratic (unlike Rhianwen's cute button).

Look at those lips!

A Packed Couple of Weeks

It's amazing how 2 weeks can fly by now. I remember when Rhianwen was a little newborn how each day seemed to last an eternity and the nights were even longer! We've stayed busy and had lots of small adventures along the way.

Rhianwen decided that she needed a pack n play for Snowbear and commandeered a laundry basket that seemed to do the trick; to add to the creativity she decided a washcloth was the perfect blanket for Snowbear.

"Lie down. Night-night." you'd hear Rhianwen saying if you were here. She also kisses and hugs before putting Snowbear night-night. I can't wait until baby Alden is born. Hopefully Rhianwen will enjoy saying night-night to him too.

Her bucket seemed to be the perfect hat.

"Hello Dahling! It's been tooo long!"

I often wonder if I am as creative as Rhianwen is when it comes to making do with less. She seems to find a way to do neat things with whatever is at hand and is content with it. If I find I have to do that, I grumble and am annoyed that I don't have something more efficient or more practical or more aesthetically pleasing. Rhi's playing has definitely made me rethink things in a different light. Funny how she can teach things without even trying!

I've been making a huge planning list for the fabric store and pulled out a measuring tape to measure a closet doorway so that I can sew a curtain for it. We thought about doors, but the way our room is, doors would make it difficult to maneuver, so we're going to try a curtain instead. Anyway, every time Rhi sees a tape measure, she has to go to work herself. The funny thing is that everything she measures is "8". Not sure why.

"Eight!"

One of the days at home I got really antsy and Rhi was really kind of fussy, so out of desperation we made a trip to Walmart and got a fun pinwheel and a ton of bubble wands and spent the rest of the waking hours dropping wands into the big tub of bubbles so daddy could fish them out with a coat hanger when he came home.

Ah, success!

2 Saturdays ago we planted a bunch of seeds and plants back in our garden plot. Rhianwen got to help daddy prepare the soil and mommy to plant the string beans and peas.

Leaning way over to drop a seed in the ground.

Wally spent all of this past week in Pittsburgh at his annual company meeting and got to see lots of old friends as well. Rhianwen and I took a vacation down at Grandma Nanny Kim's and Grandpa's where mommy didn't have to cook, clean, or manage anything and where we got to spend lots of time with Heather and Katelyn, Great Grandma, Great Grandpa, and a bunch of friends from mommy's high school days. I think we all were amazed at how much Rhianwen remembered of Grandma and Grandpa's. As we were on the way there, Rhianwen would talk about the fountain, Boots (the cat), coloring on the carport; and throughout the week, things would come up from the previous visit that showed that she remembered a whole lot!

Great Grandpa somehow has this knack for coming over when there is a lot of good food to be had. This day we were having a tea and had picked up a bunch of stuff from the Patisserie. So, great grandpa arrived just in time to clean up afterwards and to get some tickle time with Rhianwen along with a hug and kiss. (It's so hard to get Great Grandparents to look at the camera! Why is that?).

Because I was missing playgroup sooo much on Wednesday, we had a mini-playgroup with Heather and Katelyn and Jenny and Anna. We got to see a bunch of little puppies (very very exciting for Rhianwen), played with old toys of Heather's, and took a nice walk.



Rhianwen enjoyed teaching Katelyn about different toys. For example, she picked up a puzzle piece of a bird and brought it to Katelyn and said, "Kate-in. Kate-in. Bird. Tweet tweet."

Rhianwen got to hold a caterpillar for the first time at Grandma's and Grandpa's.

The amazing thing was that she said, "Catepilla. Butta-fy." Without us talking about the life cycle! So, all those story times with The Very Hungry Caterpillar have payed off!

She also tried her hand at crocheting a blanket for baby Alden.

The progress she made was astounding!

We visited Great Grandma quite a few times and enjoyed playing catch with Grandma Nanny Kim's ball and just running around in general.

This time I was able to get a great grandparent to look at the camera! Hooray!

We also got to see "Weeza", a friend of mom's and mine who has a gorgeous oooollld home with a huge porch. Rhianwen thought it great fun to roll her tennis ball off of the porch so that we could go tramping through the ivy to find it. So most of the visit was a lot of laughter from Rhianwen (and us) and interrupted conversations.

We ended our visit with a short time with Uncle Skipper who had come to be confirmed by the Episcopal church. We only got to see him for about an hour before we left, and I'm so glad we did since she hadn't seen him since Christmas time.



Of course, because we have a well-visit (18 month checkup) scheduled for Rhianwen this week, she felt it her duty to get into as many bumps and scrapes as she could manage. First she took a face dive off of Grandma Nanny Kim's couch onto the hard floor where she bruised her forehead. For the first time in her life, she actually let me keep ice on it, so it looks much better than it would have been. Then she knocked the wooden step stool onto her foot making a nice line there. Then she busted her lip somehow as she was playing under her slide last night. So that is all nice and bloody and swollen looking. It looks like we took part in a minor skirmish instead of a relaxing vacation. I always wonder what the Dr. thinks when we bring her in like that. I suppose he just thinks, "Typical healthy toddler."

Mud Puddles

We are very thankful for all of the rain, but it has meant lots of extra laundry and more time inside when the weather has been both cold and rainy. Rhianwen and mommy went shopping for a rainy day activity and came back with water colors. We thought about finger paints, but since they were all made in China and no doubt would get eaten, mommy couldn't buy them. Hopefully, we'll be able to find some that are made somewhere else. Rhianwen had a great time with the water colors and painted 2 pictures. She mixed colors, so the pictures turned out much more colorful than what I used to do when I was little. She ended up with neon greens, turquoises, violets, pinks. Really, I think her favorite part was dipping the paintbrush in the cup of water...I'm not sure why!

The artist at work.

Although our backyard is a swamp, I got brave (or desperate...what's the difference?) enough to get Rhianwen out there! I figured I'd try the rain boots and rain coat to see if perhaps we could make it without getting too wet and muddy.

We got off to a good start on the deck. Here she is carrying the compost bucket.

Splashing in our koi pond. (Ha.)

Um, that would be a definite no on the not getting too wet or muddy. We did not stay dry or clean! We felt it was necessary to explore the canal that daddy had made to drain the water off of the back field. Notice how effective a dam Rhianwen is in this picture. Lots of water behind her and none in front. She loved to stand up and watch it all rush past her feet.

We also tried the Barnes N Noble storytime. She was one of the youngest there, but did a great job. And boy what a production! First we sang a song, then they read some poems by Shel Silverstein, then we did the craft below (Rhianwen did this all by herself other than the placement of the eye), and lastly goldfish crackers were served. All for FREE!



We've moved the crib into Alden's room (see our post below on name choosing. I don't know why that post got added to the previous one instead of being separate...), so I moved Rhianwen's bookcase to the wall where the crib had been to be closer to the rocking chair and painting in the corner. Then I moved her play-crib to where her bookcase had been which made the crib way more accessible. She's really enjoyed putting all her animals "night-night" and covering them with blankets.



Daddy pulled out his guitar the other night and brought it into the family room to play, but Rhianwen insisted that she needed to accompany him on the real piano, so the jam session got moved to the living room.



It was great to be back home for church on Sunday. Sunday afternoons Rhianwen loves to try on mommy's and daddy's church shoes. She's better at walking in daddy's though.



She also got to talk to Grandma Nanny Kim and Grandpa on the webcam, something she loves to do! When she couldn't see Grandpa, she would say "Pa! Pa! Pa!" until Grandma switched to him. It was so cute. She also got to show them her new Winnie the Pooh ball, tell them about church, and show them her new purple crayons (we found some in a box last night but they were all purple!).

It's been a very happy week for Rhianwen, something I am always grateful for!

An English Hot-house Cucumber

I get these updates from Babycenter about how big Baby boy is, and each week they equate his length to some sort of fruit or vegetable. This gets old fast and then funny. This week he is as big as an English hot-house cucumber...whatever that is; apparently it is around 14in long.

The real reason for this post is that I finally decided for sure on a name for Baby boy. It won't be George...(not that that was an option), but I guess babies may feel a little bit like Daffy Duck when they are newly greeted by their excited parents, siblings, and extended fam.





It took the entire drive back from FL, but I'm sure. It'll be Alden (pronounced Ahl-den) Wallace. As I have said before, Wallace is Wally's middle name (William Wallace aka Braveheart is somehow in his family line). Alden means "Wise Protector" and is from the Old English language. Wallace means either "Stranger from a Foreign Land" or "Mighty Warrior". As Christians, God calls us to protect the weak, to care for our families, to uphold justice, and to be discerning (Alden). James 1:27 "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." 3:17 "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy."

Also as Christians, we belong to His Kingdom, the earth is not our final home, and we battle each day for His Kingdom (Wallace). Phillipians 3:20-21 "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself." I Peter 2:11-12 "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation."

Our prayer is that he will rely upon Christ for the strength, courage, love, and wisdom it takes to live for Him.

Fun Times for All

We are back from sunny warm FL, and Rhianwen did fabulously at Grandpa and Grandma Nanny Kim's. She had much more fun there than she would have at the wedding (I think)...not because the wedding was boring but because it was busy and probably a little over Rhianwen's head! As I have said to many in the T fam, "only in the T fam would I expect to go to a landfill and a wedding on the same day." YES, I really did!

Getting back to Rhianwen, it didn't phase her one bit when mommy and daddy left. In fact, Rhianwen thought she was being taken with us and started crying b/c she didn't want to leave Grandma Nanny Kim and Grandpa. Thus, when she found out she was staying, well, mommy and daddy were forgotten.

Sidewalk chalk.

Visiting Great Grandma.

Surprised by a tree frog that jumped out of the watering can.

Before we dropped her off, much discussion revolved around what to do about where Rhianwen would be sleeping. We couldn't decide if we should try the pack n play (way too small for her now), a pallet/mattress on the floor, or a bed. We ended up deciding on the bed, brought her pillow, and waited to see what would happen. She did better than she has ever done before! She went right to sleep and never had a problem!

After a nappy nap.

Rhianwen got to celebrate Great Grandpa's birthday while she was there! The fam went out to a Mexican restaurant (a "real" one, where you had to order in Spanish), and is sounded like a lot of fun.

Celebrating Great Grandpa's birthday.

We enjoyed our time in FL. It actually was less tiring to me to do all the busy wedding stuff than to take care of Rhianwen! And we got to enjoy not worrying about any sort of schedule other than ours and the wedding's. NICE! Of course, I wasn't the one breaking apart a huge couch and desk so that it would fit in our VUE so that we could take it to the dump. I think it was a lot more tiring for Wally, although the other witnesses of the destruction process said they thought it looked quite therapeutic for Wally. (Salvation Army wouldn't take his brother's stuff...hence the landfill or else a disappointed newlywed couple returning to a bunch of unwanted odds/ends/furnishings on their front step). I do not have a picture of this, but I do have a picture of the couple!


I always love Wally in a tux. We also lament the fact that the only time we get to dance is at weddings. Neither of us dance well, and we'd love to learn to be better, but unless we pay for lessons, it's weddings and spontaneous dances around the kitchen or in the family room. The neighbors must think we are SO strange. (I mean, Wally is out digging in the garden right now...in the dark...at 9:50pm...makes me think of Rear Window).