Visit with Grammy Ruby and Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

At the end of Jeremy's paternity leave, Jeremy's mom, Ruby came to visit.  It was great to have another pair of hands and I actually got to take a few naps!

It was also Halloween time and on all my parent listserves, people were posting about taking their kids to the pumpkin patch.  I was still a little worried about whether a pumpkin patch would be too far a trip for him and dubious about whether he would actually appreciate it, but my fear of him missing out on a pumpkin patch for his first Halloween (and probably more to the point me missing out on pictures of this momentous occasion) won out.   The result were the following photos.  You'll see he didn't open the entire time, but he was there (and we got pictures.)  :-)

 

                              

Enough Already, Mom! 

Family Pumpkin Patch Portrait

October 9, 2011: Eyes open!

When Rhys first came home, it seemed like he was always sleeping and consequently all our pictures of him were of him sleeping.  For awhile I felt like I didn't really know what color his eyes were because I saw them so infrequently.

The day I took this picture I was so excited because I actually caught him with his eyes open.  He was on his changing table at the time - a place that he still generally enjoys.  In fact, for awhile there, it seemed like I was taking a series of changing table pictures almost every day.  It was the time that I could initially catch him with his eyes open and then the place where I could catch him at his most expressive . . .

P.S. Both my brothers wore the gown that Rhys is wearing in this picture.  Although Jeremy and my favorite gowns were the ones that snapped all the way up the front because we didn't have to upset him by putting anything over his head, this one had a wide neck and was pretty good too.

Just our little family at home

After my mom, left Jeremy took two weeks vacation time so we could all get to know each other a little better.  Although it went too quickly (and made me bemoan the lack of mandatory parental leave in the U.S.!), I was super grateful for the time we did have.

Nana and Grandpa Jeff Come to Visit

My parents came to visit the first week we were home.  It was amazing how even with four adults in the house, it still felt like we were all scrambling to get everything done and make sure Rhys had everything he needed.  My mom was able to stay for twelve days, which was a huge help as I started to build my confidence level.

 Although Rhys was sleeping a lot, we occasionally caught glimpses of his eyes . . .

First Month

The first month was kind of a blur as we tried to figure out what we were doing, got used to feeding him every 2 1/2 to 3 hours, and learned that not every sound he made while sleeping meant something was wrong.  It took me a little while to get comfortable with taking him out into the world (everything seemed so big and he seemed so small!), but my mom, who came to visit for twelve days after we got home from the hospital, was a huge help in getting us out the door.

Fortunately, Rhys was very patient and took it all in stride.  Or perhaps he just decided to sleep through our learning process, figuring that we would have it figured out by the time he started waking up a bit more . . .

Rhys's Birth Day

To help make up for lost time, I'll try to post some pictures to catch everyone up.  Here are some of Rhys's first pictures:

Welcome to Rhys's Blog!

It's hard to believe that Rhys is almost four months old!  Time has really taken on a strange quality over these past few months.  On one hand it seems odd to think that four months ago he wasn't in our lives, but on the other it doesn't seem that long ago that the four month olds in our mom's group seemed like such "big boys!"  Now Rhys is one of the big boys.

In any case, although Rhys is now almost four months old and I have been fully intending to start this blog, I somehow have been finding other things to do . . .  (It does amaze me how busy someone so small can keep you.)  However, given that Rhys is so delightful, it just doesn't seem right not to be sharing pictures and stories about him more broadly.

So, without further ado, welcome to Rhys on the Rise.  :-)