Rhett and the Black Balloons

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Rhett's 10 Months Old!

Double digits, baby! Poor little Rhett had no less than four (big!) teeth pop though this month. More are quite possible on the way. It's hard to be sure because he does NOT let us see into his mouth very often! Rhett has enjoyed learning how to move his body around. One of his favorite new activities is climbing the stairs. He's getting good! He can make it up pretty quickly. He's also standing and lowering himself and starting to cruise around furniture. He can walk with walker toys and he always seems SO  PROUND of himself for doing it. Rhett likes musical toys--pianos and xylophones are a lot of fun for him. He also loves to rip up paper! He has begun to imitate us a little bit. He claps his hands when we do, and yesterday I caught him holding Josh's cell phone up to his ear. Also, he officially spoke his first work this month! I was home alone with him and he crawled up into my lap, looked right in my eyes and said "mama!" We're so proud of all that he's learned. He is such a wonderful son and has brought so much joy into our household. I can't believe that his birthday is just in two short months!

We got into a car accident

On Monday, we got into a car accident. We were all thankfully, ok. It was my first time being in an actual accident, and obviously, Rhett's first time as well! He barely even seemed to notice. He just continued to happily babble in the backseat until we got him out and then he had a lot of fun looking around at police officers and the tow trucks. We feel very blessed to have gotten though it so safely, and as it turns out, we don't even need to replace our car. It is in the repair shop right now, and we are lucky enough to have family in the area that can help us out with getting around while it's in the shop. God is good!

Trilogy Time

Playing with newspaper is really a lot more fun:

Rhett's Red Cup

Here's a picture of Rhett with his red doidy cup. It's an alternative to the sippy cup. It's slanted so that he can see the liquid in it and learn how to properly drink from a cup without having to go through a sippy phase. I liked the idea a lot and we've been working with Rhett on the doidy cup for awhile now. He really loves it! Mostly (just like food), he prefers that we hold it while he takes sips. But we're really working on him being the one to drink from it himself. Right now, we have to position his hands so that he's holding it properly. But once he's got it in the right position, he's really good at getting it into his mouth and drinking from it. He bangs it on the table when he wants more water in it. It's been a really great product find and I'm thinking I'm going to order a couple more.

Working Mom

Working full time with a baby is no fun. Sometimes, I leave for work when Rhett is still asleep. This week, he was sleeping when I left and napping when I was on my lunch break. So I didn't see him that day until 4:00 in the afternoon. It's hard. I miss him. I think about him constantly and wonder if he's missing me. Leaving him when he's sad is even harder. It helps that he spends the majority of the time with his dad. In his own home. And we have great childcare as well. He has fun there. He likes exploring a new place and chasing after bigger kids. But it's still hard. My working is providing much-needed benefits for our family. Our health care is covered, and covered well. I have a steady paycheck. We aren't taking out student loans. But as Rhett reaches more and more milestones, I become more aware that his babyness is almost over. And I don't get to be with him all the time and sometimes it can be kind of devastating.

Rhett, waiting for me to get home

But we remain very blessed. I spend lunch breaks with Rhett, I get to see him all weekend. I've briefly considered and mourned the fact that I decided against watching children in my home. But the more I think about it, the more I don't think I would like that either. I like coming home and having it be a place of rest. A place for just our family. My time with Rhett is so special now. It' might be a weak justification for spending so many hours away from him. But every moment I get with him is now precious in a way that it wasn't back when I spent 24 hours a day with him by my side. When it comes down to it, I don't think Rhett is suffering from me being away from him. He has people who love him who watch him. He gets to play and explore and learn either way. I'm the one who this is effecting. And I'm doing o.k. It's not what I wanted or pictured for myself when I became a mother. But I always try to keep in mind that everything I do is for him. And for him...it's much more beneficial to have good health care. And money to pay rent. And to not have to be paying off student loans for the rest of his life. So I'm willing to do it. Because I want to do what's best for Rhett. Always.