Smiles

We live with a little ham that is usually walking around with a huge smile on his face. Here are some pictures from this weekend that hopefully will make you smile!

Trying to start his new lawnmower.
showing off all those teeth

picture from the graduation banquet last week at church

Mother's Day

We didn't take any pictures of Rhodes and mommy on Mother's Day so here are a few of him eating his breakfast before church. Such a sweet little boy!

cheeks are full of food
no need for small bites when you can stick the whole thing in your mouth.

Home

Rhodes became a decorator a few days ago when we bought a new end table. Before we had a chance to decide if we liked where it had been placed he had already started arranging things on it.

so proud of his design style!
We bought him a little table last year and have been storing it in the attic until he got a little bigger. This past weekend we decided it was time to let him try it out. He loves it!

Tool Time

Thursday was "Toy Rotation Day" at our house. It was time to switch out some of the toys Rhodes had lost interest in and bring in some of the ones he had not seen or had been rotated out previously. He thought it was Christmas and was so excited to play with all these new and exciting things. His favorite thing right now is his tool set. He is becoming the little handyman!

playing with his tools in the chair


trying to hold as many tools as possible

such a sweetheart

The Zoo

We took Rhodes to the Zoo for the very first time today. He wasn't really sure what to think since all he could hear were strange monkey noises as we were walking to the front entrance. Going early in the morning is not the best option for seeing the lions, tigers, and bears. Most of them were curled up sleeping or inside hiding somewhere. By the time we got to the elephants they had gone inside to get baths. There were still lots of great animals to view and Rhodes loved checking everything out, including all of the preschool classes running around.

Daddy and Rhodes at the entrance of the zoo.
Daddy and Rhodes by the bears.
Mommy and her sweet little Rhodes

New Shoes and Playing Around

Little R has some chubby feet so we have to carefully pick shoes that will accommodate this issue. We were able to find some new summer sandals the other day that don't leave indentions in the top of his feet, which also means we don't have to listen to him scream and point at his feet as soon as we put them on. He is trying to become more and more independent and copies many of the things he sees us do everyday. Learning to put his shoes on is one of his new fascinations.

Here is an attempt to put his new sandals on all by himself.

This is the frustration and kicking of the shoes that happens when he can't get them to go on how he thinks they should.

gave up on the shoes and went to play with the vacuum cleaner

This little boy loves being outside so we usually spend the evenings out there letting him play. While we are out there he likes to do a little yard work for us by dragging the water hose all over the place.
This is Rhodes stuck under the table and not sure how to get out. He kept trying to stand up instead of bending down to crawl back out.

Just a Regular Day

You never know what each day will be like with this very active little boy. He has started becoming attached to certain things (weed eater, vacuum cleaner, and stuffed animals) and wanting to take them with us everywhere we go. The toy vacuum cleaner has to constantly be on or he will be very upset, even if he isn't playing with it at the moment. The stories and laughs are endless each day and we are so blessed by this little man more and more. His sweet kisses just melt our hearts even though they tend to be a little slobbery. We are always looking forward to the next adventure with him which usually brings along lots of laughs.

Standing inside his new toy bucket with the vacuum cleaner.
about to fall out of the bucket, on purpose

This is what we like to call Multi-Tasking at 20 months old. Read a book and keep the floor clean. Maybe when he is older he will be able to vacuum and play video games at the same time!
reading his animal book