Rhett's words, food, Christmas...

Hot, momma, dada, bath, jude, peek a boo, papa cracker and "G" for Jen (for some reason we call her G).

He's picking up so much lately.  The past few weeks he's been throwing things away.  I will change his diaper and he gets up, grabs the diaper and runs to the trash to throw it away.  He's been having milk in a bottle in the afternoon and will take the bottle to the trash when he's done with it.  I've fished a few bottles out of the trash lately, and a few toys here and there:).

Rhett just seems so teeny tiny to me lately.  I bought him some skinny jeans the other day (cutest ever!!!), and he practically disappears when he turns sideways.  I'm guessing he's fallen on the charts since his 10th percentile at 12 months.  I doubt he's put on any weight since October.  I'm determined to do all I can to fatten him up, in a healthy way.  We practically NEVER eat red meat around here, but I bought some steak and ground beef just for Rhett today (that is, if I can keep Dallas from eating it first).  I'm sure he will love it.  That's what is so strange about this child, he will eat anything and everything put before him.  Not only will he eat it, he won't stop eating until you stop feeding him.  He is a bottomless, weightless little pit.  A lady asked me at a store the other day if he was about 8 months old.  Um, no...try 14 months.  As long as he is healthy I guess it doesn't matter.  Our doctor never seems concerned, and Rhett has always been ahead of the game developmentally and in all of his milestones.

Does anyone have any healthy food suggestions on some good fats for a one year old?  He does love avocados, cheeses and hummus, and I want to stick to mainly natural, non processed foods.  Let me know if you have any kid-friendly ideas.

In other news,  Christmas was a success at the Martin home.  We managed to keep Jude informed on the real meaning of Christmas and have a fun celebration for Jesus with gifts for all of us!  Our big gift to the boys this year was a trampoline.  We have wanted to get one for a while, but we figured we should save something that big for a Christmas present.  Dallas and I stayed up until 3 am in the freezing cold and rain on Christmas eve eve, and got it put together.  We actually had a lot of fun and many laughs that night (possibly frostbite as well:)).  So, we attempted to hide the fully assembled tramp (that's her name) from Jude all of Christmas eve.  We pulled all of the blinds shut and put the basketball hoop in front the the back door window so there was at least an obstacle in his line of sight (as if that would mask the giant wonder-world of fun lurking in the background).  Every time he even set foot near the door Dallas or I would redirect him or distract him with something.  Late that afternoon I was doing dishes and Dallas was distracted by Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (even though he can recite it line for line), and I looked up and Jude was staring out the back door window with a confused look on his face.  I panicked and screamed, "Jude", he jumped and said, "what?", I said, "come here, I want to ask you something."  Just when I thought my super clever mind tricks would work he said, "okay, but did we get a trampoline?"  This is where the lying started.  I was devastated seeing as how we didn't get Jude much else because this gift was going to knock his socks off.  What would Christmas be like for him if he already knew what he was getting?  I just felt like I failed as a parent, like I didn't do a good enough job keeping this a surprise for him.  Really it somehow turned into Dallas' fault for being distracted by Christmas Vacation after seeing it for the umpteenth time, but really I was mad at myself.  So, Dallas concocted a very elaborate story about how this trampoline was for Cole and Austin (cousins), but we were hiding it here so they would be surprised on Christmas.  Apparently uncle Larry was going to come put the 14 foot trampoline in the back of his truck after we all went to bed.  Thankfully the logistics of all of that meant nothing to a 3 year old, or we would have been made lickety split!  Christmas morning we opened stocking gifts and the presents under the tree, and then we took Jude outside and told him that the trampoline was really for him, and we just wanted him to be surprised.  He was really excited, and we've had so much fun on the trampoline the past few days.  The weather has been great, and Jude and Rhett have loved being outside and burning off energy.  I must say that I do regret lying to him.  I don't know how else we could have handled it, but he was really confused by the whole situation on Christmas day.

So, as if this was not failure enough....when we finished opening gifts Jude came up to me and said, "Mom, are there anymore presents?", I told him we were headed over to Mamaw's house and would have a few gifts there.  He said, "Well, I hope there's a belt there because that's what I told santa I wanted."  FAIL, FAIL, FAIL!  How could I not get the belt?  He loves his belt, so much so that it's torn in several places and the leather is coming off.  I'd stopped letting him wear it in public, and he really wanted a new one.  His had become a leash for cat in the hat, a fire hose, a rope to pull his toys around and anything else you can think of, but this sweet little boy just wanted a belt to hold his pants up (most of them have an adjustable waist and don't need holding up), and to be just like his daddy.  I instantly covered for santa and told him that he and I were going to go the the store the day after Christmas and that he could pick out his very own belt, whichever one he wanted!  So we did, and he was happy.

Back to the trampoline for a minute...she is a beaut! A vision in khaki!  I did not pick it out, it was a special the day after Thanksgiving that my in-laws were kind enough to pick up for us, but I personally loved the colors.  I've never seen a trampoline so modest.  They are usually bright blue with blue foam bars and spring covers.  I have no idea the brand, but we are pleased she is less of an eyesore peeking over the fence than we thought:).

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas as well!