Animals...

We went to the zoo because they got some new animals and my dad (and Uncle Josh) made some cool benches to go with them. Here are the benches:


There were some cool elephants, but they didn't move, not even when I touched them:

You know what did move? The lion! When she saw me, she ran over and tried to give me a high five, but there was glass in the way. Mommy was kind of scared and Daddy was really surprised. They said that lion wanted to eat me! Another animal that moved pretty fast was the giraffe. It was scared of a squirrel and ran back to its barn. Here I am looking at the giraffe with my Auntie Shelley:

I like seeing all the animals and their nice new cages. There was even a little cage for me:

But I don't have to go to a zoo to see animals. Our neighbors got about thirty chickens. Mom thinks that's too many. Here they are, trying to come into our yard...

It took a week or so, but they finally figured it out:

Trips to the mountains...

I got to go up by the mountains to my Mumsy and my Grandpa Harry's a lot this September. Dad is working with my Grandpa now so sometimes we go stay at the ranch. It was colder up there. We went to mom's cousin David's wedding. It was really pretty, but I had to sit still for a long time. After, I was dancing with the girls. I was pretty popular! My Mumsy had a lot of her cousins come visit at Raspberry Ranch so we stayed with her for a whole week.

Mom and dad took me to a mountain lake for a picnic. I had fun climbing the rocks.


My Mumsy has lots of hats that I got to play with. Here I am in my own cowboy hat:


Lookin' pretty good, don't you think?

Here's one of the craziest hats I've seen. It had hair kind of like Mom's...

Mumsy has a special wooden horse that rocks for me and my cousin Elliott. I got right on and rode it. Mom was surprised, but I really got her when I started trick riding:

I was so good at that, they let me try the real thing and I loved it.

On another trip to McCall, Mom and I went to the lake. The first time we went there were lots of waves, but there weren't any this time. I just walked right into the lake, but Mom made me come out because it was too cold.

I really like going to the mountains.

People just love babies!

People must really like little babies. After we brought the baby home from the big brick building, a lot of people came to visit us, and a lot of them brought pink stuff. You wouldn't believe how many dresses and girl clothes my sister got. I'm so glad I'm a boy! We visited lots of people too, like my Great Granddad Hiatt:

We also went to see another new baby, my cousin Nora. She and Alice and almost exactly the same size. My cousin Opal is good at holding babies. Here she is with Alice:

I like visiting cousins. Their houses are fun. I got to play the piano at Aunt Julie's.

Babies are OK most the time, but boy can they be noisy:

I have my own baby that I take care of, but she's a lot quieter than my sister. Mom says I'm a very good big brother (except when I play too hard with Alice).

Big News!!

Life was good... I was eating lamb chops...



and ice cream cones...

Then last Wednesday (August 13), I woke up to my Aunt Libby. My parents were gone. My Aunt Janelle came and got me and Libby and they took me to the big brick building again. This time when I got there my mom was in one of the rooms and had on the hospital dress. She looked really tired and she was kind of pale. My Mumsy was there too and everyone kept looking at this little baby...

They kept showing me this little baby and I thought, "What's the big deal? I've seen lots of babies..."

Daddy told me that the baby's name was Alice Gertrude Rydalch. Wow, we have the same last name. She had really small wrinkly feet and really long skinny hands. They said she was a little smaller than I was as a baby - 7 pounds 11 ounces and 20 1/4 inches long. They said she was my sister, which I don't really understand.

At first, she cried some, but then she was pretty quiet and I decided maybe she was OK.

I got to hold her and that was fun, but she's kind of heavy.

Mom changed her out of her hospital clothes and into a cute outfit.

Then they put her in a car seat. She screamed. I thought it was kind of funny.

Do you know what they did next?!?? They brought her home with us. What??!! I don't know how long she's staying, but the longer she's here, the more I like her. I guess that living with my new baby sister will be OK.

Good-bye Grandma

My grandma was so kind and gentle. We just said good-bye to her. My Aunt Kristen made pretty flowers and most of my cousins came. My cousin Carter was so nice to me. It was good to see everyone, but we will miss Grandma.

Home again!!

I was so happy to be home!! I walked around and all my stuff was right where I left it. It was kind of hard to balance at first because I couldn't move my arms, but I figured it out. One of my favorite things is hats. I really like this cowboy hat of my mom's. She even took me to a store and I got my own hat that fits better, but I like the big hat. I just point and say "hat" and they give it to me. I wear it everywhere. (Mommy and Daddy think that's a crazy first word, but hey I like hats!)


While I was at home getting better, my Aunt Catherine visited. She's fun. I got to wear her glasses and I think you'll agree that I look pretty cool.

My new friend Clara from Seattle visited me too. I got to take off my arm bands for this picture. It was so nice to bend my arms! Clara is cute, but she mostly just lays around.

It seemed like forever (Mommy says it was 3 weeks) and I went to the doctor and he said no more arm bands and that it was OK to eat real food (for that whole time I only got to drink milk and juices). We went to a party for one of Mommy's friends that night. She got married in a park. Everyone said I looked pretty cute.

Another surgery...

You shouldn't always trust your parents. Mine woke me up one day in the middle of the night and tried to feed me. I wasn't hungry; I was tired. Then they woke me up super early and wouldn't feed me - and then I was hungry! Mom only gave me a little water.

Then they took me back to the big brick building. It was still dark outside.

After we waited a while, they took us back to our own room and they put me in a purple rocket dress.

Then I got to play with a bunch of toys...

All the other kids were wearing purple rocket dresses too. I met William. His mommy and my mommy know each other.

They gave me some cherry stuff. I got really sleepy and don't really remember the rest.

I do remember waking up and Mommy and Daddy weren't there. It was scary. The people in blue took me upstairs to my own room and I was happy to see my parents. I was hurting and there were tubes and cords hooked to me. It wasn't very comfortable.

Mommy and Daddy said I looked like a big fish because the doctor had put a stitch through my tongue and it was hanging out of my mouth. I couldn't move my arms either. It was crazy. I didn't like the hospital.

My mouth felt so strange. Mommy says that the doctor closed my palate and fixed my lip on the left side. She says I don't have to go back for a very long time.

I had a party!

A lot of people came to my house and we ate hamburgers and played outside. It was really hot. Then mom and dad brought out these big things (cakes) with a light on top of one. I like to turn the lights on and off, but there wasn't a switch. Mommy tried to show me how to blow on it and make it turn off. There were ducks on top of the things and I got my own with a little duck. Then they let me eat it. I couldn't believe how good it tasted! Way better than vegetables!



I got to tear paper off of lots of boxes and that was fun too. One box had this toy in it that Daddy put water in and Elliott and I played with Riley and Mackenzie. It felt good to get wet because it was so hot.

After everybody else left, I was in my room with Daddy and some other people and I walked across the room all by myself. I just had so much energy (Mommy says it was the cake). Now I walk everywhere, but that day it seemed like so far just to cross a room!

I'm one! I can do lots of things all by myself...

Mom sang me a song this morning that was different. It said "Happy Birthday to You" -- what does that mean? People are always trying to help me do stuff, but I can do things all by myself now. I keep trying to tell them, but they don't understand.

I can stand up and sometimes I take a step or two, but I don't want to do more than that yet. Crawling is so much faster!


I can drink from a cup all by myself. I like to drink milk or water after I eat lunch. Sometimes there's too much and I get all wet, but it's fun.

After taking a bath, I like to brush my hair all by myself.

I can eat cheerios and cheese all by myself. Sometimes, I even try to eat squash or beans by myself, but the spoon is still kind of hard: