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:

A Few of My Favorite Things...

I have this awesome jar. It's clear and I have some rocks that fit just perfect inside it. It's cool because you can see whatever you put in it and you can shake it and make noise. Then you can take out the rocks or toys and then you can put them back. It is so much fun!

There's a red chair in my room and it is so fun to climb on. Plus I can reach new stuff when I get up higher. I can also put toys in it, or just sit in it when I feel like it.

Every night after dinner, I get to go play in a tub full of water. I like splashing and jumping and crawling in it. It's also really good to drink (mom says yuck!). One night Elliott was here. I'm the one with all the hair!

I like swings. I have my very own swing at home, but sometimes we go to the park and they have a different swing and my daddy pushes me.

Easter Egg Hunt

I went to Grandma and Grandpa Rydalch's house for an Easter Egg Hunt. There weren't any eggs though! I know about eggs because I went into the chicken coop at Grandad Harry's and got eggs right from the chickens. Instead of eggs, there were toys and candy. I got a plastic thing with a green handle and a clear circle (mom says it's a magnifying glass). My cousins are bigger and faster than me and they got lots of candy and toys, but then my dad took a lot of their fun dips! It was fun.

March 2008

Boy, it's been a long time since I posted anything! So much has happened. In March, I got my first hair cut. First mom took these silver and red things and started snipping around my head. Then that night, she had dad hold me and got out this machine that buzzed and tickled my head. Here I am right after:








I spend a lot of time in the kitchen with my mom. There is so much cool stuff in there!

I still like to sleep a lot, but I don't always like it when mom covers me in blankets, so I find my own comfortable spots:

We go outside a lot more now that it's getting sunny, but it's still kind of cold. Sometimes mom puts me on this green prickly stuff. I don't really like to touch it, but I like to be outside because there are all kinds of good brown things to eat...

What do they mean?

Today, I went with Mom and Dad back to the brick building, but the man in the blue outfit didn't look at me, he looked at mom. That was after a lady made TV on Mommy's tummy. The TV looked like something from Daddy's Star Trek show, see:





They say I'm going to be a big brother. What do they mean? It's supposed to happen on August 6... Let me know if you find out anything!