Another Week Goes By

So, another week has flown by and I find myself once again playing catch up here, trying to fill in everything we did.

Tuesday, Rhea and I packed up and headed out to the other side of the state to spend some quality time with my side of the family. We kicked off our time there with lunch with Grandpa and Auntie Gina and toy store shopping. Rhea was in heaven. She walked around looking at the toys and even pulling some down to play with. Her favorite toy was a Busy Poppin Pals toy. In fact, she liked this toy so much that we bought it for her cousin Arwen's birthday present and I have a feeling Rhea may be getting one herself this Christmas!

Wednesday morning we headed to the mall for a few things and while we were there, we saw that Santa was already in place and there were no lines. So, my mom and I brought Rhea over to see how she would react and she actually sat long enough for us to get a picture! Rhea was definitely fascinated by this man in a red suit with a big white beard and she kept looking at him as he waved to her. After a while, she actually started waving back and even blew him a few kisses goodbye! It was so awesome...her first realization of who Santa is.

Thanksgiving was a nice day for us. Daddy joined us in the morning and we ate two delicious meals. Rhea liked the turkey and the ham we had, but she LOVED the fruit and vegetables that went with it. She seriously couldn't eat enough of the sides! Our second dinner with my mom's family was at a restaurant...a nice restaurant where dinner takes 2 hours to serve and eat. This was the longest we have asked Rhea to be in a restaurant setting and I knew it would test her limit. But, she was good, real good. She sat for probably an hour and a half, eating and interacting with everyone. After that, we let her get down and walk and explore the restaurant. She kept herself occupied opening and closing a door to a hallway right behind our table while we all said, "where's Rhea? There she is!"

Friday we took Rhea to a Big Balloon parade near my mom's house. It was fun and Rhea enjoyed the balloons and the music. Although the highlight was definitely Santa at the end. She was waving to him as he went by! Guess that mall trip came in handy. The only tough part was that Rhea wanted to walk around in the worst way and we of course wouldn't let her, so she had a few moments of fussing and squirming, but my mom and I would team up to find something to distract her (a cookie, some juice, look another balloon - you get the picture).

Saturday was Arwen's 1st birthday party and Rhea had a blast at it. From almost the minute we walked in the door, she was down and walking around, checking the place out. There were a bunch of kids who Rhea played with right away and a pop up princess tent, that Rhea and all of the other kids loved going in and out of. They also had a princess chair for Arwen, although Rhea claimed it as her own right from the start and it took a little persuading to get her out of it when it was present time! She completely wore herself out and slept our entire 2 hour ride home.

Yesterday, the weather here was awful, so Rhea and I spent the day inside while daddy braved the elements to go to the Patriots game. Rhea and I did watch the game though and it was the first time she was actually interested in it. I would cheer, "let's go Patriots" and we would both clap our hands and I would say "touchdown" and she would put her hands up (not that I got to say that too much in relation to the game...just lots of practice for next week, hopefully).