The Rhodys

I’m trying… I really am to get them all online. I’ve left a few out of this installment. I’m sure we can bore you with them in person if you really want. However, these are the interesting pictures from the end of day 2 and up until about 3 PM on day 3. Thank you for your patience and your comments.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lmrhody/2008London3

So, Claire went for her 18 month check-up yesterday. She is growing beautifully, and the doctor was very impressed with her language skills. After Claire carried on a brief conversation about body parts, performed “reading books,” and mimicked the doctor’s use of the stethoscope and the little light doohickey, the doctor concluded that Claire is “very precocious”–though I’m sure she often says that to parents. But Claire, almost to prove a point, when the doctor said “… and you’re happy with her motor development?” answered by standing up, arching her back, leaning on my hand, and flipping her feet over to stand again. The doctor was stunned and concluded, “Yes, precocious is a good word for it.”

We know we’ve been slow about photos, and we have wanted to share these with you. So, here are the first two installments of a 5 part montage. Enjoy.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lmrhody/2008London1

http://picasaweb.google.com/lmrhody/2008London2

There are captions, which you can turn off if they’re annoying you. Also, some are tagged with markers on a map, so you can see where we actually were.

Anyone who’s met Claire knows that all her aspirations at the moment are vertical. She will climb whatever presents itself. It could be a stack of books standing vertically. It could be a set of yaffa blocks… (She likes to climb in the second highest one and sit there like a hen laying eggs); the top of the Leap Frog musical table (which is supposed to teach something slightly calmer than vertical ascent… I think); the top of the coffee table; the top of the kitchen table; and my new personal favorite, the top of the laundry hamper. Not wanting to limit herself to up and down climbing, though… there’s also climbing “through” and “into” which are just as much fun. For example, by scaling the walls of her new toy from Nana and Granddaddy, she has discovered, that you can in fact barrel roll an entire play house across the basement. In the event that she tires of climbing over the play piano to the top of the play kitchen, there’s always climbing into the collapsible laundry basket which also barrel rolls quite nicely.

Claire has formed an attachment to what Jason and I thought to be an unlikely subject, Knuffle Bunny. If you are unfamiliar with Mo Willem’s books _Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale_ and _Knuffle Bunny, Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity_, then get thyself to an Amazon window nearest you! Knuffle Bunny is the beloved stuffed companion of a little girl named Trixie. In the first story, bought for and read to Claire before she was born, Trixie and her father go to the laundromat to do a little wash. Knuffle Bunny is mistakenly tossed into the washing machine, and about halfway home, a prelingual Trixie makes every attempt to let her father know that something is amiss. Her father, however, interprets Trixie’s alarm as a “melt down” (including my most favorite toddler evasion tactic, “going boneless”). Eventually, a search is initiated, Knuffle Bunny is found, and all is well. Trixie even says her first word. When Jason and I went for our anniversary brunch just after Claire’s first birthday, we discovered that Knuffle Bunny has a sequel. We bought the stuffed bunny for Claire and the book for Evie. Since that moment, Claire has slept with Knuffle Bunny tucked under her arm every night.

Claire’s other favorite activities include: swiping a contraband item from a shelf, table, or counter, tucking it under her arm, and running like a mad woman away from a pursuing adult (all the while with an enormous grin on her face); slinking into the bathrooms to find someone’s toothbrush placed just a bit too close to the edge of the counter and “brushing her teeth” whenever she gets a chance; rocking and patting baby dolls to sleep… then dragging their naked bodies around by one foot; building and knocking down block towers; and trudging like Godzilla in a pink tutu through any “Little People” village that her sister has painstakingly set up.

All in all, Claire, we have discovered is turning into our adorable monster: smiling, adventurous, and, well, just a bit mischievous.

Note: I’ve changed the title from “our favorite monster” to “our adorable monster” not because she isn’t a favorite, but because people may be confused… I (Lisa) call Claire “Monster” as a term of affection (a la Sesame Street and the like). It’s a term I’ve always used for Claire… Evie has other names, like “Love Bug”… but Evie has been very careful to correct me when I use terms like that: “I’m not a bug, or a bear, or a cupcake or anything, Mommy… I’m Evie.” And so she is.

Evie started nursery school this fall, and she absolutely loves it. It’s afternoon nursery school, and by the time we’re ready to leave, she’s almost shaking with anticipation. In the car, she enumerates the many things she hopes that she will do. When we arrive, she walks directly into the room without looking back to say good bye. She tosses her tote bag into the “bin” and heads directly for some form of small doll house, puzzle, or role-playing prop–that is if her BFF Catherine is not already in the room. Evie has discovered the joys of finding one good friend who understands you. They find each other as soon as they enter the room and actually “catch up” on what they’ve been doing since the last time they saw each other. This morning, the conversation went like this: “Hi, Catherine! Look, I have my Snow White’s kitchen-maid dress on. Don’t I look pretty? I have a cut on my knee. I fell when I was running, but it’s ok because the blood makes clots and the clots make the skin heal so I’m going to be ok, wanna play?” To which Catherine responds, “Do you see *my* dress? I look pretty, too. Let’s play house, ok” They hold hands, and walk to the kitchen.

In other news, Evie read her first book tonight, Today I will Fly, which is a family favorite. Most of it is memorized, but she “read” the whole thing straight through without significant help. In the book, a pig with aspirations of flying struggles to find a way to make the impossible possible. Despite his skeptical elephant companion’s doubts and chiding, the pig gets help from a pelican and comes very close. The elephant, inspired by the pig, says at the end of the book that he, too, will fly. It’s a fun book to read and has very helpful “word bubbles” to help young readers figure out who is speaking. It’s quite an accomplishment for our little girl. Go Evie!

All in all, Evie continues to live in a world of fantastic imagination. She is alternately, Piglet, Roo, Snow White, Cinderella (of course), any of her teachers, Nana, Grandmom, and Trixie (from another Mo Willems’ story you’ll hear about later).  From writing her own script to a “Winnie the Pooh” play to explaining that her imaginary friends “The Evies” are strong enough to “fight off bullys,” to “teaching Puppy to read,” I’m always delighted to hear what new thing she’s thought up.

More pictures to follow.

Aunt Lisa, Uncle J, and cousins Evie and Claire would like to welcome to the world our newest family member. Zachary Scott Antonille was born on Wednesday, October 3, 2007, weighing a healthy 7 lbs. 5 oz. and measuring 18 inches. We’re thrilled to have him here. Congratulations, Scott and Tanya.

The Rhodys has been rather moribund of late, but we’re back, with a new look, a new software package, but the same ‘ol kids. We moved from MovableType, which had become so cumbersome and full of spam, to WordPress. WordPress promises to be more manageable and user-friendly, and allowed us to put some anti-spam methods in place so that comments could return. When you leave a comment, you will need to type the two words that you see in the reCaptcha box (the red box above the “submit” button). Not only does this help eliminate spam, but you are also helping researchers (read more about the reCaptcha project).

We have been terrible about uploading pictures, so thank goodness for Natalie, Claire’s new godmother, who posted to Flickr several pictures of Claire’s baptism this past weekend. In this photo, Father Bill (who married us and baptized Evie) holds a wet-headed Claire, while Natalie (godmother, far right), Angelo (godfather, far left) and “GG-Mom” (Lisa’s grandmother and Evie’s godmother) look on…

Enjoy the photos of our beautiful little girl and her big sister.

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Claire Savannah has arrived! Several events, including power and Internet outages, have precluded an earlier online announcement. Of course, I understand you care less about the announcement per se, and more about pictures. All in due time, all in due time. Now that our Internet is working (and hopefully continues to do so), we’ll try to share our little Claire (aka, “Baby Bean,” as she’s been called by Evie for the past 9 months) with the rest of you.

Details: Claire was born at 11:36 pm on August 29th. We arrived at the hospital at around 7:30 pm, and after being told the nurses were “not terribly impressed” by Lisa’s contractions, we suspected that they might send us home. Lisa, never one to turn down a challenge, impressed the nurses forthwith, and the phase known as “active labor” (an oddly redundant term) began. Within a few short hours (short, says the man whose primary task was to say “breathe honey; remember to breathe”), our wonderful doctor announced that the stage was set. And within minutes, Claire arrived and introduced herself with a steady wail. She was 7 lbs, 15oz and 20 and 3/4 inches at birth.

Both baby and Mommy are doing quite well, and Big Sister Evie has welcomed Claire with open arms (we’ll see how long this lasts when they want to borrow each others’ sweaters). More - including pictures - to come.