Rhode the Man

Jumping back to September 13th, my Rhode man turned 5 years old.

Rhode is such an awesome kid.  He is incredibly sweet and so friendly to people.  Instead of saying "you're welcome" he has started saying, "My Pleasure!" in his best gentleman voice.  It is killer cute.  

Rhode spent the morning of his birthday at preschool.  He got to bring a special treat to share with the class (oreos and marshmallow stick pops dipped in white chocolate and then sprinkled by his own hand) and he got to bring his favorite stuffed friend for the teddy bear picnic.



For his birthday, he got cards from all of his aunts and uncles, a check from Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen which he spent on an awesome ninja costume, and his first box of legos from Grandma and Grandpa Earl.  Instead of giving him presents we had a big outing day as a family the next day.  We took the kids to the movies to see Planes (we rarely do the movie theater but I was really impressed with how well my kids behaved, even Asher) with some popcorn and soda and then headed over to Yogurtland where Rhode got to make his own personal yogurt creation.

He is so funny right now, mostly unintentionally as he spouts off his ever growing knowledge.  I recently posted this conversation on facebook:

Gems from a conversation between two 5 year old boys:

Blake: My grandma and grandpa live in Norway
Rhode: I've never heard of that place, and I know all of the states. 

Blake: McDonalds is my favorite restaurant
Rhode: Mine too! But the food is really unhealthy and every time I eat there I get a little fat.

Blake: I don't like tattoos
Rhode: Yeah, and we're not supposed to look at tattoos on naked people on those big signs (stupid billboards)

They also compared baby stories and realized both of their last names end in an E. Buddies in the making.

Happy birthday my Rhode-Toad.  I love you to pieces!  You can stay five for as long as you'd like.

The rest of the story

Okay, where were we?  

Oh yeah,  I had a baby.  And then all of a sudden it was a month later.  Not sure how that happened...

As I mentioned earlier, my mom brought the kids by to meet their newest brother, which is always interesting.  All semi-edible hospital foods left in the room were consumed quickly, Rhode repeated multiple times that he think we should reconsider his new brother's name, and they all had a little baby holding time.  Jon headed out when they left and Jude and I got to hang out together for the night.

We did really well until the middle of the night or so.  I had nursed him straight for about an hour and the boy was just still so hungry.  So I requested a little formula and he downed the 2 ounces in no time flat and was so happy.  We then both got a little rest.  I kept up the supplementing, about one bottle a day after my milk came in and it has been really nice to have a little more freedom.  

We tried to get home first thing the next morning but the pediatrician was running behind so we didn't get back until about 1 p.m.  We then spent the week bonding while my mom drove my kids all around town to all of their various activities.

 Other than being hungry pretty much all the time, Jude is a fantastic baby.  Once he is full, he is happy and content.  He loves to sleep in the sling and we have had some decent stretches at night, he even sleeps pretty well in the car.

The poor boy was born with the longest fingernails ever and he instantly started scratching up his cute little face.  I have tried all methods of shortening them but they are still lethal, so he sports a pair of socks over his hands most of the time.

He will take a pacifier from people who are not me, which also comes in very handy.

I love his squishy sleeping face.  Big baby cheeks reach their ultimate cuteness when fast asleep.

Scarlet and Rhode love their new little brother.  Scarlet is extremely helpful and is already a pro at feeding, holding, picking up and even burping.  Rhode... has to be closely monitored but he is awesome at hanging out with a sad baby to make sure he knows he's loved when mom just needs two more minutes.

Asher... well he loves Jude.  Although he insists on calling his new little brother SHE and refers to "her" as "Sid".  He also insists on bringing Jude lots of dangerous objects, which is not awesome.  His newest tricks is using Jude's bouncer chair as a slingshot, pulling it back as far as it will go and then attempting to launch our newest family member.  Good thing Jude is sturdy...