Brushing Teeth

Rhett has discovered the toothbrush! I was amazed at how well he "brushes" his teeth!

First Christmas

John and I had a BLAST celebrating Christmas this year! John had done quite a bit of woodwork gifts to give to not only Rhett but other members of his family. Santa had fun spreading out all the gifts on Christmas Eve. It felt magical when the lights were off. I LOVE that celebrating holidays for the first time with your child makes it all the more magical for YOU!

Rhett's toy puzzle train, made completely of wood by John. Rhett loves to take all the blocks off... I don't think they ever DID make it back on the trains!

Monica Bleuel and her family sent Rhett some gifts from Wisconsin. He got a Leapfrog magnet toy that goes on our fridge and, OF COURSE, his first Green Bay Packers hoody! Rhett doesn't like to match up the vehicles on the Leapfrog -- in fact, if they are in the barn, he proceeds to take them out and place them in the PLANT by our fridge! I couldn't figure out where all the parts were going until I found his stash in the pineapple plant! But he does love the stoplight button that plays music!

We had this rocking chair given to us before Rhett was born (by my mom I think) and so we pulled it out of the shed and gave it to Rhett for Christmas. We had the perfect red bag to wrap it in (we originally got a vacuum in it for our wedding gift-- from Target -- we knew we had to keep the bag!).

First Haircut

I gave Rhett his first haircut before Christmas because his hair was starting to curl around his ears. I admit that cutting hair is not one of my strong points. I have messed up on John's head more than one, and one time, THAT resulted in a shaved head for him (that was my FIRST time cutting hair). Rhett's hair was so darling since he was born, so I was a little nervous about cutting his hair, and especially how he would react to it. The end result was that I didn't cut that much off -- really only the stuff around his ears, neck, and then evened it out on his forehead. I went back later, after a little more confidence, and finished the job!

Before the scissors came out... he wasn't looking so sure about what was going on....

But then he realized the CAMERA was out and he had to pose. When I got around the ears though, NOTHING could distract him and I did mess up a little on one ear line, but luckily you couldn't tell unless I pointed it out.

All in all, Rhett handled his first haircut really well. When I came back to finish the job after Christmas, he did even better!

Christmas Pictures

So, now that I'm in school, I just seem to be falling further behind with "trying to catch up" on Rhett's blog! We were trying to get some holiday pictures before Christmas and Ginger and Rhett were a hoot!

Rhett and Santa

At our ward Christmas party, Rhett was able to sit on Santa's lap. I believe he was the ONLY baby that didn't cry. He just looked at Santa weirdly, like he didn't know what to think. I guess that's better than tears! However, Rhett was REALLY excited about the candy cane he was given.

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Butler

This year, to celebrate Christmas with the Butlers, we all met at John's oldest brothers house and had a gift exchange. With 15 grandchildren, we had quite the pile of gifts in the middle of the room. Rhett got some balls, hats, and toys. He wasn't much into unwrapping the gifts, but he sure enjoyed playing with them.

Rhett's first official Christmas gift, that I ended up opening... it was a colorful ball.

Rhett got this lion from grandma and grandpa. He LOVES to sit on it and pet the soft "fur". It amazed me at how well he COULD balance on it.

Wrapping Paper Tube Fights

One day, while I was at work, John wrapped some of my Christmas gifts. Rhett got a hold of the empty tubes and the pictures explain the rest!

(What Saria isn't telling you is that Rhett and I - John - got into a sword fight with clashing swords and everything! He had a blast and was laughing the whole time!)

First sleigh ride.

In the beginning of December, we had our first good snow fall that left us quite a bit of snow on the Salt Lake Valley floor. We decided to take Rhett for his first venture in the snow. Over all it was a success!

Rhett looking at the "white stuff" -- I know he looks covered in it, but he stayed warm and dry. We were out probably a total of five to ten minutes since he didn't have decent snow gear. That and it wasn't terribly cold -- low thirties. We kept stuffing his hands into his thick baby blanket but he refused to keep them there!

Smiling in his sleigh. I think he enjoyed himself!