Ballerina Rhys

Rhys started ballet and tap classes with Kinderdance in January.  She had been asking forever to "do ballerina class" so I was excited to get her started.  We had to go shopping for her pink leotard, tutu, tights, and dance shoes.  Here is she modeling the night before her first class.

I was a little nervous for her, because Rhys has a tendency to be very shy in new environments.  And, when Tim and I are not around, she usually has Rhett with her and that has always been a big help.  The dance classes were set up so that the parents sit in a waiting room, and only the girls and instructors are in the dance studio.  I was not sure how she was going to like that part of it.

And, as expected, the first day was a little rough.  She cried.  She actually screamed.  For a while. And then the teacher came and got me and had me come in and sit against the wall.  Rhys sat in my lap and would not move.  She watched intently, but did not want to participate.

The following week, when we got to dance class, she gave me a hug and ran in the room to the studio.  And she has been doing great ever since!

It was always hard to watch the girls during class because we could only peek in through a tiny little window on the door.  I was able to snap this pic of Rhys during class one day.

In May the girls had their first recital.  It was seriously adorable.  I highly recommend Kinderdance for the way they organize their classes and recitals.  It was low stress, and so much fun for the kids.

Here is our pre-recital prep.  Gotta get that ballerina bun just right!

Aunt Caydee has some serious pony tail skills.

Adding the tiara--Rhys' favorite part!

Rhett & Ana playing while the ballerina gets ready.

Again, knowing Rhys' personality, we did not put any pressure on her to participate in the recital, and to be honest, I wasn't sure she was even going to get on the stage.  We got there and she did just great!  We were so proud of her.

Rhys with her teacher, Miss Brittany.

I'm pretty sure Rhys had more people in the audience than any other dancer. Thanks to all of our wonderful family for coming to support Rhys.

Uncle Mike & Erin

Sean, Caydee & Ana

Rhett LOVED watching Rhys and was very excited to give her a bouquet of flowers after she finished.  He said she looked "beautiful!"

Sugar

Bdad & Gram

What a fun year we had in dance!  Rhys will continue with Kinderdance this fall.  We are proud of the way she grew, both in skill and in her confidence through dance class.  We sure do love our little ballerina Rhys!

Too Bad, So Sad!

At 4 years of age, R&R seem to learn new vocabulary every single day!  They are really into phrases and sayings right now.

I started saying "too bad, so sad" to them at different times, and they always thought this was so hilarious.  It usually ended any whining that was going on at the time for whatever reason.  (Looking back, this might not have been such a good idea...)

So, fast forward a few months and Rhys started dance class.  She had a really sweet teacher, Miss Janelle.  After several weeks of class, we found out that Miss Janelle would be moving and would no longer be Rhys' teacher.  

Since Rhys LOVED Miss Janelle, I tried to prepare her for saying goodbye, and welcoming the new teacher, etc.  We spent a couple of hours making Janelle a sweet card and Rhys was so excited to share it with her on their last day together.

After the final class with Miss Janelle, all the girls were gathered around her, ready to offer hugs and goodbyes.  It was such as sweet moment to watch all those little girls with her.  And then it was Rhys' turn to say goodbye.

She presented her card, gave her a hug, and then said, "You are moving.  Too bad, so sad."  Rhys looked at me with a sparkle in her eye, so proud of herself for using her new phrase.   Then Rhys turned, walked off, and I then felt the eyes of all the other parents staring me down as we walked out.

I didn't even know what to say.  What was done was done.  Too bad, so sad, Janelle.  We do miss you.

Be Still and Know That I'm Is God

Sometimes before bed Rhys will ask me to sing to her.  About a year ago, she had a certain order of songs that she liked:  Wheels on the Bus, R-E-D, and Itsy Bitsy Spider.  After about age 3.5, she started asking me to sing her some of "your songs, mommy."  After asking her a lot of questions, I figured out that she wanted me to sing her the songs that we sing at church or that she listens to on my phone when I run. Her new favorite quickly became Hillsong United's Oceans.  So we sang that every night for several weeks.  More recently, she wanted me to sing her some new songs.  Let me say that at bedtime, like most moms, my brain is DONE.  I was having a hard time coming up with any song, much less one that was "new" to her.  One Sunday night (after singing Be Still and Know that I am God in church that morning) I started singing it to her.  She fell in love.  Even to this day, you might hear Rhys humming or singing this song.  I was able to capture her singing on a little video.

I pray that her heart will always remember this truth and she will go to this verse (and song) throughout her life.

"Be Still and Know that I'm Is God" by Rhys Bennett, age 3 (almost 4) at the time of recording:

Piggy's Birthday

We celebrated Piggy's birthday on April 3.  Ever since her birthday in March, Rhys has been asking when Piggy's birthday was.  As many of you know, Piggy is Rhys' very special friend.  We decided to just pick a day and celebrate Piggy.  

I had the table set like this before the kids got up that morning.  When they came downstairs, they were SO excited to see the birthday hats, but the balloons were the biggest hit.

The birthday girl wearing some preemie pajamas that Rhys wore when she was little.

We had planned to make some banana cupcakes (banana bread muffins) but the bananas got eaten (OOPS), so we made a last minute change and had cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Rhys also told us that Piggy LOVES strawberries, so we added a couple to everyone's plate.

We even sang happy birthday...

and we blew out Piggy's candles for her.  She turned one year old, in case you were wondering.

Rhys was so proud and excited and I think she sang happy birthday to Piggy about 500 times all day long.

Daddy and Rhett enjoying Piggy's birthday breakfast.

The day before the party we took the kids to the dollar store and let them each pick out a gift for Piggy.  It was hilarious the things they considered.  Rhys ended up with a pink calculator, which she says is Piggy's phone, and Rhett chose one of those mini towels that you put in water and then it grows.  I think we were at the dollar store for over an hour choosing just the right gifts.  We kept telling Rhett that he could only hold one thing for Piggy.  Let's just say he had a lot of gift ideas!  

We had so much fun celebrating.  Happy 1st Birthday Piggy!

My Shadow

My Shadow (poem by CJ Heck)

I have a shadow hooked to me.

Sometimes he's big.

Sometimes he's small.

Sometimes he isn't there at all.

He doesn't seem to like the rain.

Maybe thunder scares him, too.

He's gone from me on days like that

'cause there isn't much to do.

But if it's really sunny out,

he doesn't like to hide.

He's hooked right there beside me

and we play all day outside.

The Things They Say...

As we were driving home from church yesterday, Tim and I were laughing because Rhett did not stop talking the whole way home!  When Rhys had something to add, she would shout her thoughts so that she could be heard over Rhett's constant chatter.  It sounded something like this:

Rhett:  "Car, big car, bus, car"

Rhys:  "Mom, car!"

Rhett:  "Doggie, big doggie, car, doggie, ruff ruff, ruff ruff"

Rhys:  "Mooooommmm, big car!"

Rhett:  "Dada, Mama, big big car!"

Rhett:  "Outside, car, doggie, ruff ruff, eat, apples, cracker?"

Rhys:  "Moooommm!!! Cracker?"

And this continued for 30 more minutes.

About 8 months ago the twins were not talking AT ALL.  They were tested for speech therapy, qualified, and both started receiving weekly services.  We just love our current therapist, Kathleen, or "Lee" as Rhett calls her.  I don't think they will continue to have therapy for very much longer.

I have been really fascinated watching their language skills develop these past few months.  It seems like they are learning new words every day, and really starting to be able to put together a couple words at a time.  Sometimes it is cute because Rhys will sign some words, say some words, and act out some words all at the same time to try to get her point across.  

I wanted to make note of some of the cute things they say so I don't forget.  It is interesting to me that they use the same pronunciation for most words, even if it is wrong.  There are only a few words that they say differently.

The things we are hearing these days (at 2 years old):

"On-yo" - orange

"In-yo" - inside

"Beto" - Caleb

"Baby Anna" - Savannah

"Ry Ry" - Ryland

"Guger" - Sugar

"outsi" - outside

"oink" - the name Rhys has given her pig

"baa" - the name Rhys has given her sheep

animals

car

"coo coo" - choo choo trains

baby

table

books

bike

"wa-on" - wagon

"side" - slide (after this word is spoken it is always followed by a "wheeee")

shoes

socks

ready go

cracker

"froo" - fruit

apples

"nana" - banana

"neck-ace" - necklace

"bace-let" - bracelet

"tee" - tree

"wing" - swing

"dis" - this, also meaning anything they want at the moment (I think because we say "you want this?"

ball

"pay" - play

eat

milk

"wah wah" - water

up

ice

bowl

"bork" - fork

cookie - which may be a cookie or a cupcake

"bock" - block

"bish" - fish

dip - which may be hummus, ketchup, mustard, tomato sauce 

"nak" - snack
bubbles - cheerios
"mun-nuh" - monkey

They are also very much into labeling things that belong to people.  "dada cup, dada shoes, etc."  They label things that belong to each other and mama and dada.  Rhett is using mostly 2 word phrases, and occasionally 3 words together.  Rhys uses one word most of the time, but is starting to put 2 words together.

My favorite thing that Rhys says right now is "sick" which means sit.  I hear "Sick, Mom, sick" many times a day.

My favorite thing that Rhett says is "nofe" for nose and "tofe" for toes.  I also love that he calls Rhys, "Mees."  He also calls himself "Bubba."

The funniest thing of all is that they both started calling me "Mom."  Rhys does it more consistently than Rhett, but he will say Mom when he is really wanting my attention.  We are not sure where they got this from, since all of their friends still stay "mama" or "mommy."

I love listening to them talk to each other, too, although I usually have no idea what they are saying.  Rhys will say something to Rhett and he will laugh and laugh.  Too bad I don't get the joke!  :)   

Lots of blog posts to catch up on....stay tuned for posts on Easter, 2nd Birthday and more!

At Almost Two...

The twins will be turning TWO later this month!  So many fun things going on and I don't want to forget some of my favorite moments with my little girl.

So, 

At almost two...

Rhys is still in love with her stuffed animals.  She drags them around the house, pushes them around in her shopping cart, loads them into her little car, and always wants to take at least one with her when we leave the house.  She sleeps with a crib full of them.  If we are in a store and she sees a stuffed animal, she immediately starts sucking her thumb and asking for it.  We haven't "named" the animals, but tend to call them by their animal name. (pig, sheep, dog, etc.)  I think it is so funny that Rhys has named them herself, and she has chosen the sound they make to be their name.  For example, her pig is called, "Oink."  Her favorite friend right now is her sheep, or "Baa."

 sucking that thumb and snuggling with her pig

 Rhys put her "Oink" in time out!  

 the favorite right now, "Baa"

At almost two...

Rhys loves cell phones.  She loves real phones and pretend phones.  She will chit chat on her phone many times a day.  She usually calls "Guger" (her grandma, Sugar) or daddy.  She loves holding my phone, looking at pictures, playing the Veggie Tales app, and watching videos on You Tube.  And yes, she can do all of those things independently on my phone.  If she can't find a phone, she will use a toy or even her hand to make her calls.

looking at pictures

trying out daddy's blue tooth

 Rhys found a toy pager at the children's museum and it immediately became her phone for the day

just a girl sitting on a rock talking on her phone

At almost two...

Rhys loves cars.  She loves her princess cozy coupe so much that as soon as she comes downstairs in the morning, she sits in it right way.  She loves to fill the car with her favorite things and push it around.  She will occasionally ride in the car, too, and likes for Rhett to push her around.

future hoarder, maybe?  LOL

At almost two...

Rhys loves to eat.  She especially likes to have "dip."  This is usually hummus, guacamole, balsamic vinaigrette, or ketchup as on occasional treat.  She will eat almost anything if I give her some dip.  

enjoying a treat from Chik-fil-a with dip

 At almost two...

Rhys loves to sit in little spaces.  She really likes small chairs or couches, but she also enjoys sitting on cushions, her stuffed animals, or even rocks.

Rhys proud of herself for finding a seat on the rocks

At almost two...

Rhys loves music.  She hums a lot of the day, and gets excited when we play music.  She loves for us to sing to her, and sometimes tries to join in.  She can sing the first part of the alphabet song.

dancing with the jukebox at the children's museum

At almost two...

Rhys is starting to get into pretend play!  I love watching her do different things.  She likes to pretend to cook in her kitchen, change the babies diapers, clean the windows with a spray bottle and windex, and of course, talk on her phone.

changing the baby's diaper

At almost two...

Rhys adores her daddy.  She loves to sit in his lap and read books.  She always wants to share her dinner with daddy at the table.  She will do anything to make him laugh, and she thinks he is the funniest person she knows.  I just love seeing their relationship develop.

just before their first daddy/daughter date

At almost two...

She is growing up...

But she'll always be my baby girl.