New tricks and new friends!

6 months, 3 weeks old

Brock has had quite an exciting week!! We had a crazy busy weekend with Meme and Poppy in town.  We shopped and shopped and then ate some really delish food! We started the fun Saturday morning when we went out for breakfast and headed to Westport and the Plaza for some shopping. However, Mother Nature had some other plans as she decided to drop a nice freezing cold rain on us. Since the Plaza is entirely outdoors, we decided to skip the annual trip. Instead, we headed out to Nebraska Furniture Mart. Even though he was in and out of his car seat all day and had next to no nap time, Brock was still a total champ. He had his Santa hat on in NFM and he just loves that thing! See how cute he looks in it:

He loves it! Whenever he has it on, he just cracks up! We're not quite sure how, because it's super itchy! Saturday night, Nick and I had a Christmas party to go to, so Meme and Poppy were on Brock duty. He totally put on a show for them. He was laughing and smiling for them all night. They had a blast and so did he!!

Sunday was more shopping, but ended with Brock's first trip to see Santa!! We headed to Crown Center with Grammie and Grandma Judy. We waited in line and Brock had his Santa hat on and LOVED Santa. Right when he sat down he looked up at him like 'who are you', then just turned around and smiled for the camera! We got lots of good pictures and I'll try and get some posted soon, it's been awhile! After Santa we ate at Fritz's where Brock got to play with a paper train conductor hat and watch the trains go around the restaurant. Before we totally left Crown Center, we stopped by the gingerbread house display they had. Brock was fascinated. They had so many houses and things for him to look at! It was so fun seeing him so amazed! Overall, it was a wonderful, but very busy weekend!

Monday brought a new friend for Brock. My co-worker (and dear friend) Suni and her husband Brian, welcomed their son Jaxxon Vann Michaelsen into the world on Monday! I got to see him yesterday and he's perfect!! I can't wait for Brock and Jax to play together!! Being up at the hospital was very surreal. On one hand, I had a bit of nostalgia when I walked in since she delivered at the same hospital I did, in fact, in the room next to ours! I sort of missed being there and those first few precious, amazing days of having Brock. All the love we felt from all of our friends and family who came to see us and the wonderful nurses who took such great care of us. I miss how tiny Brock was and how much he needed more for everything. I miss the idea of just starting to have 2 full months off to enjoy at home, with my little angel. However, I also just LOVE this stage. Seeing him starting to really absorb and learn new things. I love how responsive and fun he is. There are definitely mixed emtions. I love watching him grow, and at the same time, it's going so fast!!

Squash is the veggie on deck for this week and so far, he seems to love it! We are starting to do 2 'meals' a day along with his normal bottles now. He gets cereal at daycare in the morning and then squash for dinner when he gets home. He is getting the hang of the sippy cup more and more! He also has learned to wave! We think he must have picked it up at daycare, but it's so cute. When people walk up to him, he starts flapping his arm up and down waving. At first we thought it was just excitement, but over the last week or so, it's become clear that it's actually a little wave. Sometimes he just opens and closes his hand as a little wave too! He's learning so fast!

We bought a Samsung Galaxy tablet last weekend and I downloaded a 'baby game' for Brock. It's just a blank screen and pictures of different animals pop up and make noise on the screen. Each time you touch the screen, a new animal pops up. At first, Brock just got excited and kept hitting the screen, but after a few times, he started to figure out how it worked. He would hit the screen once, then pull both his hands back and wait for the next animal! He was smiling at the screen and having so much fun!!

It's amazing how quickly he's growing up and learning. He's interacting so much more with the world around him and it's so much fun to watch. We had our first snow yesterday and while it was very little, it was still so fun to let Brock see it for the first time. He just stared out the window the whole way to daycare, looking at the snow on the trees.

I know it's just going to get more fun and exciting, especially with the holidays! I can't believe 2011 is almost over! It has been quite possibly the best year of my life so I'm almost a little sad to see it end. But there are lots of exciting things on deck for the Barbosas in 2012 so much  more to look forward too!!