Ready or not, here we go!

13 months, 1 week

Well, we are officially 'off to the races!'. Brock took his first 'real' steps this weekend!! At first it was just a few wobbly steps here and there, but by Sunday night, it was a full 5-6 steps, followed by the same thing last night!!

It's amazing to see how he went from being totally not ready last week, to now ready to give it a shot and even balance and catch himself if he started to fall. He likes to walk now with you holding just one of his hands and I think will be really walking on his own in no time!!

We also learned he is his fathers son. As if the fact that they look identical wasn't enough, the kid already has an affinity for hats and shoes just like his Daddy! Anytime he sees a baseball hat, he points to it and says 'dada'. He used to pull them off whenever you would put them on his head. Now, not only does he not take them off, he wants them ON! Nick put a hat on him the other night while I was making dinner and he just left it on. So, we let him eat that way.

He also has become OBSESSED with shoes! I caught him last week holding up his foot in one hand, while trying to put a sandal on with the other. We don't put shoes on him very often so it was so crazy how he knew what to do!!

If he sees any shoes, he wants them ON his feet. And if you take them off, prepare to hear about it! He has lots of cool sneakers to wear, but we need to invest in some every day shoes for him. Now that he's walking more, especially outside, we need to get some sandals or something a little more 'summer appropriate'.

He's adding more and more words by the week! Many of them he just repeats a few times, but once he says it, he starts learning more about what it means. We're taking him this weekend to Deanna Rose Farms for a birthday party and I'm so excited for him to go! There will be lots of little farm animals for him to see/feed/pet and I think he'll love it!

Father's Day

13 months!

I know I'm a couple of days late, but our 2nd Father's Day has come and gone! We had a wonderful weekend in Wichita. Brock was awake pretty much the entire way down there, but for the most part, was pretty chill in the car.

He learned how to say 'cookie' and was saying it over and over and over to get more 'coo coos'. It's so cute when he says it, we have a hard time not giving in. We got all the old toys out from my sister and I, and my niece and nephew and he just went to town! He even gave my dad an early Father's Day gift. He learned how to say 'Poppy' and said it for him all weekend!

Saturday we went to Brigdon's 14th birthday party. They had a 'Wipe-out' style obstacle course set up for all the boys at the party along with lots and lots of water balloons. Brock thought those were pretty sweet. He liked to pick them up and really thought it was funny when they would pop! He also fell in love with Teea's big dogs (both boxers). He loved that he could stand up and be right at their level. We even gave him a new hair-do for the party! His hair is still pretty thin, but we were able to maneuver it up into a mohawk!

Sunday was going to be a super long day for us. We had the big family Father's day lunch with my family, then were hitting the road to go straight to Nick's parents for dinner with his ENTIRE family. We were hoping with all the sun and excitement from Saturday, that Brock would sleep in. HAHAHAHA! Seriously, why do parents ever think that works?!

Our little maniac decided to not only NOT sleep in, but to wake up much earlier than normal at 6:30. And not just the stirring, maybe he'll go back to sleep wake up. Like full blown standing up in the pack 'n play talking and bouncing around.

Since it was Father's Day (well and since I usually am the one to get up with him), I drug my half-asleep self out of bed to start the day with him. We got his 'coo coos' and milk for his little morning snack and since everyone else was still in bed, I took him to eat them outside so we didn't wake anyone up. My parents live on the outside edges of Wichita and there is a big field behind their house. I've been out there a million times, but it was just a whole new experience. As tired as I was, it was the most perfect morning. It was so peaceful out there and Brock and I just sat and talked while he ate his snack. We watched the trees and the birds. He'd push his head back against my chest and tilt it to look up at me and just smile.

It was one of those times you just wished you could push pause for a second. I am so terrible about thinking about the future that often I have a hard time really just soaking up the moment I'm in. But then there are moments like that that just demand to be enjoyed. Make you really focus on what's important and be so thankful for everything.

We enjoyed about 30 minutes of peace and quiet and then people started to wake up and the day begun. My dad took Brock for a 'walk' around their backyard, we had lunch with the family and then hit the road. Brock waking up so early came in handy for the ride home. He was tired and ready for his afternoon nap and slept about half of the way. We got to Nick's parents and had a wonderful dinner with his family and then headed home to get back to our little routine.

We were all beyond exhausted but it was a wonderful weekend!! Brock is repeating more and more words by the day and starting to put 2 words together. 'Bye bye mama'. He's a 'busy bee' and constantly moving. He's starting to not want to eat his veggies as much lately so we've got to work on that!

Band of Mamas

Usually my blogs are just updates on what Brock is up to, what new things he's done or tried, his newest words and milestones or just fun things we've done as a family. I'm terrible at putting up pictures and making my blogs very exciting. But, being a full time working mama, it's the best way for me to document his little milestones - not only so I can remember, but for my other mama friends to see if things their little ones are going through are common.

With all that said, I follow some wonderful blogs from other friends. And the funniest part is, most of the other 'mama' blogs I follow, are from acquaintances. Girls I knew in high school, but wasn't close with. Or an old co-workers wife, a friends friend, etc. They are all fabulous in their own way and tell their own journeys.

They all inspire me in one way or the other with their creativity and totally different ways of documenting their journey as parents. There are funny ones, deep ones, ones full of pictures, etc. Many of them always make me feel like my blog is just plain 'ole boring! LOL! But, regardless of how they tell their story, they inspire me. They inspire me to be a better blogger, and even more, a better mom. Some of them have kids older than Brock and I learn so much from their stories and adventures.

Even those mamas I may never speak to in person, I feel an immediate connection. Almost proud of them. I am so impressed by how wonderful they all are as moms and so grateful to follow their stories and hopefully use them as tools for my own parenting. It's amazing how bonded you feel to other moms, because you share such a special thing in common - being a mama. And I think it's important to feel that way. We should be encouraging and supporting each other. Everyone takes their own journey and has their own way to parent. We can all learn from each other and sharing all these experiences is such a valuable tool!

Blogs are such a great format for moms to share things with each other, while at the same time, keeping little journals for themselves and their kids as they grow. We are some of the first generation to have this so readily available and I think it will only help us be better. Better moms, better wives, better friends.

So thank you ladies, for being so wonderful with your words and sharing your experiences.

Our little Parrot

1 year, 3.5 weeks

Well, luckily, the Hulk has left the building! As painful as that little phase was, I'm so grateful it wasn't very long!! I think it was the teething more than anything. No more teeth have popped thru, but the diaper rash is fading!

He is repeating EVERYTHING we say now!! It's so cute! He's added some more words to his little vocabulary:
- Cookie (sometimes sounds like cookie and sometimes sounds like coo coo)
- Mickey (more like Mimi)
- Poppy
- Stop
- Milk (which sounds like 'mo' and it applies to anything liquid in a cup)
- Car ('ca' and he says it when he sees his little blue car)
- He's got one more word that sounds like 'go' and we aren't really sure what he's trying to say yet...he says it at all different times so we haven't really been able to narrow down what he's saying

The biggest (and probably scariest) thing for us right now is watching him test his physical abilities. He uses his little rocker to climb on the couch, he likes to stand up in any chair he's in (including his stroller if he's not strapped in yet), he seems to have very little fear. While I want him to try new things, it makes this mama soooo nervous! But it's also amazing to watch his little brain work. Over the weekend I had him out on our front deck and he crawled over to the edge, to the small step and as soon as he got to the edge, he stopped, sat on his butt, and slowly worked his way down the stairs that way. It was amazing to see the gears turning in his little head and see how quickly he figured it out!

This weekend is Father's Day and we are headed to Wichita to see my dad. My nephew is having a birthday party so Brock will get to watch all the big kids run around in the water. Something tells me he'll be fully entertained!!

Baby Hulk??

1 year, 2 weeks

Sorry for the missed post last week. My mom had surgery and I was out most of the week taking care of her! In the meantime, however, I think Brock drank some sort of radioactive rage juice and is now Hulking out almost daily!!

I know they have 'terrible twos' but no one really talks about this stage. The tantrums are insane!! All of my research (aka google) says that this is normal. They are finally realizing they can be independent, but aren't quite there yet in terms of talking, walking, etc and communicating their needs clearly. Which all makes perfect sense, it just doesn't make it any easier when he's screaming as loud as he can because I just told him he couldn't have or do something. He totally rages out - fists clenched, shaking and just forcing the loudest scream he can manage. It's totally different than his normal cry, it's full of anger. Sadly, he got his mama's temper!

We think he's also going through a growth spurt right now because he's been more tired than normal. Which only makes the problem worse because tired baby + not getting what he wants = immediate meltdown. He is much more easily agitated when he's tired (hmmmm...sounds like me).

On top of all this fun stuff, he's got more teeth coming in. And the poor little guy has the worst diaper rash I've ever seen. He's not super fussy about it, but you can tell it's painful for him. We've had lots of naked baby time to try and air it out. But, the first of the top front teeth has broken through and the 2nd should be any minute now!

In happier news - he's standing on his own! He can't go from sitting to standing, but if you stand him up, he can stand by himself for a couple of minutes. You can tell he wants to take a step, but he just doesn't trust himself yet. If he's walking between furniture, sometimes he'll test himself and get himself to standing without holding on. I know walking is just around the corner and right now, we aren't pushing him at all. It will come, when he's ready. He can do it, he just needs to trust himself and have confidence.

He's also added more words and tricks:
- he picks up the phone (cell or house) and says 'hello'
- now not only every Sesame Street character, but also pretty much any book he sees is Elmo...LOL! Most of his little books at home are Elmo so now every book is Elmo
- he may not say bye bye when he leaves or when you leave, but he'll say it over and over and over after leaving and a lot of times in the car
- he's starting to repeat 'thank you' more and more

He also went to his first Royals game this week! He loved it! We were in my company's suite and he loved crawling around inside, but also loved being outside and watching all the people, the game and the big screen. Walking into the stadium, his eyes were just huge and he was just taking it all in, totally silent.