Santa visit

18 mos, 3 weeks

We made our (now annual tradition) visit to Crown Center to see Santa over the weekend. We went early thinking we'd miss the rush, but that wasn't exactly the case. Luckily we had Grandma, Grandpa and Grammie all there to help us chase Brock around while the others waited in line. All that running wore him out a bit and we could tell he was starting to get tired as we neared the actual entrance.

Once we got inside the Santa 'area', they have a little play area/obstacle course. Brock totally got a 2nd wind  and was in Heaven with all the play stuff. He was climbing up, sliding down, and crawling through just about everything there. He was having a total blast and we hated having to pull him away from it to actually do what we came to do. So the big moment...Santa time!

I was totally convinced he'd freak out. He loved the dressed up Snowman and Penguin from a couple of weeks ago, but they weren't holding him. We tried the whole 'ohhhh, let the Jayhawk hold you and take a picture' thing and that did not go so well. We had been talking about Santa all week and talking about giving him a hug trying to prepare him. So there was all this build up for him to either love him or hate him. What we didn't really think about....was what if he was just kind of  'eh' about him?

And that was the case. He didn't love him by any means. But he didn't really cry. He was just kind of weirded out and wanted down. So, we didn't really get any good crying Santa pics or even any good smiling pics. Here is one I took on my phone that probably best shows the experience:

After his big fall a couple of weeks ago, and this little goopy eye drama we were fighting, we hadn't had a good time to work on our Christmas card picture. Last year's picture was sort of an unexpected success (see below), so I felt like we had to do it justice this year.

No just plain 'old look at the camera and smile pictures. That's just not our style. The cards just went out yesterday so I can't give away the whole thing, but here is a sneak peak of at least his outfit.

We are in full holiday mode at Casa de Barbosa. We have almost all of the Christmas presents bought and wrapped and really, other than a few minor temptations, Brock has been really good about not messing with them. I think since he doesn't realize the whole 'you unwrap that stuff and get a present concept' just yet, they aren't appealing to him. We put on Christmas music (uh hum, Justin Bieber Christmas) and Brock just jams out! Since it's a little more 'upbeat' he loves to dance to it.

He's adding new words daily. Some that we teach him and some he's picking up on his own. He can now name: Mickey, Goofy, Donald and Minnie from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and he's added 'Hook' to his list of Jake characters. He can finally say 'man' for Snowman (still the occasional Halloween), and Santa when he sees Santa.

Right now his favorite movie is Shrek the Halls. He loves Shrek and Donkey! He barely even notices his beloved Puss in Boots! Luckily it's only 30 mins (with commercials) so I don't mind letting him watch it before bed. He likes to lay in front of my on the couch and have me scratch his belly. He'll lay down and once he thinks about it, he'll point to his stomach and say 'belly'. Sometimes he'll even move my hands to his belly and try and get me to scratch. It's so cute!

Thanksgiving

18 months, 1 week

It has been an absolutely insane week at work and home after the short holiday week so I apologize for the late blog!

First let's start with Brock's 18 month check up last week:
Height: 32" - 50%
Weight: 28 lbs - 94%
Head - still a solid 90%
No shots and the doctor was floored by his vocabulary!

Thanksgiving this year was wonderful! We had lunch at Judy and Gary's with Judy's family, then dinner at my mom's. We were STUFFED! We thought Brock would be so excited about the food, but all he really ate was bread! LOL! His nap schedule was all thrown off so each meal was right after waking up and he was just not in the mood for anything that was on a spoon or wasn't in the form of a roll.

Nick and I ventured to Toys R Us after dinner to check out some deals on a few gifts we had in mind for Brock for Christmas. The line was around the building, but it was very organized and calm and we were in and out in 30 minutes! I was a little unsure about my feelings on stores being open ON Thanksgiving, but I would definitely do it again. It was late enough that everyone had plenty of time to spend with family.

Friday we put up our Christmas tree and all our indoor decorations. It just makes the house so cozy and warm. Brock LOVES the tree. He looks at it and says 'lights' and points to his favorite ornament. It's a Baby's First Christmas ornament with a picture of him in it from last year! LOL! He points to it and says 'Brockie' or 'Bear' because there is a bear on top of it. So cute! He's been pretty good about not touching the tree. I made him his own felt tree with felt ornaments to play with - yeah, he just tries to rip it off the wall. We are working on getting him ready for Christmas. He still calls everything 'Halloween' - snowmen, anything Christmas related, he calls it 'Halloween'.

My dad and Pat came up Saturday morning and we went to the aquarium in Crown Center to see what the fuss was all about. I have to say, it was incredibly overpriced in my opinion for what you see. However, they did have Santa 'diving' in their big tank and that was very cool and festive! Brock LOVED the 'pishies' so it was definitely fun to see him take it all in. He'd say 'Bye pishies' when we left each room or fish area.

After the 'pishies', we went across to the Crown Center shops for lunch at Fritz's. It was a zoo! However, they had a big snowman, penguin and Crayola crayon dressed up at the front. Brock totally loved the snowman and penguin. As we were leaving, the penguin knelt down and we told Brock to go give it a hug. And boy did he ever. He gave him the longest, most awkward, never-ending hug! It was hilarious and so cute that he wasn't scared of him!

 The poor penguin didn't know what hit him!

The snowman or 'Halloween' as Brock calls it

I got a terrible cold all weekend so Sunday we just went to breakfast and my parents headed back home while we all crashed hard at our house. This week has been busy with a visit to Grammie's on Tuesday, dinner with Suni, Brian, Jax and Blue Belle on Wednesday and the Prairie Village Christmas tree lighting with Kristin and Madison last night. We are ready for a nice quiet weekend at home!

Brock is finally giving real 'hugs' now and most of the time says 'awwwww' when he does it. Melts my heart! He has moved to the 'big boy' cots at daycare after climbing out of the pack and play last week so the adjustment has left him a little more tired than normal. He'll be fine all night, then just hit a wall and if you tell him no on one thing, it sets off this absolute hysterical melt down. Monday night was the first night it happened and we got him to calm down by Mommy rocking him to sleep. I sat there long after he fell asleep just taking in his sweet face. He doesn't let us hold him that long anymore so I savor every second of it!

We had our first big boo-boo today at daycare. He fell on the outdoor basketball court and scratched his lip,  nose and cheek, along with having a huge fat lip. When I saw the picture I just lost it and started bawling at my desk! His perfect little face looked so damaged! Luckily, he's been acting fine and in 18 months with that wild animal, we are lucky this is the first big mishap. Cynthia is wonderful and loves him so much so I  know she took wonderful care of him after it happened. It was just hard on Mommy not being there to kiss it all better.

Man in charge

17 months, 3 weeks

Brock may have gotten many of his daddy's physical traits, but we've suspected for awhile he got a lot of mommy's personality. The sass, the bossy pants and sadly, the temper. He's a strong willed little dude and he knows what he wants. It's been so fun to watch his personality just get bigger and bigger as he grows.

Now it seems he's taking his 'bossy pants' role to the next level. As he's become more verbal, he is getting more demanding. A few weeks ago, we started a small 'dance party' in the living room. He still has his favorite song (Some Nights' by the group FUN) and we turned it on and him and I danced to it. Now he asks for either the 'song' in the car or he asks for it at home, then sticks out his arms and gets upset if I don't get up to dance with him. So we have our little dance party and laugh and wiggle around and he thinks it's just the best.

He also likes to push mommy around the house now. He just started this little gem this week. I was standing between the living room and dining room when he said 'coming' and came up behind me, put his little arms on the back of my legs and started pushing me toward the living room. Last night he was just wanting to push me all over the house. I have no clue where it came from, but it's pretty hilarious.

He has reached the stage where he just becomes fixated on things. Case in point - Puss in Boots 'Meows' that we get asked to watch repeatedly. Now he has learned how to say 'again' and he'll ask 'again' whenever you are doing something he likes. Last night, it was riding on Nick's leg up and down over and over. Night before last it was going up in the air with his stomach on my feet and flying like Superman.

I have an awesome video of him reading off some of the animals in his animal picture book, but being as completely technology clueless as I am, I can't figure out how to get it from my phone and onto the computer. It's just a little too long for email and Facebook so it may just stay on my phone forever!

He has 2 top molars that have come through in the last week explaining his waking up in the middle of the night fussing and crying lately. It got so bad last Friday night, he woke up in the middle of the night and was standing up in his crib just screaming bloody murder. We put him in bed with us and he fell back asleep. After a couple hours of kicks in the face, Daddy was done so we put him back in his own room.

As mentioned last week, Brock had his first haircut on Saturday
and it went really well. Ok, it went good. We were so happy with the results! It looks so much better  He didn't mind the haircut too much until she got out the electric razor around his ears and on his neck. He started crying and trying to duck away at that point. It made for some pretty funny pictures! Here are some before and after pics:

Before: check the wings and wildness (which I loved)

After: still have those beautiful curls, but cleaned up (Daddy loves)

Halloween and then some

17 months, 3 weeks

I know, Halloween was over a week ago. Clearly I'm way behind on this one!! So, we'll do a little update (with lots of pics)!!

Halloween was a great success! Brock's homemade Bamm Bamm costume came out perfectly! He looked so adorable and we got so many compliments on it! We started the afternoon trick or treating at my office. He really got the hang of picking candy out of the bowl and putting it into his bag. What he didn't quite understand, was just 1 piece! LOL! We left my office and went to see Great Grandma Elsie for a bit. He learned where her secret stash of cookies are - watch out!

We had a big night planned with trick or treating and then all of the girls and their kiddos coming over for some Halloween activities! Brock was a little out of sorts and being very 'clingy' to Mommy, but we decided to give it a go with trick or treating anyway. Brett, Kristin and Madison came to trick or treat with us, along with Aunt Mia, Grammie and Uncle Drew and Aunt Erin. When we first started out, both the kids were fussy and so not into it. But after a slight mishap (Brock fell and while trying to get up, fell back and hit his head on the sidewalk), we were finally in action. We hit about 4 houses around us and decided to call it good.

Once all the kids came, it was just the best kind of chaos ever! Toys all over the house, all the kids just having so much fun. Snacking, doing crafts, playing with each other so well and finally, watching 'Meows' which was probably the highlight of the night for Brock and Carter (who was dressed as Puss in Boots). It was a great night overall! Here are some pictures:

Trying on his costume. The only way we could get him to stand still was giving him Daddy's phone.

Trick or Treating shots!

Pebbles and Bamm Bamm

 The whole gang! Madison James, Carter Bucl, Marlee Hugunin, Tripp and Charlie Herman, Jackson Bucl, Brock and Carter Hugunin

 Below are 2 pictures from last year to this year. Hilarious to compare the 2 with the same kiddos!

Halloween 2011: Madison (duck), Marlee (dinosaur), Carter (dinosaur), Brock (bat)

Halloween 2012: Madison (ghost), Marlee (Pebbles), Brock (Bamm Bamm), Carter (Puss in Boots)

In other Brock news, it seems we've got another 'Mommy phase' starting. He's been very clingy and wanting Mommy a lot more lately. Again, I'm trying to soak it up, while also not encouraging it too much. I know I'll miss these moments, but I also want him to feel comfortable with other people. 

One of our new nighttime routines might be my favorite so far. I usually sing 'You Are My Sunshine' and 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' to Brock before I lay him down. I never thought he really paid much attention until this week when he started singing it before I did almost to remind me. So I sat down with him and we just sang to each other before I put him to bed. It was one of the sweetest moments.

He's such a rough and tumble boy that doesn't like to just snuggle very often. He just doesn't sit still long enough! But his little sleepy voice was so sweet and we just sang back and forth while he snuggled up to me. So we've started doing it every night. Usually it's just me and Brock, but now he wants to make sure Daddy stays in the room too. I know we will cherish these moments forever!

He has started really picking up on identifying things. He knows Elmo, Big Bird, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Jake (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates), Mickey and Goofy - and he knows that each one of them is different and which is which. He also says 'Cookie' in a gruff 'Cooookie' Cookie Monster voice.

We have an animal picture book and he can now either name the animal or the sound it makes for the following animals: bunnies, pishes (fish), meow meow (cat), quack quack (duck), bawk bawk (chicken), moo (cow), whooo whoo (owl), rawr (tiger, lion or bear), and monkey. The one that puzzles us is dog. He knows dogs, that was one of his first words. He knows dogs when he hears them or sees them. But for some reason, he doesn't seem to recognize the dog in the book as a dog. It's pretty funny. 

Speaking of dogs, for some reason, Nick and I have called Oscar 'Little' for who knows how long. It was a random nickname that just kind of stuck with him. Well, now Brock calls him that too and has to say 'Bye Little' and pet him before we leave every morning. It's so cute!

We took him to the zoo last weekend and he just LOVED it! It seems every time he likes it more and more as he's really starting to understand the concept. I think his favorite part was probably the lions. He also learned how to say 'elephant'. 

In addition to adding more and more words, he's starting to speak in more multiple word sentences. We're also pretty sure he's added 'I want' into his vocabulary. Not clearly and not all the time, but there have definitely been some 'I want X' moments. He has really started learning to respond to questions also. 'Yeah and ok' are constant responses and it's so cute! I don't think he totally understands it yet but when you ask him a question, he knows that requires a response.

He's getting his first haircut this weekend and this mommy is a little sad. His wild and crazy curls fit his personality so much! I'm going to be sure and tell them not to cut them ALL off. But, Daddy's been pushing for a haircut for awhile now. And when his hair is wet, it is getting pretty long (we're talking hanging over the ears and down his back long). It's just so cute when it's all wild and curly!

Fabulous Fall weekend

17 months, 1 week

We had a wonderful weekend filled with fall activities! On Saturday we went drove up to Weston, MO with Gary and Judy to visit the Weston Red Barn Farm. It was the cutest little farm with animals you could feed, tons of pumpkins and activities. Like last weekend, Brock mostly just wanted to run around like a crazy man in with all the free space to roam. We ate lunch in Weston at a cute little small-town restaurant with greasy, delicious food and then headed home.

Judy was a life saver and helped me get Brock's Halloween costume started. The main part is complete and I learned not only how to sew using my sewing machine, but also how to hand sew! I would have never even gotten started if it weren't for her and now I feel comfortable using my machine!!

It's not fall in Prairie Village unless you've spent at least one full day raking and bagging up leaves in your yard. We have a huge tree in our backyard that has huge leaves and acorns that fall all over the place. Our front yard usually gets covered in everyone else's leaves before the leaves even fall off ours up there. So usually there are at least 3-4 days out of the fall that we are working on leaves, 1-2 of them being full day affairs.

Before Brock, Nick and I used to tackle it together. We have always had the 'we're a team' mentality (I had Team Colbosa engraved on the watch I gave him for our wedding) and this was no different. Neither of us really LOVED doing it, but it was better if we did it together. Well, for all of you out there with kids (especially toddlers) you know the days of having time to just tackle these household duties for however long it takes are long gone. We assumed our days of working on the yard together were a thing of the past. One of us (Nick) would have to be banished to the leaves while the other (me) would be entertaining Brock some other way.

We got the most pleasant surprise however this weekend. Trying to soak up some of the few nice days left this year, we decided to try and take Brock out with us. We would tackle the deck area and getting the yard prepped before lunch/naptime and then Nick could just mow up the rest in the afternoon. Phase 1 went better than expected! Not only did we get everything done, but Brock loved it! He was rolling around in the leaves, jumping in them, laying in them, just loving it. He was a filthy mess and didn't care at all.

Phase 2 didn't go as planned when the mower wouldn't start, so Brock and I came back out to lend a hand again. We spent the better part of the afternoon out there as a family working on the leaves. Brock would use his toy mower to mow the yard, or the small rake to help rake the leaves or sometimes just wander around the yard exploring.

It was definitely one of those 'take a mental picture' moments. I was so overcome with pride at how well we were able to both get work done while Brock entertained himself. We had become so used to one of us having to watch his every move that it was more of a relief than I realized when we could all be out there together, doing our part. At one point, I just stopped and looked around the yard and just smiled. It was so bittersweet because we most likely won't live in this house next year. As excited as we are to move into our next 'family' house, we will all be sad to leave our first home. But it was the perfect way to celebrate another season in that house, all working in the leaves together as a family.

Here is Brock walking through the leaf pile. As you can see, it's pretty tall and there were probably 7 piles this high!

In other news, Brock has become OBSESSED with the movie 'Cars'. The funny thing is, he's never seen it. A few weeks ago we were at Costco and they had 'Cars 2' on the TVs there and we stopped to watch maybe 5 minutes of it. Yet somehow, he can find any 'Cars' type memorabilia, point it out and say 'Cars'. He found a picture of the 'Cars' characters on a CAN OF SOUP at the grocery store. I'm talking one tiny can of soup in the middle of maybe a hundred other cans of soup. At first I didn't believe him, until I finally saw it! 

It looks like this movie may be in our near future to watch on repeat like we've been having to watch 'Puss in Boots' or the 'meows' for the last 2 weeks. I try not to let him watch much tv, but he walks in the living room, points to the TV and says 'meows'. We've tried putting in on something else but he just won't have it. He knows when it's the 'meows' and when it's not. I think we've created a monster with this one! Luckily he only watches maybe 10 minutes at a time before he gets distracted. 

17 month update

17 months

Since I've been terrible about really doing an update specific to each month, I thought I would use this one to try and capture all the things Brock has been up to. Some of it may be repeats from previous posts, but hopefully not too much!

- Clothes: wearing pretty much exclusively a 2T (pj's, shirts for sure, can fit 18 month pants). Just like us he's got short legs so his pants tend to run a little smaller
- Teeth: He still only has 8 (top and bottom 4) but I saw another one start to pop through this week on top
- Shoes: He's wearing a size 6 and  about to move up to a 7
- Foods: Still hates bananas, not a huge fan of meat in general but LOVES his carbs - breads, pastas, he'll pick those out first to eat
- He still only drinks milk or water - no juice or soda
- Words: Easily over 100 by now and starting to say more multiple word sentences. This week we added: 'let's go', 'stop it', and the biggest sentence yet 'now I know my' (from the ABC song)
- He likes to pick out his own shoes now. If I pick them out, he'll get excited at first (b/c it is shoes of course) but then gets upset as if he wants another pair. I let him pick his own this morning and he was so proud of himself. However, he then became indecisive and after those were on, wanted a different pair. God help us!
- He loves to sing and dance whenever he can
- He asks for TV shows by name - I swear, we don't let him watch much, but he asks for 'Mickey' in the morning and then 'Meows' (Puss in Boots) at night. Last night we let him watch the Meows and we turned it off when it was over, he was not happy. He really only watches for maybe 10 minutes at a time, but he wants it on for when he decides he's ready to focus again!
- He has become familiar with places now. Last week we drove to Nick's parents house and as we got down their street, Brock said 'Grandma'. As we turn down our street, he now says 'Candy' thanks to Daddy giving him candy every night when they get home. He says 'CC' when we pull up to Cynthia's house in the morning
- He's clearly a tech-baby: he knows how to scroll through the pictures on our phones and on our tablet
- He says all the grandparents names now: Grammie, Meme, Poppy, Grandma and Grandpa
- Every night he likes to press his light up turtle. It's become his goodnight ritual - he turns it on and off a few times, changes the colors, then we pry it out of his hands so he can go to sleep
- His bedtime is usually between 8-8:30 and he wakes up anywhere from 6:30-7:30 in the mornings. We don't hear even a peep out of him at night (we are so lucky). We had a pretty loud thunderstorm last weekend that even woke us up, he didn't even move.

As usual, he's just the coolest baby. He's so smart and so funny. He keeps us on our toes, but he's also so sweet. Love that little man more and more every day!

Here is a funny and appropriate shirt according to Mommy. A fun picture from this morning!

Baby genius

16 months, 3 weeks

WARNING: Major Mommy-bragging ahead. Read with caution

I know every parent thinks their kid is just the cutest, smartest and best kid out there. But they are all wrong, because clearly our son is the best. Only kidding! But for real, maybe it's being first time parents or just being normal parents in love with their kid, but we are totally convinced Brock is the smartest 16 month old on the planet!

Here are just a few examples of his clear genius status:
- As mentioned last week, the kid can count to 5 (now again, not from 1-5, but he knows what sequence they go in and says '2', sometimes '3' and '5' if you start counting)
- He has a favorite song - no joke. The song 'Some Nights' by the group Fun. That song comes on the radio and his face lights up and he starts dancing away. Call me crazy, but a 16 month old being able to tell the difference in songs is INSANE
- He can name most of the Sesame Street characters - he knows Ernie, Elmo, Big Bird and Cookie Monster and I don't mean he can just say their names - he legit knows which one is which. I've been told that's pretty major (by his totally unbiased Grammy). He also knows Mickey (and asks for him to be turned on while he eats breakfast) as well as Jake (who comes on after Mickey)
- He knows Nick and I's first names...well, he can say 'Aubree' but I don't know if he realizes it's the same as Mommy. But he for sure knows Nick is Daddy. Over the weekend while trying to get his attention, he said 'Niiiiiiick' in pretty much the same way I lovingly call to my husband when I need help with something.
- A few weeks ago, Aunt Mia was watching him and she had left one of his hangers on the couch. All of the sudden she couldn't see him so she went to look for him. She found him in his room trying to hang the hanger back in the closet - now this one amazes me because we can't figure out where he learned that one. I put his clothes away in his room, usually when he's not there (it's somewhat counterproductive to fold clothes while he's trying to throw them on the floor)
- He not only has an enormous vocabulary for a 16 month old (easily over 50 words), he know is saying 2 and sometimes 3 word sentences. 'Oh wow', 'Where go', 'Oh gosh', 'Hi Poppy' - ok so a couple of these are just repeating us, but 'Where go' - he says this when he asking where someone or something went
- He knows the obvious body parts - head, eyes, ears, teeth, nose and toes
- Nick has a backpack he uses for his work laptop and he has it sitting by the table in our living room. Brock always tries to mess with the buckles on it and when Nick went to pick it up this morning, Brock had buckled the 2 straps together!
- Last but definitely not least - the kid is a Jayhawk fan already! Being KU alums and fanatics, we have KU/Jayhawk stuff kind of everywhere in our house. Just little things randomly sprinkled around. Brock says Jayhawk - sounds kinda like k-hawk - whenever he sees one. And he can find them anywhere - on a jacket or a shirt, in his toy box, on a sign, on a rock in our front yard. If there is even the smallest K-hawk, that boy will find it and point it out!

Ok, I know there are lots of other things he does and in all seriousness, we are just so damn proud of that little man! He amazes us every day with just how smart he is. I know we are probably very biased and being first time parents, we don't really know the timeline babies are supposed to go on, but we feel he's pretty freakin' smart!