20 months, 1 week
Wow, a couple more weeks have somehow flown past us yet again and I didn't have a chance to blog! Luckily, that is because we've had a lot of exciting things going on at home!!
We officially put our house on the market this week and are happy to say, we are already under contract! We put our FSBO sign in the front yard last Friday and had 2 showings just off of that. Then we listed it on MLS on Tuesday afternoon and had another 10 showings by Wednesday night. We had a few more showings on Thursday and then a bidding war began between 2 interested buyers and we accepted an offer for more than our asking price!! We still have the inspection period to get through and we don't close until the end of April, but if all goes according to plan, we should be in a new house by May 1st! (Now we just need to FIND one).
We've spent the last month getting our house ready to sell/stage so we were really glad we had already bought tickets to Sesame Street Live for Brock last Saturday. He has been the biggest trooper through all the prepping the house and has probably felt a little confused by all the changes so we were happy to just get to spend an afternoon doing something we thought he would love.
Unfortunately, when we bought the tickets a few months ago, he was taking his nap around 11 am. So we bought tickets for the 2 pm show thinking he'd be done with his nap. Well, nowadays he doesn't even go down until after lunch so we were playing with fire. We went to lunch and could tell he was getting a little crabby/tired but we hoped seeing Elmo and Ernie would perk him up.
We had talked all week and all morning about seeing Elmo and giving him a hug. So when we got inside, he just took off running yelling 'Elmo....see Elmo'. We found a cardboard cut out Elmo and he looked over and said 'hug?' and so he gave Elmo a hug. Then we found an area where they had some of the characters come out before the show to sing and dance. Bert, Ernie and Zoe came out and Brock was just in awe. They high-fived him and he thought it was so cool!
We bought him his token toy and found our awesome seats right on the floor by the stage! The show started and Brock's eyes were just bugging out! He hung in there as long as he could until he finally just passed out on my shoulder about halfway through the first part. We debated leaving at intermission to let him get a full nap in, but we waited it out and are so glad we did. He got about a 30 min power nap (a good chunk of it during intermission) and woke up just in time for the 2nd half. This time he was much more focused and even got to high five The Count when he walked by. He seemed to love it and we will definitely go again!
It's so crazy how much he is turning into such a little man. He has started becoming more aware of when he's going to the bathroom and sometimes goes to have some 'privacy' in the corner. Last weekend I noticed he wasn't in the room with me anymore and I found him in his room. I asked him what he was doing and he looked up at me and very sweetly and almost a little confusedly said 'get out'. He almost said it like a question like he wasn't sure what he was saying. And I just stopped and couldn't believe it! But I could tell he was working on something so I let him have his space. I came back a few minutes later and sure enough, he had filled his diaper and just wanted a few minutes to himself. It was so cute I couldn't be mad, but it also was scary that he's getting old enough to tell us these things!
He is definitely getting more wild and loves to run and dance and even sometimes screech when he gets excited. We're working on that last one because he can get pretty loud! With our house being staged, we took some furniture out to make things more open and he's had a blast running wild in the basement.
Some of our favorite words he says right now:
feffast (breakfast)
fuffin (muffin)
namer (Mater from cars)
ah-kee (Osci)
Dilla (quesadilla)
dip (he loves to dip his food in everything, ketchup, salsa, cheese, whatever is close)
Things will probably stay pretty busy for the next few months for us so I will try and keep on these blogs to keep everyone updated!
Friday, January 25, 2013
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Holiday 2012 wrap-up
19 months, 2 weeks
As you can probably tell from the lack of posts, this last few weeks have been just crazy for us! Good crazy, but crazy nonetheless.
Christmas started with a little drama for us. We woke up Friday morning (before Christmas) with plans of heading to Wichita that afternoon for round 1 of Christmas celebrations. However, Brock had a low grade fever and had thrown up in his crib over night. I immediately had flashbacks to this EXACT time and trip last year where Brock had the stomach flu, which we thought was teething, and ended up spreading it to my ENTIRE family.
We made a trip into the doctor who tested him for influenza and strep throat - negative on both counts. She said to watch him throughout the day and then make the call from there about going out of town. Well, after much debate, we decided to go ahead with our trip. He hadn't thrown up and seemed to be his normal, wild, happy self. He still had a mild fever but he had 2 molars coming in so we thought we were fine. BIG MISTAKE - about halfway on the drive, he just started getting fussy and his little cheeks were flushed. We got there and he was burning up! We stripped him down and tried to cool him off, thinking the car was just hot because it was crowded. He started to perk up (or so we thought), then started shivering. I was running errands with my dad and got the call that Nick was taking him to Urgent Care. We headed straight there and once we got back to be seen, his temperature had spiked to 104*! Needless to say, Nick and I were a little freaked since he's never had a fever like this.
They concluded it was some sort of virus, nothing they could do to cure it, so they gave him some Tylenol and within an hour, he was bouncing around the room. He started eating and drinking and his fever was gone in no time. We were on high alert all night and the next day but his fever never came back and he was his crazy self for Christmas with the Cole Family! It was an awesome day and trip and he was spoiled! At first, he didn't really 'get' the wrapping paper idea, but he was super pumped about every toy he got and wanted them all out of the box immediately!
We came home Sunday and had a million errands to run to get ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Christmas Eve we spent at Gary/Judy's with all the brothers (and their ladies) and the Hoyle clan. Brock and Joey were finally old enough to really play with each other. They had a BLAST! They were just running, screaming (well BROCK was screaming) and chasing each other around the house! It was adorable and Brock was asleep before we got off their street to head home.
Christmas morning was just our little family and it was perfect. We had unwrapped and put together all his toys so he could play with them right away. He was a little confused at first but quickly got over it and dove into all his toys. Then my mom and sister came over for lunch and we had round 4 of Christmas. Once again, this kid was spoiled beyond belief! He is one blessed little man! We ended the night at Great Grandma Elsie's with the entire Barbosa clan! By this one (Christmas #5), he had the whole wrapping paper gig alllll figured out!
I had to head back to work Wednesday, but since daycare was closed, Brock and Daddy got to spend lots of quality time together! He even bonded with Osci. They spent some of their time snuggled up on the couch together.
We started the process of getting our house ready to put on the market so we were really busy with that over the weekend and on New Years' Eve/New Years' Day. We're getting very close and hope to have it listed next month!
Brock has just started communicating with us so much more. As you know if you follow this, he's always been incredibly verbal. But now, he really speaks with a lot more meaning, not just repeating things. He is even on to 3 word sentences (sometimes 2 sentences in a row). Last week I hurt myself and he said 'uh oh Mommy. You ok?'
Some of the main sentences:
'I love you'
'I'll get it'
'Where Mommy go'
'What is it'
Those are just a few of the faves. We've also entered the phase of 'no'. You ask him a question, the answer is 'no'. Not a mean 'NO', it's actually kind of a cute 'no'. Just this week it seems like he knows the difference between yes and no, so he's started putting 'yes' in when it involves food or milk. :)
He also says 'bless you' when you sneeze and is super giving with kisses for Mommy. He'll even ask for them sometimes and it's so cute. He got a little spoiled when he was sick at the ER with sleeping on Mommy's chest so he's started wanting to do that more and more. I know it's a bad habit to start so I try and do it sparingly, but when your baby wants you to hold him, how do you say no? He's also started waking up (sometimes crying) yelling for Mommy or asking 'where mommy go?'. It's heartbreaking and no matter how early it is, it totally works. I go in there and scoop him up and if it's too early, just bring him back in bed with us.
He has become my little buddy and helper. I was cleaning the fridge out and he was in there with me, handing me things to put back (or sometimes taking them back out) and helping me wipe down the fridge. He just loves to help!
He's really into 'colors' (his word for coloring) so he got lots of crayons and paper for Christmas, along with a picnic table to color on at home. I think we're slowly moving past the 'Puss in Boots' phase and he wants to watch Cars now. He always has a car of some sort in his hand. He finally learned out to say 'Queen' for Lightning McQueen and he still knows his Mater or 'namer' as he sometimes calls him.
Lots to catch up on so I apologize for the crazy long post!
As you can probably tell from the lack of posts, this last few weeks have been just crazy for us! Good crazy, but crazy nonetheless.
Christmas started with a little drama for us. We woke up Friday morning (before Christmas) with plans of heading to Wichita that afternoon for round 1 of Christmas celebrations. However, Brock had a low grade fever and had thrown up in his crib over night. I immediately had flashbacks to this EXACT time and trip last year where Brock had the stomach flu, which we thought was teething, and ended up spreading it to my ENTIRE family.
We made a trip into the doctor who tested him for influenza and strep throat - negative on both counts. She said to watch him throughout the day and then make the call from there about going out of town. Well, after much debate, we decided to go ahead with our trip. He hadn't thrown up and seemed to be his normal, wild, happy self. He still had a mild fever but he had 2 molars coming in so we thought we were fine. BIG MISTAKE - about halfway on the drive, he just started getting fussy and his little cheeks were flushed. We got there and he was burning up! We stripped him down and tried to cool him off, thinking the car was just hot because it was crowded. He started to perk up (or so we thought), then started shivering. I was running errands with my dad and got the call that Nick was taking him to Urgent Care. We headed straight there and once we got back to be seen, his temperature had spiked to 104*! Needless to say, Nick and I were a little freaked since he's never had a fever like this.
They concluded it was some sort of virus, nothing they could do to cure it, so they gave him some Tylenol and within an hour, he was bouncing around the room. He started eating and drinking and his fever was gone in no time. We were on high alert all night and the next day but his fever never came back and he was his crazy self for Christmas with the Cole Family! It was an awesome day and trip and he was spoiled! At first, he didn't really 'get' the wrapping paper idea, but he was super pumped about every toy he got and wanted them all out of the box immediately!
We came home Sunday and had a million errands to run to get ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Christmas Eve we spent at Gary/Judy's with all the brothers (and their ladies) and the Hoyle clan. Brock and Joey were finally old enough to really play with each other. They had a BLAST! They were just running, screaming (well BROCK was screaming) and chasing each other around the house! It was adorable and Brock was asleep before we got off their street to head home.
Christmas morning was just our little family and it was perfect. We had unwrapped and put together all his toys so he could play with them right away. He was a little confused at first but quickly got over it and dove into all his toys. Then my mom and sister came over for lunch and we had round 4 of Christmas. Once again, this kid was spoiled beyond belief! He is one blessed little man! We ended the night at Great Grandma Elsie's with the entire Barbosa clan! By this one (Christmas #5), he had the whole wrapping paper gig alllll figured out!
I had to head back to work Wednesday, but since daycare was closed, Brock and Daddy got to spend lots of quality time together! He even bonded with Osci. They spent some of their time snuggled up on the couch together.
We started the process of getting our house ready to put on the market so we were really busy with that over the weekend and on New Years' Eve/New Years' Day. We're getting very close and hope to have it listed next month!
Brock has just started communicating with us so much more. As you know if you follow this, he's always been incredibly verbal. But now, he really speaks with a lot more meaning, not just repeating things. He is even on to 3 word sentences (sometimes 2 sentences in a row). Last week I hurt myself and he said 'uh oh Mommy. You ok?'
Some of the main sentences:
'I love you'
'I'll get it'
'Where Mommy go'
'What is it'
Those are just a few of the faves. We've also entered the phase of 'no'. You ask him a question, the answer is 'no'. Not a mean 'NO', it's actually kind of a cute 'no'. Just this week it seems like he knows the difference between yes and no, so he's started putting 'yes' in when it involves food or milk. :)
He also says 'bless you' when you sneeze and is super giving with kisses for Mommy. He'll even ask for them sometimes and it's so cute. He got a little spoiled when he was sick at the ER with sleeping on Mommy's chest so he's started wanting to do that more and more. I know it's a bad habit to start so I try and do it sparingly, but when your baby wants you to hold him, how do you say no? He's also started waking up (sometimes crying) yelling for Mommy or asking 'where mommy go?'. It's heartbreaking and no matter how early it is, it totally works. I go in there and scoop him up and if it's too early, just bring him back in bed with us.
He has become my little buddy and helper. I was cleaning the fridge out and he was in there with me, handing me things to put back (or sometimes taking them back out) and helping me wipe down the fridge. He just loves to help!
He's really into 'colors' (his word for coloring) so he got lots of crayons and paper for Christmas, along with a picnic table to color on at home. I think we're slowly moving past the 'Puss in Boots' phase and he wants to watch Cars now. He always has a car of some sort in his hand. He finally learned out to say 'Queen' for Lightning McQueen and he still knows his Mater or 'namer' as he sometimes calls him.
Lots to catch up on so I apologize for the crazy long post!
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
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!
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:
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!
Friday, November 30, 2012
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!
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.
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
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.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
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)
Thursday, November 8, 2012
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:
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)
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!
Monday, October 22, 2012
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.
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.
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