No Means No

I know most of you could never believe that Brock is anything but angelic at all times. But the truth is we have our battles - so it is no wonder Brock has learned and mastered the art of saying "NO". In fact, he gets great joy from saying it to almost every question we present - I think he is just testing its power! Last week, as I was saying goodbye to Brock before work I said, "Give mommy a kiss", and he replied, "NO". Now wait just one second - I thought they didn't refuse kisses until high school! Of course, he knows this response gets him smothered with kisses and tickles!

Another Feeding Feat!

I think I mentioned a while back that my little junkie was addicted to breast milk and refused any other milk including cow, goat and I even tried formula. Well, the weaning process was slow, but I'm happy to report my little boob-aholic (Brock) is officially weaned from breast milk and now happily adjusted to cows milk. It was actually easier than I thought it would be. No tears, just gradually nursed less and less - we haven't nursed at all for 7 days. I was giddy the day I packed up the pump at work a couple months ago - no more dairy cow sessions while trying to type, read, or answer a phone. Don't get me wrong - breast feeding was a wonderful experience, challenging, but well worth the effort! Brock had an extremely healthy first year and I'm giving breast milk all the credit! I'm sure this is way to much information for most of you, but I just had to share one of my proudest mommy accomplishments - breastfeeding for almost 15 months!

Spoon Please

Brock has taken to using a spoon! Cory and I started to encounter great resistance when feeding him, but we soon learned to give him a spoon and he gobbles it all down. He just wants to do things our way! He does really good with things like apple sauce, yogurt and oatmeal (things that stick to the spoon). Notice in this series of pictures, I put the bib on AFTER he has already spilled on himself - that is usually how it goes - just call me super mom!

Third Tooth!

Brock may be advanced in his speech, but he is severely behind in the tooth department! Just last week one of his top teeth popped through. I could see a shadow of it for weeks, but it took its sweet time and a few rough nights to arrive. That makes tooth number three for those of you who are counting!

Hap-py De De D-You (Happy Birthday to You)

Brock has started repeating our every word (or at least trying)! My Birthday was a couple weeks ago and my mom and Brock spent the day baking, coloring and singing Happy Birthday - it is the gift that keeps on giving becuase he continues to sing this song daily, while he is playing, eating or whatever. He has the sweetest little sing songy voice and it actually sounds quite a bit like the real thing. Some other cute additions to his vocabulary include calling his friends by name "Rowy" (Rowdy) Emily, and Ann (Annie).

Anyways, we have had gorgeous weather here (60+) and have pretty much lived outdoors. Brock loves to be outside! And loves dirt!

Brock spent a good deal of time on Friday taking dirt out of my planter.


He would also find rocks to throw off the deck and then get on his tummy to look for them.

While Cory raced on Sunday, we played in the dirt! Thanks for the truck Aunt Cathy!

Passed out in the car after a long day of playing in the desert.

Fun Times

Is this the cutest thing you have ever seen? Brock giving his baby, Hughy, a kiss! He was also giving him his bottle, but I didn't get a picture. He loves to greet his real friends with hugs and kisses too sometimes.


Fun with bubbles - is that Brock in there?

Super baby! One of his favorite games is to have Cory toss him into a pile of pillows on our bed. He loves it! He becomes hysterical with laughter and insists on doing it over and over again.

Guilty Confession

After spending a week with Ike we realized we are not the right home for him. I spent the weekend finding him a wonderful home with a kitten playmate, a baby on the way and the most loving "cat" people parents! He came from a house that had cats, dogs, kids, and birds and it was clear he needed this - he was constantly meowing at ALL hours of the day and we could not give him the attention he needed. This on top of the fact that I am sure Brock has a slight cat allergy and I too have them (made worse by Ike's need to snuggle constantly) we made the tough, but right desicion. If you remember our last cat Bob, he was a wild cat from a ranch, rarely in the house and unusually independent - so really we may not be "cat" people - he was more like a dog. Anyways, this is our not so guilty confession - one of life's lessons. BTW Brock waved good bye to Ike and hasn't looked back :)

Published!

Cory's race results showed up in Cycle News. See the link below (you will have to cut and paste it into your browser).

http://www.cyclenews.com/events/ShowStory.asp?HeadlineID=3040

Projects

We have been busy the past few weeks working on both our houses. Here, we are almost done sheet rocking the upstairs and have demolished the hall closet for the bathroom remodel. At our rental, we have been cleaning, painting and replacing the last of the old windows. We have someone moving in next weekend - so at least that project will be done!

Fun Family News...

Cory's brother Chad and wife Holly are expecting their first child on August 23 - yeah! We are so excited to become an Aunt and Uncle! And for Brock to have a cousin! Keep them in your prayers for a happy, healthy, and "easy" (if there is such thing) pregnancy. We are counting the days!

Meet Ike,

our new family member! Ike is an 11 week old playful kitten. We adopted Ike yesterday and he is already keeping us very entertained, especially Brock. They are already good buddies. Yesterday he was a little unsure of his new home, but today he has been playing non stop. This morning, Brock and Ike ran around the house together for at least an hour. They even seem to have a language that is mutually understood. I asked Brock, "What is the kitty saying?" and he said, "meow meow".


Ike hides from Brock under the bed and Brock tries to find him.